Enchanting Georgia Backpacking Experience

The high season of Georgia in the month September, when you can expect hot and dry days. Spring are autumn are great times to visit although Autumn can be a bit cold and rainy. While there is great snow skiing in winter, during our visit in September it was cold, at times raining and even snowed at top of mountains! So be prepared for variable weather.

I had finally landed in Tbilisi International Airport(TBS), Georgia at 5:00 AM early morning. I was unsure about the procedures I had to go through as it was my first time in Georgia. Luckily enough, there wasn't much proceedings.

I had pre-arranged Airport Transfers in Tbilisi for Airport Pickup, and driver was waiting me with my name printed boldly on an A4 paper. He greeted me "Gamarjoba". I didn't understand that until later.

We then left for the hotel in his car, an old Mercedes. I was quite surprised to see that most of the cars was either Mercedes, BMW or Audi. They had just few Japanese make. But the greatest wonder was that the they had cars with both right hand and left hand drive. Normally I had seen only either of them in any country.

Tbilisi city is only a 25 min drive from the airport. I had chose my stay on of the main streets of Tbilisi, the Kote Apkhazi street. But unfortunately, I could only check in after 2:00PM in the afternoon. The hotel had already informed me that, but I thought I could bribe him into giving me a room, as I was exhausted after about 11 hours of travel. But they couldn't help me as the hotel was completely booked. Later I was joined by a friend who I met on couchsurfing website.

As it was the day of Eid, We went straight to the Juma Mosque, the biggest in Georgia. We were lucky enough to catch the prayer and sermon, although it was in Turkish. To my astonishment, the mosque was packed with more than 300 people. I had not expected that. I felt relieved that I hadn't missed my Eid Prayers.

I was starving, so I had to get some breakfast. We walked down the Kote Apkhazi street to find a good restaurant. It came to my view that the mornings in Georgia were a bit late than elsewhere, because it was around 10, and the restaurants were starting to open. I found a good restaurant in the Meidan area, the I Love Tbilisi Restaurant( I really didn't look up the restaurant name, so i named it based on the striking feature in font of it). We had the national dish, the khachapuri. It is basically a bread filled with cheese.

After filling up, I felt more energized and wanted to take a stroll in the city, in the wonderful cool weather. Since I couldn't check in until 2 and I had no plan either, we started walking up the Kote Apkhazi street. Kote Apkhazi street began at the Meidan Square and ended at Freedom/Liberty Square. The freedom square has the central piece of a towering structure with the sculpture of St.George, the patron of Georgia. It is one of the most important places of Tbilisi, from where you can find the branch roads to any other part of the city. It also has a metro station, and one can find taxi's and mashrutkas ( mini bus, the local transport) from here to anywhere.

One side of the road had a small park like square, where I went and found the Tourist Information Centre. Here you can find, guides holding "Free Walking Tour" signs. I was too lazy after the last night's travel to do a walking tour of the city. I thought of sitting there on a bench, in front of a small fountain and enjoy my free days.

Just then a beautiful Georgian girl approached me and asked whether I was interested in any tours. I thought, why not. I don't have anything to do until 2, it might just be good to do some tours and experience rather than basking in the sun. She said that they are a newly formed company and offered tours a much cheaper prices. I checked the rates and found it pleasing, and paid her for the trip. She said she was looking for a couple more person so that the mini van wouldn't be void. Luckily enough without much waiting, she found two more tourists and we were soon off on my first tour of Georgia....