Georgia's on my mind.

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  Batumi, Georgia
Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Hi folks from batumi which is on the Black Sea. Georgia has been fantastic. The scenery has at last turned again to being ultra picturesque, lots of greenery and mountains, but as we know only too well in UK greenery comes from rainfall and we have had a couple of downpours. Fortunately one was early morning while we were still asleep but then getting down soaking tents is not a nice job.
I'm fraid I am going to have a mini rant here abpout people on the trip- more of a rantette. Cathy whho I am supposed to be sharing with grabbed herself a single room - the only single room in Tbilisi whhich meant that I had to sleep in  treble. The other 2 women , aged 40 and 41 !!, nabbed the 2 beds and I got the sofa bed which has been in use since Stalin last slept in it. The only thing i could feel was the 3 main struts going widthways and the metal links which were supposed to support me sagged pitifully in between. the first night i made a nest in the middle of the bed and it wasn't horrendous but the middle night I couldn't get to sleep at all and on the third night i pushed the metal bits back inside the sofa and dragged the mattresses on the floor but still didn't manage to sleep. Kim, our lovely demented Dane, found me wandering semi-delirous across one of the bridges and i explained that it was lack of sleep and not alcohol and he said that the other 2 should have played Paper, rock and scissors to see who should give up their bed to me - if only life were that simple!! Then there's another guy Raz, I have mentioned him before - older retired PE teacher from the era of PE teaching when you couldn't do anything else but got a kick out of bullying young kids around at school - and always making inane remarks- well he asked me how I was the next morning and I felt so exhausted i thought I was going to be sick on the way to the cathedral- or is that catederal - said in A Dublin accent - sorry - in joke there for my Ilford girlfriends . Well I said i wasn't feeling well and why and finished off by saying I was just grumpy and probably best laft alone. He obviously didn'y listen very well because he then went on to say "How do we tell the difference between when you are grumpy and just your  normal self?" My response- "Carry on with comments like that and it won't take you fu**ing long!!" He didn't speak to me again for a couple of days. i did go and offer my apologies but he took the moral high ground and blanked me for another day. i think I was supposed to care. I only apologised for the sake of the group dynamics. There's a possible coupling coming up and I'm trying to play match maker but it's bloody hard work. helen has got the hots for Phill and has decided to make herself more attractive by drinking beers with him. Only problem is she is such a light weight and can only realistically drink 2 before she dissolves into silly girly behaviour. She has bought herself a mini skirt which she keeps threatening to wear but then chickens out each time. I think Phill will wet himself when she does eventually wear it. I could see that the Swedish shot putter who she shares with almost had a heart attack last night when she put it on in the room!!
Back to less entertaining stuff. Since Tbilisi we have been in the moutains in north Georgia very close to the Russian border where time has stood still. As we drove through the villages they were busy making haystacks with pitch forks. The route to the town of Mestia where we stayed was along a narrow track that had a presipiss (Totally incorrect spelling!) down a ravine to a raging river below. The rain meant that the unsealed road was in places awash with mud and there was a chance that the truck may slide to the side - with no room for mistakes it was pretty hairy. It was even hairier on the way bnack when one of the leaf springs snapped. On the way up the track rod end had gone and the spare we were carrying turned out to be for a different model truck and we had to get the old one repaired. Miles from nowhere( I liked James taylor's version best) we had to get it reapired the best we could and a couple of local blokes obliged by throwing a hook over the live electrical wire kooking it up to his welder and basically doing a cobble job. The town of Mestia was lovely nd full of anciant towers built by locals as a defense not sure against who. The local police took a great deal of ointerst in us so much so that they joined us around the camp fire - Fire Wallah Hadley at youtr service - around 11pm and brought their own hootch - barely drinkable but the Georgians get seriously upset if you refuse a drink. WE finished the bottle between the 5 of us before we could go to bed.
We have been in Batumi since 4pm yesterday and Andy has been in the lorry park repairing Raz, the truck not the person - there is no repairing the person!!- since then. He and Bex got back to the hotel at around 10.30 last night completely knackered and starving but we revived them with local beer and vodka shots.
 This afternoon we are leaving Georgia with a heavy heart and crossing the border to Turkey with more adventures awaiting us no doubt. I think they drink raki there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lots of love Victoria. xxxxxxxxxxx
PS Thanks for all the comments emails etc. I was laughing out loud in the internet cafe.

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