Hello, I am Tornike Kutchava from Guria. Lawyer by education. In 2009, I became a FLEX (Future Leaders Exchange Program) finalist and spent one academic year in the United States (Springfield, Illinois). Throughout my life I have traveled to several countries and have hosted many foreign guests. This experience showed me over and over again that my country sparks genuine interest in foreigners.
Georgia's tourist potential is increasing annually which makes me extremely happy, but also places a huge responsibility on me, as a Georgian. By my observations, commercialization of tourist products is an irreversible process, but there's an unfortunate aspect to it, which is hard for me to witness - this entire business segment being mainly motivated by money and corporate greed. Tourist activities have turned into routine experiences. Delivering tourist services to foreigners is a standard process now, that more often than not, omits and lacks the most important thing, something that distinguishes us all from others - Georgian hospitality, something that is like a religion for us Georgians and is a part of our souls. As our ancestors used to think and say - "The guest is God-sent".
We are a traditional family, so I decided to call the Guest House Kutchavas', open my family door to you, be your host, your guide, to show you all the interesting places, show you entire Guria and to fall in love with it even more together with you.
Georgia is a small country - spread out on 69,700 sq. Kilometers. Despite this, there are 11 regions in the country, each of which offer unique traditions, distinct customs and landscapes, all of which make Georgia exceptionally attractive.
I am the child of one of the most distinguished regions out of the eleven - Guria.
One could say that Guria is a miniature version of Georgia, since it combines mountainous region, seaside and subtropical climate. The famous magnetic sand shores of the Black Sea are only 1.5 hr drive away from the tourist-beloved mountain resort Bakhmaro (2050 meters above sea level). To top it all off - the road goes through unique relict of biodiversity - groves of Pontine Oak (Quercus pontica)!
Guria is a part of humor and indigenous folk songs, with captivating polyphony and improvisation, unique varieties of vine and wines (Chkhaveri, Giani, Aladasturi…). Republic of Guria, created as early as 1905 in the times of reign of Russian Empire is a clear proof of this. The Gurians have practiced judge elections as early as 100 years ago and most importantly, we adopted a resolution on equality of men and women. Therefore, Guria used to be and still remains a place where national and religious tolerance merges with liberal nationalism.
Considering all these reasons, I believe that thorough exploration of Guria is essential for every single visitor of Georgia in order to feel the difference in diversity without leaving the national context.
Guria consists of three municipalities: Ozurgeti, Lanchkhuti and Chokhatauri. The main destination of our trip will be my native municipality - Chokhatauri.
Most of Chokhatauri is mountainous; Area 825 sq. Kilometers, out of which 35 thousand hectares consists of forests, which is made out of following cultivars: beech, oak, chestnut, firl, plane, hornbeam and alder. Brushwood cultivars consist of Rhorodendron, laurel (Prunus laurecerasus), box-tree (Buxus spp), blueberry (Vaccinium myrtillus), hazelnut tree (Corylus avellana). At an altitude of 1500 meters one can find unique groves of relict Pontine Oak (Quercus pontica). The mountainous forests are inhabited by roebucks, chamois (Rupicapra r.), wild boars, rabbits, wolves, bears, foxes, badgers and jackals. As for birds, there are woodpeckers, jays, wild hens, blackbirds, mistle-thrush (Turdus viscivorus), hawks and sparrow-hawks (Accipiter nisus).
Sparrow-hawk is depicted on the emblem of the Chokhatauri municipality, because throughout Guria this is the only place that still practices falconry.
A dendrological park laid out in the 19th century should also be mentioned. Here you can see and touch giant sequoia, mango, Japanese strawberry tree, pencil tree, candy tree and other species found in world's other subtropical regions. I think this part of the tour will be of special interest those of our guests interested in botany.
Chokhatauri is located in the basins of rivers Supsa and Gubazeuli, which are joined by many small tributaries and springs. These rivers are inhabited by trouts, barbells, bullheads, herrings and perches.
One of the main tourist sites of Chokhatauri is the monasteries on its territory. The Gurian Desert Monastery - with stone-curved cells for monks and with the architecture characteristic of the VI-VIII century. Erketi monastery - with murals that have survived since 9th century. Also noteworthy is the hundred-year old mosque in village Zoti.
The bottling plant of world-famous mineral water Nabeghlavi is also located in Chokhatauri. Besides success in Georgia, Nabeghlavi has gained appreciation on international market as well. Currently the water is exported to about 30 countries worldwide Including states of EU, CIS, Middle East, Asia and North America. Our guests will have the opportunity to taste this mineral water at the natural source of origin.
Georgian - Swedish Wedding
My family hosted a unique Georgian-Swedish wedding in July, 2017. My sister, who has been living in Sweden for 4 years now, married a Swede. The couple was united by holy matrimony in Erketi Nunnery, Chokhatauri. Afterwards their unity was celebrated in the old Georgian style - "Sefa" (Tent) , which has a unique charm.
It should be noted, that this old tradition is almost never practiced anymore, since it requires more effort than simply hiring a restaurant venue.
Since the very beginning of the tradition all the relatives, friends and neighbors of the family have been helping out with the wedding preparations without any compensation. This used to be a celebration of perfect unanimity and support. We happily agreed to my sister’s decision to hold the wedding in this style and as you can see in the video, my family turned into a cultural center of sorts, a gathering point for representatives from more than 10 countries. 50 of the relatives and friends of the groom (we call this “makari” in Georgia) arrived from Sweden, who were also accommodated completely free of charge in throughout our friends’ and neighbors’ homes. They started engaging in the wedding preparations right away - setting out and decorating the Sefa, cooking food and accessorizing the yard.
One of the most important things that can be given to others is precious time. The old Georgian wedding was always a clear example of this and I am glad that my family has restored this unique tradition and it was an unforgettable experience for foreigners as well as for Georgian guests.
Kutchava's Gurian Experience
Having frequent guests is natural for my family. Back in 2005, we hosted an American girl as a Peace Corps volunteer. Ever since she became an inseparable part of our family and played a huge role in introducing our family and Chokhatauri to foreign guests.
To this day my family has hosted hundreds of foreign guests. You can clearly see from photos, what a harmonious relationship we have and how comfortable they feel with us.
I want Guesthouse to be an opportunity for my guests to experience the real taste of Guria, not just a place to stay over for transit visitors. I want them to participate in the preparation and tasting of Georgian (Gurian) dishes and unique wines.
