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Published: September 11th 2022
Last year, when no one really knew when we could travel again, Glyn and I started making tentative plans to travel to Georgia because the flights were cheap. So less of a risk. We both knew little to nothing about the country, and so thought it a good idea to learn for ourselves. There’s very few guidebooks too, I couldn’t find any visual style ones that I prefer and Glyn’s Lonely Planet guide is also for Armenia and Azerbaijan, so not even a book to themselves.
After a 4.5 hour flight to Istanbul, then under 2 to Georgia, we arrived in Tbilisi at around 5am, where a guy that Glyn had pre-booked waited for us wearing a recognisable red scarf.
Despite being dark and early, quite a few people were about in the streets, hanging out like they’d been there all night. Some with dogs, an old couple walking hand in hand down the street, youths chatting. It was lively, but relaxed and friendly. If people are out at 5am on a Sunday morning back home in Stoke, it’s usually because they have just woken up from passing out in their own puddle of piss on the way home
Kinkhali
Tbilisi, Georgiafrom the pub. Quite the contrast.
And it was clean, I didn’t spot any litter. There was a bit of graffiti, some places shabby and need of repair, but it looked after. Our driver didn’t agree, the guy is super excited to visit the UK soon and I think he’ll have a shock at all of our litter and lack of care. Some of the buildings were very modern and one stood out, lit up and made of glass. Was it a uni? A museum? A hotel? No, it’s a police station. Made transparent in an attempt to combat corruption. I’d read that in 2004, President Saakashvili sacked the entire corrupt police force within months of being elected and replaced them with better paid and trained officers, making the country one of the safest in the world. But that was 18 years ago, I don’t know what it’s like now but I’ve not seen any police outside of the airport.
I asked about wildlife and was told that they have bears, wolves and even wild tigers. I’m not sure how true this is, surely even Glyn’s limited guidebook would have mentioned tigers? However, it didn’t talk about wildlife
at all, so maybe I’ll get a big surprise when we go out of town? I can but hope!
Glyn had booked our accommodation on booking.com and it’s only about £150 for two weeks for the both of us. Situated up a dark side street off a main road in the old part of town, populated by many cats, it’s quiet apart from late night cat fights.
I’m not sure how to describe it, it’s not a hostel, b&b or hotel. More like a home that’s been converted into separate spaces with a communal courtyard , dining and kitchen area. I thought we had just a room with double bed, wardrobe and tiny wet room with the shower practically over the loo and sink squeezed in. However, an open, narrow steep set of wooden stairs with wobbly bannisters led up to a room under the roof with a double bed and two single beds that only a small child could sit up in. But we only need one bed and have enough space to spread out all out crap. It’s quaint with traditional looking decor and soft furnishings. I like it.
The courtyard is full of knick
Balconies galore
Tbilisi, Georgia knacks, a piano, seating, a metal bike used for pot plants and various random objects. It puts me in mind of decor for a vintage style antique shop that has a cafe; the type that serves hippy tea with foul floral ingredients. The proprietor is a lady in her 60s or 70s perhaps and she has a white and tortoiseshell cat called Kiki, she was a bit grumpy at 5am (the lady not the cat) but much friendlier in the evening when we showed each other pictures of our cats.
We slept until the middle of the day and then took a stroll out into the old town where cobbles are in abundance and every building has an excessive amount of ornate balconies. They all have more than one, some with washing, some with plants, many overhanging the lower levels and occasionally even had people! They love balconies here. There’s also quite a lot of stray cats and dogs, but most look healthy enough. Some of the dogs have plastic tags on their ears.
A few people in the street tried to sell us tours, but thankfully took ‘no thank you’ for an answer first time. We noticed
Kiki the cat
Tbilisi, Georgia they spoke to us in Russian first, then English in response to our blank faces. One local explained that he thought Glyn was Russian because he has a Russian shaped face. Glyn never knew that before.
We took a cable car up to Nirikala Fortess, but got sidetracked into the Botanical Gardens. Now my previous experience of botanical gardens worldwide has generally been 45 minutes walking around a few hot glasshouses getting sweaty with Latin names that only my dad would understand. But here, it was all outdoors, huge and I wasn’t always sure what it was all about. Maybe if I knew a bit about worldwide plant life, I would have appreciated it more. Some areas were pretty, but a lot was akin to scrubland with the likelihood of rockfalls on many paths. We found bamboo, some grapes and flowers. Plus a variety of trees, bushes and insects.
It wasn’t too hot, unless you were walking uphill a lot, as we were. The temperature has been around 22 degrees today, it was a bit muggy and close, but towards the top of the hill there were a few much appreciated cool breezes. I think we were in
the garden for about 2-3 hours, but by the end of it, it felt more like 10.
Returning to town, we found ourselves in a more touristy area where the prices were closer to that of the UK and tourists flooded the streets, very few Brits though. Lots of Russians, Europeans and a minority of Asians, I think I heard one American. We followed the herd to a waterfall, past fruit sellers and men playing accordions in traditional dress. I had predicted that Georgia would be an accordion type of country.
Glyn found a cafe that looked cheap that sold traditional and good food. We shared bread dipped in tomato sauce. I had an aubergine and walnut thing that was lovely. Then we both had kinkhali, which is a sort of dough bun with a variety of fillings and hard edge to hold onto (a bit like you do with pasties). But the dough bit reminded me more of Chinese dumplings with a European filling. The local wine was good too, and cheap.
I ended the day relaxing with beer, wine, a book and Kiki the cat. Lovely. And Kiki can open door handles, very impressive!
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