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Georgia..part 3 and finish... The high Caucasion mountians.Sep 30, 2006
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one of many beautiful cathedrals sitting in the forrests
I'm standing in the baptismal font
beautiful frescos still intact
| Last entry for Georgia and my trip into the Caucasus mts. The richness of this land lies in the outstanding beauty of the caucasian mts, snow capped peaks, the green k\lush forests, valleys and wide rivers, scenic drives, and clean clean air, and fresh mineral water springs. There is a lot of reconstruction in progress everywhere. It's a country full of history, colorful past kings and queens, myths and legends dating back to the first milennium. We visited many fortresses which told of the people's struggles against various invaders, the cathedrals and churches tell another story of the survival of the one of the oldest christian communities in the world. The faithful still practice some semi pagan rituals and superstitions and animal sacrifices still go on. If you have a sick child they take a sleep or cow or pig and walk it around the church 3 times, then sacrifice it to God to cure their child or loved one. They suffered terribly when the soviet regieme ended and they faced loss of jobs provided by the hundreds of soviet build factories. Long bread lines, no raw materials coming into the country, land locked with enemy countries on all sides. It out resulted in outbreak of civil war in 1993 with nearly 250000 refugees fleeing their homes out of fear and these people still are being housed in Tbilisi hotels and churches until they can return to their homes. Now with the help of the US they are slowly uniting and rebuilding despite Russian efforts to undermine thier determination to succeed. They want foreign investment and there are some great opportunities here for businesses willing to take a risk on the nation. The Austrians are one such country where ski resorts and hotels are being developed in prime caucasion mountains. i throughly enjoyed my visit of both Armenia and Georgia and if I could have gotten the visa I would have continued on into Azerbaijan the third former soviet Causasian state. But that will have to wait for another day. So now..what's next? AFRICA..first stop with be Ethiopia...see you there. Glen |
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