A weekend in the wild
The weekend was one of the wildest of my life. Saturday morning I joined several people from work and some of their family members for a trip to Shatili, far up in the Caucasus range, right by the boarder to Russia (Chechnya).
The road started out pretty fine—for the first 45 minutes.
Then began the bumping, and jumping, and jiggity-jiving on what can hardly be called a road. Off-road would be a better description. But this was not just any mountain—it was steep as can be, the road was the narrowest I have seen, and there was absolutely no support on the side of the road. But off we drove, hoping we would get to our destination in one piece.
After 6 hours of bouncing we came to Shatili. It elicited literal gasps and screams from my fellow travelers. It was definitely a sight to behold. Stone houses, towers and fortresses, in the middle of the wilderness, built with precision that even the Incas would have had a hard time replicating. The houses were from the 12th century and still in good condition! In fact, 15 families were still living there. During communist times, they were forced down to villages in the valley because of their refusal to abandon their rituals and abide by communist ideology. After Stalin’s death, however, some returned and are living there to this day. Apparently, family feuds and pagan rituals are still abounding.
From Shatili we drove out to another fortress and to the boarder area where we could see the Chechnyan guards (very exciting!) Upon the hillside were clustered a number of little stone caves or abodes. The caves had windows and when we peered inside, we gasped once again, this time with horror. They were filled with bones, literal human bones, skulls, spines, arms and legs. I have never in my life seen anything like it. And the story of how they got there makes it worse. During the plague, people would voluntarily sit in these caves and wait for their death so they would not contaminate other villagers. Those who could not take it would jump off the cliff into the water. There were so many of these caves. One of the girls with us was 15 and cried very hard when she saw it…
After that experience we went out to another tower located high up in the mountain where a poet and his family are still living. We then headed back to Shatili where we stayed at the home of a lady who teaches at the University in Tbilisi. They made a nice supper and we had a good time talking.
Things were good, they said, during communist rule. Everybody had what they needed –including a job (now unemployment in Tbilisi is close to 40%). The bad thing was the removal of some freedoms—they could not, for instance, purchase jeans (...) But looking at how things have developed in Georgia over the past 15 years since Georgia became independent, you see very clearly that things have not just gotten better. There are far more people now with little or nothing to get by on.
The road started out pretty fine—for the first 45 minutes.
Then began the bumping, and jumping, and jiggity-jiving on what can hardly be called a road. Off-road would be a better description. But this was not just any mountain—it was steep as can be, the road was the narrowest I have seen, and there was absolutely no support on the side of the road. But off we drove, hoping we would get to our destination in one piece. After 6 hours of bouncing we came to Shatili. It elicited literal gasps and screams from my fellow travelers. It was definitely a sight to behold. Stone houses, towers and fortresses, in the middle of the wilderness, built with precision that even the Incas would have had a hard time replicating. The houses were from the 12th century and still in good condition! In fact, 15 families were still living there. During communist times, they were forced down to villages in the valley because of their refusal to abandon their rituals and abide by communist ideology. After Stalin’s death, however, some returned and are living there to this day. Apparently, family feuds and pagan rituals are still abounding.
From Shatili we drove out to another fortress and to the boarder area where we could see the Chechnyan guards (very exciting!) Upon the hillside were clustered a number of little stone caves or abodes. The caves had windows and when we peered inside, we gasped once again, this time with horror. They were filled with bones, literal human bones, skulls, spines, arms and legs. I have never in my life seen anything like it. And the story of how they got there makes it worse. During the plague, people would voluntarily sit in these caves and wait for their death so they would not contaminate other villagers. Those who could not take it would jump off the cliff into the water. There were so many of these caves. One of the girls with us was 15 and cried very hard when she saw it…
After that experience we went out to another tower located high up in the mountain where a poet and his family are still living. We then headed back to Shatili where we stayed at the home of a lady who teaches at the University in Tbilisi. They made a nice supper and we had a good time talking.
Things were good, they said, during communist rule. Everybody had what they needed –including a job (now unemployment in Tbilisi is close to 40%). The bad thing was the removal of some freedoms—they could not, for instance, purchase jeans (...) But looking at how things have developed in Georgia over the past 15 years since Georgia became independent, you see very clearly that things have not just gotten better. There are far more people now with little or nothing to get by on.
posted by Kristel at 8:05 AM
5 Comments:
hm. mange sterke opplevelser for deg denne sommeren! Tenker på deg!
ps. I hope it is OK that I made a link to your blog on my blog...
Hey,
I love reading about your experiences. Although I would love to travel, my life is far more stationary now. Thank you for providing visions of other countries and traditions through your eyes.
Because I find your blog so fascinating, I have put a link to your blog on mine. I hope this is not a problem...
In the context of communism and its apparent benefits and pitfalls I respond in the same way I do to many thing: There is more than one way to do things.
Like you allude to in your post, much harm is done to other cultures and ways of life by imposing our views of what "works" on them. What works for England might turn out to be a total desaster in Costa Rica.
We seem to be obsessed with telling people how to run their lives and for that matter, their countries.
Anyways, did not mean to ramble.
Thanks for the insight!
Takk Tone!! Kjempefint at du "var innom"--tenker paa deg og--lykke til med "det nye livet" i Bergen :)
Thanks for linking to me-- i also checked out your blog and enjoyed it very much though i have yet to figure out how you make links.
It seems like there is a fine line between imposing our will and vision on other peoples' and nations and respecting their ways and beliefs... Nobody has really figured out where to draw the line. The UN in Georgia and Abkhazia wants to cooperate with the government to the extent that they may be ignoring the peacemaking and rebuilding mission they are on... But, they have to be careful, so as not to incite further opposition and violence in the population.... Then you wonder if the intervention is really worthwhile, or if they should be left to mind their own business...
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