Morning markets in Kutaisi and why we stayed a week

Kutaisi rarely makes the top of anyone’s list, which is exactly why it works for slow travel. The Green Bazaar opens early; go before nine for churchkhela still warm from the drying racks.

Day trips we liked: Prometheus Cave, Okatse Canyon and Gelati Monastery — all reachable by marshrutka from the central stop, no driver needed.

We paid 35 lari a night for a room with breakfast and a fig tree. We left with a jar of jam we did not ask for.