Monday, April 30, 2012

Borjomi, Part 2: The Walk to the Walk

Having decided to walk to the spring pool in Mineral Spring Park, we got going.

The Mtkvari River runs through town.

Borjomi, Georgia.

Borjomi, Georgia.

Borjomi, Georgia.

Borjomi, Georgia.
In the photo above, you can see a place where people collect spring water. We crossed over the river and got us some. Sulfurous.  


 
Borjomi, Georgia. Entrance to Mineral Spring Park.

The Mineral Spring Park in Borjomi has a number of attractions.

There is a tram, which we took to a nearby bluff with a restaurant and ferris wheel on top.

 

Borjomi, Georgia. Tram station

Borjomi, Georgia. Tram station

Borjomi, Georgia. View of Mineral Spring Park from tram.

Borjomi, Georgia. View from Mineral Spring Park tram.

Borjomi, Georgia. Ferris wheel above Mineral Spring Park.

Borjomi, Georgia. View from Mineral Spring Park tram.

Back on ground, we entered the park. We saw decorative trees, some real, some fake. We saw a wedding party. Statues.

Borjomi - Mineral Spring Park

Borjomi - Mineral Spring Park

Borjomi - Mineral Spring Park

On the pleasing paved path, we passed through a children's amusement park. The last ride was a carnival sort of affair - a pirate ship. At the prow was a lifesize, leering pirate. At the bow was another life-size pirate. In the middle, looking down upon would-be passengers was a woman whose body only went to her hips, as in she had no legs, and who wore a blouse that only covered the top part of her breasts. Completely peculiar. And this is a kiddie ride. An example of Georgia's virgin-whore cultural paradox.

Apropos of nothing, it is a bit disorienting to be in a Georgian restaurant and hear an English-language rap song going on about f**king someone's p***y."

The paved path ended abruptly at the odd pirate ship ride. At this point, we wondered if we were still on track to find the spring pool, so we called the tourist guy, who assured us it was 2.5 kilometers from this point.

Kate decided to sit out the rest of the walk, and Sandy and I carried on. 

We'd been told there was a bit of a problem crossing over some water on the way.  A couple returning from their walk pantomimed having to lift their trouser hems a bit to step through some water.

Unknowingly, Sandy and I were about to embark on a


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