Rabati Fortress, Vardzia Caves, Borjormi Springs

Monday, April 22, 2019

Vardzia Cave, Samtskhe-Javakheti, Georgia

Today was another day trip and my favourite day in Georgia. The rains had mostly cleared finally though it was still cold and overcast. I was taking a trip to Rabati Fortress and Vardzia Caves. Due to their distance from Tbilisi tours do not run daily so you have to schedule your trips.

There were 17 people on today's tour, all westerners again. Once we came off the highway road conditions were much bad with bumps and sharp turns at high speed. There were also lots of cattle grazing along the side.

Coming close to the border there were also signs for neighbouring countries. Entry to Rabati was 7 GEL ($3.50).

A fellow travel blogger had visited a couple of years back and I was inspired by her photos as well as of the Mother of Armenia statue, though I had no idea of where these places were or how to get there until I did more research.

Rabati was a Turkish citadel and mutlifaith region with Muslims, Armenians, Georgians, and Jews. The Georgian Muslim population was later deported to Kazakhstan in Soviet times.

You might almost think this was a theme park. There were so many different styles of architecture ranging from Arabic, to Moorish from the Alhambra in Spain. It wasn't typical of Ottoman design.

Most interesting was the large gold domed Mosque similar to in Jerusalem. There was a wood carved room which was the rest area for the Pasha to walk to the adjacent Mosque.

Even more strange was a Norman style fort which I could see people could climb up. There were so many places to explore one hour was not enough.

It was lots of climbing up and down the steps to the various levels trying to explore all the areas in the time that I had.

After we continued driving onto Vardzia Caves. Similar to Uplistsikhe yesterday this was another cave city. Entrance was 7 GEL ($3.50) again.

Unlike Uplistsikhe which was horizontal, this was more vertical. Without a guide it would be confusing to know which way to go with so many levels, choices, and passages.

This was actually a Royal Palace and we saw the Queen's quarters along with the Church and its many painted murals. There were also wine rooms and an indoor natural spring.

The guide then led us into many deep passages. It seemed like the planet Hoth from the Star Wars movie Empire Strikes Back.

Finally we had to climb our way down. The stairs are so worn its hard to find a foothold. I had to climb down backwards just to keep grip.

One lady in our group did end up getting injured due to the small passageways and confusing choices.

For a late lunch about 4pm we had already preordered before going to the caves. I wanted something warm so had ordered beef soup with bread which was 6+2 GEL ($4).

This region had many fortresses. I asked if we could stop at one for better photos rather than rushing on the bus.

Finally we stopped in the natural springs town of Borjormi. To be honest after doing so much I wasn't interested, nor had I been interested in seeing natural springs to begin with. It is an important part of their history and economy.

The only interesting part was the former Iranian Embassy with it's detailed glass ceiling work. Entry to the park was 2 GEL ($1). It was just a long stream that went on with children's rides. In the summer it must be a fun day out for families but nothing to grab my interest.