Borjomi: Ruins of a Resort

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FFQc0tEN7o

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Borjomi was the bizarre wonderland of the Russian tsars. I say “bizarre” because if I was the supreme ruler of the Caucasus, than it really is a peculiar place to choose. It’s certainly a beautiful place, but kind of on a second tier of beautiful places in a region that abounds in beautiful places. And the thing that’s really made it famous, the springs, is a far cry from something I’d spend two weeks and a large guard to get to and hang out at. But it became the local Romanov go-to vacation resort, and as such, what once was a military garrison town popped up palace after palace to cater to the affairs of the Court and the hundreds of attendants and secretaries that would follow along.

First impressions

When I first went to Borjomi 10 years ago, I saw what appeared to be the ruins of a resort town. Something of a town post-collapse, mites and beetles hiding underneath the remains of what must have been a glorious Soviet getaway. But in the weirdness that was Soviet and Russian culture, it was all ruins of a strange children’s kitsch, as though some factory in China were busy making slight alterations to Disney characters to make second-rate themed amusement rides for developing countries. And though that’s still very much the case now, back then it was even weirder, what with all the vines and vegetation that was then growing over everything (now it's only growing over half of everything).

Random corner near the park

The parks are filled with falling apart buildings, old hotels and past-Pioneer lodges, swimming pool projects that were never finished, half-planned dreams that were never even half-realized. But around these crumbling concrete aberrations there is still life. A small bazaar of Chinese children’s toys here, Russians having a faux-supra with rot wine there, some Saudis piling onto a jeep to ride the nature trail over there. Sometimes a new guesthouse sprouts some life like a hopeful seedling trying to break free through the shadowy undergrowth.

I do find this kind of living ruin a bit charming, and it certainly is a quiet escape from the bustle and hubbub that Tbilisi can get to be. The town is snuggled in a valley in the low Lesser Caucasus, following the Mtkvari River north and south, and going up a gentle gorge along a rapid spring perpendicular to the river. There’s a nice boardwalk that follows the river, with several bridges spanning the way. It forms the main artery of life for the town, where the locals wander and gather and live primarily. Most of the towns shops and amenities can be found here, as well as a growing number of guesthouses.

Still a few fancy hotels along the tourist route

The gorge features a whitewater spring as well as the premiere boardwalk of the town. It was along here that tourism was originally oriented. Indeed, it’s a cozy and beautiful stretch, almost a walk in the woods along a river except for the woods on occasion being broken up by high dollar hotels, palaces, and glamorous buildings-that-once-were. Truly, at every turn it’s hard to tell if Borjomi is a town coming up or coming down.

a river runs through it

The founding of a resort

Borjomi was “discovered” (in much the same way white people discover things everywhere where people are already living) by the Russians in the 1810s (indeed, Georgians have been living there since practically the dawn of time, but to be fair the Ottomans had basically murdered or forced out everyone living in the valley, so perhaps “discovered” is an okay enough term). Russians, like Europeans anywhere during that time, were obsessed with the fad of “curative waters”. When Russians had finally annexed Georgia and gave the Ottomans a romping, the soldiers who were garrisoned there found some curative waters of their own. They set up some baths and had a party.

But then the governor discovered the party. The Russian Viceroy Yevgeny Golovin brought his daughter there, which triggered a whole array of Russian nobility to flood the valley and brought the place back to life, with palaces, resorts, and several mineral water bottling companies, giving Borjomi its current fame.

Because of the huge attention then brought on by the nobility, it became a destination of sorts for Russians. Many just wanted to get out of the cold, wintry hell that was (insert Russian city name here) and relocate to somewhere inhabitable and friendly (give or take an Ottoman or two). Some came with the military and decided to stay, having now a Georgian son or daughter. Whatever the case, it was quickly Russified and by the turn of the 20th century there ended up being more Russians than Georgians even.

Modern times

Even today, Borjomi is very much a Russian town. Russians still flock there, despite it being something of a forgotten paradise, enjoying the Chinese trinkets available in the rows of souvenir shops, and the broken, run-down amusement park left behind by the Communist overlords of days past, the swings and ropes dangling in the wind as if still played on by the ghosts of an economic Chernobyl. And though more Georgians live there these days, they’ve kind of given up on being Georgian and many continue speaking Russian as the main language, indeed it’s more useful business-wise with all the tourists. When I try to speak Georgian to local staff, they mostly ignore it and continue speaking Russian. The assumption being that I’m a tourist in Borjomi and the ONLY tourists in Borjomi are Russians (unless of course, my wife were clad in a niqab), so I must speak Russian (of which I do, but that’s beside the point).

Chinese trinket shops (and some local honey) line the walk

In every way Borjomi is truly set to be a tourism paradise if it just can get out of its post-Soviet spell of sluggishness. From Borjomi, it’s a short train ride/drive to Bakuriani, one of the main Alpine ski resorts in the country. Across the river is Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park, one of the better developed hiking zones in Georgia (granted, whoever made the trails there needs to learn about switchbacks). About 2 hours away is the cave monastery of Vardzia, one hour to Rabati, and a score of other historic monasteries, and all up and down the valley in which Borjomi sits there is littered monastery and castle after monastery and castle.

So why is it still so… sleepy?

I brought my guests there this last time around, and nothing was open before 10. Literally nothing. Which meant not even a coffee or a croissant (if you’re lucky, you might find a Mobile Coffee van lingering about in the morning mists). The restaurants for the most part are still focused on only serving the Georgian “peasant food”, that is, khachapuri and khinkali, neither of which are local to Borjomi, and each restaurant isn’t that much different from the next. Price and atmosphere are really the only variations here. Do you want faux-fancy, with white everything? Then head to the rail station and stop at Rcheuli or Metropoli. Do you want faux-folk? Old Borjomi is a good choice (probably the tastiest option) or Inka. Everything in town though seems leftover from a previous Age, a general feeling of malaise… or waiting… Hanging about town gives you the constant feeling that something is going to happen... and then nothing ever does.

Borjomi Park

Crowning the boardwalk in what once was a beautiful square and now is a beautiful parking lot, there’s a long children’s park most of which I’ve described that follows the river. There are some neat things, like a children’s ropes course (not that it functions) and some bumper cars. There are a lot of things that don’t operate anymore too, like a rollercoaster, swimming pool, and whatever the heck the permanently under reconstruction building was.

The main thing to see in the park is the Statue of Prometheus, which sits at the base of a 20 meter waterfall. It’s surprisingly easy to miss. However, as you walk along, you’ll pass over a bridge and then there will be a little sitting area on the left. The statue is on the opposite side of the river.

Prometheus, who was chained to a mountain in the Caucasus

Past the developed park is the nature trail. It’s a pleasant walk, except that you have to jump out of the way of the occasional 4X4. I’m not sure why Georgians seem to want to develop tourism around people who don’t want to walk, but that’s the thing, so better to just get over it and stay on your toes.

Also near the entrance is the famed "Borjomi spring" where you can fill up your own non-carbonated Borjomi mineral water. For some reason, you're not allowed to bring 5-gallon jugs, but anything smaller is fine. You could even bring 5 one-gallon jugs if you wanted to.

fill up your jugs with this self-prescribed hangover medication

There's a nominal fee of 2 lari a person into the park.

You can also ride the Soviet cable car up to another amusement park above the city, which has a ferris wheel, some lookouts, a couple of cafes, a monastery, and a long walk along a auto road to come to the springs from above.

Borjomi Springs

I mentioned before the sorry state of the springs. But now they’ve renovated it. After about a 45-minute walk down the river, through the children's park and down the hiking trail, you’ll find yourself at a modern swimming pool with changing rooms and fairly clean squat toilets. The entry is 5 lari a person, on top of the 2 lari you paid into the park itself. There’s a little bar too, but prepare to pay exorbitant amounts of money for anything to drink.

Don’t expect hot water though. It’s not a “hot spring”, but a “mineral spring” (smells of sulfur, like the baths in Tbilisi, but not hot). The water is lukewarm at best. I actually think they should just install some water heaters and fake it. We went in autumn, and it was barely enough to knock the chill off. So best time to partake in mineral water activities is in the summer.

The future

Borjomi could do more to highlight its connection to Bakuriani, making the jump from train to train easier (for now you have to go across town, with no clear public transit—there actually is a modern bus that follows the river, but you’ve got to figure that one out on your own). Update the train, currently it’s just an elektrichka that clugs along—why depend on marshrutkas when you HAVE A BLEEPING TRAIN LINE?!!! The recreation area can be tended a bit better too. Though it’s great they’ve made the effort for a family inclusive environment, half of the playground equipment in the main park isn’t maintained or used. Clear it out. Make some places for romantic getaways (don’t forget how babies are made in the first place!).

Rent from the best company in Georgia, Family Cars

My ultimate dream though is to be able to take a canoe down the Mtkvari from Borjomi to Tbilisi. Really, my dream is from Vardzia to Tbilisi, but I realize that might be stretching it. As it is, it’s not really a near possibility, but I’ve got my fingers crossed… We also ran into a lot of bicyclists, but that’s got to be a nightmare route, contending with the drivers on the narrow Borjomi road. Now a bicycle/hiking path… okay, the sooner I get back to drinking some wine the sooner I might get my head out of the clouds…

#Borjomi #holidays #touristicsites #southgeorgia

Rabati Reborn

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIEBU9OIDwM

It was once a pile of crumbling ruins on the hill of a sad metropolis. Always grey skies, or raining, or if not that then sunny, hot, and dusty. Then one day someone had a grand vision to rebuild it all and make a wedding house out of it, somewhere nice for the locals of Akhalsitkhe to take fancy pictures and maybe not have their celebration in some hotel that for the rest of the year serves as a brothel or a refuge for very lost tourists.

That is, I guess, how Rabati came to be.

And why not?

I’ll admit I’ve been a detractor myself. But what was once there before was hardly a useful place to bring tourists, and now that I’ve been to Rabati with bright-eyed tourists not yet bogged down by the cynicism of thousands of liters of wine, I’ve grown to appreciate the site myself.

entering Rabati

A bit of history

The grounds here are fertile with history, and though what has bloomed is nothing but a complex of hotels, meeting rooms, and Instagram-perfect portrait studios, it’s still something beautiful where there was only the vague remnants of grey stone. And to their credit, they took some effort to restore the semblance of the great castle and citadel that once stood there. So why not indeed?

Come for the castle, stay for the "Gino paradise", whatever that means

What stands now as Rabati Castle was first built by Georgians as Lomisa Castle in the 9th century and by the 13th century was the capital of the Principality of Samtskhe, ruled over by the House of Jakeli. Here Queen Tamar often stayed, commanding her legions against the Turks, sending out her husband-consort David Soslan to crush the Turks at Bassiani and secure a hundred years or so of peace and prosperity for the Georgians.

Those golden years would end with Tamerlane and his “Mongols” riding in and devastating any land that would stand against him. In 1393, Lomisa finally fell. The fortress carried on nominally independent but mostly under Persian Safavid rule, a dismal reminder of what glory there had once been, until finally it was ceded to the Ottomans in 1590.

The Ottomans completely redesigned the castle. A medieval city within the curtain walls (now something of a park and restaurant/hotel complex) led up the stairs to the actual castle, itself having two more layers. There was the outer layer, which held the mosque and an Islamic school (and an Orthodox church that managed to peter on through the Ottoman regime, good news for all those weddings), and the further interior containing the citadel, where the regional governor would have lived and also where the dungeon was (and in the case of an invasion, the site of a last stand for the castle).

The mosque, freshly restored during the renovations (but only as a museum... until Hagia Sophia is restored!)

The Ottomans were constantly banging heads with the Romanovs, as the Turkish and Russian empires shared a very long border, from Crimea down to Armenia, tearing the Georgian territories into numerous parts. The Russians, for their part, were at least gluing some of those bits together under their own sovereignty, and in 1810 launched an attack to claim Samskhe-Javakheti, which meant confronting the Ottomans at Rabati. The Ottomans held up, but finally lost to the combined Russian and Georgian forces under the Russian general, Ivan Paskevich after some 30 years of intermittent fighting.

The old madrasa

It was then largely abandoned and ignored, falling into severe ruin (like most of the string of fortresses in the region), until 2011 when renovations took place (unlike most of the string of fortresses in the region). If you want to get a look at an “authentic” castle, or get a feel for what Rabati once looked like, you can visit Akhalkalaki, about an hour and a half away.

Akhaltsikhe from above

Feeling like a wedding? Just maybe you'll get some better weather...

Now though there are beautiful gardens, a wedding chapel, a history museum, and a citadel, all back and looking as good as new... because they are as good as new. You can walk along the ramparts, explore the entrance tunnels, view the city from above, and see an exhibit of what Meskhetian houses look like (in the citadel).

Heading up to the citadel

The castle gardens... one wonders if it was so beautiful in medieval times...

Getting to Rabati isn't too hard, but it is uncomfortable, as passenger rail no longer goes there from Tbilisi (you can take it as far as Borjomi, then you have to get on a marshrutka, I have no idea when this stopped, but it's clear that there was passenger rail in Soviet times, a period which any train lover gets all teary-eyed). It is, luckily, only a 10 minute walk from the marshrutka station. Akhalsitkhe Marshrutkas leave from Didube in Tbilisi.

If you're driving, note that the parking lot and entrance to the castle is here. At the traffic circle, you'll want to go under the passenger rail bridge.

Not just Rabati

There’s a history museum there. But I recommend anyone visiting to go there before 6 and actually see it. I’ve never been, as Rabati is always my last stop giving tours, first Vardzia, then Khertvisi, then here. If you have the time, Akhalsitkhe is definitely worth visiting for a few days, so to also see all the secondary sites, and here I don’t mean just the history museum, but also 10th century Sapara Monastery (if you haven’t been overwhelmed by churches and monasteries on your visit to Georgia, than perhaps this a tier one sight, better than Rabati), Tmogvi, Vanis Cave Monastery, the old half-abandoned mud-roofed Meskhetian villages, and by extension the megaliths on the other side of the Tianeti Range. But if you have a day you’ve got a day, eh?

There will always be those detractors about Rabati, claiming this or that is not “authentic” enough. Go around half of Europe. You mean to tell me those castles are the least bit authentic?

Where to stay and eat?

I've only stayed in Akhalsitkhe once. It was in a real budget-rate hotel, with an Armenian wedding going on downstairs, and I imagine the place wasn't used for anything savory during the off season. But Akhalsitkhe looks light years better than what I remember it as, and might be even worth a visit. If you've got the money, you can even stay at a luxury hotel within the castle itself: Hotel Gino Wellness. The restaurant across from there is also strangely affordable for being right smack in the middle of the main tourist attraction.

Hotel Gino's internal examination

If you're staying, I recommend eating at Pizza and Cake House at 61 Kostava and ordering a pizza. It's more of a xachapuri/pizza or perhaps a calzone, with the pizza baked into the bread itself. We ordered one set of topping and got another set, so be ready for a surprise. It was delicious though, so I can't argue about what we got.

If you want to eat on the road to or from Vardzia, I'd recommend hitting Cafe Leki, which is about at the halfway point on the highway. Super friendly people, and their entire selection of food is grown and slaughtered by the family, from tomatoes to pigs.

If you don't have a car, then it's easiest to stay in town. If you do have a car, then maybe it's even better to make this trip into two or three nights and base yourself near Vardzia at my favorite place, Guesthouse Tirebi in Aspindza.

#Akhaltsikhe #Rabati #castles #touristicsites #history

Vardzia, Khertvisi, and the House of Tears

The day before we had had our failed quest to reach the megaliths of Paravani. We kept to our schedule and made it to the Vardzia area late at night, after eating at Akhalkalaki and a short pee-stop at a derailed train hanging over the river (and then a short search for where the hell the rail line whence that train car came from was).

The Guest House

I wish we had just pushed on and ate dinner at the place we were staying, Guest House Tirebi. When we arrived, the kitchen was still open, and guests were served in something of a great hall—stone walls and long wooden tables, the only thing killing the mood was the bright tiling. But it was all beautiful nevertheless. The kid was hungry, so we had some food brought out for him. From the American-style pancakes served in the morning though, I wish I had ordered dinner there was well. Terrific stuff.

At Guesthouse Tears

The family had started as hoteliers about ten years ago. They got a grant from the American government, and subsequently built two hotels by hand. The hotel we stayed at was right on the side of the highway to Vardzia, overlooking a small lake and with a nice view down the canyon to a random mountaintop castle. Her other hotel was on a small farm, whence they got all the produce and milk products they serve at both hotels. You can stay on the farm and help out, or stay in the upper hotel and not help with farm stuff. She plans on eventually teaching Georgian cooking classes (in Russian), and her son speaks fluent English, so don’t be afraid to call (+995 599 338 871).

The view from the guesthouse

They pick up from Tbilisi airport, a large Delica for 300 gel or a smaller jeep for 200 gel, with a direct transfer to their hotel. They also offer tours to Vardzia. Eating dinner and breakfast there, there’s definitely a great communal feel, and the owners come out and hang out quite frequently and are happy to chat with whoever can chat with them. You can tell they’ve put a lot of love into the place.

Vardzia

Vardzia is one of the more incredible places in Georgia, and must be on any list of “have-to-see” places. Logically, because of Georgia’s infrastructure, you often have to cut some places short, but definitely have it your list for one-of-the-times-you-visit Georgia. It’s about a four-hour drive from Tbilisi (3 hours, depending on how creative your driver is), but it’s well worth the trek, and can be combined with Borjomi, Akhalsitkhe, and Khertvisi, or as we did, you can take the route with the megaliths, which after the roads are finished, may actually end up being a faster route.

View from the start. Along with an sign for their patron saint.

Vardzia was founded as a cave monastery and as a refuge for civilians fleeing Turkish marauders (though caves there and in the area have shown some evidence of use since the Bronze Age, the actual rock cuttings and additional buildings weren’t until the Christian period). It was mostly built in the 1100s during Giorgi III and the reign his son King Tamar. The name supposedly comes from when Tamar was lost there as a child, and shouted to her uncle (or close man-friend), “I’m here, Uncle!”

Vardzia saw less use after Tamar’s victory over the Turks at the Battle of Basian, where she smashed the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum much like Ben Shapiro smashes homeless liberals on the streets of New York. The remains of the smashed Seljuks were brought back to Tbilisi, where they built a giant football stadium and nightclub underneath (true story).

The Seljuks laid off for a while, but Georgia finally succumbed to the hordes of Mongolians rolling through, ending suddenly their golden age (and everyone’s golden age as well, as that’s what Mongolians did best).

After a series of earthquakes crumbled most of the structures and fortifications in the 13th century, Vardzia fell to disuse and finally to Persians in the 1500s and the Ottomans just after.

The only structure that's really left.

When you wander around the half-cave structures, keep in mind that there used to be buildings standing on these foundations, which would have made the site of it completely different and much more magnificent. Not to say it’s not a grand site as it is, but these weren’t all patios, but also great halls, guestrooms, shops, bakeries, and so on, all the little things of a medieval market economy. There is one remaining tower in the center, which leaves you with a vague impression of how the other structures would have once looked back in the day.

Primitive toilets or cooking pits? You decide.

One recurring thing you’ll see are strange holes in the ground with a kind of slot on the side. This was so you could light a fire and set a big clay amphora on it to make a hearty stew or to heat up water. The hole served both the purpose of letting oxygen in and smoke out, along with allowing them to put a big stick in and use as a lever. You can also find a few marani rooms—wine cellars used for storing wines in underground amphorae (Georgian winemaking qvevri, to be precise).

The Church of the Dormition, the main attraction

The main site, the Church of the Dormition, was built during Tamar’s reign. The chapel is open to the cliff, with wall paintings on the outside. Entering in the church door reveals the main chapel, high domed and covered in medieval murals. Going through the other door leads to a small labyrinthine complex of tunnels. First there’s a chapel with some candles and icons. A corridor to the left leads to a spring, and the corridor up the stairs on the right goes to another small chapel-within-a-chapel, and further tunnels that exit out upper chambers.

The Bolnisi Cross surrounded by the Four Archangels

Icon of St. George, inside one of the chambers next to the Church

Outside of the Church, there are hundreds of caves with various living features, from cooking pots, to wine making, to shelves for an apothecary, to stables. With the maze of up and down staircases, one gets the feeling they’re in the movie Labyrinth, or perhaps an M.C. Escher painting.

You might end up upside-down and backwards in this array

Today there are several monks that still use the cave as their home. You can't enter where the monks actually live—it's railed off—but you can see the area which has a beautiful terrace full of green plants and flowers that they keep. The cable pulleys you see are still used to carry up supplies for the monks. As they have a nice private area, they're probably not too disturbed by all the tourists, but do show some respect around their grounds.

A modern monastery

The whole thing takes about 2 – 3 hours to see, if you’re in a hurry you could probably do it in one. Also keep in mind that you can take their little shuttle up to just below the main level of the site. That'll save you a ton of energy. I just walk it myself though to get the full feel of it.

Khertvisi Castle

If you’re visiting Vardzia, then it’s a sin if you miss Khertvisi Castle, Tamar’s primary castle of the area. It far predates that powerful King/Queen, its walls once standing (and falling) against Alexander the Great himself as he conquered Iberia. Sitting at the confluence of the Paravani and Mtkvari Rivers, the current fortress’s foundations were laid in the 2nd century BC and the walls in the 14th century, with the outer curtain wall added last year.

Alexander the Great once conquered this fortress

When I was first there, about 10 years ago, the place was a ruin, and the only people living there barely saw any living thing around there but cows and chickens. I walked up and inside and discovered it was being used as a mighty cow pen, with manure having fallen everywhere like snow on the mountain tops.

See the fancy tourism facility?

Now though, it has completely been renovated for tourism capacity. The village itself has come to life, with a small market, several beer gardens, a coffee shop, and a café. They’ve paved the road that goes up to the castle, kicked the cows out, built a wall to keep the cows out, and cleaned up all the manure. They’ve also built a visitor’s center, which just seems to serve as a place for someone to collect tickets (which are 5 lari each).

No more manure from ground up

There isn’t much else that’s been reconstructed, so don’t worry. Just the 14th century walls are standing, the interiors are just a very fertile ground. There’s a chapel in there supposedly from the 9th century. Be sure to light some candles.

There’s a fun story about that awkward square tower in the middle. Apparently, Tamar was holding a contest about who could build the most amazing tower for her fortress. A stonemason’s apprentice won the contest, so his master was so ashamed his student outdid him he jumped from the castle onto his well-placed knife and impaled himself on it.

A tower worth dying for

The student that won it decided to try out all the latest fashions in architecture and went with a square keep. They knocked him off so he couldn’t repeat his architectural wonder for anyone else (and so goes just about every architecture legend in the world, making one wonder why anyone ever studied a discipline that got you murdered, blinded, tongue-pulled-out, and so on).

Getting there

We of course went by car. You can take a car either from the Tsalka road (which right now is half under renovation) or from the Borjomi direction (which right now is half under renovation). The Tsalka route is probably a little bit shorter and to me, more interesting, what with those megaliths I was talking about in the last blog and all. If you are one of the un-carred masses, then you’ll have to ride a marshrutka from Akhalsitkhe (and get there by either marshrutka or train from Tbilisi). The marshrutkas leave three times a day, at 10:30, 13:00, 15:00 and cost 5 lari. The routes back are at the same time. If you want to get off to see Khertvisi, just shout the standard “gaucheret!” when the marshrutka turns off the main road and crosses a river.

The car we should have taken on this trip, from a rental company I can vouch for, Family Cars:

You can likewise take a taxi from Akhalsitkhe, and for a hundred lari get to also see Khertvisi and maybe Sapara Monastery if you have time (a very beautiful and sacred place, highly recommended).

A trip can be done in just one day, but that would probably limit you to only Vardzia. I’d highly recommend overnighting either at Tirebi on the road, or at Akhalsitkhe or Borjomi. That way you can also take in Khertvisi, Sapara, and Rabati Castle (my next blog).

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#ruins #castles #touristicsites #history #churches #Tbilisi