Click map to see detailed route
Click map to see detailed route
8 September Gori
Stalin Fever
I woke up to my alarm and quickly rushed back to Nasi's... Nasi was
there upset that we had not informed her we weren't coming back last night.
The wines and vodkas also had a physical effect on me when I rushed off
to Gori, birthplace of Stalin, dictator of the USSR. Born Joseph Jugashvili,
son of a shoemaker, this local boy went on to a seminary in Tbilisi to
study to be a priest, and ended up becoming a Bolshevik instead.
Through ruthless elimination of his enemies and Machiavellian maneuvers,
he seized power after Lenin’s death. He modernised the USSR but gave
the world respectable institutions like the gulag and KGB. Millions
perished under his rule – more Russians were killed by him than Hitler
did - and yet even more mourned his death. To many, he’s a
villain, and yet, in the confusing and economically post-Soviet era, Stalin
represented law and order, personal sacrifice, collective pride and era
of plenty… how quickly people have forgotten the reign of fear. Whatever
it was, in Gori, Stalin is but a local boy who made it big. He started
from a dusty poor old town (which has remained dusty, poor and rundown)
to become the ruler of a vast empire. The Italianate-style (why it
was built in a Venetian style I have no idea) museum, which had a pavilion
enclosing his birth cottage, had no mention of the deaths and misery.
Instead it was a glorified hall of fame, with flags and banners, as well
as his photos and personal effects, which gets grander as one stepped towards
a dark room with his death mask. Just look at how handsome young
Joseph looked in his 20’s. It’s hard to believe this person would
have been one of the greatest mass murderer in history.
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After a walk-around Stalin's Museum (interested in his death mask and multiple-armour plated train carriage?), I went to the Bus Station to ponder whether to visit Tskhinvali, capital of South Ossetia which lies just north of Gori. South Ossetia is a breakaway region within Georgia - the local Ossetian people rebelled against Georgia when the USSR broke apart and have since maintained their independence (as the "Republic of South Ossetia") after a brief war with the Georgians. OSCE and Russian peace keepers are maintaining order there, and regular bus and train services have resumed between Georgia and South Ossetia. I wondered around for a while, and decided that it was probably unwise for me to proceed to cross the South Ossetian ceasefire line half-drunk, and especially when this was to be my last full day in Georgia. So I missed visiting this none-so-exciting but politically interesting breakaway region.
I returned to Tbilisi, met J. and the two Aussies, who were having a
farewell dinner for a friend of J.’s. I stayed around for a while
before retiring for the evening.
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9 September Tbilisi – London
Homeward
I sent this email after my return to London:
I have finally returned to London, after 2 weeks in the Caucasus. I had a great time there, meeting old friends and made a number of new ones. The legendary Caucasian hospitality is great indeed, and I'm glad to say I have experienced some of it, although I haven't had the opportunity to experienced a full Georgian supra, or feast.
The rest of Friday was spent shopping for last minute souvenirs, meeting friends, etc... and ended up smuggling into the UK 5 bottles of liquor – a Karabakh and 2 Georgian reds, one Armenian brandy and a Georgian sparkling wine.
It's time to get back to the real world... hope to be back again in the region - to Svaneti, Karabakh and Azerbaijan...
Regards,
Wee Cheng
