Georgian Introductions

As we approached the Georgian border we came across long lines of lorries parked up. We wondered if there was a reason why they were not allowed to cross on Saturdays, but we could see some were queuing to get through.

When we finally made it to the Turkish control I was told to get out of Lolly and walk through the passport control and customs on both sides, while Colin had to navigate the process by himself. It was a bit chaotic inside the terminal building. I joined a queue for foreign passports to get stamped out of Turkey, but waves of people dragging large bags kept trying to push in, so I had to sharpen my elbows and get stuck in with them. We all got distracted by the screams of a lady who was resisting being bundled into a side room.

As I continued on towards the Georgian passport control, I could see Lolly below and hoped all was going to plan for Colin.

There were two queues for the Georgian passport control which didn't look too bad, but the pushers and shovers from the earlier queue reappeared, and despite other peoples protests they continued trying to force their way in. There were no Georgian officials to try to organise things better, so I had an uncomfortable 20 minutes being jostled while doing my best to block their way. Once at the front of the queue, a very dour young lady stamped me in without asking a single question.

Colin had messaged me to say where he was waiting outside. He had also had fun trying to navigate which queue he should be in, and getting Lolly's customs clearance. We were glad we'd managed to purchase the compulsory 3rd party motor insurance online, so Colin had been able to deflect the countless guys haranguing him to buy it.

We only had a short distance to drive into the centre of Batumi, known as the glitzy second city of Georgia. Now, we thought drivers in Turkey were mad, but we soon realised they are pussycats compared to the Georgian drivers, who overtook, undertook and cut us up with slightly aggressive ease.

Before parking up, we managed to drop some laundry off, and I was greeted by a lovely jolly Georgian lady who said she'd have it ready to collect the next morning for a quarter of the price that the Turkish laundry shops were asking for. We managed to park in a paid car park on the waterfront, which was about half an hours walk into the old town.

First impressions of Batumi were of the huge flashy hotels along the black sea waterfront. Not our scene, but once we reached the old town with more characterful narrow streets we warmed to it a bit. We walked back down the corniche that runs around the whole bay of Batumi. This took us past the 7 metre high metal sculpture of Ali and Nino, depicting the love between a christian Georgian girl and an Azerbaijan Muslim. The figures continually move around and eventually come face to face with each other.

We had planned to eat in the old town in the evening, but it seemed a long slep back in, so eventually found a popular locals place nearer to where we'd parked. We couldn't understand a word on the menu, so after some googling managed to order a couple of safe dishes that were very tasty, washed down with our first try of Georgian red wine - a thumbs up for that too.

A Ferrari shaped boat for hire

We managed a surprisingly good nights sleep considering that we were under the flashing lights of nearby hotels and had 24 hour building works going on around us. It was a lovely bright sunny morning, so we got our bikes out to cycle the whole length of the promenade. We ended up back in the old town for a brunch at a lovely little place called the Chocolate Coffee-Room. The owner was a very sweet Ukrainian man who had lived in Batumi for 11 years. You could see him pouring love and care into everything he served and we had a delicious breakfast with Honey Cappuccino. He asks all guests for a personal drawing for a little book he keeps - see my effort below - there was a reason I didn't do well in art at school!

Laundry picked up, we headed just a few kms out of the city centre to a beach parking area we'd been recommended. As we were pulling up, we could see another motorhome was stuck in the sand, and the owners had obviously spotted our winch. Colin was delighted to have the first opportunity to test our winch out, and after a bit of trial and error he successfully got the other vehicle back onto firm ground. There were three motorhomes there and several families all enjoying a sunny Sunday afternoon on the beach. They said we must join them for some food and drink, and we soon found out that they were Ukrainian families who had been living in Batumi since 2014, after their region in Ukraine had been annexed. We had the most lovely afternoon and evening with them. One of them ran a motorhome refurbishment and rental business, so he was all over Lolly looking at how she was fitted out. One of the others had a drone and he very kindly produced some fantastic drone footage for us that you may have seen on our Instagram posts (zig_zaggingtheworld).

They told us that life was good for them in Georgia. It is easy for foreigners to buy property, and they can get annual visas that are simple to renew. They also had the benefit of being able to speak Russian which most Georgians do.

Being out of practice on the drinking front, we were making sure we sipped ours very slowly, while the men of the group were getting through bottles of whisky and brandy. As evening descended the music got cranked up and Colin was 'encouraged' to join in the dancing. (Again - see the Instagram clip for evidence of 'dad dancing') We bowed out (or quit while ahead) first. They all had work the next day and kids with them, so we definitely felt a bit light-weight, but we were so grateful for their incredible hospitality and kindness on or first full day in Georgia.

We woke to heavy rain the following morning. There was just one of their motorhomes left on the beach and we waved them off while we got packed up to set off. The wet weather continued as we headed inland. We soon realised we had to share with road with four legged friends, as well as four wheeled crazy drivers. We passed through the town of Vani which has a very well rated archaeological museum, but we continued on a short distance beyond here to some hot springs we had read about. As we bounced along the rough track to the springs in the rain, I thought we'd have it to ourselves, so we were a bit taken aback to be met with the site of at least 10 other expedition vehicles parked up. It was still raining so we got in our bathers and headed to the springs which were two small pools. The hotter pool was taken when we arrived, so we had some time in the cooler one, and quickly switched to the the hotter one as soon as space came up. It was lovely wallowing in the warm sulfurous water in the rain. It was not so pleasant getting out and having to scale slippy muddy banks to get back to Lolly. Even after several showers I'm sure we both still smelt of sulfur for days to come.

Thankfully the weather was bright and dry the following morning, so we made tracks to Kutaisi, Georgia's third city, where we expected to have a bit more history and charm than Batumi.