4Runner Roadtrip – Republic of Georgia Part 1

After leaving the peace and tranquility of Pınar Kır Evi we were set to cross the border into (the country of) Georgia. From our brief visit to Hopa a few days earlier, we knew that there were going to be a lot of 18-wheelers parked along the side of the road queued up for their time to cross. It was kind of weird, I just kept driving past all of them using the oncoming lane as a continuous passing lane until we ended up at the front of the line and moved directly to the Turkey border exit. The Turkey exit was simple and entry into Georgia was pretty amusing. They were almost dismayed at how much stuff we had, thought Sebastian was hilarious with his constant barking and were genuinely intrigued by my California drivers license. The border guys were making jokes about what a good fake it was! We had a lot of laughs and once they entered our info we were good to go. (As a side note, every car entering has to buy third party insurance and to avoid the touts we did it all online beforehand and it was super easy.)

Our first destination was just over the border to the Black Sea town of Batumi. One of the things I was dreading was the driving in Georgia. It’s bad. There is a lot of reckless overtaking and lots of other questionable maneuverings. You have to bring your A game, that’s for sure. Oh, and parking can be a nightmare in the cities. We booked a small apartment in a high rise that shares its bottom floors with a popular Western hotel chain and in theory had public parking directly in front of the hotel. And, as luck would have it, we got the only available space! (The parking is also for some city administration offices and so there was a constant flow of vehicles looking to park.)

We ended up staying in Batumi for a week in our little apartment. It was nice to have a rest from the constant moving on that we had been doing.  Batumi was a little busy but what do you expect from a beach side resort town? We had some good wanders about and I got to try one of my new favorite foods, Khinkali! Khinkali is a very popular Georgian dumpling made of twisted knobs of dough, stuffed with meat and spices and broth. It is considered to be one of the national dishes of Georgia. So delicious!

At the end of our week we were ready for a little bit slower town and we headed up to Kutaisi. Kutaisi is said to be one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. It may have been the destination of Jason and the Argonauts in their quest to find the Golden Fleece. 

We stayed at a nice hotel called Hotel Memoire that was within easy walking distance to the old city center and fountain. Our rate included breakfast each day and that was down in their wine bar.  It was a super cool place. Our second day in Kutaisi we did a free walking tour put on by Budget Georgia that took us around to all of the sites in the old section as well as a visit to the history museum. Sebastian was welcome on the tour but he spent most of the time in his backpack. After the tour we had a lovely lunch at one of the recommended spots and it was quite good.

At this point in our trip we needed to make a tactical decision.  Should we head up into the mountains or down to Tbilisi? We were also trying to figure out our other itinerary, head into Armenia or hope the border with Azerbaijan opens soon. Either way we were headed back into Georgia. The weather and road conditions weren’t looking so good in the mountains and so we opted for a Tbilisi visit.

It was a bit of a drive from Kutaisi to Tbilisi and included a drive by the birth place of infamous Soviet leader Joseph Stalin (a town called Gori if you are interested). We didn’t stop. The route also gets very close to one of the breakaway regions that we were keen to avoid. 

We got an apartment in “the center of the center” right next to the Presidential Palace and across from a lovely public park.  And really, we were in the very center of things! There was an underground parking lot right across the street and we were fortunate to find a spot. You can sign up for a parking pass through an online portal for Tbilisi and our Airbnb hosts had arranged that for us. What we didn’t know was that I had parked in the hourly pay the guys milling around watching the cars part of the lot.  Oops! The next day involved them stopping other patrons asking for English to Georgian translation and vice versa. It all got worked out and I moved to a different spot after paying them a few dollars (the city had shut down access to the lot and I had my pick of spots the next morning).

We never figured out the significance of this art installation near the park.

And the reason the lot was shut down we later found out was for a series of classical concerts taking place just below our balcony! What a lovely surprise. 

We opted for another free walking tour in Tbilisi, this one was almost 3 hours long and that was maybe a bit too long for us. This tour included a lot of history and as Wikipedia says, “Because of its location on the crossroads between Europe and Asia, and its proximity to the lucrative Silk Road, throughout history Tbilisi was a point of contention among various global powers. The city’s location to this day ensures its position as an important transit route for energy and trade projects. Tbilisi’s history is reflected in its architecture, which is a mix of medieval, neoclassical, Beaux Arts, Art Nouveau, Stalinist and the Modern structures.” Our tour ended at the traditional hot baths, something Shani was very keen to check out later by herself. One of our goals for our visit to Tbilisi was to get some medical checkups taken care of and a good teeth cleaning. Shani found both a highly rated medical center and several good dentists for us to try.  As it turns out, the best laid plans do often go astray. The medical center offers one package, our international insurance covers something else. The price out of pocket is wildly different than the insurance price, miscommunication and lost in translation, you get the picture. After a week of taking two steps forward and three back we needed a new plan. Turkey again?

The good news is that we did find a really nice dentist called Dream Dental & Aesthetic Group that features a type of teeth cleaning we had never heard of – Air Flow. What is Air Flow you might ask (we did)? “Air Flow cleans and polishes in one single procedure. Using a mixture of air, the corresponding powders and water, teeth, implants and soft tissue are effectively yet gently cleaned.” It was the nicest cleaning I’ve ever had.

With no doctors appointments on the horizon and the Azerbaijan border also not opening any time soon we figured it was time to move south into Armenia for a bit.  Stay tuned as we visit monasteries, go to the oldest wine cave in the World and hike around some cave houses.