Showing posts with label Kutaisi. Show all posts

Martvili Canyon | Kutaisi


The Martvili Canyon, used to be a bath place for Georgian Nobles, Dadiani family. It is a natural wonder in the Samegrelo region of Georgia, near the town of Martvili. Also called the Gachedili Canyon, it is about a 45 minute drive from the city of Kutaisi in West Georgia.





The canyon is divided into two parts, Upper and Lower. You can ride a boat along the canyon from the Upper part that leads to a waterfall falling from the height of about 12 meters. Thanks to the climate of the terrain and high humidity, the walls of the canyon are covered with moss, you will also see lianas that grow along the whole length of the canyon, small streams and waterfalls. A truly fabulous picture!












You can also walk along the Dadiani trial. To be honest both the boat ride and the trail was a bit of a disappointment because they were both very short. However, they were beautiful.








In the lower part of the canyon there is a “pool” where you can swim and enjoy the beauty of the surrounding nature. Even on the hottest day the water here is cool, therefore this place is very popular among locals who come to Martvili to run away from the summer heat. In summer days, the canyon is full of tourists and locals. 
GEL 28 for boat trip and trail entrance fee.

While visiting Martivili canyon it is worth to visit the Martvil Monastery (Chkondidi) of the VI century, which is on the way to the canyon. In 735 the monastery was burnt, the paintings on the walls were destroyed. And only a century and a half later it was restored. Today, on the territory of the monastery there is the temple of the Assumption of the Virgin, the church of the 10th century, in the south-west there is a 20-meter-high pillar and chapel, which was built on the site of an old destroyed chapel.
I didn't visit the monastery, but have heard the below about it:
On its highest hill there is a Monastery. The site upon the hill where the monastery stands today was used in ancient times as a pagan cultural center and was a sacred site. There once stood an ancient and enormous oak tree that was worshipped as an idol of fertility and prosperity. Infants were once sacrificed here as well. After the conversion of the native population to Christianity, the ancient tree was cut down so as not to worship it anymore. A church was originally constructed in the late 7th century upon the roots of the old oak tree and was named in honor of Saint Andrew who preached Christianity and converted the pagans across the Samegrelo region. 

The main Martvili-Chkondidi Cathedral (Mingrelian: Chkoni translates to “oak”) was reconstructed in the 10th century after invasions that destroyed the prior church. Preserved in the church are frescoes of the 14th to 17th centuries.





Read about Kutaisi HERE

Promotheus Cave | Kutaisi

Prometheus cave is located some 20km from Kutaisi in village Kumistavi (Tskaltubo Municipality), and if you are in Kutaisi - I'd highly recommend you to  include Prometheus cave in your itinerary.

The cave was discovered in 1984 and was almost immediately developed as a show cave. Kumistavi is the biggest cave in Georgia. Although only one tenth is open for tourists, it takes about an hour to explore it. Inside there are underground lakes and rivers; rather high humidity and a lot of bats, which, however, do not bother tourists, as they fly very high.

There is a constant 14 degree Celsius temperature inside the cave all year round.





It is a succession of six large chambers followed by a 400m-long underground lake. Sections are truly impressive, and the guided visits along a well-made concrete path are enhanced by discreet colored lighting and a little background classical music.





























The total length of tourist trail inside the cave is about 1060 meters which you can choose to be accompanied by English or Russian/Georgian speaking guide.






Marshrutka 30 runs from the west end of Kutaisi’s Tsiteli Khidi (Red Bridge) to Tskaltubo (1 GEL, 30 minutes), where marshrutka 42 continues 8km to Prometheus Cave (1.50 GEL, 20 minutes) every hour or two.


Prometheus the Titan, who, along with Epimetheus, was given the task of creating man, managed to annoy the god Zeus by stealing fire from the gods for man and for refusing to tell Zeus which of his children would dethrone him. As a result of this, Zeus ordered his servants to seize Prometheus, take him to the Caucasus Mountains and chain him to a rock with unbreakable bonds, where he would be subjected to a giant bird pecking at his liver.

Legend has it that the rock Prometheus was chained to lies in this cave outside Kutaisi (although it is certainly not the only cave which claims the legend for its own). Discovered in 1984, the cave boasts a wonderful array of stalactites, stalagmites, petrified waterfalls, cave pearls, underground rivers, and lakes. There is also the option of a boat tour on one of the underground rivers.
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Read about Kutaisi HERE


Georgia - Day 4 | Kutaisi


Day 5 – Kutaisi

Kazbegi – Tbilisi (Didube) – Kutaisi

I couldn’t care less of how badly I had planned my travel, in terms of getting from one place to another. So if you are planning of travelling by the local bus from Kazbegi to Kutaisi, you have to go back to Tbilisi (Didube ) and get a bus from there. I inquired at the taxi stand and post muttering something in Georgian he said 600 Lari and just laughed. I’m sure he wasn’t even considering , that someone would want to cab it out from kazbegi to Kutaisi. (Anyhow, so I left from Kazbegi to go to Tbilisi).

One amazing and helpful thing (at times annoying, if you reach early), is that the Mashrutka will wait until it’s full to go from one place to another. I paid 10 GEL to reach Tbilisi and 10 GEL to go to Kutaisi.

Kutaisi as I recall wasn’t that picturesque as compared to Kazbegi and I slept off, as I was extremely tired. I got off at the center or so I thought. Now the only issue with Kutaisi is the language – I didn’t meet a single local who spoke English. They speak Georgian (obviously) and Russian (God save me). And, I had the toughest and the most amazing experience here.

Being Indian, I’m adept with hand gestures and having played a lot of dumb charades, I was positive I would master Kutaisi. I reached the center in the evening and was dropped like a hot bun in middle of nowhere. I had my hostel booking and was waving it at everyone’s face (just kidding). I was put up at Apart King hostel, which as per my research was in the middle of the city (rofl). But wait, it was close to the Colkhis fountain and the Bagrati Cathedral (Pat on my back).

Anyways, so I headed to the cop car (based on previous experience of how amazing the cops were) and knocked on their window with an ‘I’m a tourist’ smile plastered on my face (it’s a face that invokes sympathy, or so I believe it does). The cops shooed me away like a fly siting on a doughnut, but I tried again and was shooed away with a ‘don’t you knock again’ stare.

A few locals started laughing at the scene and I decided to ask them for help. But to my dismay they didn’t speak English. However, they were helpful, and post bargaining with a taxi guy and speaking with him via Google translate (I bow down to thee). I reached my hostel. My mom always told me, nothing is impossible if you put your mind to it. I tweaked it a little with – there’s nothing impossible if you put your mind to it and have internet on your phone.

My Hostel was previously a hospital. I’m glad my roomie told me about it the day before I was to leave (lol. Though I did get creepy vibes, I was too tired to reflect on them). The Hostel overlooks a river and is very close to Bagrati Cathedral.

I woke early and spent some time at the river, it was so calming and gave me the needed energy for the rest of the day. I had a nice chat with my Russian roomie and since she had other plans, we went our ways.







I was fortunate to have met an elderly gentleman who was kind enough to drop me to the place where I could get the bus to Promotheus cave. As it turns out, there were no buses going to the cave from where I originally thought it would.

So to go to Promotheus, you need to head to Tskaltubo  (GEL 5) and then take another Mashrutka to go to Promotheus cave (GEL 2). The mashrutka usually waits and takes you back to Tskaltubo. Promotheus was beautiful. 


Once the cave tour was completed, we had a bus take us to the entrance and then the same bus took us back to Tskaltubo and then I headed back to Kutaisi and wanted to go to Martvili Canyon.


Read more about Promotheus cave HERE

There’s a combo offer for both Promotheus & Sataplia cave and Martvili and Okatse Canyon for around 50 GEL, which is extremely good for budget travelers and otherwise.

And  google map came in handy, when I asked for help to go to Martvili Canyon and I met a local who mouthed off a few words and I jotted them down, sat down and checked if I could finds any on  google map, and Lo behold I did. The bus to Martvili Canyon goes from the main bus station in Kutaisi (GEL 5).  I walked it out, bought a Kachapuri and Natakhtari for the way, and sat on the bus that was to take me to the canyon 


The ride took almost forever (not really, I was just tired). But we reached the drop off place and had to take another bus to the Canyon (GEL 2).

Read more about Martvili HERE.

I hitchhiked from Martvili canyon to the main bus area, and then found a bus that took me to somewhere in Kutaisi (I was totally lost, and ran out of phone battery as well). However, the locals were ever so kind, and I managed to charge my phone at a store which was closing for the day (but they let me in for a good 30 mins – enough for half my battery to charge. Hail Samsung).



I decided to visit Bagrati before heading to my hostel (if I could find it). Post a fully charged phone and a fully charged me, I went towards Bagrati Cathedral (as shown on map). My basic instinct is to ask the locals for directions and on reaching someplace close to Bagrati, I asked  for direction and the guy offered to drop me to Bagrati (Bless him). He dropped me close to teh cathedral and we bid farewell. Bagrati is extremely beauteous. It stands proud with a blue dome perched tall over a church that has seen a good amount of wear and tear. The church is beautiful inside as well, and as per tradition, please do cover up using scarves, generously placed outside the church entrance.













There was an area overlooking the town, but since I was extremely tired, I decided to head back to my hostel and freshen up. I got lost on the way back. However, the best thing about getting lost in Georgia is that you are offered wine always. Post some amazing conversations over wine, I left to hopefully find my hostel, and as luck may have had it. I did.

I met my roomie, who asked me to join her to go to Bagrati cathedral, and I simply said yes. We both headed over to what was the most beautiful sight I cherish even today. By the time we reached, the church was already closed for the day. We went and sat at a spot overlooking the town.

It was magical to sit at a quiet spot illuminated with a few lights and look at the fully lit up city. I imagined it to be loud and bustling (which it was, almost not as loud as a Bombay or Dubai). We sat engulfed in silence and bathed in the moonlight.  It was a beautiful moment captured forever in my heart.










Kutaisi you were beautiful in the weirdest way ever. This was the only place where I had the jitters, but also enjoyed it thoroughly.


Read Day 1 HERE
Read Day 2 HERE
Read Day 2 - to Kazbegi HERE

Read Day 3 HERE


Much Love 

xoxo

"Better to see something once than hear about it a thousand times"