Another border crossing today, so we leave the "interesting" Hotel Elegante, to join the queue to enter Georgia......
Refreshed, we get to the queue.....but all the cars are being directed to a holding car park. Policeman says to me "where you going?" Now I'm sure this catches a lot of terrorists out, but not a smart Welshman like me. We are at the Georgia border, what options are there... so I point to the barrier, big smile, and pretend I don't understand the question, or the queue system !.
He doesn't seem to worry, we ride straight to a empty booth (ok, so I didn't see the lorry only picture), and 5 mins later, we are in.
Change the time zone on the GPS and head for the Eka Guest house, probably named after most guests shriek "eek" when they see it. I suppose in the fullness of time, I will get more astute at choosing places to stay, and if there are no exterior shots, that should raise suspicion....
So we enter the courtyard, and I try to pick some good points out to Jeremy... "at least the bikes are safe" was about all I muster...
In fairness, the rooms were a lot better than the outside would intimate, and the lady of the house made us feel welcome.
Georgia, Georgia,
The whole day through, just an old sweet song,
Keeps Georgia on my mind
OK, I think Ray Charles was singing about another place, but the sun had come back out and I was in a good mood. After a brisk run along the coast, we stopped for a coffee before the border....
Refreshed, we get to the queue.....but all the cars are being directed to a holding car park. Policeman says to me "where you going?" Now I'm sure this catches a lot of terrorists out, but not a smart Welshman like me. We are at the Georgia border, what options are there... so I point to the barrier, big smile, and pretend I don't understand the question, or the queue system !.
He doesn't seem to worry, we ride straight to a empty booth (ok, so I didn't see the lorry only picture), and 5 mins later, we are in.
 |
| Sweet Georgia. |
Change the time zone on the GPS and head for the Eka Guest house, probably named after most guests shriek "eek" when they see it. I suppose in the fullness of time, I will get more astute at choosing places to stay, and if there are no exterior shots, that should raise suspicion....
So we enter the courtyard, and I try to pick some good points out to Jeremy... "at least the bikes are safe" was about all I muster...
Spent the evening wandering around Batumi, even finding a nice beach bar to chill out in. Jeremy had an early night, but I wandered back out with a view to checking out a Casino. But the closer I got, the more I realised that I would not get in with jeans & flip-flops.... so bought a bottle of incredibly cheap beer from a store and headed back.
Seemed like there was a bit of a family gathering on the balcony and they motioned me to join them... they do speak some English here, and I met one of the relatives who is the head honcho in the local port. We shared some business experiences, eat a load of water melon, and solidified Georgian/UK relations.