As there was drizzling rain, we departed Kazbegi without spending time in the township. We then commenced an arduous four hour drive back south on the Military Highway over the high pass near Guadari and then took a new road that headed us more westwards towards th village of Uplistsikhe.
Tunnel for transport during winter on road from Kasbegi to Guadari, Caucasus Mountains
B-double semitrailers, on road from Kasbegi to Guadari, Caucasus Mountains
View from the bus descending the Caucasus Mountains towards Uplistsikhe
View from the bus descending the Caucasus Mountains towards Uplistsikhe
Our diver did an amazing job coping with the wet and dangerous conditions on the mountain road. The negotiation of hairpin bends when lots of traffic, including numerous trucks and b-double semitrailers had to be passed, required his obvious experience and great skill.
Hairpin bends descending the Caucasus Mountains towards Uplistsikhe
Lunch at Uplistsikhe
On reaching Uplistsikhe we had lunch and then drove a short distance to visit an ancient cave city. This enormous archeological cave city lies next to the Mtkvari River and is thought to have its origins between 600 and 100 BCE.
It was initially a pre-Christian, pagan city dedicated principally to the Sun Goddess.
After 645 AD, Uplistsikhe became the residence of Christian kings of Kartli and subsequently an important trade centre on the main caravan route between Europe and Asia.
At its peak the Uplistsikhe cave city housed about 20 000 people and today the 40 hectare site we visited represents only about half of the original city. Much of the city was destroyed by the Mongols in 1240.
The caves are carved out of the sandstone rock hillside with large room-sized chambers serving as living quarters, temples, theatres, a pharmacy and several wine production areas.
Cave city, Uplistsikhe
Cave city, Uplistsikhe
Cave city, Uplistsikhe
View from Cave city, Uplistsikhe
View from Cave city, Uplistsikhe
One of the numerous human excavated caves originally served as a chamber for animal sacrifices, but was later converted into a basilica. The Uplistsikhe Eklesia (church) is situated near the highest point of the city and is built over what was presumably the original pagan sun temple.
Uplistsikhe Eklesia (church), Cave city, Uplistsikhe
Cave city, Uplistsikhe
On leaving this amazing cave city, we exited through a long descending tunnel to a point next to the Mtkvari River. It is thought that this tunnel was used both as an emergency escape route from the cave city and also for bringing water from the river up to the city.
Mtkvari River near cave entrance, Cave city, Uplistsikhe
Having departed Uplistsikhe we headed to nearby Gori, the city synonymous with the name Joseph Stalin and we then visited the eponymous museum.
The museum presents a relatively biased account of Stalin’s life with practically no reference to purges, Gulags, oppression, starvation or the 1939 pact with Hitler.
The museum charts Stalin’s life from his birth in 1878 to his death in 1953 with numerous photographs, portraits and many of his private possessions. Several marble busts of Stalin are also featured.
Stalin’s office furniture, Stalin Museum, Gori
Outside the museum is Stalin’s supposedly bullet proof train carriage in which he travelled to the Yalta conference in 1945 with Churchill and Roosevelt at the end of WW II (he didn’t like flying). The carriage incorporates his bedroom, bathroom and dining room as well as communications facilities and a primitive air-conditioning unit.
Stalin's train carriage, Stalin Museum, Gori
Next door to the museum is the Dzhugashvili’s (Stalin’s surname) tiny family cottage made of mud-brick and wood where Stalin lived for the first four years of his life. His father was a cobbler and his workshop was under the house.
House where Stalin lived as a child, Stalin Museum, Gori
The reverential preservation of these historically significant facets of Stalin’s life led us to believe that Stalin is much more admired by Gori’s residents than most people elsewhere.
In the mid to late afternoon we drove to Iago’s wine cellar at Chardakhki and had a most informative talk from Mr Iago on the production of wines from his boutique winery based upon four hectares of vines. We taste tested three of his ‘traditionally’ produced wines and found them to be of superb quality.
Iago Winery, Chardakhki
Mr Iago explaining about the wine, Iago Winery, Chardakhki
Group wine tasting, Iago Winery, Chardakhki
Mr Iago decanting wine, Iago Winery, Chardakhki
He informed us that he exports almost 100% of his wine with some selling in Melbourne and Sydney where he has visited on wine trading missions. As well as wine tasting, he provided cheeses, fruits and other local nibbles to supplement his high quality wines. It was a most interesting and pleasant session.
With the sun setting, it was time to consider an evening meal and we were duly informed that this had been pre-arranged at a wine cellar in the Ateni Valley just south of Gori.
This was the commencement of an unexpected adventure. The road to the Ateni Valley involved a maze of back streets in southern Gori and when we ‘arrived’ at the location we were told that we had a short walk to the wine cellar.
The walk, in semi-darkness and drizzling rain initially involved a muddy, rocky and puddled road down hill for 200m to a very fast flowing river. With trepidation, we crossed this 10m wide river via a narrow wooden foot bridge with just a single wooden hand rail. We then commenced in near darkness, a climb up further slippery ground for another 300m to arrive eventually at the Vacheishvili Wine Cellar. Although this late evening ordeal was a potential cause for annoyance, much merriment prevailed instead, because at the wine centre there was a warm log fire, a sumptuous barbecue meal and excellent Qartli region wines to sample. We had the opportunity of chatting about wine production in this area with the cellar owner Nika Vacheishvili. Nika opened his marani (vineyard) to preserve the winemaking traditions of the Tana Valley that date back to the 7th century. He also served as the Minister for Culture, Heritage Preservation and Sport in the Georgian Government in 2008 and is recognised as a scholar specialising in Georgian art.
Walking to Nika Vacheishvili's Wine Cellar in the Ateni Valley just south of Gori
Nika Vacheishvili's father cooking barbecue for us at his Wine Cellar in the Ateni Valleyi
Group dining at Nika Vacheishvili's Wine Cellar in the Ateni Valley
To shorten the trip back to our bus, Nika drove us down the hill to the footbridge in his 4WD and we clambered up the muddy hill for our transport to overnight accommodation. A new facet of the adventure then began as we now had about 100km to travel to the hotel in Borjomi west of Gori. This meant that we now passed Stalin’s Museum for the third time in the day and eventually arrived at the Crowne Plaza Hotel at well after midnight.
Our hotel was undoubtedly ‘five star’ with a large bedroom, adjacent sitting room and luxurious facilities. However, sleep was the order of the day/night!