Later that I had actually planned I took the metro to the Didube Coach Station in order to get a bus to Kazbegi. The buses to Kazbegi seemed to run frequently and nobody told me anything about the ongoing war that took place not more than 20 or 30 miles away. On the way to Kazbegi I got off at Ananuri Castle, which is one of the major sights on the Georgian Military Highway. The bridge near the castle was guarded by two or three reservists armed with machine guns. Alarmed at the sight of those gunmen, I asked nearby street vendors why those people were there, but they just told me that there was no reason to worry. Heading further north, I saw more and more of those men clustered along the main road. The cyclists with their huge saddle bags (obviously tourists) that were heading northward in large numbers despite the bad weather did not seem to worry.
When I finally arrived in Kazbegi Polish tourists came to me and told me that the area was not safe anymore and they would recommend me to leave Kazbegi immediately. Suddenly there was quite a number of tourists on the main square, among them many Israelis. Although most of them said that they had no intention to leave, others were also alarmed. I tried to call the German embassy in Tbilisi, but the most of the mobile phones were not working anymore. Rumors were spreading that the Russians had disconnected communication lines. I went to the tourist office and they told me that it was theoretically possible that the Ossetian rebels could block the road down to Tbilisi. That would have cut off Kazbegi from any connection to the outside world. Distraught and alarmed, I decided to return to Tbilisi immediately before nightfall. The people said it would be safer to use a private car than a bus.
Back in Tbilisi you could sense the tension. The cafes and posh restaurants around the Freedom Square in the city centre were even more crowded than usual. They were packed with Georgians watching the latest air raids on Gori. One of the stony-faced men said "Down with the Russian fascists" and in English "We will win this war". Just a few hours later I got news that the all flights from Tbilisi Airport had been cancelled. The next day there were huge crowds in front of the Marriot Hotel in the city centre. There was still no reliable information available from the German embassy. "We do not know anything", the men from the emergeny hotline told me. I was outrageous because I felt helpless being in the epicentre of an ongoing war, yet uninformed and powerless. Eventually, two days after the beginning of the heavy fighting in Gori I was told to leave Georgia via Armenia.
On the coach station in the Southern Tbilisi the situation was extremely tense: Anxious Armenians talking to their compatriots on their mobile phones, eager to leave Georgia. Many of them obviously feared renewed air raids. Fortunately, there were no incidents on the way to Armenia. After an hour drive on bumpy roads I got to the border crossing which was already busy with cars and buses crowded with foreigners, mainly tourists waiting to leave the country. Rumours were spreading again: Would the Russians dare to attack the border crossing? After endless hours in the hot weather I was eventually able to cross the border. On the other side there was American embassy personnel, yellow buses hired by the Polish and Slovak embassies, but no people from the German embassy in sight. Again it seemed that most other countries had done more for their citizens than Germany. In fact, other Germans seemed to share my view. The German embassy did not organise, unlike many other countries, a convoy for its citizens. Recalling this four eventful days in Georgia, the beautiful nature, the stunning architecture and the hospitable people, I feel sad to learn about the civilian casualties, Russian tanks and a country in ruins.Photos by Stephan Mayer
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