Testimonials
Dear Manana
Now I have returned to this cold place in the northern periphery of Europe, and work has piled up on my desk in the meantime. That is quite normal, of course. But I want to - just briefly by now - send you this mail to tell you how glad I and my friends were for sharing your company - and David's and Georgio's ! - during 10 wonderful, warm and exciting days in Georgia. I was really surprised to see how much things have changed in Georgia, how infrastructure and normal and social life is developing, and all the construction work that is taking place. I was confirmed in my feeling that - especially Tbilisi - is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Especially when the weather is as good as it was during our stay.
I will write you again shortly with some reflections from the trip - and even perhaps some pictures! And I shall maintain that you should visit Denmark some day. You and your family is welcome to stay with us! And there are some interesting things to see here, that I'll be glad to show you!
In the meantime - thanks so very much for all your hard work and great competence and nice presence!
Warm regards
Bo Carstens
DENMARK
23.10.2009
Dear Mary,
This is just to say I was pleased to complete the day trip on 17th. Please pass my thanks again to Manana and Bondo for a very enjoyable excursion despite the rainy conditions up north.
Now back in England I hope to pay a return visit to Georgia sometime.
Best regards
Martin Edwards
September 22, 2009
Dear Mary!
With a bit of delay I want to say thanks to your agency for a great service during our travel to Georgia. We spent a really great vacation over there and it definitely was planned very well. I would like to thank your staff- Manana and Temuri for their professionalism, hospitality and care. We will sure spread the word about your agency and hopefully our friends will use your services as well.
Arnis Lapins
July 24, 2009
Dear Manana,
I am now home and wanted to tell you how much I appreciated the planning and work you and your staff did for our trip to and from Tbilisi. Everything went very smoothly. Your driver was very good and told us interesting things about Georgia on our return from Armenia. I will certainly recommend your agency to anyone who may be coming to Georgia. Thanks again for everything.
Regards,
Nancy McCaslin
USA
Too Blessed to be Stressed14th Oct 2007 - 22nd Oct 2007
GREETINGS FROM GLEN IN KATHMANDU
Georgia's Gorgeous
With many many thanks to Manana Bostoganashvili, my guide and Bondo Oboladze, my driver, for without them my 9 days in Georgia would have been rather ordinary.
I was so keen to go on holiday that I arrived at Kathmandu airport a day early! What a chump; had to retrace my steps including handing back my departure tax tickets and getting a refund and paying for another taxi to return to the hotel. Of course the staff there thought that was pretty amusing. The sad part was I had been invited by two friends to partake in Eid festival (the end of Ramadan) where they pig out on delicious food to break the fast because I thought I would be winging my way to Doha.
Nevertheless the following day I had it all right and embarrassingly got the same check in girl at the airport. Qatar Airways to Doha where I overnighted, and then continued on to Istanbul. Unfortunately it was here that the flight connections were diabolical and I had to spend 10 hours in the airport, so I indulged in the airport hotel to rest, shower and watch crap on tele. The 2 hour flight to Tblisi Georgia left Intanbul at about midnight so it was about 3.20am when I crashed on my bed at the Georgian House Hotel, Tbilisi.
Up bright and early (though faded in the late afternoon) and in the small hotel restaurant acquainted myself with a staple of Georgian cuisine - thick sour cream. Something fairly yummy about fresh thickly sliced brown bread smothered in home made fig jame and topped with a dollop or two of sour cream. My guide Manana arrived and we hit it off immediately. She is a mid 30's highly educated young woman, multi lingual and passionate about her country, particularly the mountain area of Svaneti. I travelled for the entire trip in a rather new, swish 4WD, with Bondo our driver. A gentleman to say the least.
Tbilisi is a smallish city of about 2million on the banks (cliffs for part of it) of the river and Mtkvari and has a delightful Old centre with lots of churches and forgotten squares. It also has smart boulevards and tree lined streets and there is considerable construction going on. The unpopular President is building a nice palace for himself. Tbilisi is recovering from disputes with Russia, civil strife, revolution and gang violence but everyone is optimistic. There is an attractive area of renovated buildings housing cafes, outdoor eateries and trendy little shops. It is still not very touristy though.
Obvious on the city skyline is the Narkila fortress, the earliest walls dating from the 4th century citadel. Views are great. In the old town are the sulphur baths which are housed on a cluster of pinky brick domes. The entrance to the baths look like the facade of a mosque. Lots of churches of various periods and statues, a stop for lunch at a cafeteria. Unfortunately the fabulous collection of gold jewellery, reliquaries, religious things and other precious objects were on a world tour and therefore we did not visit the main museum. Flagged at about 4pm and had a 12 hour sleep.
Started the day well with wine and vodka after breakfast!!! and set off. There is no doubt I should have paid more attention to Sunday School classes because I couldn't identify one saint from another on the beautiful frescoes in the many churches I visited. Suffice to say they were beautiful. We visited many interesting and wonderful spots. The small town of Gori which is the birthplace of Josef Stalin. A visit to the museum dedicated (mostly) to his early life was interesting, if only for the wealth of material they omitted about the atrocities committed under his leadership. Some Georgians would like a character like him again in power as they say he would rid the country of corruption.
The mountain area of Svaneti is stunningly beautiful, all views like postcards. 5000M jagged rocky peaks with a lot of snow already, the lower hills covered either in pine/spruce forests or autumn coloured deciduous trees, milky blue rivers, grey stone buildings and the interesting 10th century stone tower fortresses. Road obstacles abound - huge potholes, landslides, many cattle, goats, ducks, geese and pigs. Enormous numbers of pigs1 Centre of Svaneti is the town of Mestia where we stayed for 2 nights with the beautiful Irma and her husband. Mestia is surrounded by snow capped peaks. To illustrate how cold it gets there the outdoor (very nicely tiled and equipped) squat loo keeps flushing all the time to stop the water freezing.
We had an all day drive to the village of Ushguli, at 2200M is the highest permanently inhabited village in Europe. It took us 3 hours to drive the 50kms, a combination of rough road and getting a little bit lost as there are few if any road signs. But the scenery was spectacular.
Ushguli is a cluster of stone houses, and a few towers, a church on top of the hill and a small museum. It's home to a well known Georgian painter and other craftspeople, but there were also many tumbledown buildings.
Interesting places in Georgia are the cave cities and on my last day before Amenia we visited Vardzia. It is approached through a spectacular gorge of barren rock and you exit into a small valley and these amazing cave dwellings. They are usually a system of rooms carved out of the rock face, 13 stories high, connected by passageways and stairs, with churches as the main focal point. Vardzia is 12th Century and at one time housed 50, 000. The Church of the Assumption has some lovely frescoes, inside and out. As is usual in Georgia, photographs of the interior are prohibited, though I was so tempted to do so when I thought no one was looking.
We had a picnic lunch nearby. In the rural areas of Georgia lunch was often a picnic, purchasing fresh bread and tomatoes and other things as we drove along. Simple meals but so fresh with local ingredients, augmented with coffee or tea, and the pleasure of lolling about in a beautiful space, surrounded by mountains.
In Zugdidi I had to purchase batteries because I had forgotten my charger and I was snapping away happily. It's an area where Bondo grew up so he knew everyone in town. Zugdidi has a large population of displaced persons from the war in neighbouring Abkhazia. once part of Russia/Georgia. And it is also home of the aristocratic Dadiani family whose palatial residence is now a museum, beautifully furnished with antique French objects and furniture, and some exquisite woodworked ceilings above the balconies. One of the best lunches was had in the nearby town of Vani in a small cafe (called Apaches) run by Abkhazi refugees. They had been professionals but now having to make business through running a cafe. To them this was serious loss of face, but the woman was a top cook.
Parts of Georgia are extremely fertile, and used to be the bread basket of the USSR. Now many of the food manufacturing and processing plants are closed, tobacco crops rot in the fields, but the land is still producing fruit, vegetables, nuts and grains. In the late autumn everyone is harvesting the crops for the winter and it is a time of great activity.
There were many beautiful cathedrals in the Kutaisi area and we witnessed a christening in the Gelati Monastery. The baby girl was called Barbara, a saintly name in Georgia. It is interesting to note that fathers do not attend their child's christening. But the background music was pleasing and nice to see the priest in colourful robes intoning the prayers for the child's future life.
We stayed one night in Bakuriani, a ski resort in an extremely comfortable lodge and were overfed. Menu that night: vege soup, chicken salad, the famous cheese pie, fried chicken with walnut sauce, spaghetti with herbs, cream sponge roll topped with thick strawberry jam, and mixed pear apple prune juice, along with more of the chacha! Oh, and lots of bread and butter. We were in the Borjormi area which has a lot of mineral spas and Borjormi Sparkling Mineral water can be purchased anywhere. It has quite a salty flavour, strong in comparison with ours.
I felt quite sad on departure from my friends Manana and Bondo at the Armenian border as we had, I thought, enjoyed ourselves very much. I had the comfort of knowing, however, that we would all meet again on a different border crossing when I returned to Georgia. Just as well, as I had left my precious gortex jacket in their vehicle.
GEORGIA: PART II
Sadly, I didn't see Bondo again, but his replacement whose name I now forget was a charming man. Are all Georgian men gorgeous? Well, I did only met nice ones. Manana was at the border to greet me (wearing my jacket!!) and this time I felt bereft at leaving my Armenian friends. Can't win, can you?
We had quite a long drive back to Tbilisi. We were supposed to go toTHE cave city of Georgia, but the weather turned nasty and we could hardly see 30M in front of us, driving was difficult and it was cold and windy. Manana suggested we visit the Bodbe Monastery and Nunnery which is dedicated to St Nino who is buried there. St Nino brought Christianity to Georgia - short version of story. She converted the Queen and from then on it became popular. This church/monastery had beautiful paintings - from the church we should get good views but the fog had become even thicker. It was then a short drive down hill to the newly opened restored Italianate village of Kakheti, with its cobbled winding streets, pastel hued wooden house/shop fronts, overhanging balconies etc. Typical 18th century Georgian architecture, facades only restored, with the hope that visitors will come thereby boosting the economy. I see no reason why this would not happen. Late back to Tbilisi for late room service snack of boiled eggs, bread, jam and sausage and tea.
I conned Manana in to taking me shopping. I was desperate to spend money on my last day in Georgia, so some hours later we had had coffee and cake at the Marriott, a delicious typical Georgian lunch of large stuffed dumplings called kinkali, bread, beer, and mixed bean stew. I bought some Georgian music CDs and a gorgeous enamelled silver pendant (got the idea from Wendy because she had one). Also visited Manana's office and downloaded all the Georgian photos for her - I think she ended up with the Armenian ones as well. More sad farewells - Manana had treated me like a friend/older sister and I hope we remain like that. She's an amazing lady. So the visit to Georgia came to an end with the unenviable departure at 5am necessitating my waking up at about 3am, but with another adventure to look forward to- Turkey.
Glenniss Pallier
New Zeland
Dear Eka
I am really don't know haw to thank you for a wonderful tour.
So, I gust just say didi didi didi didi madloba.
I am sending you a link for some of the best pictures. If you need any of this pictures in larger size pls late me know.
And also if you need any help here in Israel, I will be more then happy to do something for you.
Thanks again from: Uri, Yos,Ella, Carmit, Gali, Yael, Orly, Elez, Gilya, Meir, Amos, Michal and specially from Me.
Assaf Shalev
Israel
BUT WHY WAS IT SO LATE IN MY LIFE ?????????
Rusi, my dear RUSI,
I gotta tell you that we so much enjoyed visiting your country.
I cannot relate all to you that we accomplished in 7 days with the aide and assistance of a GREAT guide who is now a friend and who was recommended to us by an El Al pilot, patient of ours, and his bro-in-law who were there about 8 months ago with her, and the tips you gave me, and we melted all of it into her planned itinerary that was developed with my dear friend and brother Stuart the Yorkshireman, as well as my specific adjenda, IT WAS GREAT. If it had not been for the unbelievable, accurate, and careful driving of my son Guy, the trip we mapped out would have taken 6 more days that we did not have. HIS DRIVING WAS EXEMPLARY. but a couple of times he sweated too.
We, actually HE, did 2040 KM, covered the roads from Tbilisi and back to Tbilisi, some of which looked like the surface of the moon (but my kid wanted a jeep trip, so he got one), we toured all around the town, the Great Cathedral, the palace, all the important areas, the new park on the mountain near the high radio tower and (my personal favorite statue) the silver LADY statue of the Mother of Georgia, on the mountainside, and ate at a great restaurant Maydan (where I very nicely pushed my BRAND new digital camera on the floor (whilst trying to save a plastic bottle from hitting the floor) and broke it (the camera, that is) after taking 27 photos and then went to Yom Kippur services at the synagogue Met an American AF Lt Col from Atlanta that I know his parents ! !; In the morning we set off for Mtskhete ,the cathedral , Jvari chuch on the hill overlooking the city, Ananouri ,the beautiful church , rafting on the river at Pasanouri, (where the water was a little low, but it was great fun anyway) Uplishtikhe, with a wonderful local guide and gentleman , Gori, saw the synagogue and the Stalin museum, and overnight at a hotel that was next to an apple processing plant that had 4 trillion apples laying around. Kutaisi, the Baghat Cathedral, Gelati Academy, the synagogue, saw from afar and in the twilight the Nikorsminde church and onward to the village of Oni (a special place in a beautiful area with an incredible synagogue which will soon disappear.) 50 years ago there were 24,000 jews there, now 8 families. The brakes on the jeep were beginning to sing, but we pushed on. We then backtracked to Kutaisi because the roads were not recommended to go direct and we went through Abasha, Senaki (synagogue), Zugdidi, the Dadianis Palace there, and on to the beautiful lake and the power plant and dam, and on to Mestia, Ushguli, Mazeri. WHAT CAN BE SAID ? ? ? BEAUTIFUL DOES NOT SAY ENOUGH. Stayed in a guest house two nights with three lovely people who could not do enough for us. After the visit to the museum in the mountain area, walking through the village of Ushguli and climbing towers to take photos, we had to leave this surreal area of our planet. Back to Zugdidi and a visit to a large government dental clinic, Poti (couldn't get to the synagogue because of time but there is one there) and on to Batumi and a look at the Turkish border. Ate a snack at a coffee house on the beach and had the local dumplings. We went to the synagogue there too.
During all this time we had two flat tires and lost all the brakes on the Mitsubishi but had to keep on driving. The 4 X 4 drive NEVER worked and the guy who rented our guide the jeep, knew that all the tools needed to change a tire were not there, but didn't say anything, so on a mountain road halfway between the resoivor and Mestia we had a flat tire and by the time it was fixed we had stopped three trucks, a private car with three great kids who tried to help us, and a police car, and finally got it changed. We got the brakes fixed luckily in Batumi at a fix-it place that does Mercedes, Ford, BMW and VW but had a pair of brakes for our jeep; lucky us. Saw the synagogue there too, but couldn't get in the beautiful white building although Manana tried calling all the numbers she had. SHE WAS GREAT. SHE HAS guided groups of Israelis before, even groups that really were so observant enough that they had to eat only Glatt Kosher food. That gotta be a real horror show, at best, and as an extra added attraction ,they are Jewish too ! ! ! { I say this, as I have had experience of bringing American Jews to Israel on intensive study trips of 7 to 14 days in length over a period of 7 years before moving to Israel. A crowd of those people on a bus, can be a royal pain in the butt} THIS LADY HAS TO BE MADE THE CHIEF GUIDE OF GEORGIA She knows everyone and everything, even to buying local candy made of nuts strung on a string and covered with congealed plum jelly. She taught us the hard boiled egg ceremony, the coin throwing in the river ceremony, and that there are so many different dialects and customs that differ from area to area, that we must come back to learn it all.
We saw the Queen Tamara and Dondalo bridges, went over the pass [not without incident, as a truck had fu screwed up the road {dirt} and got stuck and, again, lucky us, it got removed in only minutes after we arrived on the scene, and they did not even ask us for advice on how to get it out, anyway, we had previously almost got lost on the mountains because of no signs of direction and ( lucky for us an oncoming car told us where to go or we might still be on that mountain) and then on to Akhasltsikhe to see yet another Synagogue ( actually two, but the second one now has a boxing ring and body punching bags in it as it is a gym for training fighters. The cemetery on the hill, behind the synagogue, dates from before 3 to 7 hundred years (depending on who you speak to) but is immense, occupying an enormous area of land and served a community of 40,000 in years past. Today, 3 families remain, and it won't be long before they will probably have two gymnasium in the old town.
Onward to Borjomi, saw the water factory and spent the night in a great little hotel in the ski village of Bakturiani. In the wee house of zero - dark- thirty, we arose, and drove quickly back to Tbilisi, but not before visiting Svetitskhoveli magnificent Cathedral to see the tombs of the three kings and then entering back to the city past the statue of King David the builder and the goofy looking transportation ministry building that David probably did not build. We returned a rather dirty jeep to the car wash, got picked up by Manana's driver and van, found an English bookstore and coffee house in town, with great coffee bye the way, {across the street from the Art Institute}, and then went to the airport for a tearful farewell and promises to send discs, photos, and tapes, and then to see each other again in Israel when Manana comes for a travel fair in February.
This blow-by-blow description may not be totally accurate in succession and time, and obviously not complete in terms of all the happenings; like, for instance, mention of the pig holding it's breath competition at the river we were rafting, or the constipation caused by the pears eaten off the tree that were picked while riding on horseback in the magnificent mountains over Khulo, but we will expand later.
All I can tell you, lady, is that your country is MAGNIFICANT, the people are WONDERFUL, the progress being made is DESERVED, and I wish them a peaceful tenure in which to continue their drive for excellence. Thanks for giving me those two little booklets that spirited my mind to go there to visit, and take my family with me.
Now, how are you, Write me when you can.
With much thanks,
Steve, Stuart, and Guy
Israel
My trip to Georgia.
For a long time I had wished to visit Georgia, mostly because I was interested in its long history. As a classical scholar I knew the stories about the Golden Fleece and the miserable facts about the Georgian princess Medea. But I was also familiar with the recent ties between Georgia and Holland. In the second World War a group of Georgian soldiers had fought the Germans in the Dutch island of Texel and the president of Georgia had married a Dutch girl. So my expectations were high and I was not disappointed. We visited many old Georgian churches and also the birthplace of Stalin. But above all we met many very friendly Georgians and we had great dinners with excellent wine and Georgian dances. Unfortunately I had no time to visit the mountains and the seacoast but that is a good reason to go again and to enjoy anew the many pleasant sides of modern Georgia. It's a great country.
Dr. Rein Ferwerda
Netherland
Hi Manana,
Hope all is well with you.
I just want to thank you for your help, service, and for the nice and great people that are working for you.
We found Georgia as a GREAT place to visit, with great history, amazing people, and wonderful food.
The driver Webcho is a great and real man, we like him so much and missed him.
The guide Lewan, is much more than guide, he is friend, smart, guitarist, pianist, singer and in top of that rider and trustable. We missed him as well.
Merab, oh Merab, great mountain biker. We still have a huge smile from his trip around Tbilisi. Thanks a lot. Please pass his email since we have some pictures for him.
For sure we will visit Georgia again.
Thanks for all,
Gamarjus.
Ronen Shlomo
Good morning dear friend!
First of all we would like to say thank You Very Much about all unforgetable days in Georgia! Even after some time past, we are still remembering our visit to Your country with excitement. It was very honor to see on TV Bagrati cathedral in Kutaisi, the day after we return to Latvia!
Thank You once again!
From the bottom of our harts, we would like to wish You and all Georgian nation immediately stopping of all this madness and get back to normal, peaceful life as soon as possible!
With kind regards,
Your friends from Latvia
Andris Grikis
Latvia
Dear manana
I settled in my office since few days and I wish to send you my warm greetings and thanks for the god job you did for the HK group.
it was the successful tour in 3 countries. the success of the tour was due to your professional coordination and management.
I had a good conception from your beautiful country and Think I am on the position to work with you as a partner and bring about many groups, it is my great wish.
I am waiting from Mr. Peter to let me the 2 dates that I am going to do with you. as he is still in Iran. I let you know as soon as possible.
I remind you that I had a best and forgettable days with you and your kind guide Mrs. Liza, please send my best regards to her. he did her job well.
I miss all of you and wishing you all the best.
Best Regards
Hossein ahmad
Teheran
Dear Manana,
We are now back here in São Paulo. First we would like to thank you, Marica Nijaradze (our guide) and Lasha driver for the wonderful time we had together in Georgia. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit and would have no hesitation in recommending your agency to any of our friends and colleagues. We found Georgia more surprising than we had expected. The tourist attractions and the food and wine were all excellent. After so many many churches I am definitely going directly to heaven.
As regards Armenia, the country is also very beautiful and quite distinct from Georgia and we also found it very interesting.
Thank you all.
With kind regards
Peter & Jean Glasier
Brazil
Hi gorgeous !
How are you now? Just one day home and I miss Georgia already, and you especially !!! The group agreed that Georgia was the best part of the tour, and the best guide !!! But we were all very tired when we came home in Amsterdam (where is was and still is raining cats and dogs), so today I could do a lot of "homework", trying to convince my company to continue the tours in Georgia (even without Armenia, if necessary).
Also I enjoyed Georgia a lot, the mountains, the food, the people, the birds. Really I can understand why Sandra Roelofs fell in love with this country !
So now "normal" life should continue again, preparing myself for a short tour in Northern-Spain and Andorra and after that I will meet you again in Kenya and Tanzania ?!!!
Anyway, have a lot of fun in Svanetie, don't forget me and keep in touch !!!
Lots of love,
Michel
Belgium
Dear Manana
I'm still in Georgia , thinking about the people and the places, the wonderful hospitality and the strong impression such a country leaves on us.
All my friends, colleagues, family ect… got some dozens of pictures which I still watching, enlarging, printing and give as gifts to many.
I have an idea of making a group exhibition in order to show people how unique is the place-sending them to Georgia . Israelis react, sometime like a flock. That was before with Turkey , Thailand and even Uzbekistan .
Do you think that your ministry of foreign affairs/Tourism will show their interest by participating such initiative?
Any how you'll have to come to "cut the strip" on the exhibition entrance...
Regards
Ran Gilad
Israel
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