A while ago, my family and I visited a very nice resort on one of our travels in Guria. When we arrived there, a very nice lady named Lika welcomed us and showed us to our room. It was almost like sleeping in a museum with the old chimneys in every room and ancient family costumes and vases everywhere. Four generations lived under that roof right now. In their “garden”, which was more like a jungle, you could find everything. There was a river, on which was sitting a handmade boat their kids played on, behind it a forest with a beautiful swing, and as you came closer, the forest turned into a jungle with bamboo trees. Then, you could see their boys building a club house out of bamboo sticks, which they told us grew up to a meter per night. As went further, there was a beautiful and rich tea plantation, which later we even got to harvest ourselves. As you moved on, the third generation was building a house out of only natural materials such as clay, and sheep wool for heat issolations. Inside was a library and tables, where their kids were homeschooled. In this particular part of Georgia, especially this family, everyones eyes were shining so brightly and happily thanks to only being outside all the time.
For dinner, we got to try bamboo sticks themselves as our dish, and we prepared them by simply peeling the skin and cooking them. That is wat the locals there ate as almost every meal. Along with the Georgian khachapuri of course, which we got served for breakfast. In the evening, we sat by the fire and, as always on our journeys, met more interesting people. Two girls that were staying at the same place but in a tent joined us. They had very inteesting stories and lives. They told us that they took a gap year after college, and went to travel. They had traveled through the whole Europe and learned many usefull things along the way, and now they stayed with this nice family for a week, helping them out. I was personnaly very amazed at how brave they were, just travelling alone for several months wherever they want. I honestly immediately though I wanted to do that someday. And then record it on this blog.
The next day, we played with their 4 little children, who all spoke very fluent English for being home taught, and we even went on their tiny boat and ran around all day barefoot. I guess their life isn’t bad at all, being able to run around in your own jungle all day and then learn at home with your mum.
My cup of tea
After that, we all got to try picking and making our own tea. Lika showed us which leaves to pick, and even lent us her special hats against the sun when it got hot. On each tea bush you collect only the top leaves, usually two at each branch. They will have new ones shortly, so you can collect again and again for many months.
Having the baskets full, we covered them with a cloth to have it rested for some time and then Lika showed us how to properly grind the leaves and shape them to dry on the sun. We have to squeeze and turn the leaves clockwise to get it wrapped. So after that we had our fresh cup of tea and we even got to take home and taste the tea we harvested ourselves. 😊
