When Claire and I traveled the Silk Road, we rode our tandem bicycle the length of the Caucuses. We spent a night in Gori, the town that Russians have taken today. In another small town to the west, we were welcomed into a graduation party by a group of teens, watched them dance traditional Georgian folk dances, enjoyed the beauty of the town and surrounding countryside. The two girls and their mother (woman washing greens at the well) subsist in the countryside west of Gori; I wonder if they are safe, how terrified they must be. Our country's misguided adventure in Iraq renders us impotent against Russia. They can do what they want to tiny (a few days across by bicycle) Georgia. What will they do next?
Left: President Bush visited Georgia not long before us. Right: Monument to hometown boy Stalin outside Gori.
Have any of these people died?
We are sorry Georgia. You were kind to us. Now that the the oil pipeline is finished across your lands, we don't need you anymore. We hope the Russians don't destroy the pipeline. We can't stop them; we are otherwise engaged.
IceRocket Tags: Caucuses, Republic of Georgia, oil pipeline in Georgia, people of the Republic of Georgia, Gori, City of Gori
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