a Three Fer! Bormoni, Rabiti Castle/Fortress, Vardzia Cave City (with photos)

 Friday, August 5, 2022

Good little dobees that we are, we're packed and downstairs before our scheduled pick-up time of 7;50! We're the first of the two couples going on today's adventure and we have a new guide from Budget Georgia. Turns out he's the nephew of our new best friend, the guy that thought we were an hour late in Batumi!  Fun!

Bye-Bye Liliana's Apartments

The other couple is from Slovenia and they are fascinating!  They don't know it;  but they're UUs!  We had some great conversations.  And they sure make Slovenia sound like a grand place to visit, and one that most Americans haven't discovered yet.

We stop briefly for coffee and then for a scheduled stop so we can try the special bread that's make in this region. The batter has honey and raisins in it and it's baked in the traditional oven that we've seen before, but the loaves are shaped differently and after they are stuck on the side of the oven, the baker brushes them with eggs and honey.  One is more than enough for two people!

There are old fortresses and watch towers everywhere you look!

We're on the road, now, to Borjomi, where the famous mineral water is bottles. It was a favorite vacation spot for the Romanovs and the park there includes the first hydro-electric plant from the 10th century and the original bottling plant. It is a favorite spot for families with lots of fun things for the kids to do.  You can sample the hot springs water for free and it is supposed to really help your stomach.  Our guide advises us not to smell or taste it, just to drink it all down!  There is a cold spring elsewhere that you can actually use to fill your bottle and take home.

Espresso trucks are everywhere, too

Just along the avenue

Now we're inside the park.

The hot springs - the tap is open all the time

Prometheus

The original bottling plant, from 1850.

These brooms fascinate me!

The hot spring is inside this dome.

This was a hydro-electric plant, way back then!

Paradise Borjomi

Our hotel for the night is actually quite close and we stop off to check in and leave our luggage.  Ammar has talked to our guide about the rest of today and decides that he will stay here and rest and see if his back feels better.  (When I get home I learn that he found an excellent masseuse in another hotel and his back is much better!)

We're heading to the Rabiti Castle which is also a fortress from the 12th century and it is massive!! I wish I could get a picture that shows the whole thing, but that's only possible from way down on the road and there's no place to stop.  There are lots of steps and we even climb to the top of the tallest tower! And here are a million photos!

Several different religious symbols - Star of David, the Sun and Moon, and the deer symbolizing
kindness killing the snake of evil.

Yes, it was as scary as it looks.

It's the tallest tower and, yes, we did climb it...

using these stairs.

Just a little windy up there!

My favorite shot!

On, now, to Vardzia, home of the cave city! It has been sprinkling and as soon as we arrive the skies clear up.  But there are quite a few people who have been waiting for this, so we decide to have lunch first and give them a chance to get far enough ahead of us.  The restaurant has tables on the river and that's my first choice. 

The landscape changes completely to this almost barren look.

And the cows are ever-present.  Driving is like a video game of Dodge the Bovine!

Yep, sprinkling. 

First sight of the amazing cave city

Some dishes I'd never tried before, one has potatoes, onions, red peppers and meat (veal?).
the other is mushroom salad!  I never would have guessed.

And y'all should know this one by now, adjarian katchapuri.

This little electric car was a godsend.  Didn't need to take one extra step today!
But it only took us to the foot of the caves.

Now it's time to go climbing. There were originally over five hundred caves, but only about three hundred remain and we only visit about one hundred.  The city has always been occupied by monks and that is still true today.  Their area is gated off but you can see their "gardens"! We visit living quarters, the refectory, the wine making and storing rooms, the church, and even the quarters of King Tamar, who was actually a woman!  (Like the Egyptian pharaoh, Hapshetsut, who was a woman and wore a fake beard!)  Getting to her area is quite a climb;  but we make it!

Our poor guide is trying to keep us moving, and for a change, I'm not the one taking so many pictures.  I will admit that I was a little slow on the treacherous rock steps!  But I was not the only one!  The metal steps with handrails were a breeze. and we all survived.

Off we go!

He made it all look so easy!  BTW, he's twenty-six!

The roof gets taller as you toward the outside, so that the smoke from the fire will rise and escape.

You can see the tool marks from where they cut away the rock.

Fire pitss

View across the valley

The bell tower

Proof that I did it!

That's a water pipe!

Candles in part of the church

The door is oak, covered with iron on the outside.

Amazing frescoes from the 12th century.

Crab walk with two hands on the handrail.

Monks still live here.  This is their private area.

This large room was a meeting hall.

The entrance to Tamar's room.  The tunnel is dark and scary and we felt victorious when we emerged.

It's so much larger than any of the others;  it's good to be the king! She had a sleeping area 
and a balcony and the best view!

Saying good-bye!

Back to our chariot for the return trip to Borjomi.  Along the way I check my health app.  It says 50 flights of stairs, 12, 735 steps and 5.2 miles! Time for a shower and maybe something green to eat!  Ammar hasn't eaten and get a pizza for himself and big salad for me! Oooo!  Vegetables!!!  Something to counteract the adjarian katchapuri for lunch! Y'all might get photos tomorrow.  This is all I can manage tonight!