Tblisi, Butumi, Istanbul and 3 unpleasant bus rides

Arrived in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, at about 9pm.  The bus ride was miserable. The bus wobbled and jumped up and down as we hurtled to what I swore was certain death.  One the bus  met Rizarki, an Iranian man.  We had some some intereting discussions about his life in Iran.  He wants to leave desperately but the government require large payments if you wish to live anywhere.

It was clear that Georgia is different to Armenia.  It is much more run down, Yerevan was amazingly first world, whereas Tbilsi had rubble and broken streets everywhere. 

Walking in the door of the hostel I was immediately confronted with a shot of 'Cha Cha'.  Cha Cha is a home-made local spirit made out of grape skins. (I notice, with mild alarm, that the cha-cha is coming out of an old gin bottle and the taste fitted the bill).  However, with coke as a follow-on, it was clear the night was not going to be short.  The drinking party consisted of 2 Georgias, a Lithunian, a German, an Israli, a pom and myself.

The next day I set off in search of Tbilisi’s wonders.  Unfortunately it was raining and the sites did not measure up the natural wonders of Armenia. I met two new Israelis the roman ruins on the hill.  One thing I have noticed through all of my travels is how undeveloped much of the tourist  infrastructure is in these countries.  For instance, there were no signs, information or safely barriers on this Roman site. People were free to scramble about, no doubt doing damage, and putting themselves at risk.  The Israli guy and I found ourselves in a couple of precarious situations before emerging on top a turret with this great view.

I was feeling a little miserable in this underwhelming city in the rain.  I saw a sign which said the Liverpool game was on so went in and brought a beer and some lunch. I was quickly joined by Josh and Steve, two Brits working in Georgia as English teachers.  They were having a reunion of all their friends in Tblisi and invited me along.  It was 12 hours of solid beer drinking.  Fantastic.

What started with a beer over lunch.

Ended with multiple beers at 2am.

The next day I rose early, planning to head to the seaside resort town of Batumi.  Onto another old minibus. The bus was old. A USSR legacy, belching fumes and filled to the brim with passengers. Pre-assigned seats meant nothing here, when we jammed ourselves into the bus, it was every-man-for-himself, chaos. The fact that I had a massive backpack didn't help either. After 10 minutes of shouting, yelling, pushing and changing seats, I was finally settled in, into what, I wasn't sure.

As the bus started so did the cigarettes.  It seemed that every passenger had an endless supply of Georgian smokes.  If I die of lung cancer I will be able to put it down to this 6 hours.  To make atters worse, the man behind me spent nearly the entire bus ride yelling down the phone. I may misunderstand the culture but to me it seems as though whenever Georgians speak they are angry.  The tone and intonation is very aggressive.

  

Batumi is on the shores of the black sea and has a subtropical coastline climate framed with rich green mountains.  The setting reminds me a little of NZ with forest coming right down to the sea.  The difference being that the sea as 30C and it was perfect weather every day.

                           

This is the border between Georgia and Turkey.  You can see the last swimmers on the Georgian side. You will be swiftly arrested if you 'swim' into Turkish territory.

After a few swims it was off on my 29 hours bus ride to Turkey.

The bus ride was one of the most arduous of my life.  My first error was entering Turkey with no Turkish money.  Over the 27 hours it meant I had no access to food or water.  This as not the least of my worries. The places we stopped were all owned by the same company: large, overpriced buffets.  They also charged $1 to use the toilet.  This meant that I was unable to legally relieve myself for te full 27 hours.  I took to creeping around the back of these facilities and finding a spot.

It was relieving to arrive in Istanbul to say the least, however my worries were not over yet. The bus dropped me off in the middle of the touristy part of Istanbul.  With no idea where I was staying I had a few priorities. 1: get some money, 2: find some internet, 3: use internet to find accom, 4: find accom using taxi.

After walking for a whole hour through the crowds looking for an exchange office in 35C after a 27 hour bus ride I was ready to give up.  Out of nowhere a random man said ‘hello’ in perfect English.  I was relieved.  I asked him where all the exchange offices were and he mentioned that it was the first day of the 3 day public holiday for the end of Ramadan  - no exchange offices will be open for 4 days.  He asked how much I wanted so I swapped a $20 note with him for about 70% of its value.  He mentioned his restaurant had internet and that if I brought something I could use it.  Exhausted I thought a cheap coke for the use of internet was not a bad deal.  I found a place to stay and went to pay for my coke – $4….

After this palava I went to find a taxi.  I had drawn a little map of the route to the hostel and had the address.  Surely easy enough to find a cab….right….wrong!  I spent literally an hour in the taxi stand without any luck.  Downtrodden again I started the 7 km walk up the hill carrying 25kgs in 35C heat with my ankle throbbing.  After about 2km I tried another cab.  This time successful but had to pay $15 for the 5 minute ride. 

Next day I rose early and met a NZ dude Neil at breakfast.  He had one day to see Istanbul before his mrs got here so we decided to team up.  First was the blue mosque, the mosque built by Sultan Ahmet upon the capture of Istanbul.

Second site was Hagia Sofia, the 1500 year old church that was turned into a mosque upon the muslim invasion of Constantinople. 

Istanbul is a city so rich with history and I was lucky enough to read a fantastic book about the fall of Constantinople before arriving. It brought the city to life for me as I could see the Golden Horn harbour, the remnants of the great wall and the Bosporus.

Next stop was the utter opulence of Topkapi Palace - Ottoman Empire royal palace

was great to have a kiwi to tour around with after a week by myself.

Fish sandwich for lunch: $3 

The next day Neil and Anna offered me a ride to Gallipoli.  Unfortunately I do not have time to do a proper writeup for Gallipoli.

Here is lone pine: a place where 7000 allied men died in the area the size of a football field.

I do not have time to complete this blog properly at the moment.  Tomorrow we are off to Troy and Ephesus and then a 4 day boat tour.