Kutaisi, canyons and caves

On Wednesday 6th August, we headed off from Gori to Kutaisi for 2 nights, a journey of about 185km. We already knew from the Wanderlush blog that there were semi-regular marshrutka minivans and shared taxis departing from Gori bus station for Kutaisi throughout the day, starting from as early as 9am, but Lia our guesthouse host from Nitsa's Guesthouse organised us a shared taxi for 30 GEL each (£8.30). I presume we could have managed this cheaper, but this was definitely the easiest option for us, very comfortable, and worked out super well.

The only slight surprise was that we were picked up at 6.30am so we didn't have breakfast in Gori, but nevermind! Tiger slept during most of the journey. We had a slightly amusing pause around 2 hours in at what was essentially the turn off from the motorway to Kutaisi (our shared taxi's eventual destination was Batumi) where our driver hailed a local bus for us going to Kutaisi itself. This was pretty fun though as once a bus was hailed, we sat on the back seats (no seatbelts on this bus) and bumped along for about 20 minutes.

I realise now that where we were dropped off was in front of the 'Grand Mall' on Chavchavadze Avenue and there was actually a McDonalds just around the corner but I didn't fully appreciate this, otherwise we'd have gone there! Instead I just ordered a Bolt (6.40GEL, £1.75) to take us to our next guesthouse, Nana's Home, which was right in the centre of Kutaisi. The only problem was it was so early and whilst we could go inside the hotel (despite the name it was more of a hotel than a guesthouse) there was literally nobody there and presumably far too early at just past 9am to check in! So we were able to pop things in the fridge, and left our bags behind the Reception desk aiming to come back later and walked to the other McDonalds at the Cochis Fountain smack bang in the middle of town. We were in desperate need of toilets, AC and caffeine so this did us perfectly!!

Again, I followed Emily's advice from the Wanderlush blog about where to go and what to do in Kutaisi, which was super helpful. Emily actually liked Kutaisi so much that she moved there and I can totally see why she likes it so much. Kutaisi was just gorgeous, very cosmopolitan, clean and easy to walk around!

Having refreshed ourselves in McDonalds, we walked through the main Kutaisi Central Park full of statues and fountains, and down the street to the Green Bazaar, the oldest and largest agricultural market in Kutaisi. What an awesome place! We simply enjoyed wandering around and looking at everything - the pig head and dead chickens were particularly enlightening (!), we bought plastic fans, hair clips and make up paraphernalia for Tiger. We stopped at a supermarket to buy more washing powder (as we'd left the last packet in Gori as I didn't want to carry it), kept stocking up on cold water and ice creams and even saw an area outside the market where live chickens were being sold. This had quite a profound impact on Tiger, although I still don't think it has put her off her chicken nuggets!

Finally, just after 1.30pm, we made our way back to the hotel to finally get into our room. We had a double room booked at Nana’s Home (144 GEL £39 for 2 nights) located at Jacob Gogebashvili Street 7. As I mentioned earlier, this seemed to be more of a hotel vibe than a guesthouse but I had contact with them via Whatsapp throughout. Our room was all we needed with a double bed, good shower and good AC! But what was also so helpful was the fact that there was a shared kitchen for our use with a big fridge (good for the milk) and a washing machine. The latter we used basically daily - Kutaisi was so hot and humid (no dry heat) so we needed to and this worked so well as clothes just dried easily overnight. Nana's Home also had a nice balcony to sit out on, a garden out the back and a shared living room type area with sofas right outside our room door. Enough space for Tiger to do indoor cartwheels without breaking anything (!).

After our super early start, we then had a siesta before heading out for dinner at 6pm at Lilestan which was just around the corner from our hotel. With hindsight, this was just maybe a bit too posh of a place for Tiger, and the service was a bit slow, but it was the number 2 best restaurant on Tripadvisor and equally I didn't want to go to McDonalds for every single meal - perhaps a point Tiger disagreed on!! Tiger had chicken soup and chips, I had a chicken and pineapple salad with a G&T, and then we shared a delicious desert. Our whole bill came to 118 GEL (£32.50).

On Thursday 7th August, we took a truly fantastic Get Your Guide tour (£47.90) to Okatse Canyon, Martvili Canyon, Promestheus Cave, Tskaltubo. As well as the tour cost, we also needed about 100 GEL each (£27) for all entrance fees. We had to meet everyone at the white colonnade at entrance of Kutaisi Central Park at 9.30am, where we had been the day before, and just a 4 minute walk from our hotel so it wasn't ridiculously early. There were also just six of us in total plus the guide and driver so it was a nice, small group.

Our first stop was the Okatse Canyon about one hour drive from Kutaisi where the ticket prices were adult 17.40 GEL (£4.80) and child 5.50 GEL (£1.50) and we first stopped to buy our tickets at the visitor centre.

The other guests elected to hike to the start of the Okatse Canyon walk but we took a local taxi (10 GEL, £3) which was far easier for us. Now this was just the most amazing place, if a little bit scary if, like me, you are scared of heights. It is basically a 780m long hanging trail walkway above a deep canyon and at the end there is a section which extends over the canyon itself. Well, to say I had jelly legs would be a massive understatement. I wasn't quite petrified but I was definitely nervous. It should be noted that kids under 1m20 are not allowed on the walkway (for GOOD reason!). Tiger was just tall enough and, whilst it was super safe, you do have to be careful there is no climbing on the walkway! I was more scared of the final section and couldn't spend too much time there but it was truly beautiful and exhilarating! It was also hot and sweaty but ok overall. We were joined by 2 more of our group in the taxi on the way back, and the other 2 hiked!

After the first canyon, we stopped at a supermarket and simple restaurant where Tiger at a massive plate of mashed potato!! The next stop was the Martvili Canyon which was a completely different experience as it was packed to the rafters with tourists! A total case of "instagram vs reality". Tiger enjoyed it, particularly the boat ride, though and said it was her "best day ever" tied with a playdate she'd had with a girl from school! The entry fees here were adult 20 GEL (£5.50) child 5.50 GEL (£1.50) and the boats were 20 GEL (£5.50) each. What was also pretty cool was a short donkey ride (10 GEL, £2.75) which was fun for Tiger.

One further hour on and we were at the Prometheus Cave, our penultimate destination. Again, this was super crowded with tourists and it felt too much really but it was fun taking the boat out and, again, I know Tiger loved it! However, I'd have loved to have visited at a quieter time. The adult ticket was 23 GEL (£6.30) (£1.50) child 5.50 GEL and the boats were 17.25 GEL (£4.75) each.

Our final stop was just 15 minutes drive, Tskaltubo, Georgia's Soviet Spa Town where we visited the abandoned and crumbling Sanatorium Medea. Really quite spectacular with nature taking back the buildings, similar in some ways to Chernobyl in Ukraine. Oh, and lots of cute puppies here that Tiger enjoyed playing with!

When we got back to Kutaisi, it was close to 8pm and as we were dropped right back to the Colchis Fountain which had the McDonalds next to it, it seemed rude not to have dinner here. This time however we were totally wowed by the fact that the Kutaisi McDonalds has a robot server!! I'm seriously hoping that this is not the only thing Tiger remembers from her day!