6th of May, 2022.
I walk a bit away from the border, in this quite tight road for its importance. There is a big queue of trucks waiting to go into Turkey, and they take half of the already small road. I try to find a spot where the cars can park.
A Georgian man going to Batumi stops. I cannot remember his name but he is very nice. Once we arrive in Batumi, he takes me to a quick tour around the centre and offer me to have a meal, with traditional Georgian dishes. I would love to accept but it is getting late and I still have some road to Zugdidi. I would really like to arrive there today. So I kindly refuse the generous offer and he drives me a bit out of town.
Batumi it looks way more fancy than it should to a country like Georgia. It seems fake to me, like it doesn’t fit. There are immense and fancy buildings, like they are trying to copy Dubai or what ever. I don’t like it. But in the old town there are some charming historical buildings. Every Georgian kind of love Batumi and it is super proud of it.
Another guy stops for me but he is from Poland. He is very nice and sociable. We talk a lot and actually we have some things in common. When we are talking about Polish liquors and wine, I tell him I only drink wine and beer. Immediately, he grabs a bag from under my seat and gives it to me. It is a really nice Georgian wine, from the Karalashvili Wine Cellar, which was founded in 1396! It is lovely dry red wine, as I would confirm later. So he gives it to me because he does not drink wine. Good for Lei!
He is not going all the way to Zugdidi either, so we just come up with a plan where he will drop me off. But he isn’t in a rush either, so he drives a bit further of his destination, just so I am in a bit better intersection. That’s nice!
While waiting for my next lift, I start taking a look of how a village looks like in Georgia. It is very peculiar comparing to other countries, and I start to believe that it is also traditional. The majority of the houses have these long tubes going all the way down the streets. What the hell is that? Later on I would discover that it is gas. There are some cute little dogs playing around.
The next car to stop for me… well… they are actually not a “car” per se. When I see they coming, I am so chocked, my chin is so literally dropped, that I don’t even remember of holding my sign up. Luckily for me, Nico spots me, realizes I am a hitchhiker, and because he has this rule of always picking up hitchhikers, they stop.
Didine, Nico, their son Sasha, plus two dogs and a bird, are travelling around the world in a restored military truck, a mankat truck. They have started recently, in 2021, and they both quit their jobs in France, sold houses and business to embark in this new adventure. How cool is that? And they picked me up! They have an Youtube channel, which has been financing their trip until now. Didine is the one making, editing and posting the videos. I know it is really hard work, plus, having to register mostly everything all the time, it can be a pain in the ass. But I am happy that it works for them. Didine makes a quick video while we are driving, and she includes me and the fact they picked me up just now. Here it is the link to the video where I show up. Take some time to check also their Youtube channel and other social media: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYwiGTEuDKU
They are going all the way to Zugdidi (and I wrote Zigdidi on my sign! Laugh), so they drop me off right at the centre. Perfect! I don’t really have the address of my host but I remember I have read somewhere that their bar / hostel is located right at the centre, so I just start asking around. Soon enough I get proper directions and I arrive at the place.
