“You had one job!” It was our enthusiasm for a new adventure and my minimalist planning that had brought us early in the morning to Samgori station. We had planned to take one of the first marshrutkas to Telavi and by doing so to live up to the “when in Rome do as as the Romans do” saying. Except, I had missed a little detail, Georgian “Romans” do not turn up that early, and as no marshrutka would ever start its journey if not fully occupied, we suddenly got plenty of time for a morning contemplation:
one of the drivers was fixing his car under the critical gaze of a colleague, stray dogs bathed in the morning sun, the barber shop behind us opened, while the fertilizer shop next to it remained closed, the drivers exchanged latest news and jokes, smoked and drank coffee in front of a former vet station, and finally the first passengers started to drop in, so that after one hour or so the first marshrutkas could set off to their remote destinations, and so was ours eventually.
We left Tbilisi behind, passed bucolic villages and crossed the hilly countryside, we saw a shepherd following his flock of sheep in search for food along a creek that was swollen brown by the melt water of the recent snow. Brown was the dominant color as spring had only just started.
Two and a half hours and 144km later we arrived in Telavi, a bit exhausted but full of new impressions.
Telavi overlooks the fertile plains of the Kakheti region, where some of Georgia’s most famous wines are cultivated. First settled in the Bronze Age it raised to the capital of the Kakheti Kingdom in the 10th century AD, declined in the 15th and regained its importance during the 18th for a short duration. There is a fortress to visit, the biggest and presumably oldest tree of Georgia, a lively market, and a lot of traditional buildings from different epochs – we went, however, first for an opulent meal with khachapuri and, of course, a glass of wine.
The next morning we went to the market, the biggest in Kakheti. You find everything from living chickens and carps in vats , spices, vegetables, light bulbs, knives, cheese and churchkhela. Tourists are definitely not the targeted market segment – and that’s just great.
For our way back to Tbilisi we were lucky that our former driver Georgi was available (see Jvari Pass). While marshrutkas drive along the foot of the Tsiv-Gombori mountain range where most hamlets and villages spread (and customers reside), cars take the shorter route over the Gombori Pass. There is one more reason for us to choose the shorter route: the pristine chestnut forests of the Gombori mountains hide a cultural jewel, the Old Shuatma Monastery, one of the eldest Christian edifices in Georgia.
It’s a little detour to get there, but it turns out to be the finest visit of our entire weekend-excursion. The old edifices exude tranquility and a solemn simplicity, and they silently convey to us the timeless message of what really matters in life.
