After our tour of Borjomi Park, Riva, Ruby and I had dinner at the town center and, after that, hired a taxi to take us to Likani Guesthouse. Its landmark is the famous Tsqarostan, a water source with free clean drinking water. Located 3 kms. from the town center and easily accessible by road, we were to stay overnight at one of this homey, 2-storey guesthouse’s 4 rooms which can accommodate a total of 12 persons (25 GEL per bed or 75 GEL per room of 3 beds).
We were all welcomed by owner Ms. Lamara Tomashvili. Later in the evening, we met up with the owner’s son Iosebi “Soso” Tomashvili who speaks good English aside from Georgian and Russian. He brought along a jug of homemade Georgian wine and chacha (Georgian pomace brandy) and assumed the role of tamada (Georgian toastmaster).
Soso proposed a toast to everyone at the table and we also followed his lead. I somehow was able to consume my share of the Georgian wine but the clear and strong chacha was something else, it being 75 proof. I was just about drunk when I retired for the night.
Breakfast the next day, which was included in the overnight rate, consisted of sliced bread, jam, butter, cheese and hard-boiled egg plus coffee or tea.
Likani Guesthouse Borjomi: 85 Meskheti St., Tsqarostan, Likani, 1200 Borjomi. Tel: + 995597005282 and + 995577382120.
Qatar Airways has daily flights from Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (Clark, Pampanga) to Tbilisi (Republic of Georgia) with stopovers at Hamad International Airport (Doha, Qatar, 15 hrs.) and Heydar Aliyev International Airport (Baku, Azerbaijan, 1 hr.). Website: www.qatarairways.com.