Mental Excursions

Georgia Diary-4 Timeless Trails in Georgia Rock-cut town of Uplistsikhe Last Saturday I told you about our visit to Dashbashi canyon. The next day was our last day to visit places. Though it was not a very long list, it took up the whole day. We drove to Mtskheta, 20 km from Tbilisi, and one of the oldest ‘continuously’ inhabited cities in the world. Our first stop, sixth-century  Jvari Monastery, is situated on the top of Mount Jvari, close to Mtskheta and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Legend is that Saint Nino, known to have converted Iberian King Mirian III to Christianity, erected a huge cross where a pagan temple stood. Believing in the miraculous powers of the cross, people built a church on what was left over of the cross. Later, giving in to the needs of the time, a bigger church was built in the late sixth century. Like all other churches, it suffered damage during battles between kings. It was burnt by the Arabs in 914, but repaired later and the same was repeated du

Georgia Diary - 3 Dizzy in Dashbashi L: Gorge in Dashbashi canyon R: View through glass floor of the bridge Last Saturday I had shared with you the details about our trip to Gudauri and Kazbegi. We decided to keep the next day’s outing short so that we had more time to rest our tired limbs and sort out the memories. So, our destination was Dashbashi Canyon (Tsalka Municipality),  also called Tsalka Canyon,  a deep mountain gorge about 100 kms from Tbilisi. We drove for two hours through mountainous roads and green valleys, dotted with grazing sheep and cows. Shepherds had erected small temporary tarpaulin shelters on the grassy land, to rest. Small shops in villages on the way had placards announcing ‘Halal’ meat. Preparing for winter, farmers had cut the grass and bales of hay lay in the sunlight to dry or were being loaded into trucks. Bottom L: Bales of hay R: The blue on the hay is because the photo was taken through the windshield   As we had done the previous day, we feas

Georgia Diary -2 Driving towards Russian border Ananuri Complex Last Saturday I had started writing about our visit to Georgia and told you about our first day in Tbilisi, the capital city. Now we planned to travel to see other places. We started for Gadauri and Kazbegi around 10.30 a.m. the next morning, to drive towards Georgia- Russia border, on the Georgian Military Highway up North. Jhinvali reservoir Our first stop after an hour or so, was Jhinvali Water reservoir, an artificial lake on Aragvi river. The Soviets had constructed the dam on this important trading route in the 1980s. Nestled amidst picturesque mountains, the still, clear blue waters of the reservoir fulfil the daily water needs of Tbilisi. The scenic Georgian Military Highway is a high-altitude road. There was a lot of construction going on. Beka, our driver, told that the new road would solely be for trucks supplying goods to the cities along the way or going further to cross the border into Russia. We ha