BATUMI

After driving out of the mountains, we arrived at the Black Sea and cruised east towards Georgia. We stopped for a quick dip before entering our twelfth country, and after an hour or so at the border drove into the beach town of Batumi. 

Once we crossed that invisible line in the earth, the first and most blatant difference was the traffic. The driving! And the complete disregard for any sort of traffic law. Second, was the writing. No more Roman alphabet! This made navigation a little challenging. We were without a map and looking for a cheap place to stay. Johannes was behind the wheel and we cruised around cautiously until we were directed to a hostel on the outskirts of the old-town. Derick and Johannes needed visas for Azerbaijan. It was Saturday and the consulate didn’t open until Monday. It was looking like we’d have the chance to get to know the place a little.

With a blossoming tourism industry and a recent boom in commercial construction, Batumi has been undergoing a facelift over the last few years. The old-town has been getting a candy-coating and the shoreline and boardwalk sprinkled with modern high-rises. At night the facades are lit with an array of colored lights that paint the city in rainbow. One of the high-rises along the water has a little ferris wheel built into it! It’s a weird mix of old and new architecture, and the juxtaposition seems rather forced. Tourism is Batumi’s biggest draw, in large part due to the subtropical weather, but a few things just seemed a little peculiar. 

One day we came across an Avatar statue along the boardwalk. As in, the blue alien girl from the 2009 blockbuster. It was on the edge of a playground, and except for the head, which accurately represented the character from the movie, the rest of the sculpture was simply a life-sized naked women’s body painted blue. She held a bow that had snapped in half and had been poorly repaired with packing tape. Her tail also required a tape job and was secured at the bottom with a wrap just below the knee. We thought it was pretty tacky, but the hard-packed dirt around the base was evidence of her popularity with posing tourists. Soon after that we passed a lady cop wearing heels. It was the little things...

On-and-off rain resulted in a relaxing stay in Batumi. I was feeling a little under the weather as well, so it was nice to stay put and take it easy. We met two Brits at our hostel who were also doing the Mongol Rally, Brad and Henry. They were great, and we ended up hanging out and convoying with them for a few days...