8/13/14

I finally got out of Mestia after sorting out my cash troubles. In summary, my thoughts on Mestia are the following: it is worth 2 full days for the two main hikes, and maybe a third or just a half day for the town itself. It may also be worth a further day or two for a one or two day trip to Ushguli, but since I didn't go I can't speak to that. After about 3 full days in Mestia you will probably run out of things to do. However, it is worth saying that another virtue of Mestia is just relaxing in such a beautiful and quiet setting, so not having a ton of things to do is not necessarily bad. Another consideration is that Mestia makes an excellent base for some longer hikes that include camping, such as Ushguli or Koruldi lakes, which can be turned into a two day affair if you want. There are also many more trails in the area, all certainly gorgeous in the high alpine scenery, and with proper camping equipment and good wilderness preparedness I imagine you can make Mestia an even more spectacular adventure. Overall, it's a nice town in a beautiful location that is worth a few days' stay--longer if you come well-equipped and well-prepared for serious hiking.

My hosts were also very gracious and helpful, and I would recommend them to anyone looking to stay in the area. Georgi knows about all the marshrutkas, as well as extreme sports like skiing and mountain biking and has good advice on these things. Feride speaks excellent english and can tell you about the plane schedules as well. Note: despite various contrary evidence online, there are several flights to Mestia from Tbilisi, and they are quite cheap--around 65 GEL. Anyway, their information is:

Georgi and Ferida

Mikheil Khergiani St. 28

Phone: 995-596-10-05-12

The meals are also excellent, and the facilities very nice.

I left town on the last Marshrutka of the day to Zugdidi--it left at 11:00. Some days, they apparently run to Kutaisi, but this was not one of those days and I needed to get out so I grabbed the last spot on the last marschrutka out of town. This spot turned out to be a stool in the aisle of the overcrowded Ford Transit, which was of course lovely on the windy mountain road, but the driver was more moderate this time and I was terrified on fewer occasions. I did have to hold on to the seats on either side of me for stability though, which became an awkward introduction to my neighbors.

It took 3 hours to reach Zugdidi, where we directly connected with a Marshrutka to Kutaisi--these are quite frequent and an equally good option to make that journey. After about an hour and a half, and about 20 stops at various roadside stands selling motor oil repackaged in coke bottles out of the backs of shipping containers (I guess he eventually found the right one), we made it to Kutaisi. I went to stay at Giorgi's Homestay, recommended in the Lonely Planet. Giorgi was very friendly and helpful right off the bat, explaining where all the things to see/do were and how to get there. His house is very spacious and nice; it's also in an interesting part of the city and not too distant from the center--just be prepared to walk home uphill. He's extremely helpful and a good host (shares his wine) so I would strongly endorse him as a homestay choice.

Bagrati Cathedral

That night I went to the Old City restaurant somewhere near the main square. I was the only one there besides a group of Georgian guys feasting and consuming copious amounts of alcohol. Luckily, they were already at the point in their night at which I was swiftly integrated into their festivities, finally winding up at their table after I had finished my meal. Between my crappy Russian and their meager English we were able to string together a type of communication that included frequent references to hockey, "Bode Miller", and a lot of phrases that went something like "This…moments…of heart. ROCK AND ROLL!". Needless to say, it was glorious, and while the ceiling clearance was a bit too low to easily chug a glass of beer with a vodka shot in it while standing on a chair, it was a wild and crazy time.

Rock and Roll moments

The next day, I missed the train to Tkibuli. Turns out, it leaves at 09:00 AM, not 09:20 like the website says. If you go to Georgia and plan on doing a lot of traveling by train, get a physical schedule from the depot as soon as you can (I took a picture) since evidently the website can't be trusted. Trying to make the most of the day, I set out for the Prometheus Cave after having sat a while in a café, which was nice. The cave is not too far--I paid about 25 Lari for a taxi though there are direct Marshrutkas that are much cheaper. The cave itself was nice, though the light/sound set up bordered on being gaudy and distracted from the natural beauty a bit. I was going to try to go to Sataplia, but it was closed that day--Prometheus Cave is closed Monday, and Sataplia Tuesday. So, I tried to catch the train home from Tskaltubo. Tskaltubo is a spa town that, while still active with a mineral springs and some resort facilities, has clearly seen better days. The sprawling town is littered with old buildings, potentially hotels and resort facilities, that have nice architecture but are crumbling and largely vacant. If you like this kind of thing, Tskaltubo is the place for you. Just don't fall in any of the various open manholes which dot the sides of some sidewalk-less roads. The place has a vacant feel which is particularly eerie with all the massive, ornate, and yet empty buildings all around. The best way to describe it was a place that felt haunted in the daylight; it was so rejected that it didn't even need some sort of nightfall to make it feel creepy. Incidentally, the train station is actually being rebuilt, which is great because it too is old and ornate, but what would make it really great is if the trains actually ran--they do, because the rails were shiny on top, but evidently not my train, which I planned to take at 16:00 (correct schedule) from Tskaltubo to Kutaisi. After waiting for 45 minutes, I left. I have no idea if there was some anomaly, or if that particular train is not running for some reason, but I wound up taking a Marschrutka home.

Schedule posted in depot

Artificial lighting in cave

Depot

Today I did successfully make it to Tkibuli on the 9:00 train. It is an ancient engine and one small passenger car and takes more than twice as long (at 3 hours) as a marshrutka but it is well patronized and dirt cheap (one lari--not that a marshrutka is much more expensive). It is actually a very interesting experience, winding up through the hills through small towns and former industrial areas, with surprisingly scenic vistas along the way. The conductor was very friendly, opening some of the broke windows with a knife (which he alarmingly presented to me before opening the windows). Finally, the train made it to Tkibuli, where it turns out there is a relatively important coal operation, though it is tiny by American standards. They are still running coal trains to this location--one was sitting in Kutaisi this morning, and when I left Tkibuli it was sitting in the yard there. They also had a switcher engine moving cars around the small yard/loadout on the south end of town. If I understood the worker I asked later, some of the trains are only about 6 cars, though the strings I saw looked more on the order 12 or 15--though I wouldn't be surprised, as that route is very torturous with a lot of tight S-curves, sharp grades, and a haired-over and decrepit right of way that left even our small passenger car screeching against the edges. Some of the wear patterns on the rail made me wonder if we would drop between the gage at some points, so bad had things deteriorated. Once we got to Tkibuli, I got to walk through the ancient engine and watched as the conductor and a brakeman stood between the engine and the single car (which didn't have brakes applied) while they switched. When they did couple the engine to the car, it moved a good two feet and the conductor had to move out of the way but was apparently unfazed. I guess there is no such thing as  3-step here.

Train to Tkibuli

Anyway, Tkibuli is a nice town. My first impression after getting off the train was that it was very busy. The main square is right at the station, and it was full of people. There were a lot of shops downtown, and a pleasant river. To the north were some administrative buildings, and to the south the road, railroad, and a bunch of apartment buildings were arranged in parallel lines between the hillside and the river or the coal loadout. The town was fairly pleasing to be in; a sense of bustle and a surprisingly nice architecture that even encompassed some of the apartment buildings contributed to a nice feel. I saw one place that said it was a hotel (didn't go check this, it looked a bit vacant but as always, who knows with this sort of thing), so overnight stays should not be too hard to arrange here. I even saw four backpackers arrive, which suggested that they too had found accommodation. Apparently there are also scenic overlooks nearby. If I had the time, I think an overnight would be nice. Oh--the mine. I tried to go there, but the surprisingly sympathetic guard said it wasn't possible, so for all you "urban explorer" types, don't try it. 

At the depot

The depot

Tkibuli life

Large complex 1

Large complex 2

I returned via marshrutka and got off at the station to see what was going on. I wound up talking to some train crew for a little while, who griped about their low salaries and had apparently seen something on TV about American railroads because they kept talking about it and were apparently fascinated with the dispatcher's office. I did learn that there is some local traffic here I tried to talk to them about looking around but they said I had to talk to a "[railroad] officer" to do that (turns out one was sitting about 20 feet from us, but at that point I figured it was just better to come back the next day). In any case, I think I'll go back before my train to Tbilisi in the morning and see if I can't talk to one of these low level managers and take a look around. There's a shop facility not far and I'll see what the deal is with that .