Georgia tours & travel

 

Capital city	Tbilisi
Population	4.6 Million
Language	Georgian
Currency	Lari (GEL)
Time zone	(GMT+04:00) Caucasus Standard Time
Electricity	Type C (European 2-pin)
Dialling code	+995

 

Georgians are an ancient and unique ethnic group of the Caucasus region. The majority follow the Orthodox Christian Church, a custom which has survived throughout Georgia’s 80-year-long Soviet period. Most of the population live in villages and still practice the time-honoured crafts of bread, cheese and wine-making. They also celebrate their folkloric traditions on special occasions and religious dates through traditional music, dance and stories. Locals are renowned as being hospitable, and enthusiastically welcome travellers into their homes. 

Georgia is a country dominated by mountains. Its northern border with Russia is delineated by the Greater Caucasus while the bulk of the southern region is filled by the sprawling Lesser Caucasus. Almost half of the country is covered in forest made up of deciduous and evergreen trees, and the western quarter consists of low-lying marshes, swamps and rainforest. Georgia backs onto the Black Sea in the east and it shares borders with Russia, Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Georgia is home to some of Eurasia’s most fierce mammals such as the brown bear, Persian leopard, wolf and lynx. 

Make the most out of your Georgia tour by bringing a little piece of the country home with you. Shops in Tbilisi sell traditional pottery, jewellery made with distinctive floral motifs, and locally made embroidery. Georgian wine and brandy are in a class of their own and make great gift.  Georgia also has a thriving antique trade of heritage religious icons and rugs. You’ll have to do your research if you want to bring back such items as they may carry an export tax. 

St George’s Day

The country of Georgia is said to be named for this highly venerated Christian Saint. Followers of the Orthodox Church have a feast and celebrate this day with traditional song and dance.

Independence Day

This event marks the dissolution of the Eastern Bloc and the liberation of Georgia. The country became a republic in 1991, after hundreds of years of rule under not just The Soviet Union but imperial Russia before it and Iranian conquerors before that.

Christmas

With an overwhelming Christian Orthodox majority, almost the whole of Georgia celebrates this special religious occasion. Midnight mass services are followed by daytime parade called alilo and enormous family feasts. 

Dining in Georgia is a hearty experience of home-style cuisine. The basis of most meals is a distinctive type of bread called puri, which is soft, round and moist. It’s complemented with warming stews such as lobio ,which is made out of beans, and minced meat kebabs grilled with aromatic spices. Visitors to Georgia shouldn’t miss an opportunity to try khachapuri (flat, cheese-filled bread) and khinkali (steamed or boiled meat dumplings). Georgian’s are also credited for inventing wine, and continue to ferment it in a unique progress unlike that used in Europe. 

• Stories I Stole by Wendell Steavenson
• Georgia Through Its Folktales by Michael Berman
• A Time of Miracles by Anne-Laure Bondoux