This is the third trip I have made with my wife, Khato’s lovely colleagues. (Previous trips: Davit Gareja and Vardzia Cave City)

Kutaisi was the furthest we’ve ventured with this group. We had planned to leave from Didube Bus Station in Tbilisi at 6am, usually we arrive on time and wait around for the others. This time they were waiting for us. It was going to be a long day.

There were fifteen of us and the minibus driver, Levan.

Sundays in June aren’t the best time to visit the Prometheus and Sataplia Caves, as there are several school excursions with the same idea. When we reached the Prometheus Cave Complex the car park was full of minibuses and we were told we would have to wait at least an hour before our group could enter the caves.

We hung around in the lush green vegetation around the caves taking photos of each other.

The wait was worth it, the caves were incredible. The caves can be seen from a 1420m long walkway which goes through 17 “rooms”. You can only enter the caves in groups with a guide. The caves were only discovered in 1984 and are full of stalactites, stalagmites (the mites go up and the tights come down), curtains and petrified waterfalls. At the end of the walkway visitors can take a boat out of the caves.

The caves were fabulous, aided by clever lighting. (click on an image to see the gallery bigger)

Our planned itinerary for the day was :

Prometheus Cave Satuplia Cave Bagrati Cathdedral Gelati Monastery Motsameta Monastery Restaurant for a Georgian Feast (Supra)

Because of high visitor numbers we had to cancel plans for Satuplia Cave, we were told they were fully booked until 6pm, so we proceeded to our third destination Bagrati Cathedral….which I will cover in the second part of this post…