Day 28 20 May Road trip to Jason & the Argonauts country

Photo above - seat in Borjomi Mineral Water Park, expressing solidarity with Ukraine

Railways in Georgia

After breakfast, we set off to drive to the Borjomi Mineral Water Park. We drove through the forests of the Borjomi Gorge, following the river and the first railway line I have seen here. The main rail route is east west through the centre of Georgia where one of the main highways also runs, however there are rail links with all four neighboring countries, Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Turkey, although the Russian one is currently blocked due to the Russian occupation of that area, and Turkey has a different guage.

Borjomi Mineral Water Park

After about an hour we reached the town of Borjomi, nestled in the wooded slopes of the mountains. We walked a little way up the street leading to the Mineral Park, where we had a sip of the cold water coming from a nearby natural spring. We then walked up the road and entered the Mineral Park itself, where we took a drink from another natural spring where the water comes out warm. It tasted a bit sulphurous, and frankly not very nice, but it is believed to have healing properties. After having a brief look around the town, it was back on the bus to drive down out of the mountains, and join the main east west highway to travel further west to get to Kutaisi.

The Chinese and the prisoners

The first village we passed through was Surami which is a spa town, with a fort overlooking the town. We then went over Rikoti pass at about 1000m, via a tunnel, and this marks the spot where we pass from east to west Georgia. There is a big new highway project here which Includes new tunnels, and this is being financed by Chinese money. The Chinese are using Chinese prisoners as labourers. They are paid a salary, and one day working on the project equals two in prison, so they are cutting down their sentences.

There followed a long stretch of highway where tunnel was followed by bridge, and then by tunnel again as the new road went on it's level way through hills and over valleys. In total there are 19 tunnels and bridges, or 28 if you count the number in both directions.. The project began in 2015 and is nearing completion.

We reached the region of Emeriti and stopped to get a snack at a service station, where we could see snow capped mountains in the distance. We continued west along the valley highway for a short distance, before turning on to a lesser road, until we arrived at Kutaisi.

Jason and the Argonauts country

Kutaisi (pop 138,000) is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. It was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Colchis, and was the Capital of Georgia for a while when Tbilisi was occupied by the Arabs. In Jason and the Argonauts, Jason demands the return of his rightful throne. Pelias replies that Jason should first accomplish a difficult task to prove his worth. The task is for Jason to retrieve the Golden Fleece, kept beyond the edge of the known world in a land called Colchis, in reality an area of Western Georgia on the Black Sea.

Another monastery and another wedding

We drove through the suburbs and up into the wooded mountains beyond, until we reached Motsameta Monastery. This is perched on a rock outcrop overlooking a deep gorge. I attended my second marriage ceremony here in as many weeks, when we stumbled upon a young couple tying the knot in the monastery grounds.

We then drove down into the town and to the hotel. Tomorrow, we head as far west as we can go in Georgia, to the Black Sea coast, and the town of Batumi.