July 22, 2019
Today was the longest day trip of my stay in Georgia and, unfortunately, the least fulfilling. My disappointment was not in Envoy, the tour operator, or tour guide, but because the current political environment blocked access to what was to be the highlight of the trip. Allow me to digress…
Our group met at Envoy at 9:00 a.m. just as we had for the other trips. There were Alessio from Italy, Eric from the US but now living in Portugal, and Marco from France (but part Italian) – all from previous trips. Added to the collection were a couple from Holland and a couple from Germany and Belgium. Our guide was Arsena, a twenty-something entrepreneur (owns an Airbnb) who also does freelance tour guiding. I believe our driver was Sasha.
On the outside of town, we stopped at a convenience mart to load up on water and a few snacks since it would be a long drive to our destination, the Davit Gareji monasteries in the Kakheti region of Georgia. As you know, I love going into grocery stores, including convenience markets, to examine all the different products. I could have spent longer, but we had to get on the road.
The drive was long and the scenery went from the green to which we had become accustomed to a dry, semi-arid landscape. For much of the drive, the road was not great and got worse as we went along. The unpaved sections were extremely rocky and, thus, bumpy and the paved sections weren’t much better as there were huge potholes we had to swerve around. The part of the country obviously isn’t high on the list of the reconstruction efforts of the political parties in advance of the next election.
In addition to the bad roads, there were a lot of cows and goats slowing us down. They literally just look at you as you approach knowing that they can stare you down for as long as they want to stand there. It made a long trip seem longer.
Davit Gareji, a group of cave monasteries founded in the 6th century by Saint David, is positioned on the Georgian border with Azerbaijan. The two countries are currently embroiled in a land/border dispute. The Georgians say that the entire monastery complex belongs to Georgia as evidenced by the style of architecture of both the upper and lower monastery regions and the style of fresco painting found in the upper monasteries. The Azerbaijani say that the entire monastery complex, if not just the upper monasteries, belongs to Azerbaijan … well, just because. Not too long ago, Azerbaijanis confiscated religious icons from the upper monastery and a dispute that had been rumbling along for years escalated. On the drive, our tour guide said that he hadn’t been able to get to the upper section on his last trip, but he had heard there may have been some type of break in the dispute and hoped we would gain entry.
As we drove the last little bit of the dirt road, we saw several troops on the ridge above us watching our vehicle. Arsena believed they were friendly Georgian troops (I certainly hoped so as well).
From the parking lot, we started the climb up the hill on trails that were well worn, but not necessarily the best. I took it slow because of my knee, but I felt bad that I was slowing the group down (they said I wasn’t).
Mid-way up, we met another guided group coming down from the area of the upper monasteries – our hope was buoyed. Unfortunately, they were on the way back down because soldiers had stopped them from coming close to the upper region. We would not be the lucky ones that would see the caves of the upper monasteries or the remaining frescoes on their walls.
Although disappointed, we made the best of the situation by exploring what we could. We hiked up to a cave that holds a shrine to St. David that they call the Tears of David because there is a spring there that is used by the monks. The shrine is behind locked doors, but we could just make it out.
From our vantage point, we had good views of the lower church and some of the lower caves.
Alessio doing his best Indiana Jones 
The guys – Eric, Alessio, and Marco
The church itself was a bit plain and had copies of some of the icons we’ve seen in other churches. Nonetheless, it was peaceful and a minute or two of reflection was in order.
And then we were done with what he had driven for about 2 ½ – 3 hours for over bad roads. Again, disappointing from a sightseeing perspective, but the people I was with made up for it. The conversations between Alessio and Marco were amusing – with both of them in full Italian mode talking with their hands. Eric and I joined in where we could, but the other two couples were pretty quiet (as opposed to the other guys).
As with all Envoy tours, we had lunch at a local home. This one was located in Sagarejo. The food was fresh, the wine was strong, and the toasts were numerous.
On the way out, I noticed the homeowner was growing tiny grapes. I’m sure they will one day make it on the table as wine or chacha, or both.
And then we made the long reverse journey back to Tbilisi.
By the time we returned, our day was pretty much over. As disappointing as it was not seeing the upper monasteries of Davit Gareja, it was a good day. I hope the disputes are resolved soon as it would be a shame for others to be turned away as well. Can’t we all just get along?!?
