Autumn is finally here and the weather has taken a turn. As I write this now it rains heavily from morning to night in Tbilisi. The rain can be heard even with the windows closed, that sound of the cars traversing through large puddles forming and little streams pushing down the hilly landscape within the city. The golden leaves from the trees scattered across the paths and roads. I love it! So, last Sunday we went for a little rainy walk in Tbilisi's National Park and Botanical Garden. An area I had known about since arriving here, but hadn't really paid any attention to until recently. I remember walking through Yerevan's Botanical Garden and feeling disappointed. The feeling of there being nothing to see, endless construction in the park that wasn't told to us beforehand, and the weird environment of the park wanting to charge people extra for any photography they wanted to do. Tbilisi's Botanical Garden was a totally different experience. For just 4 Lari, which equates to a little more than a dollar, we got access to the park which was relatively empty for a weekend day.
The park had a few construction elements taking place around the entrance but that was about it. An area around the park was closed off but it seemed to be a result of the rocky landscape causing some danger to the people visiting the park, as signs stated that there are rockslides at the moment. The park taking measures to try to deal with them at the moment and reopen those areas soon. Coincidentally, there are Soviet nuclear bunkers in the park, with huge steel doors which can be seen throughout, leading into the mountain behind Mother Georgia. Ventilation shafts visible from the side. But few go to a Botanical Garden to see the former fears of nuclear war. I found some fascination in this, but due to that area of the park being closed, it was avoided for another time. I will get there, one day! Anyway, The park around the entrance was a little bit hilly, somewhat steep but it evens out a lot. Some small area was delegated to a Japanese theme, though it was quite small and with a few fountains that were off on that day. The park throughout is quite large, it'd take a few hours to navigate with all its scenes and beautiful themes. Especially with large and small waterfalls.
The rain wasn't that strong fortunately, so a brief walk around half of the Botanical Garden throughout a few hours is what we chose to do. The autumn colours were beautiful, such vibrant colours in the trees and plants throughout, though it's still a little bit early on in the season for the entire park to have its beautiful colours out. I had never seen scenes like this before, especially coming from a flat place like England which seems void of trees for the most part. I was astonished at the waterfall which led through the landscape and park, all the way down to Tbilisi's sulphur baths which relied on the water source. Several waterfalls down the environment and leading to the river in the city. It continued on well beyond this, though we didn't walk all that way to the very source. I'm not even sure where that would've been or how long of a walk it would take to find out. The sun started to go down about the time we started to walk back, reaching a point that felt like the edge of the park, although it was only really considered the halfway point.
I was a little unprepared for this adventure though and only decided to bring my 85mm camera lens, which was a bit tight, though worked beautifully in getting up-close perspectives of the trees and their leaves. I really loved how some of the photographs came out. I saw a lot of other people in the park with cameras roaming around, probably the most cameras I have seen in Tbilisi. So many photographers wanting to capture the beautiful scenes and turning of seasons. I can't blame them! Especially with the more aesthetic atmosphere that came with more muted light from the rain clouds above. The light soon disappeared but I managed to capture quite a few beautiful shots of different things, from the waterfalls to the plants and trees. I knew I had to return to this location another time to photograph the forest from above with my drone, and I did just that the following day. And I have no doubts that I'll be returning again and again to capture the landscape in various ways. For 4 Lari per visit, and for 80 Lari per a month pass, it's really good value. One of the best parks I have seen. Not riddled with amusements or tons of shops everywhere, but beautiful untouched nature for the most part.
My lens did lose some of its sharpness as the light disappeared though. Having to be reduced to a more lower shutter speed and still trying to not open up the aperture entirely to ensure I captured the depth of the forest without just focusing on small subjects with the rest being out of focus. This was a challenge and I noticed that some of the photographs came back less sharp than I would've liked, but hey, like I mentioned before: there's always a time to return and shoot the location all over again! There are two locations to buy tickets into the park, one leads from the route from Mother Georgia, a massive monument that overlooks the city of Tbilisi from the mountain, the other comes more from the direction of Tbilisi's sulphur baths and near the old church that sits above the mountain. I had no idea about the one from Mother Georgia, though both entrances are a bit of a nasty walk uphill with no public transport which leads to them. That's one major downside to the park and a reason as to why I believe the park wasn't as populated and enjoyed as it deserved to be. I can't blame people for not wanting to walk all that way uphill, especially with camera gear. But you can enter from one side of the park and leave through the other, and I did that the second time.
Mother Georgia can be seen from behind from much of the main area of the park, though this isn't the best view of it. To get to it you'll have to walk around the park and over the bridge of the main waterfall, which is seen in the first image of the post. But back to the park itself: the park has a ton of signs up on what the trees are, which plants are which, and lots of unique information on it all. Though it's also nice to just walk through and immerse yourself in the great nature and smells of fresh air away from the loudness of the city. It was incredibly clean and comfortable there. A great place to relax on any day of the week. I even considered the possibility of going there to work on days where it isn't too chilly. I can't recommend this park enough! Though I definitely advise going more around autumn, as the season has set in and the colours are really out there and vibrant. The tones in the plants and flowers and trees really blew me away. Those tones of yellow, green, orange and read all mixing together. Tall pines over-towering much of the surroundings. Sights you can't easily forget for sure.
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The display of the pictures is beautiful and I like the display of pictures like that
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