Summer, sunshine and travel in May

 This month has been all about reflection and doing the things I still need to get done before my volunteer program ends – and that’s coming up pretty soon. That means I still have loas of things to tick off my list.

This month we had to decide when we wanted to leave, and that really made me realise that I don’t have much time left with my friends here, as some of them are leaving as early as the middle of the month. And I already know that I’m going to miss them terribly.

Camping im Scout center

Right on the first weekend, we went camping at the Scout Centre as part of the Scout School. That meant we pitched our tents and organised activities for the children. One of these was making bread on a stick. What I didn’t know was that sitting around a fire and baking bread is obviously a German thing. Everyone else only knew about marshmallows. But I thought it was really cool and it took me right back to my childhood.
To be honest, I have to say: spending a night in a tent isn’t one of my top 10 nights in Georgia. But it was definitely an experience that, as a Scout here, you have to have done at least once.

Back in Manglisi 

The following weekend, I had the chance to go back to Manglisi – with Inga, Lisa and Lia. And it was really lovely. The landscape was so green and everything looked much better than it did in December. What’s more, the weather was on our side and the sun shine almost the whole time, which was great for the children too, as they were able to play outside.

Museums day 

18 May was Open Museum Day in Tbilisi, so I went to Tbilisi with Inga. It was a really lovely day. We visited a history museum and three art exhibitions. One of the exhibitions was a digital show of Vincent van Gogh’s works, and it was really cool to see a different kind of exhibition for a change. Inga and I also went to a famous spot where you can have a coffee and they draw your face on a cup. You usually have to wait quite a long time there, but we just visited a museum in the meantime and made good use of the time.We went for a hiking trip again this time, and the funny thing was that Lisa, Inga and I lost our way a little. But with the help of Lia and Google, we all found our way back on track, and in the end it was all good fun for the children too.

Back on the Road 

As I said before, this month I had to do and see things I hadn’t seen before.

So it was time for us to rent a car again and go on a trip. Of course, Mao and Jaco were along for the ride, as they were driving the car again, which they did really well. Inga, Lisa and I were also there. Our destination was Varzia, another cave city that is famous not only for its caves, but also for its history and Queen Tamara, who is closely associated with this place.

On the way there, we made a stop-off and had a look at a few nearby sights. I have to say that Varzia is really beautiful, but so is the countryside on the way there, because everything was so beautifully green – I just loved it.

On the way back, we stopped off in Borjomi, the city of water. And on the very evening we arrived, there was no water in the city. That was a bit funny. The next day we were in the national park and it started raining so heavily that there was suddenly too much water again.

But overall, the trip was lovely and fun.

Kutaisi

Our next trip this month was to Kutaisi. Annii had fallen in love with the city and was desperate to go back, so I decided to come along – as did Lisa and Alex.

This trip was just as much fun. First of all, the marshrutka didn’t take three hours, but only two, which was obviously great for us. First we checked into our apartment and then went to see a few sights. In the evening it started to rain, which meant we had to find a restaurant in a rush. After that we moved on to a pub, which was quite cool too, but it was still raining afterwards. So we thought about stopping at another bar on the way back to the apartment, but they were all already closed. On top of that, we were all completely wet from the rain.

The new plan was to head back to the apartments, where we ordered some khinkali, as they didn’t have them at the restaurant earlier.

In the morning, the weather wasn’t much better and our clothes were still wet, so we decided to go for breakfast and then head back to Tbilis

Cappadochia

The end of the month was the highlight for me, as Inga and I were finally able to go on our trip to Cappadocia. The trip had been cancelled for us earlier, which is exactly why it was even more enjoyable now. The only problem was that this tour operator didn’t offer an English-speaking tour, so we opted for a Russian one.
A little fun fact up front: the tour wasn’t in Russian, but in Georgian.
In the end, that wasn’t a problem, as I don’t speak any of the two languages properly, but it showed me once again just how friendly Georgians are. When they realised we didn’t speak the language, they still tried to include us, even though most of them didn’t speak English. But there were also some friendly girls who translated important information for us.
Our trip lasted five days and we spent almost two of them in the bus, but we made plenty of stops and the scenery you could see from the window was absolutely amazing – on both sides, in both Georgia and Turkey.

Unfortunately, I don’t have time to tell you all about the whole trip, but I’d like to share my top 3 highlights with you.
My first highlight came on the very first evening. After dinner, we drove into city and walked to a viewpoint. The city looked simply stunning at night, and all the lights made it even more beautiful.

Another highlight in my top 3 is the trip to Nevşehir. There was a cave city there, just like the ones we’d already seen in Georgia. We had the option of taking a guided tour with the group or simply walking around a bit and exploring the free section on our own.
And to be honest: it was the best decision not to go with the group, as there were just sooo many tourists there and we wouldn’t have had enough time to see the whole city. There weren’t that many visitors in the free section either, and the mountain formations looked simply incredible. I’d never seen anything like it before.

And my number one and the best experience of this trip, which I won’t forget for a long time, is that Inga and I actually saw hot-air balloons.
At first we didn’t think we’d see any, as we’d been told there was only a 50% chance they’d be flying. What’s more, our tour guides had decided not to take us there at the start of the day, which made us a bit sad, as we didn’t want to get up so early for nothing and were desperate to see the balloons. So we set off on our own.
We found a ride really quickly – it was a photographer who wanted to take pictures of the balloons, and he actually took us to the best spot for photos. Later, he showed us the spot where they all come down, and then drove us back to the hotel.
We were so happy because we saw the sunrise and then, later on, all the balloons flying up into the sky. It was just such a magical moment, seeing the many different colours of the balloons and the natural beauty around them – it was truly incredible and one of my favourite moments in the last few weeks.

And with that, May is already over, and my final month in Georgia begins.

At the start of this post, I wrote about reflection. I know that this month will be incredibly beautiful, but also sad, as some of my friends here are leaving as early as the middle of the month, and it will simply be sad not to have them around anymore.

It will be sad when I’m actually in my last week here and have to say goodbye to everyone – to the friends I’ve made, but also to Rustavi and Georgia.

And yet, at the same time, it will be one of the best months here, because it’s summer and there’s still sooo much I want to do before I leave.

So stay excited to see what I get up to here in my final month.