{"id":12991,"date":"2026-03-04T23:10:21","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T22:10:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ilupin.com\/en\/?page_id=12991"},"modified":"2026-04-01T22:24:50","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T20:24:50","slug":"2025-04-05-tbilisi-to-kutaisi","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ilupin.com\/en\/travels\/asia\/georgia\/2025-04-05-tbilisi-to-kutaisi\/","title":{"rendered":"Tbilisi to Kutaisi (via\u00a0Sataplia)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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  1. The capital\u2019s central station did everything to ensure that it would never be found. The facade is cluttered with signs, but there\u2019s no hint of trains.\n<\/li>\n\n
  2. Inside, it\u2019s even worse. Don\u2019t look for a platform yourself, don\u2019t tempt fate. Ask the old-timers, they\u2019ll show you the way.\n<\/li>\n\n
  3. Georgia is a country of cars, get over it. Train lovers like me are doomed to pain and humiliation.\n<\/li>\n\n
  4. There\u2019s no direct connection between Tbilisi and Kutaisi, what the hell is it for? My personal life hack is the tiny Rioni station near the city.\n<\/li>\n\n
  5. After lunch in Kutaisi, I head to the Sataplia Nature Reserve<\/a> with its incredibly endemic Colchian forest. What isn\u2019t there!\n<\/li>\n\n
  6. A hawthorn, for example.\n<\/li>\n\n
  7. One can also find a rather convincing triceratops<\/a> here. The fence and pedestal are delicately crafted and almost invisible.\n<\/li>\n\n
  8. Possibly a pteranodon<\/a>. There are some artistic licenses (the massive body, for example), but what a dynamic!\n<\/li>\n\n
  9. The T-rex, like its neighbours, is full of life: it opens its mouth, roars menacingly, blinks and wags. Overall, it\u2019s much cooler here than in Bucharest<\/a>.\n<\/li>\n\n
  10. Any sounds are fantasy by definition: we don\u2019t know what they sounded like. But if you want to awaken interest in pal\u00e6ontology, it\u2019s here.\n<\/li>\n\n
  11. Then perhaps the footprints of a predatory satapliasaurus<\/a> in Jurassic limestone will look a little less like \u201ca chicken ran across concrete\u201d.\n<\/li>\n\n
  12. But the most powerful impression in the reserve was left by the Crystal Bridge, a glass balcony over the abyss.\n<\/li>\n\n
  13. Below, it looks like this.\n<\/li>\n\n
  14. And up ahead, it\u2019s like this.\n<\/li>\n\n
  15. A beautiful awning over the famous karst<\/a> caves.\n<\/li>\n\n
  16. Welcome to the underground world (360 m above sea level).\n<\/li>\n\n
  17. The Sataplia Caves<\/a> were discovered exactly one hundred years ago by teacher and naturalist Petre Chabukiani.\n<\/li>\n\n
  18. Here, as usual, stalactites, stalagmites, columns, boulders and other interestingness grow in abundance.\n<\/li>\n\n
  19. There used to be bees in these caves, but they got fed up with the light show and just up and left. Now it\u2019s spiders, worms, and tourists.\n<\/li>\n\n
  20. To be fair, only one of the five caves is open to the public; speleologists and pal\u00e6ontologists work in the others.\n<\/li>\n\n
  21. Dracula approves.\n<\/li>\n\n
  22. In my humble opinion, a moderate and neutral lighting would be much more suitable for the great creation of time and space.\n<\/li>\n\n
  23. Natural sculptures are beautiful in themselves, why the hell paint them?\n<\/li>\n\n
  24. A moment of monochrome.\n<\/li>\n\n
  25. The cave exit blends gracefully into the natural environment, and thanks for that.\n<\/li>\n\n
  26. Goodbye, Sataplia.\n<\/li>\n\n
  27. Sasha Korban<\/a>\u2019s mural is about the selfless love of our closest ones: it manifests itself in small things, seems natural, and often goes unnoticed.\n<\/li>\n\n
  28. David Gogichaishvili\u2019s Colchis Fountain<\/a> in central Kutaisi, inspired by Georgian Bronze Age jewellery.\n<\/li>\n\n
  29. The neo-Renaissance Drama Theatre of Lado Meskhishvili<\/a>.\n<\/li>\n\n
  30. Good night, Kutaisi.\n<\/li>\n\n<\/ol><\/div>\n\n\n\n