Arriving in Tbilisi

It is a rare occasion that the visitor flies into the Tbilisi airport at a reasonable hour. Most flights inexplicably come in at around two or three in the morning, and many people have many theories on this odd occurrence and strategy. Most of us just assume it has something to do with when the flights are cheapest leaving Europe, and others believe it’s got to do with some sort of conspiracy around TAV, the Turkish airport operator that basically owns the Tbilisi airport due to various development deals (I assume the former, as flights into Kutaisi also follow this moonlighting pattern). Whatever it may be, consider yourself blessed if you land while the sun is up and you don’t have to purchase an extra night at a hotel just to catch up on your sleep.

pulled off the official Tbilisi Airport page

Depending on the mood of the ruling regime, you might be greeted by the passport control with a small bottle of wine (or you might not, so don’t expect any such treats). For Europeans and Americans, this is all a pretty easy process, just show up and smile, offer a “gamarjoba” (“hello” in Georgian) and they’ll wave you right through with barely a glance at your papers. My wife, a Georgian herself, often takes two or three times longer than I do. But then, most of the passport controllers are women, and they do tend to have a thing for tall handsome men like myself. If you’re not tall and handsome, or if you’re coming from a country full of otherwise brown people, make sure your papers are in super order (but let’s be honest, you probably know that already). If you’re Russian, just say “Zdravstvoite” and they’ll still try to please you, never mind your country actively supports two illegal breakaway regimes carving off a fifth of Georgia. But do keep that reality in mind while traveling around. Nobody considers you saviors here, in the full Russian sense of the word, you are "occupants". And don't be offended, I'd give the same bit of advice to any American traveling to Farah in Afghanistan.

---

---

You go down the escalator and then get to wait around a baggage claim. There are only a few, so you don’t have to worry about running around finding the right one, but as there are about twenty flights coming in at the same time at two in the morning, there is often an awkward amount of people waiting around on the same claim. The claim works usually pretty well, but often hits some snags. This is your first step into a country that relies nearly entirely on improvisation over planning, so if you run into a delay at this point, don’t worry about it. Just shake it off and smile. Welcome to Georgia.

waiting for friends and family to arrive

The lobby is a useful place. It used to be crowded with taxi drivers, but the government recently scared them off and forced them to give newcomers a bit of breathing room, so now they wait outside. This is your chance to pick up a SIM card (assuming your phone is unlocked… this is your best option for communication in Georgia, telecom fees and mobile internet fees are dirt cheap, so it's best to just swap your SIMs, then you can talk to your fam back home on Viber or WhatsApp).

The Tbilisi arrivals terminal

Don’t bother with any of the money changers there. If you need some cash, I advise either pulling it out at an ATM or just doing the smallest of what you need. That of course, depends on the next step of the process.

The Tbilisi airport is much like any airport in the world: A taxi mafia sits outside, waiting for the inconspicuous tourist to step out and look for an easy way into the city. They take the Trump approach and offer “great deals”, even the “best deals!”, and at only a mere 150 lari who can disagree?

Don’t listen to this nonsense.

Once upon a time, there was a sign posted in the lobby that said rides should only cost 25 GEL. I would point at that sign when negotiating with drivers as they were yelling at me for 50 or even 100 GEL. After a while, I noticed that someone had torn down the sign; it appeared to have been a violent intervention as well.

That is to say, 25 GEL is still the normative standard. Drivers may complain that they have sons, daughters, grandmothers, rabbits, or whatever to feed and they need all your money to pay for their second cousin's colon cancer treatment in Germany and so on. Maybe it’s true. Also maybe they shouldn’t be sitting at the airport waiting to give rides, competing against those who will drive for less.

Here are the best practices:

1. Use Bolt or Yandex. Before your trip, download these to your smartphone. There is free wifi in the airport, so they’re quite easy to use, even easier if you bought a SIM chip or have a functional travel plan for your mobile. For both services, it’s a set 20 or 25 GEL fee (depending on surge) into the city.

2. Use mass transit. There’s a 24-hour bus that goes to Freedom Square, up Rustaveli and eventually to the main train station. It’s 50 tetri (0.5 lari) to ride, but it does take a really long time (nearly an hour to Freedom Square and maybe over an hour and a half during rush hour). You can pay either the machine on board with coins (no change) or if you have a contactless Visa/Mastercard, then you can use that. There’s also a train, but they only run the trains twice a day, strategically timed for when there are no flights. Well done Tbilisi government!

3. Negotiate. But don’t bother with those guys standing next to the door. They even try to convince my Georgian wife that 100 GEL is the standard. Instead, go down to the Departures door and wait for a taxi driver dropping someone off. Those guys, who are not members of the taxi mafia, will often take people into town for 15 GEL. This is perhaps the best deal, but for the newcomers perhaps the most difficult to manage.

4. Don’t even speak to the taxi mafia guys. Those guys are all swindlers, and will even change the price once you arrive at your hotel/destination. Trust none of them. Don’t even think about using them “because it’s easy”. It won’t be easy in the end, and you’ll start off your trip to this wonderful country with a horrifically sour taste in your mouth.

Once you arrive at your hotel/guesthouse/airBNB, enjoy your trip. Don’t let any of that nonsense spoil your time. And don’t think they’re targeting you because your foreign, brown, black, green, female, or whatever. Those guys are ass clowns to everyone, foreigners and Georgians alike.

pulled off the official Tbilisi Airport page

Tbilisi city government, if you’re reading this, you should understand there are two very easy ways to much improve a tourist’s experience to Tbilisi, and get them having a pleasant time from the get-go.

1. Create a voucher system. Indoors, have a government/airport controlled booth selling travel vouchers for 25 or 30 GEL (or whatever standard price you decide on). This voucher then can be used for airport taxis (both ways). Airport taxis must accept the vouchers, and get reimbursed according to their vouchers.

2. RUN THE TRAINS AT THE BLOODY TIME OF THE PLANES ARRIVING. A five year old could figure this one out. An adult Georgian working at Tbilisi city hall apparently can’t. You guys literally have it all in place. Just do it. Eventually, when there’s money, I would also upgrade the Samgori train station, and run a line from Mtskheta – Didube – Station’s Square – Samgori – Airport, and have that in motion once an hour every day 24 hours a day. This would not only benefit hotels and such in Mtskheta, Station's Square, and Didube, but also make the whole transit process easier for tourists and would be massively beneficial for local Tbiliselis, and also for any Western Georgians going to the airport. Also imagine how much traffic stress that the airport causes that can be remedied (also include park and rides and long term parking facilities at all those stations!).

pulled off the official Tbilisi Airport page

​Leaving Tbilisi

It's now time to head back home and hopefully you've had a wonderful time and not too many hangovers. Getting to their airport is probably even easier than getting out of it. I'd recommend giving yourself thirty minutes to get there and an hour and a half there (people of course recommend two hours there, but it's a small airport and every time I get there early they haven't even opened the baggage check desks). The Tbilisi airport doesn't seem to have early check-in, so in most cases I wouldn't even bother with that. But do be prepared for a line, and by "line" I mean the Georgian definition of "massive amount of people elbowing each other".

You can get there by taxi. That fee should be around 25 GEL. If someone offers you something more expensive, don't take it. Instead use Bolt or Yandex. There's also the #37 bus (50 tetri) from Station's Square that hits Rustaveli and Baratishvili (near Freedom Square) every hour or so.

You'll check in, then ride the escalators up to security, then passport control, and then you can wait around in the lobby and sip on ten dollar coffee or twenty-five dollar glasses of two dollar wine. Enjoy!

#Tbilisi #traveltips

Putin protesting protests of Putin

(enjoy my first rebooted vlog bit... it's more done just to be audio/podcast of the blog below, but maybe I'll add some effects later to the series and make it more vloggish, let me know what you think in the comments)

Georgia is safe.

I’ve got to repeat that time and time again, despite the popular draws the country has into the international media. The citizenry generally struggle to be known for positive things, like cheese boats with eggs, wine, techno clubs, and fashion, but the real draw in our disaster porn-obsessed culture seems to be civil unrest and war with Russia. To be sure, the ongoing occupation of Abkhazia and South Ossetia are pressing concerns, but they don't really effect the climate for tourism, and if you don't travel there, you'll even have no idea that part of the country is barred by demarcation lines.

Like any country, things go wrong. The government has its problems, the city has its corruption, these things aren’t really that strange in the developing world, nor are they in the West. The United States (my home country) has been under wave of wave of violent protests, from BLM to Proud Boys to “antifa”, most of these end up with looting, beatings, tear gas, and mass arrests. So when a bit of that revolutionary spirit sparked up in my adopted home of Tbilisi, the emails and concerned calls phoned in. It’s a small country making international news for protests, so of course it must be big news, never mind that it’s just par for the course in a democratic country. It was actually far less violent than most American protests are (of course, if my American friends were imagining a modern American-style protest going down, I can see why they were concerned!).

After the unrest followed the typical bellicose sentiments of the Russian government, trying to drum up a dose of conspiracy and anxiety in order to gain support from their own waning electorate. Putin declared that Georgia was unsafe for Russian citizens and inexplicably placed a travel ban on the country. In response, the Georgians have a launched a movement to drum up tourism from other countries, the #spendyoursummeringeorgia campaign.

Despite Putin’s utmost, heartfelt concern for his citizens (/endsarcasm), Georgia remains a safe place, even for Russians. Georgians are for the most part welcoming people and though there are things wrong with the country (as in any country), there are also a great deal of things right in the country, especially for vacationers.

Image ripped from this CNN article who apparently got it from Vano Shlamov on Getty Images. Being a blog 6 people read means I can feel free to rip off images.

The low down

Russia has revived a kind of soft power they had once perfected in the Soviet days, focusing again more on propaganda and image to go along with strong military action rather than having any use for actual diplomatic relations. One of the main branches of its soft power is the Russian Orthodox Church, with little difference in the Soviet days of its KGB control and in modern days serving under FSB auspices—note also that Putin had his upcoming in the FSB regarding religious affairs. I’m not saying there aren’t legitimate complaints about Western culture, but that’s the thing—they’ve hijacked the legitimate complaints which should be a dialogue within Western culture to push a global Us vs. Them paradigm, making it instead between all the bad things about liberalism vs. Russia (which is only about good, God-fearing things, apparently), and if you are discontent with liberalism and/or the West, then you must kiss Putin’s hand, or at the very least, give a hand in destroying Western “Gayropean” institutions like NATO, the European Union, and the United States (which is simply gay, obviously not “-opean”)—and if you don’t, you hate families and God and all that’s holy.

if that's not Gayropean, I don't know what is. Ripped from this Eurasianet post.

It’s been a long and an immensely well-played game, one that has even pitted Orthodox Church against Orthodox Church, turning in the eyes of much of the Orthodox laity the Greek Orthodox into a nest of CIA vipers and Putin into a veritable Saint-Emperor. It’s also a game that outspoken liberals jump willy-nilly into as useful idiots, proclaiming that the NATO agenda is the gay agenda, that the future of Europe is in pink-boa-wrapped runway dance-offs at Berghain with sodomite orgies spilling down Kurfurstendamm or the Champs d’Elysees, thus playing into the entire fears that Putin has been capitalizing on (see also: brown people).

One such Orthodox institution the Russians have managed to hijack for their own political game and pursuit is the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy, an assembly that was started by the Greeks to help revive the Orthodox Churches in the post-Soviet territories and get them to cooperate. Unwittingly, the Greeks seemed unprepared for the neo-Sergianism that went along with this, a policy of the Russian Orthodox Church under the Communist regime to be willingly allegiant to the government in order to survive, and thereby actively cooperate with the regime in placing KGB spies throughout the priesthood—a practice that has not likely been discontinued in present times, just with a swap of acronyms (the players though are pretty much the same).

The Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy has been led by a Russian parliamentarian, Sergei Popov, re-elected on two-year terms since 2004. And though the Russians have parted their ways with Ecumenicism in their current slash-and-conquer ecclesiastical tactics, it doesn’t mean that they haven’t been using inter-Orthodox groups to wage their political power games and their dominance of the IAO is one such result. This doesn’t mean that the IAO is altogether malignant; cross-border cooperation is a positive thing after all, and the more multilateral institutions the better, even and perhaps especially those with Russian representatives, as that remains at least one outlet that communication can be had. It’s good Greece, Georgia, et al. take part in groups like the IAO, but we should be aware that Russia’s interests are not religious interests, except where the interests of the Church are that of the Russian state. The Georgian Orthodox Church, meddle as it does in Georgian politics (though I’m of the opinion that churches have every right to meddle, just as any other member of civil society), is still an independent organization, and praiseworthy for it. It is not a tool of the Georgian state, nor will it allow itself to be. The same cannot be said for the Church in Russia.

The latest meeting of the IAO was held in Tbilisi. This itself wasn’t enough to spark the riot, but that it was chaired by a Russian Minister of Parliament, Sergei Gavrilov. To me it reveals the great cynicism of Russia’s approach to religion: That an MP from the Communist Party of Russia would chair an Orthodox summit. Gavrilov is no stranger to this sort of hubris, as he has made regular religious appeals despite his upstanding position in an officially atheist community—a student of Stalin indeed. Gavrilov is also quite famous for making bold statements about how Georgia really belongs to Russia, or should, and is rumored to have even taken an active part in the Abkhaz war in the 90s. All that to say: Gavrilov is not, nor has ever been, a popular man in Georgia.

The IAO meeting was held in the Parliament building in the center of Tbilisi. Gavrilov, as chair, sat in the Georgian Parliamentary Speaker’s chair. The opposition was immediately insulted by this (nothing new, they’re insulted by everything, but at least now something with due cause), they bolted out, spread the word and immediately protests sparked up—Georgians seeing this Communist Russian MP sitting in their Speakers’ chair took it as a huge insult to their national pride, especially with a view of a government that many claim to be soft on Russia.

Everybody is pretty much in agreement with most of this. It’s what happened next that was disputed: Either the oppositionists attempted to storm Parliament, or the police just got overly nervous and started going crazy. I’ve heard conflicting reports from people there—I, having been trying to wean myself off Facebook addiction, didn’t even realize there was a major protest going down—but the end result of the tense showdown was that the police were firing rubber bullets indiscriminately into the crowd and launching canisters of tear gas like they were curled up shirts at a sports game. When the night was over, over a hundreds civilians and police had been injured, two people lost an eye, and dozens detained.

In honor of the two who lost their eye on the first night, protesters began to wear red eye patches. Ripped from this Al Jazeera article.

The next day, protests resumed. This time not so much about Gavrilov (though it definitely maintained a strong anti-Putin and anti-Russian government/occupation narrative), but more so about the police handling of the protest against Gavrilov (who safely left and even said he felt safe in “his homeland”—Gavrilov, from Tul, Russia, either is referring to his maternal grandfather who was Georgian or that he sees no difference between Russia and Georgia, a statement he has made in the past). As the hours passed and more speakers contributed to the protest, more and more issues were raised. There is a lot of discontent with the current political process, after all. The majority of the protest organizers seemed to have been content with pushing the agenda of changing the majoritarian style of Parliamentary elections, and having direct representation as well, meaning that participation in the Parliament would be allowed for even parties that didn’t have 5%.

International reaction

International journalists were languishing in the Georgian capital. It’s been over 10 years since the last war, and large protests had been handled pretty well since then. As soon as the rubber bullets were loaded, the contingent was there, eager to represent Georgia as a country in chaos and make every penny they could off their sensationalist dollars ready to cash in on the typical sensationalist moolah. And though the reality was that the protesting (and violence of one night) was localized to the Parliament (though tear gas did float down the neighboring city streets), that isn’t what gets clicks man! (I can’t entirely blame the international press though, as their Georgian counterparts were equally stirred to action). Even the protests every other night after were entirely peaceful and well-conducted on all sides.

Russia though, had a strange reaction. The protest was anti-Russian government. There were many naughty signs of Putin, no doubt. But the protests were not anti-Russian people (I’ve even watched a few Russian vloggers who were there). Putin, dismayed about the treatment of his MP (who is not of his party) and I suppose, insulted by the signs, declared Georgia unsafe and banned tourism travel. But why? Because they protested him? The Russian government even had RT and Sputnik, along with their local state media branches, ripping montages of foreign reports and making them appear as though they were attacking and focusing on Russian people.

Russia occupies through military and puppet regimes, 20 percent of Georgia's territory. Image ripped from this Emerging Europe article.

This is like if Trump decided to declare the United Kingdom unsafe for Americans and banned travel there, simply because they protested against him. Putin has held Georgia economically hostage before—back in 2007 they declared a wine embargo. The Georgians were basically forced to improve the quality of their wine in order to hit the European market. The result was that it led a lot of Georgians to rediscover their own traditional wines and old, long-unused varietals, leading to a minor vinicultural renaissance of the heavenly nectar. If anything, the Russians lifting the ban was a bad thing, leading Georgians to resume mass sale of cheap wine to an easy target market.

So what effect will the Russian ban on tourism have?

Georgian reaction

The Georgians doubled down. When Putin banned tourism, they essentially bit their thumbs and said, “Screw you, we don’t need your tourists anyway, we’ll get other people to come!” (By other people, they largely mean rich Europeans and Americans, not rich Arabs or Iranians). That’s when they launched their hashtag tourism campaign, to help drum up interest in traveling here.

There’s some debate on how big of a market the Russian tourists were. Many say that though they were huge in numbers, they weren’t big spenders. Others say the opposite. Who knows. But hopefully the tourism trade can go the same direction as the wine trade. There are huge needs in infrastructure here for tourism development, and if Georgians are as willing to meet those challenges as they were the challenges of the wine industry, then there’s nothing but success for this country ahead.

But first some hardship as they are losing a sizeable share of the tourism market. Hopefully they can get over that initial hurdle. But if it’s one thing I don’t doubt is that when Georgians finally set their mind to something, there’s very little that can stop them.

#holidays #Tbilisi #rantsandraves #history

The Great Wall of Sighnaghi

My wife skipped town to Switzerland, so I decided to skip town myself. I thought it’d be a good chance to work on my book, cleaning up and changing things that I didn’t feel quite right about. So I needed somewhere quiet and scenic for my little “writer’s retreat”, and preferably close because I hate riding marshrutkas.

Sighnaghi was perfect for me. I couldn’t imagine what could lead to a more productive time than sipping on coffee with an incredible view of the Alazani Valley and the wall of mountains that lies beyond. So I went to Samgori metro station, hopped on the next marshrutka, and made the one-hour journey.

My luck had it that I was the last person on the marshrutka, which meant I had the unenviable “bitch seat”. That meant I was in the front, squeezed between a passenger—an old, man-spreading gent—and the driver, with my long legs somehow trying to stay out of the way of the stick shift, and just hoping the driver grabbed the right stick.

But I made it fine and my trip went most excellent.

A bit of history

Sighnaghi gets a bad rap as a “tourist town”, and expats hate it because it “isn’t authentic”. I say they must not have been to any number of beautiful little towns in Europe where people go to relax. “Authentic” isn’t always on the list, but beautiful is, and you normally don’t get to mix the two unless your balls-rich, especially in Eastern Europe where authentic is more-often-than-not defined by brutal concrete blocks and faux sportsmen standing around eating sunflower seeds bumming cigarettes off passersby. No offense to Eastern European lifestyles (heck, my hood is more than authentic and I love it) but sometimes you just want to have a bit of fresh air and some beautiful things around you.

The town has an old history. Situated at the end of the Gombori Range with a commanding view of the valley, it’s always been a place of strategic importance: the Alazani Valley has served as the “Gateway to Georgia” for invader after invader, from Parthians to Arabs, Mongolians to Persians to Qajars (perhaps even in that order). The fact then that this is one of the most fortified ancient towns in Georgia shouldn’t be of any surprise. The current wall system though isn’t that old, as King Erekle II had much of the fort system redesigned, repaired, and rebuilt in the 1700s. The efficacy of the fortifications have always been under question though, as it has never really seemed to stop those pesky invading armies…

a commanding view indeed!

All that said, it is therefore an authentic tourist town. There are old things there that they didn’t just invent. The bad rap comes from when Saakashvili was president and he dumped a load of dough onto the town, and they went in and redid all the facades and cobbled the streets. That would have been fine had the locals reciprocated and refurnished their houses, but for the most part they had no money, so speculators just bought in and sat on the properties, leaving those weirdly nice facades covering up ruined interiors, creating this kind of ghost town medieval wild-west movie set feeling going on.

still true off the beaten path

That’s been changing though (slowly, ever-so-slowly). With more guest houses and hotels opening up, restaurants and cafes everywhere, it’s starting to feel like an actual resort town (true, not “authentic”, but neither is Cesky Krumlov, Hallstatt, Rothenberg, Paris, and so on). It’s got a beautiful “old town” vibe, almost as old as any of those (cobblestones are actually a fairly modern thing, most European cities had streets of mostly mud and crap, with stepping stones), and the best view south of the Greater Caucasus Range. The locals have begun to realize how perfectly situated they are, and they’re starting to understand tourism a bit, so for people on their own, it also makes a great spot as you can jump on a tour to almost anywhere in the region, or create your own for far cheaper than anything out of Tbilisi—it’s an easy region to get your fill of wineries, monasteries, and castles, depending on which is your poison. It’s also central to the primary wine region of the land, so there’s that too.

a side alley down a residential street

To bring real change and "authenticiy", something truly revolutionary needs to be done. I think the Tbilisi Music Conservatory, and/or a premiere art school, needs to open a campus in the old town of Sighnaghi, sending students for 6 months to a year to study there (also a tourism college could do the same). At minimum one term if they can't handle being outside of Tbilisi that long. Part of the curriculum would be to organize an art festival, art exhibition, music festival, or concert in a concert hall. If this were to be done, it would elevate Sighnaghi to be not just a destination for tourists, but also for locals, and it would be an all around exotic, interesting, beautiful, and authentic place, and all those sad empty facades would spring to life.

Sighnaghi National Museum

At the center of town, there’s the history museum, which really shouldn’t be missed. On the first floor is a large display of artifacts with a lot historical background of Sighnaghi and Kakheti. The upstairs features an exhibition by a Georgian artist and also a permanent installation of the famous Pirsomani, who was from a small town nearby (Mirzaani, check out the house museum in the village, or read more about the painter here, of course, just like any destination in Georgia, it’s nearly impossible for tourists to get to outside of taking a tour or taxi).

wondering about the weird statutes in Tbilisi? they're often inspired by the ancient arts

After the art exhibition, the arrows point you into the museum café, which doesn’t seem to operate (it should, with both a beautiful interior and a stunning view and terrace, it’s bizarre that nothing is happening there). But one of the museum operators was a friendly and talkative guy, impressed that I wasn’t a Russian tourist and I could speak some Georgian. In fact, I kind of felt like a celebrity superstar around town with these two attributes, as I’ve never had such a bizarrely positive time in my solo travels in the country (not that I lack in positive times here). He collects American quarters—the ones with the states on the back—so if you’re a visiting American, pop in to help his collection.

The town walls

As I’ve mentioned, the fortifications aren’t exactly “medieval” as they were built in the 18th century, but they’re medieval enough for me. Also, what’s not cooler than strolling along what could easily be termed the Great Wall of Georgia, walking the battlements from tower to tower? The walls actually seem maintained and relatively safe as well, completely unlike Narikala Castle in the center of Tbilisi, which seems about to crumble down with the next load of tourists climbing around, sending a rain of stones and Russians upon the Zoroastrian fire temple down below.

walking along the walls

even the towers are accessible

Bodbe Monastery

For fans of the famous Hamlet line, “Get thee to a nunnery!” Bodbe is the perfect site. Originally a monastery built in the 4th century (current building from the 9th), it’s now a functioning nunnery, where the Ninos and Tamars hide away from their village for about nine months before coming out a refreshed and pure young woman again. Nun jokes aside, it is a beautiful religious area, and is said to be the place where St. Nino retired after the conversion of the Georgians to Christianity in the early 4th century. King Mirian III of Kakheti built a small monastery there in her honor, and it became the preferred place for the coronation of most of Kakheti’s future kings.

the 9th century church covered with 18th century murals

A spring of miraculous healing waters below the monastery are said to have been blessed by the saint, and are found down below the new main cathedral, accessible by the newly built stairway. To get back up, they’ve built a meditative pathway that meanders up a meadow underneath the cathedral.

When the Russians came in, Georgia’s natural “Orthodox brothers” abolished the monastery just as they abolished the Georgian Orthodox Church, and they downgraded the site to a simple parish. Despite their efforts, in the 1860s, the Archmandrite Macarius Batatashvili did his best to repair the facility and make a school of Georgian chant. It’s perhaps his luck that the Russians didn’t also whitewash over the beautiful painted 18th century murals—a common practice of the Russians of that period—which are still visible today. To his credit though, Tsar Alexander III did command the rebuilding of the monastery, but this time designated it as a nunnery (which makes a bit more sense, given its dedication to a female saint).

the new 21st century cathedral

It was again shut down in 1924, this time by the Soviets, and again reopened in 1991. For any visitor to Sighnaghi interested in religion, history, or architecture, it’s a must-see site. Especially as they finish the new cathedral, itself a beautiful monument in this age of glass, mushrooms, and maxipads that flourish in Tbilisi.

A taxi should take about 5 laris to get there. Otherwise you can go like me and just walk. It’s about 45-minutes on foot, with the first half a pretty steep incline, but then it levels off through a forest. The traffic is light, as the road leaves the highway fairly early and then is on a dedicated road to the site. As I mention below, there’s a nice patio place to get coffee, beer, wine, or even shisha along the way.

The Guesthouse Experience

I stayed at Zandarashvili Family Hotel (call them at +995 555 383 837, they speak English and Russian) this last trip. My second trip to the town, when I showed it off to my parents, we had stayed there, and I’m planning to guide another tour and use this house as my base. It’s off in a slightly more residential street of town, so off the map of the roving Russian tour groups, but still close enough to take it all in. The backside is off a cliff, with a commanding view of some of the medieval walls and towers, as well as the main mountain range itself.

amazing views from the balconies

I love guesthouses. Mainly because I love hostels. Guesthouses like Zandarashvili are like hostels for grownups. It’s cheap and you get to mingle with other guests, but you still get your privacy. The family there is great and welcoming, and you get much of the famous “Georgian hospitality” that Tbilisi tends to lack. In fact, many of the family members used to live in Tbilisi, but after having their go at boring desk jobs, they came back and decided to invest their time and energy into the guesthouse, tours, and wines, and they all do an excellent job (they make some great qvevri wines too, bottled for sale as well, at 10 lari a bottle for excellent wine it’s not a hard decision where to stock up your suitcase, be sure to ask Giorgi for a tasting).

Zandarashvili's street/authentic Sighnaghi

Restaurants and cafes

As I was there to work, that’s what I did. I toured all the outside garden areas of restaurants and set up my work area—manuscript stack, laptop, and boom. There’s a plethora of restaurants there to eat and drink wine, though there does seem to be an extraordinary and inexplicable lack of cafes—as most of the interiors seem a bit ornate and overdone, rather than “homely”, it feels awkward to just sit somewhere and have a coffee and croissant. Which definitely makes it more of a summer destination to me. There used to be a lovely little coffeeshop, Kedeli, which also served as a charity for the mentally handicapped, but that’s since shut down.

the view from Kanudosi

This last visit I didn’t really eat at any restaurants. The guesthouse where I was staying has excellent cooks, and the sons either join the guests or have their friends over to eat, creating quite a festive and fun atmosphere every night. For anyone staying solo, staying in for dinner is probably the best way to go (not to mention the bottomless and most excellent wine, which will also ensure you a hangover in the morning).

Espresso-based coffee in a comfortable outdoor environment can be a bit of a challenge to get—much of the town is running off Turkish coffee, which is a fine alternative and definitely more to the local taste. I was pleasantly surprised then while walking back from Bodbe to find Club Kanudosi, which not only has americanos but also has an amazingly awesome view of the village and mountains (obviously I spent over half the day working on my manuscript here). So for coffee addicts, make the 5-minute walk uphill and out of town for this spot.

also the view from Kanudosi

Getting there

Though the locals have started to pick up on tourism opportunities, the Gods of Georgian Transportation have been eerily quiet (or dead… they seem to be dead, possibly having been mistaken for a dragon). Though it wouldn’t take too much relative effort to renovate the Kakheti rail-line to Tsnori and have shuttle services up the hill, it clearly takes more effort than any Georgian in the government or shadow government is willing to do, never mind it would be a clear boon to tourism, and of a huge benefit to the locals (imagine living in a Kakheti village, surrounded by vineyards and fresh air, and taking the rail to commute to work in Tbilisi… pipe dreams though!).

a little touristy? sure. but also a little beautiful

Nobody has even thought of a bus line there, with most Georgians just thinking tourists are fine with paying 100 lari for a taxi or jumping on a tour bus full of Russians or Poles…

All that said, you can take a lovely marshrutka from the Samgori metro station. By “lovely” I mean overcrowded, smelly, and possibly containing chickens. There is also clearly something to all the icons hanging in front above the dashboard, as they miraculously do manage to take people safely to their destinations. Most of the time. But anyway, you were just whining that cobblestones aren’t “authentic”, so here’s your dose of authenticism!

By the way, people might tell you of a “schedule” for these marshrutkas. Ignore them. They leave when they’re full (squeezed in and unable to breath). I did however, discover one immensely nice marshrutka running the route. He’s said to leave Samgori around 9 in the morning, and he takes the 1 o’clock route leaving Sighnaghi back to Tbilisi (I luckily caught the return route). It’s spacious, roomy, smells okay, plays the standard Russian 80s marshrutka music, and is in general a positive experience. I actually wouldn’t have such a problem with marshrutkas if this were the standard. FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT’S HOLY, TAKE THAT MARSHRUTKA!

#wine #holidays #fairytalevillages #castles #Hallstatt #amalfi #coffee #churches #touristicsites