Thur 8-9th of August 2013 Hopa, Turkey to Batumi, then Tbilisi Georgia

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Thur 8-9th of August 2013 Hopa, Turkey to Batumi, then Tbilisi Georgia

Woke up early to have breakfast, so that I can head for the border town of Sarp before it gets hot in the morning. There was already a long queue for Georgia. Many more were crossing the border as foot passengers. It was easy for them as there was no need for visa for the Turks and there is no vehicle to check.

For me the process took a bit longer and they checked my car over very thoroughly. After nearly one and a half hour, I was in Gerogia. I stopped to change my money to Georgian money and then drove to a place near Butami, a resort on the Black sea.

Something funny happened at the hotel. At the restaurant, the staff asked me what I would like to eat. I said 'I will have a typical Georgian dinner'. To narrow down the choice, I was asked 'would you like some "oink, oink"? I have not had oink oink for nearly 2 months in Turkey, so I quickly said 'yes, I would like some oink oink'. The oink oink tasted delicious, but then the hotel dog came to me waiting to be fed. I looked at the dog and asked myself 'am I more under-nourished or the dog?' It turned the dog won, I had to give the dog half of my oink oink.

The next morning I was heading for the Gerogian capital Tbilisi. Georgian roads were flat and nothing as dangerous as Turkish roads, but there is a new danger on Georgian roads. For hundreds of kilometres, the roads were single lane, then the Georgians were even more aggressive drivers than the Turks. They would turn a two lane road into three i.e., another lane where the road marking was. Not used to driving on the Georgian roads, it was exhausting when I had to watch for vehicles overtaking in front and the rear for nearly ten hours.

Reached the Georgian capital at around 7pm, the roads here have 3 to 4 lanes and all the lanes were full of very aggressive drivers, they certainly would not tolerate stupid and lost tourist like me. Eventually found a hotel outside the centre to stay. I was tired and very hungary by then, so I ate at a local restaurant. The food was nice especially the chicken soup, but one thing about Georgian food - it is very very salty. I needed half a litre of water after eating the food.

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Photos

Dinner on the last day of Ramazan, in Hopa
Dinner on the last day of Ramazan, in Hopa, Turkey

The view of the Black sea (again)
The view of the Black sea (again) in Hopa

Border crossing between Turkey and Georgia
Good bye Turkey and hello Georgia

'oink'
'oink