Sunday 23rd June

We set out west from Tbilisi for Mtsksheta, the former capital & religious centre of Georgia at the confluence of 2 rivers. Climbing to the Jvari Monastery, with its ruined outer walls, we had a fine view over the town & the rivers.

Descending again we went to see the cathedral at Mtsksheta which also sits within a walled compound. This Romanesque building is the largest in Georgia & sits on the site of one from the 4th century. It is a fairly typical structure which has been rebuilt several times because of earthquakes & conflicts. Outside the walls were many market stalls, selling mostly locally made products & Jane picked up a couple of bargains.

We then drove along the wide fertile valley south, on the best road we have been in in Georgi,a to a small but very smart wine cellar where the owner talked to us about his organic wines fermented in giant unglazed, amphora like pot,s set in the ground. The sediment from the finished wine, including the skins & stalks are dug out after the wine is removed & is used as the basis for the distillation of Chacha, a clear spirit. Here we had a wonderful lunch accompanied by their wines & completed with chacha & coffee, which stood us in good stead for the long windy road to our next stop along the riverside, through the narrowing valley.

On the way we passed new housing for Georgians from another part of the country driven out by the Russians in the recent war with them. It brought home to us the delicate nature of the relations between Russia & Georgia & their worries, given the demonstrations in Tbilisi, while we were there, about being invaded by them.

We also passed a camp & work site for the 'Iron Silk Road' railway to link China to the Black Sea but little more was said about it.

Our last stop for the day was at Borjomi, a spa town famous for its mineral water. Founded in the early 1800s when its water was found to be very effective in helping people with gastro problems, it flourished & was visited by the Russian royal family, so that it has some fine buildings of the later 1800s. Now it is a favoured holiday resort for Russians & Georgians.

Finally, we came to our hotel in Akhaltsikhe, about 20k north of the Turkish border.