Our path to the origins of Christianity Part 4
"One more last tale, and my chronicle is over" - Nestor, chronicler.
According to the program “For everyone, a wine tour to Kakheti (optional $ 30) Then a visit to the Bodbe monastery complex. After departure to the village to a local resident and a visit to an ancient peasant wine cellar with a tasting. Return to Tbilisi. ”
In fact, the route was as follows: We go to Kakheti, visit the Kindzmarauli factory with wine tasting and purchase, then have lunch with a local resident Avtandil. From there we drive to the Bodbe monastery and end the day in the town of Sighnaghi.
This elective actually cost 45 dollars (30 +15 for lunch), and Vika said that you can’t pay only 30 and not go to lunch. In my opinion, this is not entirely correct, because. Georgian cuisine is great, but quite heavy, not suitable for everyone, especially in large quantities. I already violated my principle of “non-participation in common meals” on this tour, I have to violate it again, my husband insists, he is interested in tasting it all. And since we didn’t get to a restaurant in Tbilisi, we decide to get acquainted with Georgian dishes in this format.
We boarded the bus a little late, at 10 am, Vika said that the Georgian host had appointed it that way. Masha on this day tells a lot and interestingly.
The first stop is the Kindzmarauli plant. I like such excursions, the plant is private, small, clean. There are also antiques, some photographs from the old life, a well-groomed courtyard. The tour is short, then we go to wine tasting. Also interesting, the wine is very, very good. Yes, that's good - excellent! Buying wine in the shop worked out well, but it still took a long time. Vika signed the boxes, 6 bottles were placed there, then they were loaded onto the bus. They loaded it loudly, my husband carried all the boxes, far from the youngest of the men present. (This is a word about the group. )
Then we go to lunch.
What can I say. I am not a fan of this kind of pastime, and until the last moment I thought about whether to go or not (I wanted to go on an excursion, but without lunch), but in principle it was not bad. The food was national, tasty, there was enough of it, the senior owner was grilling shish kebab. I remained indifferent to homemade wine, I liked the wine at the factory much more. The owner's daughter, 10 years old, sang wonderfully Suliko, we clapped.
Then the senior owner took us to the garden and treated us to persimmons. The persimmon was delicious, although it looked completely unripe. Although with a more thoughtful organization it was possible to have a great time. It took us about 2 hours, because you could still buy wine-chachi-honey, someone took advantage of this opportunity.
Then we go to the monastery complex of St. George in the town of Bodbe - this is a nationwide Georgian shrine. Here, in the Cathedral of St. George, the remains of Equal-to-the-Apostles Nino of Cappadocia, the great baptist of Georgia, the harbinger of the Christian era, are buried.
And in 1889, the convent of St. Nino was opened here, which is still operating.
According to legend, here, having passed through the whole country, healing the sick and turning the people to the true God, in 335 Saint Nino died at the age of 60 years. She bequeathed to bury her on this earth. And when, after a while, they wanted to transfer her body to Mtskheta, no effort could move the ark with the relics of Nino from its place.
The temple is small, austere and majestic inside, on the right side there is a tiny room in which the tomb of St. Nino is located under a snow-white marble roof. When we came up to look, we saw three girls who, having laid out rings, bracelets, beads on the grave, were praying on their knees. Suddenly they began to sing, they sang for a long time and unusually beautifully. Then they kissed the grave again, collected the rings and left. On the street, they were again ordinary schoolgirls. Masha says that Georgians are very religious people.
The territory of the monastery is very beautiful, on the mountain, from there the view is amazing. Fruit trees and nuts grow. You can't go everywhere, but you don't want to leave.
Ahead is a visit to the town of Signagi, this is an old town, well preserved and carefully restored. As for me, it's too much, the poet has a strong feeling of a remake. As if not real, but a decoration for filming.
We arrive in the evening, there are practically no people on the streets. But the information center is open.
They give me a very beautiful and absolutely uninformative booklet about Georgia, there is nothing else either in Russian or in English, but the nice guys insist: “Take a Georgian katra in Georgian, they will translate it for you. ” I smile to myself, I wonder who will translate, because even of the three of them only one older, Vakhtang, speaks Russian. I asked him why the overwhelming majority of the inscriptions are in Georgian. "Saakashvili banned, only in Georgian. "
Masha took us around the town, then for about an hour we were able to take a walk on our own. Probably, if you arrive in the morning for the whole day, you can have a very pleasant time, wander around, admire the views from the mountain.
We return back, it’s windy and cold in Tbilisi, we warm ourselves, pack our bags and go for a walk along the evening streets. Tomorrow we are on our way back.
We had little contact with the local population, only on the way to Kazbegi we got a very talkative driver, who told us about his life and being. They do not live in poverty in the village, they are building additional housing for tourists (100 UAH per day per person per room, but there are all amenities), and building materials are free, stones and sand. The owner does not pay any taxes, including utilities. Carries by car to the monastery. Cars are killed from such a ride quickly, but they buy new ones. A jeep (we were driven by Toyota) with a mileage of 10.000 km costs 6 thousand dollars, this is already with customs clearance.
What is noticeable: drivers rush like all the Schumachers of the world, only a few stop at a pedestrian crossing, so you have to be very careful all the time when crossing the streets. They say that the police work politely, without bribes, their salaries are very high, they value their work. The police stations are all covered in floor-to-ceiling glass and are visible from the street. And the Ministry of Justice - two huge glass buildings in the form of handcuffs, if you look from above. But for some reason it seems to me that corruption at the very top itself has existed and exists to this day. Of course, I really want all these innovations to take root in Georgia and continue to work.
Masha complained that education is very poor, children, just like ours, take tests, and their main thing is not Georgian and history, but logic - something between mathematics and an IQ test. Big competition for economists and lawyers. The medical institute is not very popular with them, the reason is simple - it takes a long time to study. But there is a loan from the state for study. There are a lot of unemployed, while the average salary and minimum pension are almost the same as ours. Everyone is waiting for the elections.
In the evenings, there are few women on the streets, in restaurants, cafes - almost only men. In the subway car for 8 stops, 2-3 girls entered, obviously coming from work. Women stay at home, raise children, run the house. . .
My friend and I really liked the Georgians. Everything is unconditional. Regardless of age, build, and appearance, each is just Queen Tamara. Some kind of regal gait, posture, slowness, I don’t know what else. Just a secret.
But the men, on the contrary, left them completely indifferent, especially the young, although those who are closer to retirement are very charming. But our men have a completely opposite opinion, Georgian women did not make any impression on them.
And a digression about prices. Unfortunately, I only remember the order. We exchanged $100 for two. This money was enough for us. We bought 4 bottles of wine (approximately 40-50 UAH per bottle), jam (how can I live without it! ) - 650 g of a can of about 30 UAH. Sauces in glass jars - 10 UAH. Souvenirs - like everywhere else. Travel: the card costs 10 UAH, one trip - 2.50. But it is valid for all types of transport (drawn on the card, only in Georgian, not to make out! ) for 1.5 hours, you can make any transfers.
And so - the prices are comparable with ours, for food, water. Khachapuri in a cafe - 35 UAH, but in a tent on the street smaller in size, but just as tasty - 10. A cup of amazing coffee with the finest grinding - 10 UAH.
Mountains, Georgian Military Road and the road home
According to the program “departure along the Georgian Military Highway to the village of Kazbegi. On the way, visit the fortified Ananuri complex (17th century) with a view of the Zhinvali reservoir. Upon arrival in the village of Kazbegi, climbing uphill to the church of St. Gergeti Trinity (3.5 hours)"
We have breakfast, get on the bus, Masha is already waiting for us on the street. Today she accompanies us to the border. For the last time we are driving along the already familiar road, it is a pity that we are already leaving this city, there are still many “must see” places left.
On this day, we were in a hurry, at the border post there was a message that from October 1, the border was open until 22:00, our escort was afraid that there would be queues. Or maybe some other considerations motivated her. Therefore, we were in for a very fast gallop.
The most beautiful places. We drive up to the Zhinvali reservoir, the water is turquoise, the mountains around are most picturesque. Ananuri fortress stands on the shore of the Zhinvali reservoir; earlier it served as the main stronghold of the formidable rulers of this region. Now only the citadel has been preserved there. Inside, there are three temples and a tower with a pyramidal roof. There is no time at all, but the place there is so attractive!
We also had a stop at the observation deck near the town of Gudauri. It is snowing, and we admire the mountains. Around the rivers, waterfalls, clouds and snowy peaks. You can see the cute little hotels of this ski resort, which is now popular. The price of a room in the season is $100.
Next is the Georgian Military Highway. I must say, the road is excellent, only the last 200 meters are road works. The serpentine is dizzying, but our drivers are super! I have the impression that they did not slow down even here.
And here is the village of Kazbegi, 5 thousand people. We go to a familiar cafe and make an order so as not to waste time later. Then we sit down in jeeps and drive up to the Church of the Holy Trinity (Tsminda Sameba). This is a cross-domed temple built in the 14th century. The only temple of this type in the Kazbegi region is an amazing temple, it is high in the mountains, at an altitude of 2170 meters from sea level. Strict architecture, mountains and snow.
Pilgrims used to go here barefoot, and some crawled on their knees. Now you can go by jeep.
Inside the temple is very ascetic. There are no frescoes, even no plaster, the walls are made of stone blocks. It is dark inside, there is no electricity inside the temple, and the windows are very narrow. There is now a monastery here, we are given skirts and scarves. We look pretty funny, because we are wearing everything that was in the suitcases. I have two sweaters and two jackets on. And I'm not hot at all.
I would love to climb up on foot, they say it takes 3.5 hours. But we were there for 40 minutes, an hour along with the road.
We go downstairs, refresh ourselves in a cafe, take khachapuri with us, say goodbye to Masha.
Then the border and the way home.
The border was passed surprisingly quickly, the Russian one too. During daylight hours, we pass Vladikavkaz and Beslan, and then it gets dark, and we watch several episodes of the series "Kitchen". Everyone likes it, otherwise at first we had to watch the film, to put it mildly, “children before... ” We go to bed. If you sleep alone on two seats, you can get enough sleep.
