I begin to move faster on the hill, so that I can climb it as quickly as possible and get to the highest point.
From here you can see a number of mountain heights, where live people. The houses shine in the sun and say that there is still life there. I am amazed by the will of these people. The effort to build a house in such a place is more than usual, but it does not seem to have given up the human spirit to live in such a wild place. Although I’m up to the hill, here is a terrible humidity. My back is wet, and this attracts the mosquitoes to bite me with great speed. In general, the bites are not much, and they should go quickly, but obviously my body is set differently and there are bumps that make me crazy. Sometimes I have to put on anti-allergic cream to calm down.
I stop for a short rest on a meadow overlooking the main road that I’ve been heading for and getting into something unusual – a metal fence is raised on the meadow, and inside I see two grave with memorial tablets in Georgian. Next to them there is a gazebo and benches, so that the owner of this property can pay tribute to his relatives and stay with them as much as he decides. A few minutes later, I see the same thing on my way – some have buried their relatives in their own yard and respected them with a memorial tablets and flowers.
Finally, I reach the main road and decide to walk along the road to the small town of Kobulety on foot. From here, however, my trip is not very pleasant, as I am forced to walk through the passing cars, and on top of that, my GPS is getting confused, sending me in a direction different from where I want to go. NIGHTMARE ! It took me an hour before I realize that something is wrong and I trust my inner compass, which unfortunately , leads me straight to the approaching rainy clouds.
It’s only 5 pm and the sun is hiding somewhere behind the black clouds that only can cause me a problems. I collapse along a country road that runs between the ridges, and at that moment the rain begins to drain like a bucket. The brown-silver streams descend to the muddy land, and very soon my path is cut off by the rising force that has pulled branches, mud and whatever falls on the road. I hide under the crown of tall and very old pine, which protects me for the moment and I am charging with much patience.
The next day I give up the idea of traveling in the mountains, the main reason being the rainstorms that are raining at this time of the year, and I manage to reach the small, but charming town of Chakvi. As I walk to the beach, I have a slight dispute with the security of Dreamland, whose buildings resemble those of hotels in Bulgaria by socialism and I am not particularly politely asked to walk along the stony beach instead of their pavement tiles.
I manage to get away from the few people who are on the beach and reach the place where the Chakvistskali River flows into the Black Sea. Here it seems to me quite calm, so I clean up the collected waste of plastic bottles and thick branches of trees to set up my camp. In this wonderful place I spend five days. During the day I was so lazy, bathe in the sea and the river and turn the stone-covered beach into a sandy one surrounded by a wall of tiny round stones.
It turns out that the place where I was is visited by local people for whom fishing is more a hobby than a livelihood. The first days I wonder why fishermen come right here to try their luck, but I become friends with a local boy who explains to me that when the fish from the river reaches the sea, and then can not go back because of the drift and becomes an easy catch for fishermen and their fishing net.. The young man that I became a friends whit is called Giorgi and studied at the Batumi Navy School. He tells me that Georgia does not have its own marine fleet because it is a small country but would like one day to go to the Bulgarian Black Sea coast and see ours marine fleet. I asked him about the places I could go to, and I understand with surprise that the Russians have occupied two Georgian territories and the access to them is impossible..
– But why? – I ask him – what they need for? Russia is a huge country! What more does it need to take from Georgia ?!
Giorgi does not know what to answer, just accepts things as they are.
Through the long nights, the sky is dotted with billions of stars, and the moon shines fuller than ever. Every sunset is like a gift from God!
In the morning of my sixth day in Chakvi I’m leaving this magical place and luckily get on the so-called “electrics” that I can get to Kobuleti for only one lari. The road is about 40 minutes and is quite pleasant.
At first sight, the town looks interesting, but soon I realize where I am. Kobulet has the reputation of a seaside resort, which mainly hosts Russian tourists. For the amount of 60 lari (about 20 euro.) I booked a room in Hotel Chaika, but the room conditions remind me more about a pension – a double squeaky bed, covered with a dusty blanket, an old cabinet on which somebody has put a 10-inch TV with some small antenna. Even the rooms in a family house for 7euro at Bulgarian Black Sea coast are much more convenient! On top of that, the neighbors are so noisy that I almost do not have a sleep. The next morning I leave early in the morning with the feeling that I has paid a lot and receiving only poor service.
I turn to the local tourist center to inform about the sights in the area, which for the size of this settlement are only two – the museum and the city park. Because the park is a long way away, I choose the museum and pay 5 llars to look at his exhibits. I take a few pictures, but the most interesting thing I find is an old map showing all the towns in Georgia.
I leave Kobuleti with the impression that I have lost my time here, because it is really nothing to do but to have a sunbaths at the beach, which of course is not the purpose of my trip. The train station is only a block away from here and I want to go to Kutaisi. For a moment, I look at something that impresses me. A thick, iron door with engraved symbols that inspire respect and the feeling that there is something important behind it. Something we have lost interest in today because we keep up with the advent of new technologies. Here is a “Library”, but for me personally this is a portal to a new world in which you have access to the thoughts and feelings of tens of thousands of people who have expressed their inner world on a piece of paper.
The train to Kutaisi departed, and I stared through the window, trying to remember when I read a book for the last time…