Here Comes The Bride

One of my really good Turkmen friends got married right before my vacation. this is a picture of us with her traditional bridal finery. Its quite beautiful!

Midnight Train

Phonetic spelling is an amazing thing. A casino in Tbilisi hasn't grasped the 'ph' concept quite yet



At the old fort in Tbilisi with the city in the background



the highest point of the fort





View of the biggest cathedral in Tbilisi



The most delicious Georgia peach at Pheasant's Tears vineyard.



Giant amphoras at the vineyard. To make the wine, these jars are sealed with beeswax, filled with wine and buried in the ground. The end result is delicious. Anyone in the greater DC area should got to Potomac Wines and Spirits and buy a bottle or two. Its pretty bombdiggity.



The vineyard through the vines.



Special and delicious grapes at the vineyard



More views of Tbilisi



wine amphoras at the Christian cave city outside of Gori



St. George's Church at the cave city



Some of the rocks around the cave cities



Me at the cave city!



St. George's church at the cave city



St. Georges at the cave cathedral underneath



views of the river by the cave city with mountains in the background



Me at Gori fortress with the Georgia flag in the background



Views of Gori from the fortress.



The Gori fortress.



Strange statue at the foot of the Gori fortress



Stalin's train car. he rode it to Potsdam!



Me and Stalin in front of the Stalin Museum

Rachel and Noah in Batumi



Me at Gonio near Batumi. WooHoo for Roman ruins



More of the Ruins




Pretty flowers and more ruins with the dramatic mountains in the background



More ruins!



Me at the ruins



The harbor in Batumi


Batumi from my hotel room!

Georgia On My Mind

Written when its actually posted

Its that joyful time again when I get to leave Turkmenistan. Its good to get away to remember why I still like Turkmenistan despite the heat, the camels, the desert, and the myriad of little things that annoy me every day. I'm in Georgia (country not state), and it has been wonderful in the extreme. I'm traveling with two other Turkmenistan PCVs, and we are stalwart travelers, plus Georgia is more developed than T-Stan. So, even though we've largely been staying at hostels, there's been a toilet in each room.

We flew from Turkmenistan to Istambul and from there to Batumi. I made it in fine form, but my baggage disappeared into the void. It was cool though because I was there. We found a hotel on the remodt row. Remodt being the russian term for anything related to construction. (shoe repair is shoe remodt). This was good for price, good for the walking it made us do, but bad for the lack of airconditioning and window facing the street. Apparently people get an early start in the hardware business.

ON the day we arrived, we trolled around looking for bathing suits to replace the ones in the lost luggage. We ate our first Georgian meals. They make this fantastic bread baked with cheese in the middle. One variety even has an egg cracked on it at the end! There was also wine and the cheapest, sweetest peaches I've ever seen. On the second day it was cloudy (boo), so we found the Adjaran Art Museum which had a Picasso exhibition going on. It felt nice to be cultural. We also strolled on the prominade and ate more food. Food has been a fantastic part of this trip. Day 3 involved collecting our bags from the airport, and making our way to Sarpi near the Turkish border. We clambered over a set of Roman ruins at Gonio before finding delightful pebble beaches on the Black Sea. It was nice to frolick in bikinis, surrounded by people wearing skimpier bikinis than I was. More food was also eaten.

We left Batumi on the 4th day, heading for Gori. This town in the foothills of the lesser Caucuses brought forth Stalin, whose museum and statues feature prominently. We spent a few hours at the Stalin museum, where there is a Turkmen carpet on display. It was given to Stalin as a gift. It was way prettier than the Tajik carpet. We slept at the Intourist Hotel, which has remodted itself since soviet times and is a decent (but expensive) hotel. In the morning we took a bus to an anchient set of cave cities. It predates Christianity, but has some wonderful cathedrals hewn out of the stones. It was stunning.

Now we are in Tbilisi where I am being spoiled at a distance by my parents. They splurged for me, and I'm shacked up in the Marriott hotel on freedom square. I am loved. My parents are wonderful. My family is amazing. And I'm only about halfway through my adventure.

More to come

Oh, and this is a photo of me at my clinic with our new ambulance!