Enter Georgia

"Where the hell is our bus?" I (Austin) look around the Georgian -Turkey border, a weight starting to form in my stomach. Surrounding us are taxis, a public bus, the storm cloud stained Black Sea coast...but not our bus. Just moments earlier Kindra and I were bright eyed and bushy tailed, with fresh Georgian stamps in our passports and our lives crammed into Deuter backpacks, and a readiness to take on anything in this approaching adventure. But not a missing bus, our ride to Batumi, a city less than thirty kilometers away. Alas, it was true. Somehow, some way, our boisterous Turkish driver had ditched us in a country where we knew ZERO language and had zero local currency. Thus starts our introduction to Georgia.

Flash forward one public bus ride and a few divine miracles later, and we found ourselves lounging in a four star hotel in Batumi, eating Georgian style chicken wraps and watching the World Cup. I won't go into detail, but let's just say some Georgian hospitality got us into town alive and with a ridiculous cut rate price on that hotel.

Batumi, a paradoxical mix of ghetto and boardwalk, was fun for swimming and orientation. We learned (kinda) the goofy Georgian alphabet, ate our way through massive cheese Viking boats, and laughed like children while hopping across inflatable slides set up in the ocean. Finally, it was time to move on, so we booked our cheap four hour bus to mountain resort town Borjomi and thought it would be an easy ride. We were dead wrong.

Driving in Georgia makes Italian driving look like a safety course. In short, all Georgian drivers have a death wish, and we found that out in brutal fashion on our ride to Borjomi. Our minibus driver passed big rigs with the enthusiasm of a Formula One racer, leaving us white haired and nauseous. If that wasn't enough, we saw the remnants if THREE major accidents along the way, confirming that the Georgian driving death wish often gets carried out. Needless to say, taking the train is our new travel method!

Borjomi, a mild, beautiful fresh town, revived our spirits with its abundant streams and natural beauty, not to mention dumplings! We ate, rested, and backpacked in the local national park, meeting kind travellers and fending off rainstorms in the process. I would love to elaborate, but we are hungry for dinner, and tomorrow our 7 am train awaits for the capital, Tblisi. Until next time, enjoy your Starbucks and thank your lucky stars that the freeway you drive every day isn't in Georgia. :)