Finding Anaseuli

May 6th, the Tuesday after Easter, was to be a fairly leisurely day – or was it? We certainly spent the morning sitting in a warm room, in good company, catching up on various things we hadn’t done. Lika. our host, had had to go to a meeting in the nearby town so wasn’t able to show us around her tea plantation as we had hoped. However, she arrived back an hour earlier than she had expected and off we set for the tour of her property.

Lika is a proud Gurian and proud of her family and the achievements of various of its members – especially the women. I think she sees herself and her daughters following in this tradition, partly by bringing some of the traditions and skills of the past back to the area. She’s a real enthusiast for what she does.

For three nights I had slept in one of the over-sized barrels in the grounds of Lika’s ancient family home and we had enjoyed meals and good conversations with her volunteers each evening. Whenever I walked back to my barrel I commented that the yard could have been that of a Thai village home with the kitchen below and sleeping accommodation above.

Some of them would also have the space to develop as Lika is doing – building additional accommodation for her daughter’s family as well as developing a tea growing business and a vinery. One of the daughters told us that their wine is very expensive – but we didn’t get to try it!

We did sample the tea, though, on many occasions and that was very good. Even this coffee drinker survived on tea for three and a half days, so it must have been more than palatable!

It seemed to me that Lika was at her happiest in her tea garden or, as we were to see in the shade of the bamboo forest by the river at the bottom of the property.

She regularly adds bamboo shoots to meals, too, as she does many local specialities.

We were quite sad to leave such fascinating company but had to move on with appointments to keep. The journey to our next destination took us past a winerywhose owner has built a house reminiscent of the past which could equally well be found in affluent parts of Thailand – I loved it!

From there we were making our way to the old Soviet township of Anaseuli. Maybe to find a spot of urbex – urban exploration of desolate areas. We did, of course! And we also found a statue of Lenin lying abandoned near the pool . Once upon a time, not so very long ago, this had been an important place.

The Soviet-style buildings are grand but most are in total disrepair. Even the octopus in the swimming pool was high and dry.

What had once been impressive homes were given over to dereliction.

The same was true of the University buildings even though the furniture was still inside

And then there was Lenin, lying undisturbed near the pool at the centre of the compound..

By this time, though, we had spotted the tea factory and decided to head over there to see what was happening. It was closed, all the machinery still.

In the centre next door though were a group of ladies, clearly on an afternoon break, who smiled and waved a greeting. Further investigation revealed that this was a distillery – the Anaseuli distillery, making the famous chacha and many other spirits.

They were keen to show us around – who were we to refuse such an invitation?

Our guide was good, explaining the whole process. She explained that she is one of only two ‘noses’ in the plant deciding exactly when enough fruit has been added to each variety. And soon, she joined the others to be guided herself around Tako’s van and her journey.

We left with promises made of a return journey!