Don Curry in the Rain

Don Curry woke up in the rain. The whole night it splashed, drummed, splattered, dripped, dripped, and poured on the roof of his hut. A glance out of the window revealed that the white dog had stayed the whole time; he was still curled up right in front of Don Curry's door. Don Curry prepared for the day with the help of the water canister. He had skipped breakfast to be able to leave as early as possible.

Don Curry started in the rain. The dog looked at him expectantly as he opened the door. Did he want a reward for his faithful guarding? Unfortunately, Don Curry had nothing to offer him. The path down to Xerra across the meadow was quite soaked in the constant rain. Don Curry's worries grew. Nevertheless, he stuck to his plan. Basically, there are two possible routes to Kutaissi. A 270 km long route back via Mestia in a wide arc around the foothills of the Caucasus, or a 170 km shorter and more direct connection over the Zagari Pass. However, this pass road is not asphalted and leads up to 2620 m. Without rain, he would definitely have chosen the shorter and more spectacular route, but with rain he wanted to at least try. He could still turn back.

Don Curry drove out of Ushguli in the rain. Since the main road through the village was blocked, he had to fight his way out of the village on detours. The pass road itself could be described as an acceptable track. Unlike the 'Death Pass', there were hardly any hairpin bends when driving up to the pass. In between, Don Curry passed several construction vehicles that were laying down powerful pipes to allow sporadic mountain streams to flow under the track. This would make the route easier to drive in the future. For Don Curry, the heavy vehicles were more of a problem as they had made the rain-soaked ground even more muddy with their deep ruts. Nevertheless, Don Curry managed to reach the pass summit relatively safely. Here the clouds briefly cleared, giving him at least an idea of how magnificent the mountain panorama must be on sunny days.

In the rain, Don Curry tried a short detour to a small monastery that a few monks had built high in the mountains above the pass a few years ago. An earthy access road led up there. But Xerra didn't get very far. Don Curry quickly realized that saturated soil is an insurmountable barrier even for all-wheel drive vehicles. As soon as the tires became clogged with deep mud, they simply spin and can no longer be controlled; this applies to two-wheel drive vehicles as well as to four. After about 10 m of dirt track uphill, Xerra made no progress, but simply slid back and forth. This time, Don Curry actually gave up and let Xerra carefully slide back down the steep slope as far as possible. Xerra almost slid into a deep ditch next to the track and possibly got stuck there. But since at least one tire had reached solid ground again, Don Curry was able to avert this fate just in time.

In the rain, Don Curry maneuvered particularly carefully down the pass track. Here too, there were occasionally sections where neither scree nor rocky ground allowed stability. If Don Curry gave too much gas on these muddy sections, Xerra slid around uncontrollably, once even almost sideways on the track. But Don Curry learned how to navigate these challenging sections reasonably safely by driving extremely slowly and cautiously.

In the rain, Don Curry soon encountered even more construction vehicles widening and leveling the track. Then he came to a point where construction workers were already attaching boundary posts on the track, into which liquid asphalt could be poured. Shortly afterwards, there were already hardened asphalt surfaces on one lane of the track, but they were not yet open to traffic. And finally, Xerra drove on asphalt, much earlier than indicated in the guidebooks. Incidentally, Don Curry got to know all the essential steps of modern road construction. Presumably, the entire route over the Zagari Pass will be completely asphalted in a short time.

In the rain, Don Curry crossed Upper Svanetia. Swanen also live here, but they have more connection to inner Georgia than to their tribal members beyond the mountains. Actually, Don Curry planned an adventurous hike high above the Okatse Canyon, but in the pouring rain he couldn't enjoy the magnificent views or the pure experience of being on the road. He postponed the hike to tomorrow. Instead, he headed for a waterfall that also belongs to the Okatse Canyon.

In the rain, Don Curry left Xerra to descend numerous flights of stairs to the waterfall. Anywhere else, entrance fees would be charged for such a natural spectacle, he thought, until he found a large ticket office at the end of the stairs, where he had to pay €6 as a foreigner. He continued downhill on sturdy metal grids until the sound of rushing masses of water drowned out the drumming of the rain. A 70 m high waterfall plunges directly in front of the visitors' eyes from the rock wall of the canyon and can be admired from a platform. But the metal grids continue further down until the visitor stands several meters above the abyss into which another waterfall pours. This one can be admired from above while taking in the landscape far below one's feet. Even without rain, Don Curry would have gotten wet here, with all the spray and water vapor in the air.

In the rain, Don Curry decided to visit the Martvili Monastery. Again, the visit involved numerous flights of stairs, up and down. Don Curry found the old church, which he actually wanted to admire, closed; presumably the monks did not expect visitors in this weather.

In the rain, Don Curry reached Kutaisi, the second largest city in Georgia. He had to drive up on cobblestone serpentines to his pre-booked hotel 'Green Town', which Xerra didn't like at all. Due to the excessive moisture, the surface became so smooth that Xerra's wheels kept spinning. Eventually, he managed it. Don Curry was assigned a room that offered a good view of the neighboring Bagrati Cathedral, the real highlight of the city.

In the rain, Don Curry wrote his reports while his clothes dried in the background.

But then the sun came out! The rain stopped abruptly and blue sky prevailed. Delighted, Don Curry decided to take a walk, at least to the cathedral. This powerful structure from the 11th century used to be listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, together with the Gelati Monastery, as long as it was still in ruins. The Georgians wanted to use this historically extremely important building as a church again and decided on a comprehensive restoration, which the UNESCO officials did not like at all. Therefore, they removed the cathedral from the World Heritage List in 2017, leaving the Gelati Monastery there alone. During his visit, Don Curry developed some understanding for the UNESCO's decision. From the outside, the cathedral convincingly radiates power and historical significance; only at one point does a component made of black metal stand out completely, which serves to close a gap in the masonry. Inside, this deliberate discrepancy between old and new has a much stronger impact; black metal columns rise alongside the stone columns of the original building. Parts of the roof structure clearly indicate that they were created in the 21st century at first glance. Even the liturgical furnishings with iconostasis and numerous icons did not really convince Don Curry and did not fit well in this venerable building.

In the sunshine, Don Curry chose a table in the garden of the nice restaurant 'Our Garden', located exactly in the middle between the cathedral and the hotel. He ordered veal liver chashushuli, potatoes in the family style, and his favorite salad; along with a Tsolikauri, which turned out to be a very full-bodied white wine. Somewhat disappointed, Don Curry noted that the braised dish chashushuli contained veal but no liver. Shortly after he received his food, it started to drizzle lightly. As a precaution, when entering the garden, Don Curry chose a table under a large umbrella; only there were dry chairs. So the drizzle was not a problem, until...

In the rain, Don Curry ate, in pouring rain. In the meantime, a cat had run up to him again, rubbing against his legs until he gave her a few pieces of veal. A small piece of cucumber that he also threw to her was carefully licked, but otherwise ignored. After Don Curry's hunger was satisfied and the sound of the rain became unbearable, Don Curry quickly took his glass of wine and escaped to the covered part of the garden. The cat also fled. Shortly afterwards, Don Curry saw how the masses of water repeatedly pushed the umbrella to the side, so that nothing and nobody at the table would have remained dry.

In the rain, Don Curry waited and sipped his Tsolikauri, hoping that the heavy rain would eventually ease off. Even the waiters no longer ventured outside. After 20 minutes, Don Curry quickly ran into the dining room, paid his bill at the counter, and hurried down the short path to the hotel. Even though it was only 100 m, he arrived there completely soaked.

In the rain, Don Curry fell asleep...