13th September: Kutaisi, Georgia
Snacks purchased from the bakery, we saw a marshrutka with a monastery symbol and jumped on. The driver confirmed we were heading to Gelati. The winding road out of the city allowed glimpses of the clouds still in front of mountains from the early morning storms. We realised before we reached Gelati that this was actually the wrong marshrutka and only went to the bottom of the mountain. For some reason, despite knowing this, I felt fully at peace and deeply relaxed for possibly the first time on the trip. With no choice, we set off walking up the switchbacks. Not long later, the sun burnt through the clouds and the heat of the day kicked in.
It only took an hour or so to get to the top and the views of distant mountains were totally worth it. We’d heard the monastery might be closed due to overrunning refurbishments and unfortunately this was the case. This building is also one of Georgia’s 4 remaining UNESCO sites, so I wonder if these works will also be deemed too much. We were only able to peer over the walls to glance at the exterior but the fabled interiors were out of reach. The marshrutka we should’ve gotten to the top of the mountain sat temptingly ready to go back to the city. Kaja wasn’t feeling so good, so took the opportunity to go back and chill as the marshrutka stop in Kutaisi was right outside our accommodation. I, however, decided to go on a little adventure. There’s another monastery a few kilometres back towards to city and we’d read that you could walk between the two with a bit of perseverance!
Firstly, fuelled up on churchkhela, I aptly headed further up to two small churches. I let myself in to one and was amazed by the old frescos drawn on to the walls. It was completely peaceful with not a sound to be heard.
To get to Motsameta, I had to first get down a very steep track back towards the main road to cross the river. Luckily, this meant a chance to stock up on water. It was baking hot again by this point and I was going through it at a rate of knots. I kept snacking little and often on my lobiani too, every time having to share with a different street dog. A turn onto another track took me part of the way back up hill, where I was able to pick up the train track for the final couple of kilometres. Luckily rail traffic was sparse, except for the occasional very slow ‘milk train’. More moo moo than choo choo!
The trees opened on the left to reveal a spectacular canyon, with the monastery placed on the cliffs of one river bend. Distant storm clouds somehow made the scene even more epic. This monastery was all about the views and exterior, although the inside was interesting too to someone who’s only seen a handful of orthodox churches.
The walk back to the main road in the heat seemed to take an age. I hoped to pick up a marshrutka, as any to Kutaisi from this direction would run along this road. After waiting for 40 minutes at a designated pick-up area, I finally saw one round the bend. However, for an inexplicable reason the driver chose that moment to overtake a crane and didn’t see me waving at him. Fortunately, another came minutes later. 1 Lari (28p) to get back to town! It still wasn’t all plain sailing, however, as I ended up at the wrong bus station and had a bonus 3-kilometre walk. I absolutely loved the whole day though, especially once I’d had a cold shower! Kaja was feeling well enough to go out for dinner, so we found a restaurant serving ajapsandali. This is a slightly tomato flavoured vegetable stew, somewhat akin to ratatouille, and was fantastic with some rice and a few char-grilled veggies. I also washed mine down with one of the best hot compotes I’ve had – strawberry with all sorts of berries, which made me crave a crumble in the cool UK autumn.