Well actually it was a visit to a sugar factory, but it was situated near Gori. I had the bright idea of making a video of the energy audit, we are going to do there, so we went to do a recce of what to film. The location caused a certain drama with the international engineer we were going to use, who preferred to believe what it said on the British Embassy website, rather than us, who had actually visited the plant and knew whether it was risky or not. Why he couldn't just say he didn't want to come before Christmas I don't know.
We could see that reconstruction was going pretty fast. The bridge over the river at Gori has been replaced by a rather bouncy steel framed bridge and a new motorway is being built between Gori and Tbilisi. The official reason is that it is the new "Silk Road" linking Baku and Poti on the Black Sea for the transit of goods for the region. I assume it is US money and that is why they are building a road, rather than expanding the railway line, which would be more green. So next time the Russians visit Gori they will find it even quicker to get to Tbilisi.
The barracks at the Military Base just outside Gori are being repaired after bombing:
Various little villages of boxes like this have sprung by the side of the road. The boxes look rather pretty, but don't have bathrooms or toilets or heating. One can say they are definitely better than tents for the winter. Their cost per sq m is about the same as the posh normal housing built in Tbilisi, which comes with plumbing at least, even if not with heating or bathrooms (for some reason these are considered extras). Some people are remarking that builders and others are profiteering from other people's misery.
Of course the view of the Caucasus mountains is a compensation, but judging by the usual tendencies, the IDPs will be there a long time.
