Georgia, good for the soul, but not the waist band!

Georgia, the only way to describe the country is random.

After heading through the border we picked up our guide zar zar and drove to our hotel for the night in Batumi.  

We went straight out for a wander around Batumi, and found the locals to be very friendly and obviously liked a drink or two! Wine is in abundance in this country and we were offered tasters in the shops as we went around town, making our way to the Black Sea beach.  Arriving at the beach, it reminded me of being on Brighton beach with the same kind of pebbles, and we dipped our toes in the cold Black Sea.

Beach at Batumi......or Brighton?

 

Most of us went to a restaurant for a meal in the evening and were fed until we burst, food kept appearing and by the end of the night I felt like I should be swimming with the amount of fish they kept bringing out and we kept eating!  Dancing with the locals was also on the cards, and copius amounts of Georgian wine that kept flowing throughout the night.  Then it was back to the hotel for a night of Eurovision song contest which didn't start in Georgia until 10pm, so it ended up being a late night, but lots of fun, with Azerbaijan winning the competition. (If you can call it a competition!)

The next day was Susan's birthday which involved our longest day of driving yet, and the most memorable.  We set off early from Batumi, and had some champagne on the truck during the morning to get the birthday celebrations going.  Susan was adorned with the usual bithday attachments, including
wearing rings on every finger and flashing bunny ears, so when we stopped for lunch at the side of the road in the middle of nowhere, and started to prepare our lunch, we were getting a lot of attention from the locals who seemed to appear out of the woodwork with gifts of brandy, cakes, chocolate and
wine.  They were very friendly and even though we coundn't understand what they were saying, the universal chinking of glasses was all that was needed and we whiled away an hour and enjoyed their hositality and said our goodbyes before the next part of the journey.  The road suddenly disappeared
and for the rest of the Journey to Mestia it was like being on a boat, being jostled from side to side and bounced around like rag dolls. This, however, only added to our fun and the birthday celebrations continued at the back of the truck and singing, drinking and a general party atmosphere continued
for hours, as we meandered up the mountains to our destination, Mestia.  The scenery was beautiful, with snow capped peaks all around, so great views with all the extra pee stops we had to make en-route! Day turned into night, and still we were bumping up the mountain, eventually arriving around midnight,
when everyone was ready to hit the sack, but not before our hosts at our home stay fed us with a feast of Georgian delights.  I was sharing a room with Zoe and Susan, and as soon as our heads hit the pillow we were away with the fairies, with Susan saying that this will be one her most memorable birthdays ever!

Mestia

Our bedroom at the homestay

Homestay in Mestia

 


Spending the next couple of days wandering around Mestia was great, everyone got a chance to catch up on sleep, do their laundry, go walking and take in the beautiful scenery...and prepare for the next 4 nights of bushcamping!

Mestia

 

We took the same traumatic road back down from Mestia, and before getting to our first bush camp, said goodbye to Jim who was heading to Tblisi with Zar Zar to sort out our Azerbaijan visas, and also to Andrea and Richard as Andrea wasn't well and needed R & R in a hotel in Tblisi.

Four bush camps were to follow at three destinations, all in great spots, and all with plenty of cows, horses and of course the stray dogs that loved to guard us and ward off the cows that often wandered into our camp. If it wasn't the dogs guarding us, it was the local police in a Lada car, who insisted on keeping watch over us one night, with them sleeping in their car a few feet away. Our final bushcamp was near the Russian border in kasbegi where we spent two nights, the first night was our 'red party', where we all had to dress up in something red and it was a great place to have a party, with a backdrop of the snow capped, cloud shrouded mountains, and we partied into the night, before crawling into our tents for much needed sleep.

Riverside bush camp

Nesting in the tent

Aoife and Zoe relaxing by the river

Kasbegi

Kasbegi

Our own guard dog

A common sight on the roads

Steve with his new hat

Paul eying up a cow

Dennis and Susan

The girls enjoying the view

Beautiful scenery en-route

A tad chilly!

 

After four days of bushcamping, no showers and no toilet facilities other than a bush or hole in the ground, we were all especially excited about reaching a hotel in Tblisi, and after scrubbing ourselves to within an inch of our lives, we went to dinner in an Irish bar to watch the rugby and catch up with jim, Andrea and Richard.  

David Gareja Monestary built into the rock

David Gareja monestary

Bush camp hair salonM

Melissa  washing her hair in the river

 

We spent the next couple of days exploring Tblisi, and took advantage of zar zar's city tour that he provided.

Tblisi Cathedral

Tblisi

View of Tblisi

Mel trying to get a better view

Wine tasting

Mel wasn't too keen on the wine

Ben doing one of his many impressions

 

After two chilled out days in a hotel, the next Georgian delight was a home stay in Telavi.  The home stay gave us a wonderful meal which the whole group enjoyed together, and as in true Georgian hospitable style, there was plenty of food, plenty of wine and another great evening ensued into the wee small hours, and we all agreed that the sooner we leave this country, the better it will be for our waist bands and our poor, poor livers!