The Chronicle of Georgia and Causing Chaos with Taxi and Police

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If you read my blog on Monday, you’ll know that my hubby and I got very ripped off by a taxi driver in Tbilisi. He charged us 150 laris (£47.95)for a journey that should have been no more than 15 laris (£4.79). I’ve been annoyed at myself for letting him get away with it.
So when I saw him in Meidan Square this morning, chatting with another driver, I plucked up the courage to confront him and Glyn followed me close behind. I took taxi driver’s photo and one of his number plate before he realised who I was. Obviously he tried to fob me off, with more nonsense about being a tourist taxi driver and there being traffic (there’s always traffic in Tbilisi). Now I knew he was lying but recently had this confirmed on a TripAdvisor forum where I was advised to call the police if I found him.A lot of arguing ensued and he eventually offered to give us 50 lari when I said I’d call the police. He said that I could call the police as he’d done nothing wrong.I didn’t know the police number and pretended to phone them, so he offered us 50 laris. He found another taxi driver whose English was better and he translated that the taxi driver was offering 50 laris and a free lift to the airport when we leave. However, he had ripped us off at least 132 laris and had even tried to charge us 175! The trip to the airport would be less than 20, so Glyn and I just weren’t having it. Also we have a transfer already booked and I did not trust that driver to stay true to his word. Plus I did not want to sit in a car with him driving for any amount of time.I demanded 130 laris back and the taxi driver feigned horror at this amount. He made a show of digging in his pockets to find 50.A police car drive by and having had enough of the situation, I flagged it down. The car was on an emergency call, so told me to call 112. I was put through to an English speaker, it was tough going describing what had happened and where we were, but eventually I was told a police car would come.Taxi driver guy suddenly finds a wallet in his pocket and gives Glyn a 100 lari note. We’ve not even seen one of those before! He says if the police come, we get nothing. Glyn pocketed the note but pointed out I’d already called the police. Taxi driver is puffing hard on his cigarette and babbles angrily to some other drivers who were gathered around. It was ok, we were in a huge tourist area with plenty of people listening, and taxi driver wasn’t doing himself or the other taxis any favours.The English speaking driver asks if 100 laris is enough and I agree, just to get this over with, so they ask me to call the police to say they are no longer needed. I don’t know if that is possible but the police arrived at this point.The two formal but understanding policemen listen to my story and ask if it’s resolved and I said yes. It must happen a lot as they completely took my word for it without any evidence. One of the police advises me to use the Bolt app in future, which Glyn had already downloaded and used yesterday.Although it’s resolved, there’s paperwork. I have to show them my passport and give the address of our guesthouse. Taxi Driver has to show his ID and he wasn’t happy. We both had to sign and it was almost funny, the driver signed like a stroppy child would, as though he was trying to make it a scribble rather than his signature. If he’d only ripped us off a little, I would have let it go, but that amount was not on. Plus, hopefully he won’t be so quick to do it again to other people.All sorted, we left and didn’t look back. We actually needed a taxi at this point, but decided to order one with the Bolt app from another location.Despite the heavy traffic, our Bolt driver takes us to the Chronicle of Georgia for around £5. The monument is beside the reservoir, on a hill and created in 1985, although not fully completed. It has 16 pillars that are around 35 metres tall with bronze reliefs of old royals, various heroes and Jesus stuff. It is quite impressive and there’s also good views of the city and the reservoir, also known as the Tbilisi Sea.We headed down to the shore that was pretty empty. A distant sailing club looked dead and the few cafes were barely open. A handful of people swam or were frying on the stony ground.Glyn bought drinks and we sat in the shade for a while. I finally got to do some macro photography as there were plenty of butterflies and bugs in the undergrowth. A nearby local was rather bemused as he watched me chasing butterflies with my camera. However, as it was after 1pm, the insects were hyperactive and it was hard to catch them, I’ve no idea if any of my photos are in focus. I could only stay in the full sun for a short amount of time, so I retreated to the shade to write yesterday’s blog as Glyn read.The wind began to pick up and we wondered if yet another thunderstorm was on its way. We had woken up to pelting rain and thunder before the sun had pushed through. Glyn though it best we returned to town and used the Bolt app again.Upon returning to Meidan Square, we stopped for lunch and a drink as we watched the world pass by. Glyn noticed that there was a lot of police checking every taxi. They actually cleared the place of taxis for a while, maybe they weren’t licenced? However, quite a few quickly returned when the police departed. I’ve no idea if this happened in part due to me calling them earlier. I’ve heard and read that taxis rip people off regularly and not just the tourists, but the non-Georgian inhabitants too. However, if I was the catalyst that caused this, I’ll bet my name is mud.People using outside seating in the restaurants were being ushered in as the wind started blowing to prepare us for the rain. We walked back to our guesthouse to chill whilst we waited for the rain to pass. It looks like Autumn is beginning to hit Georgia.Later in the evening, we went for our last walk in Tbilisi. It was raining a bit at first but soon went off. There were a few police about, one I spotted had a massive gun, so I don’t think that was because of me! Glyn finally got around to trying churchkhela, a local delicacy sold just about everywhere. It’s walnuts on a string coated in sugary grape juice that has dried into a candy substance. I had a little try and that was enough, the walnuts were fine but the coating disappointingly did not taste of grape and was very sweet.Walking along the pedestrianised Davit Aghmashenebeli Avenue was a mistake and Glyn renamed it Hassle Street. This is because it is lined with tourist restaurants with outdoor seating and each had a person trying their best to entice us in. Some of the chairs did look very comfy and there were egg chairs galore, but neither of us were in the mood for expensive drinks, especially as Glyn had just paid the bill for the guesthouse, so we had very little local currency left.We went to the Museum of Selfies because we thought it was cheap and would amuse us. It wasn’t cheap so we left, unamused.Now Glyn wanted to avoid Hassle Street on the way back and I agreed. We followed a road that became a really major road and when we’d come so far it wasn’t worth turning back, the pavement disappeared. Nervous about walking on the road, we attempted to stick to the narrow verge and wall that was just about wide enough to walk on. It was getting dark and we were getting concerned that it was dangerous. So I suggested climbing up the very steep and dusty tree lined area next to the road. It was practically vertical in places and the dry dirt not easy to grip onto. However there was a large gas pipe we could hang on to. The gas pipes here are above ground, about 10-15cms in diameter and I don’t know if it was a good idea to use it as a railing to pull us upwards. This is when a dog appeared out of nowhere to bark at us. It was wagging its tail but really getting in my way and the last thing I needed. When we eventually scrambled to the top, we found ourselves behind flats with locked gates and no way around. So we had to go back down, that wasn’t fun.It was a long journey to turn back and I was sure we were near a slip road leading away from the busy road. Tentatively, we hung onto the scrawny trees and pulled ourselves along the wall. Two police cars drove past ignoring us, so at least we weren’t breaking any laws. We discussed crossing the road but there was no let up in the traffic, so we pushed on forward.And then, a man holding only a phone for light approached from the opposite direction, marching forward on the road with not a care in the world as cars raced by. He made us feel foolish. So we thought ‘let’s do this’ and got on the road, walking very fast, in fact I ended up jogging and we were soon by a hotel with a path then a pavement.With a sigh of relief, we walked back to our guesthouse via a Carrefour to start packing for our journey home tomorrow.

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