Churches, caves and comrades

On Tuesday 5th August, it was finally time to leave Tbilisi and start our backpacking tour of Georgia! Although it is possible (and cheaper) to get around to these locations by marshrutka (local minibus), in order to make life easier we had booked a Get My Guide tour to Jvari Monastery, the Svetitskhoveli Cathedral in Mtskheta, Uplistsikhe and the Stalin Museum in Gori for just £15.94. Although I know we could have done this cheaper, this was infinitely more convenient and also meant we had a guide.

In the morning, we grabbed a Bolt (4.4 GEL, £1.20) to get to the meeting point at 1 Sambhebro Street, arriving for 09:30. There are loads of bus tours going from this square but you very quickly get pointed to the right bus. This tour was due to go to Uplistsikhe on the return leg to Tbilisi (and I was planning on getting us back to Gori from Uplistsikhe by bus) but when we explained we were on our way to Gori, they very kindly changed the order especially for us so we would finish in Gori at the end and the Stalin Museum was their last stop.

The actual tour started at 10:00, with a very funny guide who spoke English, Russian and Georgian. Our first stop was the Jvari (Cross) Church and Monastery which stands on a spur of the Saguramo Hills, 150m above Mtskheta. Built between AD586 and 604, it's one of the finest examples of old Georgian architecture. Having walked up, inside we lit candles for Robin, Great Granny and Jesus - something we then did in just about every Georgian church we went into so long as I had enough coins to buy the candles! Tiger then conveniently announced she needed the loo so we had a quick look around before scooting back down, using the loo and grabbing a freshly pressed orange juice drink!

One thing which I think surprised Tiger a bit was that you had to pay to use the loo everywhere in Georgia (usually 1-2 GEL). Whilst most loos were sit down too, I'm sure she will also remember the squat toilets which did pop up in slightly more remote areas!

Our next stop was to Mtskheta (pronounced "Skayta") which is at the heart of Georgia's spiritual identity and the town's churches are on the UNESCO World Heritage List. We first were left to have a nice walk around the town (time for two ice creams - one from the supermarket and one "wine ice cream"!) before meeting up with our guide again to visit the Sveti Tskhoveli Cathedral - a pepper-pot dome of green rising high above the village and the river and where Christ's robe is buried.

Our next stop was Uplistsikhe, an ancient rock-hewn town, an archaeological marvel dating back to the early Iron Age. I had been here before 13 years ago but my memory was pretty hazy. The ticket price was 15 GEL each (£4.20) as we were foreigners. I could have gotten away with saying Tiger was under 6 (where she would have been free) but I decided to be honest and pay. Georgian citizens in contrast pay 1 GEL for school pupils / students / retirees. It was a very organised and we could pay by card.

We enjoyed wandering through its tunnels, halls, and chambers carved into the cliffs, with breath taking views of the surrounding landscape. It was great fun, super hot but also thankfully quite windy! We went inside the church at the top with more candles lit for Robin, Great Granny and Jesus. I was also actually very glad of the guide this time, as he also lead us out via a tunnel which was particularly fun, and I may not have found on my own.

We stopped for lunch just outside of the Uplistikhe complex, where Tiger really started to idolise one of the girls wearing a distinctive green dress on our tour from Kazakhstan so we sat with her and her friend. By this time, it was just really hot and so it was great to be able to cool down a bit in the AC. I had trout and Tiger had chips and dumplings, which the guide helped us order before we went in so it was ready when we came out of the main site.

Our next destination was onwards to Gori where our minibus group split fairly evenly into those who wanted to visit the slightly odd Stalin Museum, and those who didn't want to give it the time of day! We decided to go in to see what it was all about and we had a slightly odd English-speaking museum guide, whilst our own guide stayed with the other group. The Stalin Museum entrance fees, which were not included in the tour price, were 15 GEL (£4.20) for an adult and should have been 1 GEL (28p) for Tiger aka "school children" age 6 or over but they didn't actually charge me for her! As I was finding almost everywhere, I could pay using my credit card and using Apple Pay via my phone.

The Stalin Museum is massively grand and was built in Gori, as this was the birthplace of the politician, revolutionary and dictator who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953.

During Stalin's rule, he was revered as a champion of socialism and the working class. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Stalin has retained a degree of popularity in Georgia, as an economic moderniser and victorious wartime leader who transformed the Soviet Union into an industrialised superpower. This is the major focus of the museum - to really glorify Stalin with only a cursory nod to Stalin's regime overseeing mass repression and man-made famine which resulted in the suffering and deaths of millions of Soviet citizens. Nevertheless, it was an intriguing place to visit. As well as the exhibition halls, we also saw "Stalin's house" which seems to have been rebuilt outside the museum and Stalin's private train carriage.

Our group had a 2 hour journey back to Tbilisi but we left the tour here in Gori at half past four and waved them all off, to be honest pretty glad we were not going to be stuck traveling all the way back! So from the Museum we walked just a couple of minutes to the lovely Nitsa Guesthouse (100 GEL, £27) at 58 Kutaisi Street. We were welcomed by Lia, who was literally one of the most loveliest people I met in Georgia - Grandmotherly, so, so helpful and kind. Tiger, who was really not so used to guesthouses at this point, kept saying to me, "Mummy that lady is sooooo nice!". She helped me with everything from laundry, to advice on where to eat/shop and organised our onward transport to Kutaisi.

The guesthouse is basically a main house with a new building built out the back with four rooms - there may also perhaps be rooms in the main house but we didn't discover them. What is particularly nice is that there is a patch of garden, with deckchairs and it is a really pleasant place to sit. We had a "Double Room with Garden View" which had a double bed and a sofa bed (so Tiger finally got her own bed!), AC and a fridge. The bathroom was fully stocked with big bottles of shampoo and body wash. By this time, we were both really tired which I think I'd mainly put down to the heat so we freshened up with a very welcome shower. As we were traveling so minimally, this was also the first place that I used to do laundry. I'd brought washing powder along but I didn't really need to have done that as there was plenty. Lea popped all our dirty clothes in her washing machine for a quick wash and together we hung them up on the washing line to dry overnight.

We needed milk, so we walked back to the Stalin Museum which had a Nikora supermarket just past it which was quite good, and across the street a small playground and outdoor gym which we hung out at for a few minutes eating ice cream. Yes, more ice cream!! For dinner, we went across the street to the Chinebuli Restaurant for some very simple and authentic fare. Tiger had her dumplings and our total bill came to 26 GEL (£7.20). There really didn't seem to be much more to Gori (although perhaps it has a bit of a "hidden gem" side) but it certainly did feel very authentically "real life" Georgian, rather than the touristy side and the guesthouse was a real highlight!