November 9 - Zugdidi
In the afternoon, I caught a bus from Kutaisi to Zugdidi for a reason that went back two weeks. My friend Julien had informed me that his former roommate, Matthieu, was in Georgia and connected us. Matthieu is a teacher who took a sabbatical year and had been in Georgia for two months. Thus, I decided to detour to Zugdidi to meet him.
We met around 7 PM, wandering around the city. We dined at a Georgian restaurant, seizing the chance to taste Georgian sparkling wine. Matthieu has been traveling a lot too, so we shared our stories. He also plans to cross Turkey and the Balkans soon. He also has quite a lot of experience with hitchhiking.
After dinner, despite the darkness and the rain, we continued our stroll before heading back home. Matthieu hosted me for the night.
November 10
Jogging
Matthieu had to leave for work around 10 AM, so I planned to set my alarm for 9:55. But, during our conversation the previous night, I mentioned my fondness for running. He suggested taking a bus to a nearby castle and running back. I happily agreed, although I had to wake up earlier.
While on the bus, Matthieu encountered some of his pupils (he teaches French). We reached the castle—it was in ruins but offered a view of the neighboring region, Abkhazia. I wasn't daring enough to venture into Abkhazia, but I took a photo from a distance.
Then, we ran back home. On our way, we encountered cows waiting in the middle of the road.
Then we had a quick breakfast in the kitchen of his host family -- he had mad a buckweat-based meal, which I should try to cook at home later.
After that, it was time to move on to my next destination: Batumi, a city near the sea.
Hitchhiking
I walked to the outskirts of Zugdidi and started hitchhiking, after getting one of the famous Georgian pastries.
After a first uneventful ride, the second ride was with a friendly man who already had another hitchhiker. He offered me a cigarette, which I declined, but he smoked while driving. Later, he offered me some chacha, which I also declined, but he took a sip while driving. Are there any traffic laws in Georgia? Probably not.
After a while, when our paths diverged, he pulled over. As I was getting ready to get out, he said, "Wait... follow me." I followed him as he walked toward a car parked on the side. After a brief conversation, he said, "Go ahead, get in this car, they're going to Batumi."
In the car, there was a retired couple who spoke English quite well; he was Georgian, while she originally came from Belarus. My previous driver had told them I was a French traveler needing assistance, and they were delighted to help. They quickly offered me bananas and other fruits along with a bottle of water. Later, the husband stopped by the roadside to buy a bag of clementines. When he returned, his wife complained to him: How could he buy a full bag of clementines, without first tasting one? Anyway, they both insisted that I ate some.
Upon reaching Batumi, I stepped out of the car. They insisted I take the clementines. I took two to be polite, but they urged me to take the whole bag. I felt it was too much, but the woman got out of the car, took two handfuls, and handed them to me forcefully. There I was on the sidewalk, hands full of clementines—eight in total.
Batumi
Batumi is a pleasant city situated on the Black Sea coast. It boasts a vast pebble beach, well-designed streets, pedestrian paths, and palm trees. You can tell the city thrives on tourism during the summer. I enjoyed walking there off-season.
November 11
Some exercise
I hadn't planned a specific sightseeing itinerary in Batumi, but the city is quite vast, and so is the beach. I figured it was a great opportunity to go for a run. Plus, I wanted to take a swim, so I decided to combine both activities.
My running shorts also doubled as swim trunks. I just needed to tuck my compact towel into my pocket, and I was good to go. No need for a bag or anything else.
The weather was beautiful, and the temperature was just right: 22 degrees Celsius outside and 19.5 degrees Celsius in the water. There were a few other people swimming, but considering the size of the beach, there weren't many.
Shoelaces
My shoelaces had seen better days for a while. When they initially broke, I thought, "No worries, I'll just tie the two ends together and be on my way." Over time, it became more like a series of knots—one after another—until it became downright absurd.
After today's run, the laces were in such a state that I needed a solution. I didn't want to buy a new pair of shoes, just some laces. I found an Adidas shoe store. I asked them if they sold laces, but they said no. Then I tried Nike and Puma, receiving the same response. Strangely, not a single shoe store stocked laces.
Then I found a shoemaker on Google Maps. In a cluttered basement, a gentleman welcomed me warmly. He was thrilled to learn I was French. He mentioned he hailed from Armenia, proudly displaying his collection of posters featuring Franco-Armenian singers. He talked about his friends in France and listed every French writer he knew.
I mentioned needing new laces. He replied that he didn't have “new" laces, but he could find something. He retrieved some laces from a corner of his workshop and handed them to me. As I replaced my laces, he continued his listing of French writers.
Upon finishing, I tried to pay, but he refused: it was a gift. Furthermore, he offered me an apple. I declined as I still had some clementines from the day before.
Why did everyone keep offering me food? Did I look like a poor, helpless migrant? Anyway, my time in Georgia was coming to an end. My plan was to go to Turkey Türkiye on the next day.