In snow for the first time at Bakuriani

Hello friends! It has always been a great fun for me to write here and up here I want to share with you all about the first time I experienced snow in a famous place in Georgia called Bakuriani. This one is such a trip that I won't forget in my lifetime as it was the first time that I ever saw a region that was entirely frozen.

Departure

It was winter time in Georgia and there was a winter trip to this place arranged by our university. So me and some of my friends enrolled our names in the list. We registered a week before the proposed day of the trip and after a week it was the day of journey. We all gathered at the university where a bus was waiting for us. In a bit of enthusiasm we were a little early than the mentioned time and it took almost another hour for all other people to arrive. There were two buses full of students on this trip and we began our journey at 9 am from Tbilisi. The bus in which we travelled was a double ducker with nice comfortable seats. After crossing the city the driver turned on the music and some friends of mine started to dance in the bus. We all were so enthusiastic that we were just shouting and dancing in the bus. We knew that the journey would be long and therefore we brought with us some cool drinks, biscuits, chocolates, water and some playing cards to have fun during travel. We also had some essential things such as an additional pair of socks in case the pair we were wearing gets wet, monkey caps, scarfs, sweaters and gloves. I personally loaded my phone with some of my favorite songs to listen on the way.

Arrival

After an hour we were out of Tbilisi on a highway rolling on our way to Bakuriani. Even the sceneries that we crossed on our way to Bakuriani were so beautiful. We were able to see some farm lands covered with snow, a beautiful river with a narrow bridge, railway tracks where a train was moving slowly in the background of an ice covered mountain, etc. It took us several hours for us to reach Bakuriani. As far as I remember it took us 4 hours. We were able to recognise that we were close to our destination by the sceneries that changed as we moved closer to Bakuriani. We were able to see some deep valleys, frozen large rivers, high snow capped mountains, trees and mountain slopes covered with snow. It was like the entire region was painted white with snow. Our bus windows got frozen as we were travelling into this snow covered region. The road was extremely scary and dangerous with too many hairpin bends. Travelling in a double decker bus on the top floor was really scary. When we looked through the windows it was like our bus occupied the entire road and we were wondering what would happen if something comes suddenly from the opposite direction. After such a scary drive we finally reached Bakuriani and placed our foot on a snow mountain for the first time.

Brief outline of the place

Bakuriani is a famous ski resort lying at a distance of 30 kilometres from Borjomi. The city of Bakuriani is said to be situated above the solidified lava from the Mukheri Volcano in the past. Since we were a big group of people we hired buses all the way from Tbilisi but if you are planning a trip with few people you can take a mini van or the "mashruthka" as locals call it [I guess you would be very familiar with this word by now] from the different bus stations at Tbilisi or other important cities like Kutaisi, Gori, Batumi, etc. From Tbilisi these mini vans or the mashruthkas can be boarded from Orthachala Bus Station, Didube Bus Station or the Vukzali Bus Station. There are even railway services available at a price of 20GEL approximately from Tbilisi. There is a narrow railway line that takes you from Borjomi to Bakuriani. This place is a famous ski resort in Georgia and I was there for the first time having no basic idea of even how to walk in snow. As I was wearing some heavy boots it gave me some additional support to remain stable in the ground. Our buses stopped at a certain point from where we by ourselves had to explore the small region. The climate in Bakuriani is humid and can vary between maritime and continental climates. The winters are freezing cold where the summers are warm. During winters the temperature will fall as low as -10 degree celsius and even below. In summer, the temperature will be around 15 degree celsius and it is a bit warm. There are some prominent sportsmen like Kumaritashivili and Abramashivili who were living in Bakuriani, and the place also has a Botanical Garden that belongs to the Georgian Academy Of Sciences. Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to visit the garden despite being in Bakuriani.

My time at Bakuriani

We started to climb uphill in a snow laid road. At some places in the corners of the road there was snow as high as my thighs. Some of my friends began to push each others into such snow and also started to make snow balls to fight with each other. We were having some real fun and were slowly climbing up hill. After some time our climbing stopped at a place where there were a lot of ski equipment rental shops. The Georgian people who came there for skiing had their own equipments which they probably have brought from their homes. The rent price for such equipments was 5GEL and for each single round they have to pay an additional 0. 50GEL. There was a cable car to take people up and down the hill.

A mountain called "Kohta" is used for skiing in Bakuriani and it has an altitude of 2200 metres above sea level. We had to purchase a ticket to board the cable car and if I remember it right the cost of the ticket was 3 or 5 GEL. We didn't have any idea of skiing, in fact, we couldn't even stand wearing all those ski shoes. We bought tickets and boarded the cable car that gave us an amazing view of Bakuriani. The cable car was comfortable and well maintained. We moved slowly and finally reached a centre point in the hill. As we got out of the cable car we noticed that the weather was extremely windy. We couldn't even open our eyes. There was a restaurant at this point where they offered some hot drinks and food. We ate some Georgian food and regained the energy that we lost. After eating there was a balcony in the hotel beneath which was a massive pit of about 70 metres in height. We moved slowly to stand there and take a photo. As the floor was really slippery we had to move very slowly and carefully. We came out of the hotel and moved around the place admiring the snow.

There was another cable car service here moving further up that would take you to the peak of the mountain. Some of my friends wanted to hike the way up but we thought it was terribly risky to do so as we weren't able to see the peak from the place where we were currently standing. Fog covered the place making it totally invisible. We had to buy tickets for this second cable car as well. After that we boarded it and moved to the top of the hill. It was an incredible view from there. The wind that blew almost carried us away, we couldn't keep our feet on the ground. After a few minutes we drained out of energy and we weren't able to withstand the wind. There were people who were skiing from the peak all the way down. They were so amazing, they just glided through the snow, some even performed stunts while skiing. There is even a helicopter skiing facility available at Bakuriani. On payment you are taken to the peak of the hill with an helicopter from where you should skii and come to the bottom of the hill. We could hear the rotors of the helicopter and its sound at regular intervals.

Then it began to snow and the place was totally covered with fog, so we couldn't see a thing. We got into the cable car again and went downhill. The cable car stopped at the middle of the hill from where we had to get into the second cable car to get to the bottom. There were some guards and first aid team in snow bikes to look after people who were skiing. Once we returned to the bottom we could again see some small skii tracks that are made on the slopes of small mountains which were for beginners. There were even instructors who would teach people if you pay a price of 5GEL. Some of my friends rented the ski equipment and tried to learn skiing. At first they weren't even able to stand still but at the end they managed not to fall, although they didn't learn to ski. There was a small cable with many pipes hanging down. This set up is to take the skiers from the bottom to the top of the ski track. My friends fell down a lot of times trying to go uphill and some of the people who were skiing there helped them by carrying them to the top of the ski track. After an hour they got tired and gave up skiing. We walked around the place where we could see some sledges and snow bikes. It was 5GEL per round to ride a snow bike. I was really interested in it so I paid the price after a little negotiation. To ride a snow bike in snow is a thing that I've never done before and it was a really fun experience personally. I can still feel the very sensation of driving the snow bike. We also had a small ride in a sledge and it was something different than a normal cart. Some of my friends then started to make a snowman. We had to gather a lot of snow to do that and after an hour our snowman was ready, wearing our scarf and cap. We took some cool pictures with him and by then the day was about to end.

End of the travel and return

A long day of fun and enjoyment came to an end in the evening as we had to board our buses to get back home. We were all wet as the snow melted over us and even our feet got wet. Luckily we had an additional pair of socks with us which which saved us from getting trench foot! It took a little while for us to get back to normal from shivering and settle down. After a few minutes, when everyone arrived back to the bus, we bid farewell to Bakuriani and made our way back home. The return trip was not as enthusiastic as it was in the morning. We were all really tired and we felt like having a deep sound sleep as soon as we started returning back home. We had so much fun that we didn't want to go back home. We thought that the next time we visit Bakuriani we should stay for a week and have the ultimate fun. Our bus slowly made its way to Tbilisi and we reached our home by 10-30 pm. We were really tired even at the thought of walking from the main road to our home, however we managed to walk our way home. It was an awesome experience that I had with my friends in Bakuriani, and one that I cannot erase from my memory. Do visit Bakuriani if you ever get a chance to visit Tbilisi. Thank you for reading patiently and until I write my next article keep smiling and cheers!