Saturday, May 25 - Day 5

Hmmm, I realize that this blog is called "Hiking in Caucasus" and safe for a short walk to the top of the hill in Tbilisi - where then I had gotten drunk - there has been no hiking so far in the first four days - and no major hiking would take place on Day 5 either. Please feel free to complain at the editor´s office.

Well, for this day Florian had organized a driver, an acquaintance of his host, who was a very friendly person, with good English knowledge. The plan was to do a full-day tour of the area by car. "Hiking in Georgia", what the heck.

I went for a nice walk in the morning, I could not get fed up with the sights and views of the town.

Our driver for the day showed up on time, this was also a Mercedes, quite a shiny one (but then we could not look inside the hood), he had a perfect driving style and we left at 10 am sharp.

Our first stop was the 1,500-hectar-large Khareba Winery, about an hour away. It was located in a large, beautifully kept area, with the lawn mowed like in a British park, gardeners busy working everywhere, beautiful flowers, trees - a lot of money had gone in maintenance. It was 11 am, just a few other visitors, we bought our tickets and waited. Then waited, waited - the large parking lot quickly filled up with tourist buses, bringing mainly Asian visitors. For whatever reason, these tourisits had priority, us being completely ignored, with the groups being haued in for the guided tour. Florian is a patient person, not me, I complained, they said all their guides were busy. Well, after an hour, it was our turn and were led into a tunnel, at the end of which the traditional winemaking was demonstrated - supposedly Georgia is one of the oldest wine-producing countries in the world. The wine is fertilized in large clay jars, which are buried in the ground - this is classified as UNESCO cultural world heritage. The explanation was a bit too long and detailed, I did not really like the wine that we tasted and the "cheese plate" was two bites per person, I felt having been riped-off a bit - and that after a considerable wait time. We were scheduled to go on one more visit to another winery, we told the driver we would cancel that.

An hour later, our next stop was in Qvareli, at the Nekresi Monastery. Founded in the 6th (!) century, it is a complex of buildings, including a basilica, a mortuary chapel, a church, a bishop's palace, a refectory and a defensive tower. There are wonderful wall paintings in the basilica. Talking of hiking, it is located on a hill, where no cars are allowed, instread, buses were driving the tourists up. We declined and hiked up, arriving pretty much the same time as the bus did.

The next highlight was in Gremi, a once flourishing town with a 16th-century royal citadel and the Church of theArchangels.

After the visit, there was a mishap. We did notice that the driver had to re-start the engine once or twice while the car was running, it was a bit weird, but we were not alarmed. Well, maybe we should have been, as one time, the engine did not restart. We started rolling slower and slower and came to a full stop in a small settlement - the engine would no longer come to life.

We waited a while, but as it was 2:30 pm and were originally heading for lunch. I took my Google Maps and saw there was a hotel with a restaurant not far away, within walking distance. The driver had informed us he would need a new car, which would be delivered by his brother, but it would take over an hour and we should walk to the place, have lunch, he would pick us up there.

The way to the hotel was very rural, it was an unpaved dirt (emphasis on dirt) road leading next to homes that were, alas, falling apart. We thought Google was wrong, there can be no hotel in such an impoverished area. Wrong. Suddenly, after taking a turn, we saw a huge modern building, with a huge clay jar in front - this is how we arrived at Twins Wine House in Neparauli.

There was place for multiple buses, but the parking lot was completely empty, we were not even sure whether the place was open - when we saw a waiter and he signaled us inside; seemingly surprised anyone would show up. Well, I cannot say why the restaurant was so empty, we had one of the most delicious lunches in Georgia, starting with (our traditional) walnut eggplant rolls, Florian having a vegetarian dish, me ordering and devouring a chicken skewer. Wow, that was quite a surprise!

While we were having lunch, the brother of our driver apparently had arrived, delivered a working car and we were back in business. When we go out of the restaurant - which I can definitely recommend - our driver was waiting in the otherwise empty parking lot.

The next stop was the Alaverdi Monastery, from the 11th century. The battery of my phone had died and was charging it, so took just one photo, but it is worth a visit.

The last stop was in Telavi. Having been rather tired, we did not do a full-blown visit (Florian even stayed in town), but did visit the giant tree , which was not far from a large statue of King Erekle.

It was quite late when we returned - our town Sighnaghi was beautifully lit.

We walked the defensive walls, had dinner in a restaurant, then split up, going to bed after the long day.