Oct 17. Batumi. Lovin'

I had enough sleep before 2 final days of my trip. But before going to Batumi and Kutaisi I ran to the park of minaral waters to try real and famous "Borjomi".

Yaaaak!

Warm and salty liquid would work for a hangover only! Fortunately, I found another spring of usual, clean, refreshing aqua.

Bye great forests, bye magic little town full of old european and turkish style wooden houses and with a river and rail road. Western Georgia is awaiting.

I noticed that starting from Borjomi region flora got richer. When there were only vine yards around Gori, Western territories had coniferous and mixed forests.

I had experienced several hours of crazy Georgian driving. Many times I just freaked out because the driver crossed the road where he couldn't do it at all! And only by great luck we didn't crash in oncoming car. Sometimes I thought that Georgians cross themselves and pray so many times to insure that they stay alive that day...

At least I saw more beauty of Georgia being in green mountains and watching little houses with gardens.

Firstly, I came to Kutaisi to meet Kristina from EYP Georgia. I went to McDonald's where friendly managers borrowed me a phone to contact her(I am lucky on kind people!). While I was texting my friend, I had a fastfood for the first time during my long trip and the Session. Then Kristina, this wonderful person, arrived. She was my personal angel if I can say so. She helped me to solve the problem of the huge bag, told about places worth of visiting in Batumi, and finally assured that here, in Kutaisi, I would have roof above my head and that she also would show me everything. On that positive note I thanked her and set off to subtropical gem of Georgia.

I try to avoid "LOL" & "OMG" but Oh My God! Batumi was beyond all my expactations! The botanic garden with subtropical plants, persimmons in the yards of local people and palms along the beach with little smooth stones impressed me before I even entered this city. There was more later...

Parks are clean and beautiful, there are cycleways. Batumi is modern and has many extraordinary buildings.

In the same time reproductions of classic famous architecture delight the eye.

For a minute I thought that this was the capital... Certainly this city looks dynamic and expensive. Perhaps, the sea port was a big part of the deal. Although, I knew that Batumi will change its face by the end of the season when most of the tourists, especially Turkish and Ukrainian people, will leave.

I even found a comparison for Batumi: it looked like Virginia Beach but with mountains which made this place even more alike with Heaven!

And then another thought came to my mind:

In such increadibly beautiful country as Georgia you realise how wonderful the world is. In fact, it is unreal to see all its charms.

And you don't have to. Every path is marvellous.

Walking along the beach, watching the sunrise...
Going into the cool but clear salty water. Mmm...

The magic of the city lights and dancing fountains, the orgy of colours! For sure I was hypnotized by all this beauty dropping my jaw every 10 minutes. Then suddenly the whole city appeared with no lights on. Boom! Darkness... It happened only for several minutes but it made me smile: what a price for such electricity waste:)

There also was a cable road which I couldn't not try. More than 2000 meters of soaring above the night Batumi - one of the most incredible things I've seen in Georgia. It truly reminds Hong Kong, doesn't it?

Nevertheless, the population remains poor. As I wasn't just a tourist but had the research mission, I was curious enough to go deep in the city, to further neighborhoods. It was a great contrast but not a surprise to see old Soviet buildings with demolishing balconies and drying clothes on them. The yards and playgrounds were not nice as well. While I was passing by, a group of old men sat at the table playing dominoes and not bothering themselves with bustles of the city at all.

It was late already and I started exploring another part of Batumi going in the direction to McDonald's. As Kristina suggested me, it was a really unique building worth of seeing. It was.

I ordered an ice-cream and the smiling worker who sold it to me forgave several cents that I didn't have. I love this world:D

So I chilled there till the midnight and then decided to discover more of Batumi. I planned to leave for Kutaisi on the following day by train but I had to find the train station first. That was my plan. No bus. By foot. In the deep but bright night in the resort city.

 ...I was about 6 km from the city watching its colourful lights. The sea was quiet but the wind made me shivering. Although, I still didn't see the train station. The story from Mtskheta in the mountains repeated.

Walking along the rail road I reached a cabin with a man on duty who watched the rail road crossing. I asked about my final destination but evantually stayed there for 5 more hours drinking tea with another great man... He was a simple worker who cursed after each word but also he was sincere and kind. He told me his unusual life story when he was serving in the army, how he worked in private security and how another person died from his hands which caused him to go to jail.

Train passed one after another. And we sat in the tiny cabin with closed windows not allowing the heat go outside. It seemed that the world out of our little space stopped and only here, sitting on Soviet chair and stool, we were in the centre of the Universe.

It was dawning...