Southbound

After tasting the Borjomi mineral water, it was time for me to move on. Next stop was Akhaltsikhe. Just 1.5 hour south by marshrutka. I got up at a more humane time this day. But found that my clothes were still not dry after yesterdays washing. The torrential rains last night hat rendered it impossible to hang them up on the clothesline outside my window. Also because of the rain, I had not bought any breakfast. So I took what I had available. A bottle of Coke. It has sugar doesn't it?
In addition, I had no idea how I should hand over the keys to someone. There were, after all, no reception. I only got the keys from the grey-haired guy on the first night. So I decided to wait until he came, if he came at all. Not to worry. Just after 10, he arrived, and knocked on my door. I opened up, and with me speaking English he didn't understand, and him speaking Georgian/Russian I didn't understand, between us we shared a number of handgestures and facial expression that communicated the main message: I was leaving. He thanked me for staying, and waved me goodbye.
I picked up my bags and left for the main street. A quick stop at the internet cafe to post yesterdays blog entry. Then on to a small shop where I had bought water and candies for the past couple of days. It was run by an a girl and her cousin. Refugees from Abkhazia. When I arrived, a serious looking big woman entered with a big clip-board. The girl running the shop was not her smiling self. So I bought a bottle of water for my trip and said goodbye. She said goodbye and turned her attention to the woman in her shop. My guess : tax revision or something. One of the only two things certain in life...
At the bus stop, I started looking for marshrutkas for Akhaltsikhe. But instead of trying to dechipher the signs on the fronts, I simply asked this time. They all pointed to the other side of the road. I crossed the road and met a small group of young people from the Ukraine. They where hiking in Georgia. I asked them when the next marshrutka would arrive. One of the girls lifted her shoulders. "Who knows?". Two minutes later, one arrived. All their bags went into the back. Mine I was ordered to take on board. No more room in the back. I struggeled my bag through the narrow path between the seats and sat down in a seat that was just right for Goldilocks. Or two inches to narrow for me. So I sat sideways most of the trip. In the seat behind me was a guy "of size". I thought at first he was asleep. But then realized that the snoring sound was him struggling to breathe. Some respatory problem it seemed. He was literally gasping for air. And when he was leaving the marshrutka, he spent the last few minutes onboard standing beside me. Squeezing me into my seat. I am not very claustrophobic, but at times...
Arriving in Akhaltsikhe, I got off the marshrutka and took out my guidebook. I had read about this old Soviet-era style hotel in the middle of town. I memorized the name while a taxi driver was trying to get me to go to Vardzia with him. He looked into my guide and saw Vardzia printed on the opposite side. "YES! Vardzia! I drive!" I shook my head, to no avail. He continued on. I said "Hotel Meskheti". He looked disappointed. Started waving his hands around, "Vardzia" and pointed into town "then hotel!". I shook my finger. "No Vardzia. Hotel Meskheti!". He continued "Hotel, then Vardzia!". "No Vardzia!". He looked at me in disbelief. "Ok. Hotel. Sri lari!". "Two" I said, assuming the hotel couldn't be that far away given the size of the town. And given that the hotel was in the centre of town. "Noooooooo. SRI!" I didn't bother to haggle anymore. "Ok, let's go!". I threw my bags into the back seat and got into the front seat. He continued on about Vardzia, while driving as slow as possible to make the trip look like it took forever. Which it did. But the distance travelled was about 700 meters. So if I had had a map, I could have walked the distance in 5 minutes. But it is good to support the local community, I suppose.
The hotel was everything I had hoped for. When I entered, the reception was just a pile of building materials. I stood there for a few seconds contemplating whether the hotel had been shut down, until a local guy turned up, and pointed up the stairs. I went up, and found the reception had moved up one floor. Behind the desk was a large baboushka, smiling at me with an slight mustache on her upper lip.
"Yes! Welcome!"
"You have room?"
"Yes, aaa, you pay room, not person. Sirty lari!"
"Sounds ok. May I see the room?"
"Of course. Come. Come! You alone?"
"Yes!"
"Ok. Sirty lari!"
We walked through a dark hallway with dark brown wooden walls. She opened up room 203. We entered the room which had 4 meter high ceiling. two beds, a TV in the corner, and its own bath. Loved it!
"Instructions on water!" she said and continued on in an English dialect I have never heard before. But there where a lot of knobs and switches to get the water, and not the least : HOT water, to flow. I felt like I was about to operate a Sojus spacecraft. It will be interesting to see in the morning whether or not I can make it work or if I will crashland in a total watering chaos with the baboushka rushing to the rescue.
For the first time this trip, I actually have checked in. The other times, they where satisfied with just me giving them money. She took my passport and carefully noted my details in a large book.
After checking in, I decided to head for the fortress on the hill overlooking the town. It was a nice walk through the rabati, or old town. Only to find that it was closed for visitors due to maintenance. I sighed, took some pictures of the outside walls, and walked down again.
Decided to try out the "Smart" supermarket. I had seen a few of those, so I figured I may as well check it out. I assumed  "Smart" meant "cheap". Here it obviously means "Smart dress". The two impressive looking muscle guys (one of them a few inches short of a barn door) inside were wearing tailored black suits. And black, Benetton turtlenecks. I saw a stack of lockable boxes. I got the picture. I dropped my bag into one and took the key before entering the store. The "Smart" part definitely did not apply to the prices. But the selection of products was way beyond any shop I had seen before in Georgia. So I got to try out some new goodies. And buy a deodorant I had actually heard of before.
After some satisfactory shopping, I felt it was time for some dinner. A bottle of Coke was definitely NOT enough for a day of exploring. I wanted to try the local cousine. This time, khinkali. I entered an promising restaurant. And sat down. And waited. And waited. Until I realized that they didn't serve at the tables. So I got up and went to the counter. Greeting me was a girl who spoke good English.
"Yessir!"
"Kkinkali please!"
"How many?"
Stupid me assumed it was a set meal.
"Eeeeee. How many is normal?"
"Weeeel. They are of this size!" she said and shaped her hands into a circle.
"Five?" I asked.
"Yes, five is ok! Four lari!"
I paid
"Have a seat!"
After a short while, five khinkali arrived. These are like dumplings filled with meat and sauce. One word : Delicious! I am definitely having more of those!
Back at the hotel, baboushka came running. "Sir! I check water!", she said and went into the bathroom. Turning yet one knob. There was a tube next to the fossit. "Water here, close this!" I still don't understand why there should be water in that pipe. So I just closed it, instead of leaving it running the whole night.
I also wanted to try the telly. A slight hint of sceptiscism tingled my spine as I saw the power plug. It was almost falling apart. I clamped it with both hands to I didn' touch any bare metal and plugged it in. The telly fired up to show me three barely visible, snowy channels, and one that showed cheap russian soaps in disney color. Glad I am not bored...
Anyways. Those are the logs of todays activities. And here is a small stack of the photos of today. Enjoy!

At my hotel in Borjomi. How to fix  gaping hole in the floor?

Love the name of his gas station. I used to catch "rompetroll" when I was a kid.

The fortress on the hill

Ok. I know it is called OFF the beaten track, but this felt more like ON the beaten track.

Even more beaten

Almost at the top

The fortress

which I am denied to enter.

View of the city from the fortress

Khinkali

After the meal. You aren't supposed to eat the "stem"

My hotel

My room

The bathroom

Move over Abramovich. You may have bought Chelsea, but at Smart, I bought both Barca and Real Madrid! So there! BTW. Sorry Barca-fans, but Real Madrid won this competition...