Hello Peeps,
I know it has been way
overdue since my last post, but lots of things happened which had kept me
distracted from writing.
Without further due, I
would like to share my travel experience with you to Tbilisi, Georgia. Honestly
speaking, I would never have thought of visiting this country if I were not
living in the Middle East region. The best reason is that I have never heard of
this place before. But Georgia is among the popular tourist destination for
people in the Middle East, especially for skiing in winter and to escape the
heat of the desert during summertime. Another bonus, GCC residents would not require a visa to visit Georgia. Likewise, for a week passport holder, it has been kept on my bucket
list for quite some time.
So this time, I managed
to get myself away from the second biggest public holiday in the Middle East on
Eid al-Adha for six days, and during my gateway, I will be staying in rented
apartments that were booked through Agoda and Airbnb. The price per night relatively cost 50 USD & they are situated in a strategic location with a nice interior, a clean and safe environment.
On my first day of
arrival in Tbilisi from an approximately 3-hour flight, I checked in at
Paskunji residence, which is an apartment located right in the middle of the
city. I love the interior of this apartment, which is kind of modern-minimalist
looked. It is located in liberty square, where we can walk all around the old
town and visit the tourist spots on foot.
We went to Khinkali Bar to give it a taste of my first experience on what is the most famous local food here, Khinkali (steamed dumpling). We tried khachapuri (local pizza in another restaurant), ojakhuri (stir-fried potato, onion, and meat) & shkmeruli (chicken stew with cream), not to mention the legendary locally-produced Georgian wine. In Georgia, most of the foods are non-halal and they generally serve pork in their dishes. However, since many Arabs love to visit this country, halal food such as Turkish kebab, shawarma, and many halal foods are easy to find here.
Honestly, I am not a big
fan of Georgian local food, but those are a must-try cuisine in Georgia if you
are in town! The meal that we had cost us around 120 GEL for two servings which is 45 USD, and
for every meal (local food or others), the price was relatively the same.
Moving on, since everything is nearby, we decided to roam around the city on a walk. We went to the well-known Bridge of Peace and Amphitheater, which is situated in Rike Park. I think the gardener has done a great job of combining the different plants altogether because it looks incredibly stunning; with the backdrop of the ancient cliff, it creates a magnificent view.
Rike Park
Bridge of Peace
View above the bridge
We took a tram to go
uphill from here. We purchase a tram card, but actually, we can just tap
through the machine with our credit or debit card, which is incredibly
convenient. We visited the Mother of Georgia statue, and we enjoyed the view
from above. We also visited the old town where the houses have been modified to
become a tourist spot selling merchandise, food, and cafes by the cliffs. There
is also a traditional public bath for people to experience the traditional way
of deep cleansing bath in the Georgian style. There are also many people and agencies
offering great tour packages at a very reasonable price, but because we had
plans in mind, we didn’t go for it.
The next day we went to
the mountain via an online taxi app called Bolt. This app is quite popular in
many regions in Europe, and fortunately, it works like a wonder here. So we
used this application to book a taxi to take us to the Gudauri area, which is
up in the mountain. The journey itself took a three-hour ride, and it didn’t
take long for the driver to accept us. The journey itself cost approximately
136 Gel which is 50 USD. So far, Bolt drivers are extremely professional, even
though they don’t always speak English. Little fun fact, tap water is drinkable in Tbilisi, but the tap water in the mountain is a must-have if you are there. It tasted super fresh!
Dinner view at Drunk Cherry Restaurant
Picture was taken from Chalet Restaurant in Gudauri
View in front of the Twins Apartment
Training the neighborhood dogs
On the third day, we took a ride to one tourist spot called the Monument of Russian and Georgian. It is a monument symbolizing the friendship between the two countries. We had tea time in the restaurant next to it, and the hot cocoa blew me away. I have never had such a thick cocoa drink ever in my life, and I would like to know how to make one (I bought the cocoa powder from a local minimarket and mixed it with full cream milk, but it doesn’t taste the same :( ).
Russia-Georgia Monument
Hot cocoa
On the fourth day, we
went back to the city after catching a cold from playing and exploring the
small hill in Gudauri and trying to observe how the animals lived there (we
tried to keep our distance but at the same time, curious with the herd of
bulls, dogs, donkeys, and horses). So arriving back to the city was warming, we
checked into another Airbnb, which is located still in Liberty Square and right
behind the Marriott hotel. In the beginning, I didn’t like the apartment due to
the appalling entrance, but once we reached inside, we were stunned by how new the
design of the apartment was, even though it took me a while to adapt to the
shape of the room and partition.
Hongkong Noodle
TV Tower
Night view from the hill next to TV Tower (Mtatsminda Park)
On the fifth day, which
is also the last day to adore the city, we decided to visit one of the biggest
churches, which is the Holy Trinity Cathedral. It is incredibly stunning, with a
huge park in front of the church, well maintained. There was also a Sunday
activity going on inside the Orthodox cathedral, in which we got to know a little
piece of how the Sunday activity goes inside. We joined the Sunday activity
towards the end of the session, and choirs were chanting in the local language,
and holy water was sprayed eagerly by the priest with a brush. Afterward, we
went to have a Korean bbq in Baegopa. When we arrived, I couldn’t help but
doubt the quality of the food because there was no one there except us as the
first guest, even though it had passed lunchtime. However, the crowd didn’t do
justice because the food tasted delicious.
The Holy Trinity Cathedral
Inside the Orthodox cathedral
Park outside the cathedral
Random grape trees on the street nearby cathedral
K-BBQ
We moved on to have a
walk in the Vake Park, which is located not too far away, and to reach there;
we took Bolt since it was not too pricey (8 GEL). The weather was incredibly
pleasant; we walked around the park and observed people having different
activities there, some playing tennis, table tennis, chess, and board games;
kids were playing some mini rides available there. It felt relaxing to see the
normality of people running the activities outdoors during the weekend.
Vake Park
Ice cream with melon flavour is a bomb
We took the tram from the
park to see turtle lake up on the hill. More people were doing their weekend
routines there, some hangouts in groups, couples enjoying their time, families
with kids riding the cycle boats, dogs playing catch-the-ball games, some
darers trying out the flying fox, volleyball games were on, some people swam by
the lake, some others munching in cafes and restaurants. It is the definition
of beauty in simplicity. We then proceeded back down the hill with the tram and
went to a Thai restaurant called Tom Yum for dinner as our stomachs growled to
be fed.
Turtle Lake
View from above the hill next to turtle lake
Dinner at Tom Yum Thai Restaurant
