"The beautiful country of Stalin" Top 5 Page for this destination Georgia by josephescu

Georgia Travel Guide: 1,209 reviews and 3,623 photos

The beautiful country of Stalin - Georgia

The Georgians know how to survive the centuries...Will they learn to develop?

A cradle of civilisation

Georgia may be small country after most standards (5,6 mil), but is the largest and the most ethnically coloured state in Caucasus, whose history is amazingly complex and bloody. T’bilisi, the capital, has been destroyed a dozen times.

The Georgians are an ancient people who know themselves as Karthians, tracing their origins to Noah’s great grandson Karthols. Historically, Georgia (aka Sakartvelo in Georgian) was a jigsaw puzzle of small kingdoms including Colchis (legendary land of the Argonauts and their Golden Fleece) on the Black Sea, Abkhazia to the north and Iveria to the east.

Various events described by ancient Greek mythology took place in the region: Prometheus was chained on a rock “on the Caucasus mountain”, being punished by Zeus because he brought the gift of fire to mankind, the Argonauts in the search of the golden fleece originated form the kingdom of Colchis in western Georgia.

I will return

Exploiting the extended marshrutka (minivan) routes and the LP resources, I managed to grasp a piece of Georgia to myself and get a plentiful of fine days, despite the high August temperatures.

In chronological order, I did the following in a little more than one week: Sighnaghi, Davit Gareja, Kutaisi, Motsameta, Gelati, Kazbegi, Ananuri, Mtskheta and, of course, Tbilisi.

And there will surely be a next time……as I missed at least Svanetia, Ushetia, Batumi and Adjara.

Pros and Cons

Pros:one of the most interesting societies
Cons:environment
In a nutshell:Cyclic history at its best

Last visit to Georgia: Aug 2006
Intro Updated Jul 13, 2007
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Reviews (43)

Sighnaghi - Davit Gareji - T'bilisi Transportation (8)

i used the services of Nana Kokiashvili (see my Sighnaghi page). Her husband took us from Sighnaghi to Davit Gareji,... more travel advice

Money Local Customs (3)

Not many POS, but ATMs in the centre of T’bilisi are common sight. You can cash in both Lari (2,3 lari/1 euro) and USD.... more travel advice

what did i sign? Local Customs (3)

Travelling by train from T’bilisi to Baku, I had to fill in and sign a sort of “customs declaration”. The only problem... more travel advice

Visa Local Customs (3)

Travelling to Georgia under a Romanian passport requires a visa, which can be easily obtained from the Georgian Embassy... more travel advice

Warnings and Dangers (1)
marshrutka timetable
Hotels (4)
See All Kazbegi
Things to Do (11)
See All T'bilisi
Favorites (9)
See All Queen Tamara

Comments (4)

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om_212 Jan 21, 2009 at 7:36 AM

good descriptions and some excellent photos of Georgia.
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sikorka Apr 29, 2008 at 1:50 PM

Very informative page! Georgia looks beautiful!
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rjaparidze Aug 9, 2007 at 1:39 AM

good job. Rati
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hindu1936 Nov 24, 2006 at 3:08 AM

Thanks again for the outstanding quality of photos and information. I would not have imagined such beauty and such an ancient city as your pages have so well described.