AFFORDABLE RESORTS MAKE GEORGIA ATTRACTIVE IN SUMMER OR WINTER
By John Bordsen
The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.)
San Jose Mercury News, USA
Posted on Mon, Sep. 18, 2006
McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)
What’s it like to live in a far-off place most of us see only on a
vacation? Foreign Correspondence is an interview with someone who
lives in a spot you may want to visit.
Rusudan Kbilashvili, 26, is editor of the English edition of The
Georgian Times, a newspaper in Tbilisi, the capital of the republic
of Georgia. Georgia is northeast of Turkey and south of Russia – in
Eurasia, between the Black and Caspian seas. Kbilashvili is a native
of Tbilisi ("ta-ba-LEASE-ee").
Q. Georgia is high in the Caucasus Mountains, and Tbilisi looks to
be in the middle of the country. What do you see out your window?
A. I am in an office close to the capitol, in a historical part of
Tbilisi where past merges with the present. You can pass buildings
with carved-wood balconies and enjoy the shadow of mountains in the
hot summer.
Tbilisi offers softness and quiet – softness of the light, of Tbilisi’s
warm red and green colors, the quietness of the city, and the calm
way people walk in the street.
Q. Georgia is an ancient country. What are the best historical
attractions?
A. You will not see even one hill without an Orthodox church or old
castle proudly erected on it. Bagrat Cathedral in Kutaisi, the western
part of Georgia; Gelati Monastery; and the historical monuments of
Mtskheta – close to Tbilisi – were the first Georgian sites included
in UNESCO’s World Heritage List.
Mtskheta was a capital of the kingdom of Georgia in the days of
ancient Rome.
Upper Svaneti was added to the list later. That was a site of Orthodox
culture during Georgia’s "golden age" around the year 1200.
Vardzia, a cave city in southern Georgia, near the border with
Armenia, was built in the 12th century by Queen Tamara. During much
of its history it was used as a monastery. The city was built high
in the cliffs to make it safe from invading Persians. Uplistsikhe,
the town carved out of sandstone in ancient times, is east of Gori
on the banks of the Mtkvari River.
Georgia is an ancient country with an ancient culture; it is also
a cradle of the first Europeans: Two little hominid skulls, about
1.8 million years old, were found during archaeological excavations
in Dmanisi
Q. What is the best season to visit?
A. Swimming season at seaside resorts starts in spring and ends in
autumn. Winter resorts can host visitors from late autumn till early
spring. So come whenever you like.
Q. Given the mountain terrain, is skiing popular? If so, what are
the top resorts or slopes? Are they expensive?
A. There are 340 resort places in Georgia. If you are casting about
for the ideal place to spend a ski winter, Georgia could be a true
skiing Shangri-La.
There are two developed ski areas in Georgia, and they are radically
different from one another.
Gudauri, in winter months, turns into a breathtaking fairy tale at
sunrise. It has guaranteed snow cover November to May. The average
depth is 1-5 meters (3.28-16.4 feet). Though high in the mountains,
warm, sunny and calm weather is typical for Gudauri. It has always
had the best slopes, but about a dozen years ago, Austrians came in
and completely rebuilt the lifts and turned Gudauri into a better
ski mountain.
Bakuriani remains popular because it has more resort features than
just skiing.
If you book through a travel agency, prices at hotels and sanatoriums
at the famous Georgian resorts start at $20 and go to $150, meals
included. But if you prefer to rent a room or house on your own, you
can get a bed for $2 to $7 and up to $10-$15, depending on amenities.
The travel agencies say the most popular places to relax in summer
season are the Black Sea coasts, though mountain resorts also do not
lack visitors.
Q. What is Georgian food all about?
A. Georgian cuisine uses familiar products but varies the amounts
of obligatory ingredients – such as walnuts, aromatic herbs, garlic,
vinegar, red pepper, pomegranate grains, barberries – and other spices.
You’ll find all possible kinds of meat, fish and vegetable hors
d’oeuvres, various sorts of cheese, pickles and pungent seasonings,
the only ones of their kind.
A "supra" is a table laid with traditional Georgian dishes; it is a
ritual with everlasting toasts. In a new book called "Post-Soviet
Feasting: The Georgian Banquet in Transition," a German author,
Florian Muehlfried, says that when he arrived in 1996, there were
supras wherever he went: "Everywhere that men gathered, there was
always food and drink on the table. Even if there were just two
people at the table they would still choose a `tamada’ (toastmaster)
and make toasts."
He found it interesting that he knew all the people sitting at the
table heard the toasts before, but still went through the ritual.
In the book, he emphasizes that the supra was a major way to preserve
Georgia’s oral history, especially in the 19th century and in Soviet
times, when Georgian traditions were suppressed.
Q. We hear stories about crime and corruption in countries that were
once part of the Soviet Union.
Georgia is also a Christian country that borders Turkey and Azerbaijan
– Islamic countries. Is Georgia a safe place for Americans to visit?
A. Georgia is as safe as any place in the world for any nationality,
especially Americans, and this is what tourists themselves say.
Besides, Georgia keeps friendly relations with its neighbors, and
they respect our foreign policy.
Corruption was a major problem in post-Soviet Georgia – a transitional
period – but corruption has noticeably decreased the last couple
of years.
Fighting corruption is a priority of the current government.
Q. The Soviet dictator Stalin was from Georgia. What do Georgians
think of him?
A. Gori, his birthplace, is among the few towns where Stalin’s statue
was not torn down after independence (in 1991). And some elderly
people still toast Stalin when they drink alcohol; they cannot accept
the views of the younger generation.
But these days, the Stalin museum is still a lonely place. Empty,
unheated halls no longer host the schoolchildren and tourists who
flooded the place in the old days.
Q. NBA players Zaza Pachulia and Nikoloz Tskitishvili are from
Tbilisi. Is basketball popular in Georgia?
A. Yes, it’s quite popular.
Q. Are people there aware that there’s a state in the United States
called Georgia?
A. Sure, and when Georgians are abroad, it was always confusing to
others about where Georgia is – the U.S. state of Georgia is far away
from the Caucausus.
The situation changed considerably after our Rose Revolution was
covered worldwide (in 2003, when protestors toppled the government
and a reform regime came to power). People around the world know more
about us now than they did during the Soviet era.
Q. Are people in your nation aware of a very famous song called
"Georgia on My Mind"?
A. Certainly. And foreigners visiting our country do keep it in mind,
and very often come back. Some even buy permanent residences in a
historical part of Tbilisi. They’re enchanted with the city’s beauty.