IDEAS
>
GEORGIA
60
/
WIZZ MAGAZINE
A
miranGabanadze staresupat the
rusted, crumblingcablecarhe rides
eachday towork, hoistedhundredsof
metres into theheavens. It looks terrify-
ing, I tell him.He looksbackatme, his
hard facecrumpled intoaknowinggrin.
“It’s totally safe,”he says,witha sarcastic
smile. “Notdangerousat all.”
Lookingat thecars, it’salmost impos-
sible toagreewithhim.After all, the
localshave long sincedubbed thecarsof
thesevast, Soviet-built skyways ‘metal
coffins’. It’spossible, however, that
evencoffinsagebetter. Tobe fair, the
cablecarshaveworkedalmost 24/7 for
62years, hoisting thousandsof people
above someof themost spectacular
nature inEasternEurope.
Stalinbuilt this ‘rope road’ (
kanatnaya
doroga
inRussian) asa thanks to the
town inwhichhecheatedearlydeath.
Thecablecarshavebarelychanged
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