Day 14 Georgia. Fri 23rd Sep Calling the cops and chronicles on our last day in Georgia Another late start on our last day here as, AGAIN, we didn’t set alarms. We walked down to Meidan Square to order a Bolt as it’s a bit of a maze where our guesthouse is. Who should we see on the square but our rip-off taxi driver from the other day. He pretended not to remember us but Claire was straight in there, soon accompanied by me. He used the usual excuses then offered to take us somewhere for free, then offered to take us to the airport for free tomorrow, then offered us 50 lari back…. He had rippped us off for about 130 lari and obviously knew he was in the wrong. Claire went to call the ... read more

Day 12 Georgia. Weds 21st Sep Dressing up for nuns in Soviet Chiatura, Georgia Today’s trip was supposed to be yesterday and then tomorrow and was now today. After not getting home until nearly midnight last night (and then still having to upload blogs), the important thing was an early start today. So 7am it was. Off to our usual office of Gamarjoba tours (the best) booked through Get Your Guide. Today’s guide has been Sally who has been great, full of excitement with interestings stories and always willing to listen and join in conversations. Our fellow travellers were a Dutch couple who have perfect English of course. Conversation was good and, as usual, we told the truth about our cruel and evil government. We do like to spread the truth but people abroad are sensible ... read more

Day 10 Georgia. Monday 19th Sep Getting ripped off on our day off There’s usually something that goes wrong on our holidays whether it be delayed flights, luggage going missing, me getting ill, being overcharged….simething. We had no trips booked today so Claire declared it a national holiday, for the two of us anyway. I was promised some relaxation time so this really was a special day! The first plan was to visit the ethnographic museum which is a bit out of town. We’d been to something similar in Romania and enjoyed it. Getting a bus involved getting another travel card and putting enough money on it for each of us for a bus, then working out the bus and where to get off…. It looked a bit complicated so it seemed worth it to pay ... read more

Day 8 Georgia. Saturday 17th Sept. Mountains and Rivers and a Smelly Pool. Another lie-in till 7 today. I’d say Claire is spoiling me but I booked all the trips!! Best move on eh. We met our guide Gorba and our driver at Europe Square as well as our fellow travellers for the day; a Pole, an English, a Russian and an Indian guy who has lived in Uk but now lives in Berlin. Multicultural or what! Our ride for the day was a 4x4 Mitsubishi and definitely the coolest car at every stop we have made. Gorba has regaled us with interesting stories and facts all day and has been really good. Our driver has been somwhere between Too Fast Too Furious and Mr Sedate from yesterday. I haven’t prayed but it’s been on my ... read more

Day 6 Georgia. Thursday 15th Sept Death-defying canyon and caves trip in Georgia Our second trip of the holiday was booked via Viator. Departure time was 7am so we allowed ourselves a hefty 5 1/2 hours sleep to prepare. Claire’s snoring had woken me in the night and I woke up to see her balancing her pillow on her head. She cannot explain why and was back on top of he pillow by this morning. I have contacted the circus and asked if they need a pillow-balancer but haven’t had a reply as yet. The walk to our meeting point this morning wasn’t as far as yesterday but Google maps took me up some steps that I hadn’t needed to climb so Claire was happy. The contrast between yesterday’s trip and yesterday is chalk and cheese. ... read more