In the Forest.

We bring on the gale,
the dark starless night.

No pools of sunshine or flickering light on the forest floor.
No singing birds.

They hang dead in line,
fluttering in the wind,

while above the trees take on a violent life.

Beauty is in the eye of the boulder

redloheb-redloub nup

Georgia Caucasus-Shatili 1st June 2009

6th to 12th century towers of Shatili, largely abandoned in the 1950s, painted by a local artist.

Pagan symbols? Please send me more information.

A recently renovated tower for tourists. Comfortable, romantic, affordable and you should book.

The sacred burial ground. No women allowed.




























Flowers of Shatili


















Hyoscyamus niger Henbane (poisonous)

















Cynaoglossum officinale Hounds-Tongue

















The new village built by Shevardnadze in 1950s (beautiful socialist architecture).


















And on the other side of the road their byres and bee hives.

A large ferocious Caucasian dog. They guard flocks and homesteads and if a snarling, barking pack bounds towards you are so glad when the owner calls them off. This one guards the whole village but we played together. They don't always like being nasty.



Ref 'Georgia Brandt Travel Guide' by Tim Burford

Illustrated Love Poem 'Your Clouds Open' (please comment)

Your clouds open,

bathing you in light.

Your Sea opens and through the sparkling cool green

I swim,
into your dark lens.

Then dry in the sun
watching you
open.

Water lily
in the coffee black loch
of my dark lens.

I rise at midnight
like the red moon,
float cream on sweet black coffee
and write,
for you.

White water lily is Nymphaea alba, Red one is the hybrid 'James Brydon'

'Love and Passion in Tantric Buddhist Art' by Nitin Kumar click below.
http://cosmiccoyote.multiply.com/journal/item/125/Love_and_Passion_in_Tantric_Buddhist_Art_by_Nitin_Kumar

Georgia Caucasus - Barisakho to Shatili

Fantastic 6^th century tower blocks.

This was my destination, a few days walk from Barisakho but the road was still blocked by snow and it was still snowing at the Datvis-Jarvis Pass (2676m).

People said it was dangerous to attempt the road on foot and I waited a few days for the the road to be bull-dozed opened but it didn't happen so when I awoke to blue sky with high hopes I decided to go . Soon I met shepherds breakfasting in old Russian buildings and cheered by a horn of wine and a friendly welcome I was ready for anything.

Happy day! The road men had also set out to clear the road and gave me a lift up to their bull-dozer. This is our Russian van at at Gudani where we stopped for a smoke.

And this is the bull-dozer. I was told that you can self drive it if you are in trouble.

After a gentle trek up to the pass and fine mountain views I crossed into the next valley. The road had been cleared. Otherwise walking through deep drifts would have been very slow and difficult.

to be continued......

Nino, a Georgian Girl at Uplistsikhe Cave City

“Nino Kipiani - a beautiful Georgian name, respectable parents with European tastes. What did it matter? Nino had fair skin, big laughing Caucasian eyes under long delicate lashes. Only Georgian girls have such sweet and gay eyes. No other girls, European or Asiatic. Delicate half-moon eyebrows and a Madonna’s profile. I was sad. The comparison made me feel melancholy. There are so many comparisons for a man of the Orient. But these women can only be likened to the Christian Mirjam, symbol of a strange and incomprehensible world.”

From ‘Ali and Nino’ by Kurban Said - a superbly romantic book.

Uplistsikhe Cave City is in Georgia near the Silk Road. It was a trading centre from about 5th century BC.

Photo 7 June 2009