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| The Caucasus - My Journal |
Back on Familiar Ground
Tbilisi, 5th to 7th September
The journey back from Yerevan to Tbilisi was much easier than the outward leg. I expected the bad roads, the border crossing was fast and simple (Georgia seem to be very willing to let anyone in with the minimum fuss) and I knew exactly how much the taxi from the Tbilisi bus station to the homestay should be. Returning to a familiar city is generally a rarity for a backpacker, who spends his time moving from new place to new place. It's actually quite a nice feeling to arrive somewhere knowing what to expect, knowing the "rules" and knowing where to go and how to get around. Of course, the taxi driver tried to charge me double the real fare, but I quickly shook him down to the right price and I got myself easily to the hostel.
I spent the afternoon just wandering round town, checking out some of the sights and corners of town that I'd not had the chance to see last time I was here. However, the day was very quiet compared to the evening! I'd expected a quiet day, but the kind lady who owns the homestay told me that there was "big party" tonight. It sounded quite interesting and I was keen to know more. I later found out that she had recently become a grandmother for the fifth time and was having some friends and family over to her house for some drinks, nibbles and dancing. Of course, as her house was currently (and is always) home to about 20 backpackers, they were warmly invited to the festivities. Actually, invited was the wrong word, in the nicest possible way, you had no choice but to attend!
It was actually a very fun night and a great "welcome back" to Tbilisi. There was copious amounts of tasty Georgian snacks, cold beer & vodka and, of course, lots of dancing to Georgian music. That part was actually quite difficult, and when I was being dragged up to dance, I generally took advantage of the beer and chatted with the other backpackers who were equally as confused about how to dance to traditional Georgian music.
Strangely, the guesthouse doesn't seem to be very popular with British backpackers (yet). This might be because the main English guidebook, the Lonely Planet, doesn't list it. I'd actually found the details on the Lonely Planet Thorntree Forum, but the information was posted by another backpacker. The point of this comment was because I'd realised that about 90% of the people who stay at this homestay were Israeli or German...it must be in one of their guidebooks...
Anyhoo, while I was talking to some of the many Germans, I found out that a group of them had hired a mini-van and were going to drive up to Kazbegi, a town in northern Georgia, the next day. I was intending to visit Kazbegi and the thought of doing it with a few other backpackers, and in a hassle free way, was very tempting. As they were a group of 5, they'd had to hire a mini-van instead of a car and they were looking for other people to fill the empty seats and share the cost with them.
Taking the mini-van with them would work out a bit more expensive than doing it on my own, but I was feeling a little lazy and was tempted by how easy it would be go in the mini-van. Also, one of the Germans spoke fluent Russian, a skill that really helped them during their travels and I decided it could be very interesting to finally be able to communicate with the locals! So...after I'd gotten to know them a bit better, over the common English/German bond of a love of beer...I decided to go with them.
The only problem, was that I needed to be ready to go, bright and early, at 8am the next morning. So, as soon as the party started to die down, thankfully not too late, I decided to quickly sneak off to bed at the same time they did.
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To know the road ahead, ask those coming back
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