22nd September: Akhaltsikhe, Georgia
I struggled to think of a title for this one, so apologies for the meta / cheesy effort!
Borjomi is famous across Georgia for its water. Most bottled water either bares the Borjomi or Bakuriani brands – the latter being a mountain town nearby. The claimed healing properties of the town’s supply is believed to have been known about for millennia. However, it was the apparent recovery of sick Russian troops retreating from an aborted assault on Akhaltsikhe that began the popularisation of the springs in the public consciousness.
We made the same journey as those sick troops, 45km or so down river from the fortress to the springs. I’m sure they had it much worse, but a bumpy marshrutka ride in torrential rain certainly left us feeling queasy too! Borjomi felt distinctly autumnal as the drizzle stubbornly refused to pass and low cloud clung to forested hillsides, which showed the first hints of green turning to yellow. Various springs are tapped around town, with queues of people filling up bottles from their favourite supplies. The first we tried was disgustingly sulphurous, although I believe it’s this that is said to have the vast list of medicinal properties. I spat mine out, so am forever stuck with whatever ailments I arrived with! The rain did stop though, so maybe it was magic after all.
The expansive central park, around which the majority of springs flow, was a bizarre mix of a relaxing spa town green walks and incredibly tacky amusement park sideshows. I think it’ll be some time before I get the Eye of Tiger out of my head, as the ubiquitous boxing machines play a snippet of this ad nauseum. It fits in on the promenade in Batumi, but not at the fortress in Akhaltsikhe or the mineral water park in Borjomi!
The first water bottling factory was a cool relic to see. At the market, we tried and bought multiple types of delicious fresh plum churchkhela. So much tastier than those we’d tried until now. We dodged more showers in a café and then a restaurant, eating rather than drinking our way through the town of water. I was definitely feeling the restorative effects, but of coffee and cake.
19th century Russian royalty had the town built around a palace for the Romanovs. This was one place we’d like to have visited, but unfortunately, it’s been closed to the public since 2020. The same goes for the supposedly picturesque 50km narrow gauge valley railway. Instead, we opted to head up to the plateau to wander the abandoned Soviet era complex built as a retreat for composers to write and practice. Sure enough, this now had a very recent perimeter fence manned by a security guard who showed no interest in letting us close enough for even a distant look. Still, the walk back down the hill gave us some impressive views of the Soviet era blocks against the verdant hillsides The other 20th century highlight were the mosaics and friezes we spotted around the park and town whilst waiting to flag down passing marshrutky back to Akhaltsikhe.
