Georgia's Gems

Day 1:

In my first day in the capital of Georgia I booked my stay at the Fabrika Hostel for $5.5 a night.The cafe downstairs has an all you can eat buffet,where I ate for the fee of $6.The building used to be a factory and it looks very interesting.

I crossed the Mtkvari River to get to the Georgian National Museum.The entry fee was about $1.It hosts art,culture and natural history exhibits that holds some of the oldest human remains found outside of Africa.I continued the day by taking the funicular to the Mtatsminda Mountain to get a view over the city center.The ride up was $0.80.The park was once noted as being the third most visited public park in the whole USSR which is pretty impressing.I returned after sunset and the ride down was $1.50,as prices change at night.I continued with a walk across the Rustavali Street,an alley full of soviet architecture.

Day 2:

In the second day I ate khinkali,traditional Georgian dumplings,at Shemoikhede Genatsvale.They are bigger than the chinese bite-sized dumplings.Georgian food is delicious and it is very heavy at times.

I crossed the Mtkvari River once again and took the cable car to the Narikala Fortress.The ride was $0.65 and the fortress is situated on a hill so it offers a beautiful view over the city.It was built by the arabs ~1400 years ago but now very little remains of it,as parts of it were blown up in the 19th century.From there I walked over to the Mother Georgia statue,which was build for the city's 1500th anniversary.

I spent a couple of hours there and then I returned back to have a walk around the Old Town,where I walked around for the rest of the day to observe the unique architecture of the place.I had a glass of georgian wine at a bar before I went back to the hostel.A good bottle of wine in Georgia costs about $17,which is not that expensive considering its quality.

Day 3:

In the third day I took a cheap metro ride and then I walked uphill for about 20 minutes to get to the Chronicle of Georgia Monument.It represents the religious past of Georgia and it looks incredible,even though it was never fully finished.It's huge and very detailed and probably my favorite place in Tbilisi.

Later in the day I headed over to the Abanotubani sulfur baths.Tbilisi was founded on sulphur baths and it actually means 'warm place' in the Georgian language.My choice was the No.5 Bathhouse,the oldest and most traditional of the baths there are in the city.It was full of locals and it hosts very beautiful mosaics that make the $16 entrance fee totally worth it.

Day 4:

In the fourth day of the trip I took a marshrutka to Mtshekta,$1 for a 30 minute drive.Marshrutkas are minibuses that you can find all over the former soviet republics.They usually leave when they are full and you can pay the driver directly.

Mthsketa is the former capital of Georgia and also an UNESCO world heritage site,so I had a stroll around the old town and the Svetitskhoveli Cathedral,before taking a taxi to the Jvari Monastery for $2.The monastery sits on the edge of a hill and you get a nice view over the vallley.