Georgia

Taking advantage of a week off between school semesters at the end of May, I embarked on a short trip to the country of Georgia in the Caucasus region. The region has a fascinating history, sitting at the intersection of Europe and Asia. I wish I had read more about it before arriving, but such is the nature of Master’s studies.

For this trip I joined my friend Tereza, who is spending a month in the country between her Master’s and PhD work. We spent most of our time in the north of Georgia, to the east of South Ossetia, and very close to the border with Russia. Beyond a significant presence of (seemingly unarmed) Georgian border guards, I didn’t see any signs of the 2008 conflict with Russia.

Georgian is a tricky language with it’s own alphabet, though many people in the country speak Russian as well. Unfortunately I didn’t pick up enough Russian in Sochi to be of much use to me. This language situation, and the terrifying road safety situation made travelling in Georgia a bit trickier than I am used to. However, I found most Georgians to be very friendly and welcoming towards visitors which made the trip a pleasure.

Though conditions were still far from summery, with lots of snow in the mountains, I hoped to spend as much time in them as possible. The lowlands and capital Tbilisi, were also very interesting, but unfortunately I neglected to take any pictures there!