Off-Road Adventure

 Monday, July 25, 2022

We had to be downstairs by 8:00, so it was an early morning!! The little girl as the desk with the orange streaks in her hair (we belong to a mutual-admiration society!) calls us a cab and makes sure he knows where we need to be.  He drops us at the exact right spot and Alex is easily spotted. I compliment him on his flawless directions and he replies that still there are people who can't find him!  That's people for ya!

There will be six of us on this all-day adventure, plus Alex and his driver, all neatly slotted into a Mistubishi off-road 4x4. No one is late and we depart from Europe Square, aka Liberty Square, aka Freedom Square! Be begin the adventure by driving through an old city called Rustavi which is about half a hour outside Tbilisi. It has loads of Soviet-era buildings but is recreating itself with industries that spew filth into the air.  If the wind blows the wrong way, it can wind up in Tbilisi.

This is the Rustavi International Motorpark.  I actually took the picture for the mountains but
then had to go to the website to see what that cool roofline went with!

One of the better maintained Soviet-era apartment buildings.  Alex says that the
tenants are responsible for the interior and the government maintains the exterior, when there's money.

So many yummy choices.  I got the one that looks like a square envelope, bottom, right.

From here we begin the off-roading part, bouncing around on an old road that actually runs parallel to a lovely new one!  But not for long. We stop for coffee and katchapuri at a little road-side stand and since we missed breakfast at the hotel, and lunch is scheduled for 2:30, it's a great idea!  And the latte is as delicious as the square, cheese-filled pastry.

Back on the road and we're heading for the Rainbow Mountains!  I'm very excited because the photos look other worldly! Along the way we pass some homes with very tall towers, called Svan towers. They belong to people who have moved from Svaneti where it was common to build houses this way many centuries ago.  The animals live on the ground floor and their heat rises and warms the people's living quarters above! There is also a theory that the towers are for defense.

People build tall towers to demonstrate their wealth.

or not!!

Alex and our expert driver looking at the weather.

Some towers really are for defense!

As is common in many other places, cows wander freely and cross the road as the spirit moves them.  Alex calls them auto-cows because they are turned lose in the morning and come home of their own volition in the evening.  Georgian cows are relatively skinny and do not make good steaks.  They are primarily dairy cattle as cheese is such an important part of the Georgian diet.

Alex had promised wildlife and so far we've seen cattle and lots of birds, but now there's a turtle in the road! Oh the excitement!  We even stop the car for photos!  But the real excitement is just ahead.  We're at the Rainbow Mountains in the Gareja Desert.  There's a lovely lake at the foot of the mountains, called Mravaltskaro Lake and Alex says we will walk about 2.5 miles around the lake.  He doesn't mention that we'll be climbing up and down the treacherous dried-clay sides of the mountains to accomplish this!  And away we go! I'm far and away the oldest climber but I hold my own for the majority of the climb.  And I'm not the only one he had to help when the going gets steep and scary!!  And we all end up together at the end.  One of our party is a German guy who is probably in his mid-twenties.  We ignore his exploits, although there is a mother-daughter team who give him a run for his money, especially the mom who is 56!

"Jump!"

Interesting desert plant growing in the crumbly, desiccated clay.

The giant rainbow sloth!

Coming down!

Yep, it's a desert!  Georgia has everything!

The views are absolutely worth it.  Wow!  And Alex is so good about taking everyone's picture with the spectacular backgrounds. 

If you didn't know where to find them, you'd miss them completely!

We arrive safely, take a few more photos, drink a lot of water, and set off for Natlismtsemeli Monastery in Udabno.  It was founded in the sixth century by Father Lucian, a disciple of St. David. It is a cave monastery and five monks live there.  The church holds services every Sunday and a wedding was held there just last week.  What makes this so interesting is that you have to have a real off-road vehicle to climb the road through the desert to get there...or walk!?!  In order to go inside the ladies must wear skirts and scarfs and the men long pants.  Ammar is the only one who doesn't have to borrow clothing! There are two resident dogs, very friendly, and a cat who holds her own against them! We weren't allowed to take pictures of the monk and only take it on faith that there are others.  But while we're there we see two men climbing up the road with food for the monks, including a huge watermelon and lots of citrus-looking fruit. Alex tells us the history of religion in Georgia which is now an Orthodox Christian country. One interesting sidelight is that there are only monasteries in the desert, no nunneries.

So friendly!

Solar hot water heater.  The monks capture rain water for all their water needs.

It's just as steep as it looks!

Desert track

It wasn't long before the cat had had enough of the puppy!

We weren't allowed to visit the caves.

Clever use of tires to mark the edge!

Some of bravest of our group - that would be the German kid and the mom, go with Alex to climb to the top of the tower.  They later reported that the view wasn't much different from what we could see where we are. Since my phone says that I climbed 77 flights of stairs today, I don't really feel like much of a slacker!

Wouldn't want to do this in a regular car!

Desert critters!  A grasshopper on the windshield and, possibly, an eagle coming at us!

Georgian Border Police

Many of the buildings are cut into this huge, tilted rock.

From here there is one more church/monastery before lunch.  It is David Gareja on Mount Gareja, one of the ancient and important religious sites.  It is quite near (or maybe over?) the border with Azerbaijan and so we can only visit part of the large facility. It seems that there is no clear understanding of where the border actually lies.

On to lunch in Udabno, at the Oasis Club (not what you are picturing).  The food is quite good and when I thank Alex for his selection, he says we really didn't have much choice.  There's not a lot of civilization out here in the desert! They also have a hostel where you can stay for 18 lari, about six dollars, a night.

This is the fried sulguni (cheese) with vegetables

And this is a classic Georgian dish called lobio.  It's a kind of bean stew and Alex says their is the best.

And to end the day, there's a wine tasting!  Ammar and I have only been to a few of these and it turns out that we have already been to this place.  it's the one with the huge wine bottles outside that we played with in the snow with Gio, for those avid blog followers!  Happily, we really love the wines here! Alex reminds us of the toasting protocol in Georgia, which requires many long toasts throughout a meal or event.  He offers the first couple and I add a third and then a fourth, which is for peace in Ukraine, which is widely accepted! The last thing we taste is tarragon chacha which is a most wonderful version of moonshine.  By now we're all friends with the lady conducting the tour and she says I'm allowed to have a second of glass, probably because my toast here was to the winemakers!  There is another couple with us on the tasting and I mention that the wine we're sampling is really quite sweet, even though they call it semi-sweet. The husband says that it's just like me and I tell his wife that he is really well trained! They are from Iran and speak very good English.

One of two large salt lakes we encountered.  Alex says they don't mine the saltl

Two new and major crops are sunflowers (for the oil) and almonds.

KTW Wine Distributors

Our new best friends!  :)

She's actually the cousin of the lady who conducted our tour the last time!

There we are, the whole group!

And now it's time to head home.  Happily the last part of the adventure is on smooth roads and I've had as much off-roading as I need for quite a while.  We return to our starting place and Alex gets us a cab. It is wonderful to get home and take a shower!  And a little nap!  Ammar goes to the casino to see if he still has credit so we can get dinner for free and after a while he texts me that dinner is on!  I have a really tasty chicken and pear salad with candied pecans and little balls of blue cheese that sneak up on me!  He gets chicken legs and a Georgian salad.  By the time we get home it's about midnight and I have barely started blogging, so y'all won't be getting photos until tomorrow (well, later today!) Sweet dreams!

Our little neighborhood grocery, about three doors down from our hotel

Night time landmark!  Almost home!