After that much travelling to Georgia I should be used, but still I cannot put in my mind that there is always a fellow traveller when I come here: the unexpected. The title of the post might seem bad, probably someone would get offended without even reading the rest of the article, but my intention is not to talk badly about the country; I just want to share my thoughts – which might be wrong – about Georgia and the idea of being a tourist here. The first thing I would like to say is that I like this country. Despite what people might think, this is true: I do like to come here, because it’s different. Probably that unexpected I am not used to is what makes it so nice to my eyes: if you like plans, do not come here. Not yet.
It was December 2007 when I first came to Tbilisi: it was cold, my suitcase did not arrive for 2 days – italian mistake, this time – but still I liked the place. It is like coming back in time, when people were less careful about time, deadlines, rules and they were more friendly, especially with guests. This is a really nice thing that I found here and made me come back again and again. Now it’s 2010: almost 3 years have passed and Tbilisi is changed; it’s changed a lot and it is still changing. Somehow this is sad for me, since you never know what can happen next: I hope it won’t lose its good qualities, becoming a normal place as you can find everywhere else.
 Making of Ferris Wheel in Mtatsminda |
 New roads in Heroes Square |
 TV antenna in Mtatsminda |
The government is trying to push hard on tourism: it’s a good move, a great one. I do believe this country has the potential to be a favorite destination for holidays: there is sea - not the best one, but still nice and interesting – there is history with the beautiful buildings from old times, there are amazing mountains with wild nature, good food and everything you might want to find during a vacation. Walking around Tbilisi these days made me notice a lot of under costruction areas and a huge number of new buildings and repaired roads; they are making a new Ferris Wheel on top of Mtatsminda - a park situated on one of the hills within the city – in a place where you would be able to see the panorama of the whole city; they repaired some roads which were totally ugly and broken, built new ones, a new bridge, parks. So far, so good.
Let me open a bracket about the bridge in particular: called Bridge of Peace, it has been designed by an Italian architect and it’s situated over the river Mtkvari which flows along the capital. Of course it is a matter of taste, but I think that the place where they put it is not the most appropriated: I would not define the bridge ugly, it’s even nice, but it is surrounded by several old buildings and I personally believe that it clashes a bit with them. I must admit anyway that in the evening, especially when you admire the city from the top of the hills, it looks more integrated and nicer. They are even building something, probably a park, next to it, so the area might become even better.
The Bridge of Peace
Closing the brackets, it looks like you should run now to book a ticket and come to Tbilisi as soon as possible: yes, perhaps you should, but be ready for the unexpected. Yes, because even if everything is getting better and better to welcome guests and offer the best experience, there is still something missing before Georgia can be considered ready to be a destination for normal tourists. In a word, what is missing here is the planning: if you want to spend a vacation here, you just should hope that everything would be as you planned. And be sure, it won’t be. You still need to be a little adventurous to have a nice holiday in this wonderful country.
We were planning to go to Mestia, a village in the region of Svaneti, where you can find ancient towers and villages – one of them, Ushguli, is even listed as Unesco heritage – that are unique. The road is too long and still not fully repaired – which might be good, since you would feel the nature even more – and it requires several hours to get there. How many? Nobody really knows, since someone says 5, someone else even 10. Voices say that the alternative is an airplane which flies twice a week: sounds good, so we decided to get that. Travel agencies in this case don’t help: they know there is a plane, but no details; we decided then to call some friend-of-friend who lives near the airport to find out some information: the person at airport tells him to call one week in advance to book a seat – perfect!
So where’s the problem? Well, one week is missing to the planned flight, the man calls to book and… surprise: there’s no way to book a seat, first comes, first served is the rule. The last attempt would be to go directly to the airport and see if there is a way to change the situation, but another surprise was waiting for us: of course we could book them, but we had to call three weeks ago. You might imagine how disappointed we became after these answers. Finding a car to get there, without spending a fortune, does not seem easier: in this moment we still don’t have a real solution, although we want very much and, armed with some more patience, we’ll find out one.
Another point – which I also discussed with an Italian working here – is the lack of service in some situations: just as example, if you go to Davit Gareji, a monastry on the border with Azerbaijan very appreciated by visitors, you will find out that, after a two hours long road, you can’t find a toilet nor a place where to buy a drink. If this is supposed to be one of the great sites where people would go, I think something is really missing. The same might be said about roads: even if some have been renewed, again you may spend several hours without the opportunity to find a decent toilet.
There are other problems, maybe nothing so critical, but still something should change in order to make Georgia ready for the big tourism; when those things will change, probably the spirit of the country will also be different; so my suggestion is to find some time and take a two weeks trip here, soon: do not expect to be always on time, to plan everything, to have just a relax; but be sure to find good people, tasty food and an amazingly beautiful country.
Tbilisi by night