The drive up into the mountains to the north of Kutaisi was very scenic. We were stopped by the police who were looking for inferior grapes which some people would try and smuggle into the town of Ambrolauri and make wine which was then sold as the extremely small amount and expensive wine of that region. The grape grown there was a very rare one and normally cost $100 or more a bottle. Our driver was a bit miffed as he told them that they could see he had three tourists in the car but they made him open the hatch anyway.
Oni was a pictureque town surrounded by forested mountains. Many of the old houses in Oni were deserted and falling apart and most young people had left for the cities but there were a few new houses and a few being restored.
The ‘Gallery guesthouse’ we had chosen was very atmospheric with traditional Georgian furniture and artifacts. There we met Tamara a Georgian and her husband Luca who came from Campobasso the city next to where we used to stay in Roccamandolfi. He couldn’t believe we knew where it was. We had great discussions over the time there and it was very interesting to listen to Tamara’s stories of how she grew up in Soviet times and the difficulties they faced which was something so foreign to us growing up in Australia.
Oni was a small town with the river Rioni flowing past it and surrounded by beautiful mountains and small villages.
We climbed up behind the village one day and through a small village where we saw a woman chopping a load of wood.
She motioned us to wait and came out with an armful of large red apples for us. We were intringued to see a UNHCR refugee tent beside her gate and used as a carport for a Mercedes car!
We were lucky to have chosen this guesthouse which was kept in a typical traditional Georgian style. They also had a large area where they grew tomatoes, gourds and other vegetables and kept rabbits and chickens. Their lovely German Shepherd Bombora was trained to bring in his bowl for food, bring in the wood and open and shut the main door. He was a lovely dog. There were a few dogs who seemed to roam the streets but they all looked well fed.
The family were extremely friendly and were keen for all of us to experience Georgian life so we made bread and sweets the traditional way and in Temori’s grandparents house also on the property we had a dinner at night with music and dancing and toasts. It was more like staying with family. Every meal had such a variety of foods and breads with fresh butter and cheese and unlimited amounts of Chacha (their Schnapps)and red or white wine and good drinking water. We limited ourselves to two meals a day which I don’t think they could understand.
The small museum was interesting especially as there was an enormous painting of Stalian overlooking the
sea in Armenia. A lot of the artifacts referred to wine making which everyone seems to make in the village
and ripe black grapes hung around most of the houses, deserted or not ready to be picked.
The guesthouse also had bikes for us to use so we made the most of it and cycled around the whole town
and into the next village. A group of fourteen German kyakers arrived for a couple of days to tackle
parts of the Rioni river.
We farewelled our Perth friend who had decided to take a Matrutschka to Ambrolauri and Joni arrived the following day from Kutaisi to take us to Borjomi 4hours away.