Crossing the Border
Each border crossing meant changing tour buses, a new local guide, and lots of formalities. MIR handled everything smoothly and off we bused into another country.
The route took us through the important wine-growing areas of the country with beautiful forested mountains as a backdrop, and little villages. Georgia's main borders are: the Peaks of Caucasus on the North, and the Black Sea on the West. It is still geologically active and suffers periodic earthquakes.
Times have been hard for Georgians since the breakup of the U.S.S.R. Their social security system is practically non-existent, the '90's were brutal economically, and some people still sell off their possessions on the streets to get by.
Don't even think of trying to learn their language, "Old Kartvelian", which is not related to any other group of languages. Russian, yes..."Old Kartvelian"... no. Georgian script is one of the 14 world alphabets (possibly influenced by Aramaic). That is why you need...A GUIDE!
Lots of stalls in the countryside sold "Churchkhela" - a candy made by stringing walnuts and dipping them in hot grape mixture, then drying. (I didn't try it, but it looked pretty good.)
We traveled through the Kakheti region, the wine-growing area of the country. In Tsinandali, a town known for its white wine, we experienced a traditional Georgian Table, with wonderful local food and drink.
Georgians believe "Travelers are sent by God"...and a typical feast has dozens of courses and countless toasts. The toastmaster is called a "Tamada" who is in charge of toasting and inviting others to toast. The Tamada was also a member of a traditional singing ensemble, "Mukhrantubani", and they entertained us between courses and wine. There were many rituals involved and eventually, stuffed and extremely tipsy, we headed towards Tbilisi.
ex-Marine, Margie and Art
Our bus arrived at the Tbilisi Marriott late in evening. The group was registering when we heard shouts in the Lobby, "Do I hear Americans? What the #!*# are you doing here? Americans never come to Tbilisi!" Our shouters were two men in the U.S. Military (part of our Government's presence in Georgia) teaching Georgians how to fly helicopters. They were amazed to see a tour group and kept warning us to be careful. That did not make "ex-Marine" happy! ("You told me it was safe here!")
