Blogs from Georgia, Asia - page 18

Geo: 41.9195, 45.4708That sneaky bastard GI Ardia - I was convinced he had retreated, but that was all a strategic ploy on his part, so that he could mount a surprise counter attack when my guard was down. Even worse, today he brought reinforcements, in the form of a sinus cold, congestion, a cough, and a mild fever. I must be getting too old for this backpacking shit, because I can't remember ever having this many ailments hit me all at once!Luckily for me, it was only a relatively-short marshrutka ride from Tbilisi to Telavi today, and I got here early enough in the afternoon to have a nice, long relaxing session of doing absolutely nothing at the guesthouse. The beauty of staying at a small guesthouse in Telavi, really more of a home stay, is ... read more

Geo: 41.6891, 44.8091“Donaghy Estates tastes like the urine of Satan after a hefty portion of asparagus." Not exactly the kind of review any winemaker would ever want, but it's probably the most comical critique ever made by famed wine critic Robert Parker. Of course, those were never really Robert Parker's words - it was all part of a gag on 30 Rock, but words that have stuck with me since. Who knows, maybe it was a true review - 30 Rock knew of the existence of Svenborgia, after all!Any time I taste any less-than-stellar wine, I think back to that mock wine review and try and imagine how Satan's asparagus-saturated urine would taste like, and have another sip of that bad wine to compare. Every time, I'll say to myself "Yeah, maybe this wine isn't so ... read more

Amasya, Turkey July 24th 2014 “Law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress.” Martin Luther King, Jr. “I know all the rules but the rules did not know me” Eddie Vedder, Guaranteed I hear that the Georgian Government is trying to position itself for full membership to the European Community. While my treatment as described in recent blogs hardly amounts to severe in that I still have both my legs, I do wonder how the behaviour meted out to me adds anything to the Georgian case to be attempting to promote a fair and reasonable civil society. I am 59 years old. ... read more

Akhaltsikhe, Georgia July 22nd 2014 “Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy” Franz Kafka “Everything will be all right in the end... if it's not all right then it's not yet the end” Sony, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel Finale; Scene 1: Tuesday July 22nd: The story of today should not have been needed. I should have been on the bus out of here to Turkey by midday. Except that Georgia suffers from a bureacratic quagmire that I have never before encountered, and it deserves a dedicated write up. I wake up early and do my stuff. I go to the ATM because yesterday when I heard about my fine and tried to withdrawer the amount from my travel card, there was a limit per day stopping me... read more

The smoke-filled taxi was an old, silver, Mercedes station-wagon. The front bumper was missing. Manual transmission. The wooden gear shift knob so palm-worn that the 5-speed diagram was a ghostly memory. The evening air so mist-ridden it was like flying through a cloud. The driver spoke a bit of German but just a bit. He colored every word with Georgian accents, inhalations and puffs of air. A cigarette perpetually dangling from the right corner of his mouth only added to the bewildering patois. We drove along what passes for a seaside boulevard here. A long narrow park carpeted with sedge-weed and dandelions. He pointed proudly at the new hotels being constructed along the way; Radeesun, Highut, Newvatell he exclaimed, beaming like a newborn's Papa. The towers were brightly lit in pastel hues and stacked into an ... read more