Chapter 43

Day Three

As I sat in the back seat, I considering a flaw in the driving system in Georgia. Georgians drive on the right-hand side of the road, as in the U.S., but some steering wheels were on the right and some, on the left in Georgia. In the white van, it was on the right, which gave Misha a clear disadvantage of seeing oncoming cars when he was tailgating, which was frequent.  Bruce, who sat in the front on the left side was the one with a clear sight of cars coming around the curves. And the one most in harm’s way when Misha darted out into the passing lane, sped up, and, almost too soon, he darted back into our lane, as the car behind us slowed or moved to the shoulder in order to let him back in before we were hit, head on. I thought Bruce might be safer in the back seat with me, but pretty soon, Bruce was telling Misha when it was safe, or not safe to pass. I had to love Misha, because he listened to Bruce. They chatted away, as I relaxed enough to take some cat naps and write in my journal.

Other times, I leaned forward to listen to some of Misha’s stories. He was thirteen years older than his wife, who he proudly bragged, spoke excellent English. They had a four year old son who liked to play with toy guns. In his fast and broken English, he said his father had died in a car accident. I was thinking that should have made Misha a more careful driver. But I was caught up in Misha’s story when he said he had a dream about a car accident, and when he woke up, he learned his father had died in a car accident. I watched Misha, his talking-with-his-hands, his frankness in his belief in something much bigger than us at work in the universe. He reminded me of Roma, and the times Roma was hyper-intuitive, like times when he was a little boy and eerily seemed to know exactly what I was thinking. When he was older he and I were cosmically connected in even more astounding experiences. In life, Roma and I were on the same frequency in an other-worldly sort of way. With Roma no longer inhabiting the same planet as me, I still felt his “aliveness.”

We arrived at Martvili Canyon, a beautiful river gorge. The landscape was vastly different from our precious travels. We were excited that today’s excursion included a raft ride on this clear blue-green  water. The Georgian government recently made capital improvements on the infrastructure, building overlook sites, bridges, walking paths and docking areas for boats. The canyon is over 1.5 miles long, and 15 to 30 feet wide. The protected area features caves, waterfalls, and jagged rock formations.

After our raft ride and hike up for a better view of the canyon below, we were back in the van heading to the Promethean Caves, an hour’s drive away.

The Promethean Caves, also known as Kumistavi, were discovered in 1984.  With three quarters mile of walkway, and a boat on the underground, it was an unexpected site, very different from anything we had seen. Kumistavi is the biggest cave in Georgia. Although only ten percent of the caves are open for tourists, it takes about an hour to explore the manmade paths through the underground maze. There are subterranean lakes and rivers. The humidity is high, with a constant temperature of 57 F.  Supposedly there are lots of bats, but thankfully we managed to miss them. 

Misha moved ahead of us in the line and began talking to other people. We watched him conversing easily with friends he had found in line. But after a while, we noticed they hadn’t previously met, as he introduced himself and shook hands with his new acquaintances.  Like Roma, Misha apparently never met a stranger anywhere he went. 

Back in the van, on the country roads, we passed donkey-drawn carts piled high with sticks. It was like we traveled back to a different century on this rural roads. There were few signs of modernity.  When we approached a small funeral procession crossing the road from a church to the cemetery, carrying the simple, open wooden casket, those trailing behind didn’t seem to mind when Misha slowed just a little, then found an opening between the procession of mourners just big enough to pass on through.

Men walked on the roads, sometimes three abreast taking up half the lane of the rural roads, not moving or flinching when Misha zoomed around them. I winched, afraid his big side mirror would whack someone in the back of the head. Children played at the edge of the road, and they didn’t run off the road as we approached, and Misha didn’t slow down. Dogs, sheep, cows, chickens, adults, children, walked along and in the road, and no one or thing seemed to notice they might be in danger. Soon, even I settled down. Even enough to nap occasionally. If Misha thought he could get the van through that three foot gap between moving cows or sheep crossing the road, who was I to second guess him? Sometimes it seemed the cows favorite place to congregate was at the white center line. Sometimes, Misha was truly blocked and could not pass without a certain collision. Then he would almost stop and say kindly to the offending cows, “Ladies, ladies, move along.” Sweet-hearted Misha made me smile.

 

Next we stopped at the Gelati Monastery, a large medieval monastic complex, another UNESCO World Heritage site.  Gelati was founded in 1106 by David IV, known as David the Builder (1073-1125).

Because we were three and a half hours from our hotel in Tbilsi, we spent the night in the Imereti region at a guest house. Our room was number seven, like God was reminding us that He was there, right beside us on this sacred journey. 

 Day Four

Our first stop on day four was at Vardzia, another massive labyrinth cave monastery. It was larger than Uplistsikhe which we visited on our first day, and excavated over two centuries later. It encompasses an entire city cut into the side of the Erusheti mountain in southern Georgia. In times of national emergencies as in the frequent invasions, it could house up to 60,000 people. In times of peace, it housed mostly monks.

In the late 1100’s the Mongols from nearby Turkey, to the south, were a constant threat to the medieval kingdom of Georgia.  To avoid the persistent danger of annihilation, King Tamar ordered the construction of the underground sanctuary.  Excavation began secretly and remained a mystery. The only entrance was through a secret tunnel near the Mtkvari River. The underground fortress eventually had 19 tiers constructed with natural caves and contained over 3000 rooms, including a large church, several chapels, a bakery, a pharmacy, a throne room, and a large meeting room.  There are only 750 rooms remaining, after an earthquake in 1283 sheared off the front surface rock, exposing the caves that had been previously hidden completely within the mountain. The caves stretch horizontally along the cliff for over 1600 feet. The site was mostly abandoned in the sixteenth century after the Ottoman invasion.

Akhaltsikhe was our second stop of the day. 

The original fortress was built in the late 12th century. Many Jewish merchants and craftsmen lived and traded in the ancient city

From the 13th to the end of the 14th century it was a major city of the area, and ruled by the son of a king. In 1393 the city was attacked by Tamerlane, a Mogul conqueror. Although the fortress withstood the attack, the treaty of Constantinople in1590, designated the territory to be ruled by the Ottoman Empire. A historian wrote in the late 18th century that that “despite the fact that a large part of the population has been Islamized, there’s still a functioning Orthodox church.”

Through the centuries, many invaders battled for control of the area. In the 1828 Battle of Akhaltsikhe, the Georgians prevailed. In the Treaty of Adianople in 1829, the Ottoman’s gave up this part of the country.

The fortress and the adjacent buildings including a tunnel, a mint, an arsenal, a church, and a mosque that had been added in 1772  were extensively renovated in 2011-2012 to attract tourists. The Georgians were not all pleased by the modern look that transformed the historical area.

When we finally arrived back at our hotel on Wednesday night, we had to pack another over-night bag for the next, and most awaited adventure. Finally on Thursday, day five, we were traveling to Kazbegi to join Roma’s sister, Liana. My tears were close to the surface, just imagining the long anticipated meeting.

Continue with Chapter 44