Day 29: 20th June, 2012 – Tbilisi, Georgia

Georgian time is one hour behind. I had not changed my watch and realized it then. At 7.15 am Georgian time, I went to the bathroom as I thought it would be the best time to have a bath as everyone was sleeping. I brushed my teeth and took a hot water bath. It was refreshing. My bed had sunken in the middle and so my sleep was not very comfortable. I made a mental note of asking the owner to change it. Yesterday evening, I had sat in the balcony after coming back from the railway station and was told that who I thought was a grandmother was actually the owner’s wife. She had been disabled by a stroke and had a heart problem. The problem was worsened by diabetics. She could only move in a wheelchair. The owner‘s old mother, whose back was getting bent with age was active and did all the chores of the house. She was also a licensed medical doctor. The owner himself worked in a medical store. His father was a philosopher and had collected a large number of books including one by Rabinder Nath Tagore. I was impressed. The area was an old area like the chawls of Mumbai. In the middle was a quadrangle with old houses on all sides. This was the classic Georgian lifestyle. In the middle was an electric meters on a pole. I counted 21 and so many houses here  many with a common gate of entrance. There were children playing, old women sitting and chatting while the younger ones washed clothes in the verandah. The air was cool after rain and I came inside.

Market in Tbilisi, Georgia

I left the accommodation at 10.30 am and came to the railway station by the metro. I walked up to the vegetable market where I saw women selling clothes on the pavement. I could see a marked difference between the people of the last 6 countries I had been to and here. Here the people were impolite and harsh looking. In other countries if you do not know the home language, people react politely. But not here. There were young people sitting or loitering around, passing harsh comments. There was stiffness on the faces of the women (young generation) as  well. I may be because of without job.

Tbilisi University, Georgia

I bought a metro card for two lari and it had 1 lari credited to it. The metro was not difficult. There were signs in English also. I got down after 2 stops to Roseville Street which was the only main street of Tbilisi. It had all the big shops and important buildings. I walked around and saw that there were a number of trees and beneath them were benches where many people took refuge in the shade. I walked till the end of the road from where I could see the hill which  I saw from my accommodation. Most of the important buildings were under renovation. It was probably the European states paying for the renovations. I found an internet shop and sent a mail to Himanshu to book my ticket to Sochi from Yerevan on 27th June as that was the only way I could precede further. The Georgian and the Russian border were not open for international travelers. Also there was no Aeroflot office here. I could take a boat to Ukraine from Batumi but it meant a lot of changes in my programme including leaving Armenia. I crossed the road and came down. 

Parliament in Tbilisi 

The President’s house was here and was guarded with tight security. I walked through the old houses in the lane which were almost the same as my accommodation. Some of the houses had grapevines on their walls with tiny grapes. I tasted a few and they were sour. I found a Georgian restaurant in one of the lanes. It was built in the basement but was well kept. For the first time in a long time, I found marinated fish with drought beer. The fish was very tasty. I enjoyed the lunch and then moved on. I walked to a nearby bus stand and a schoolboy told me that bus 90 will go to the T.V. tower on the hills. The metro card could also be used for a bus ride. I went right up to the end of the hill where there was a play park with a lot of different rides. I did not go inside and returned back on the same bus. It was good to go through the winding roads of the hill with the cool air blowing on my face. I returned back to the Roseville Avenue and took a print out of my ticket to Sochi which Himanshu had sent. I met an Indian who had come here to buy property since it was cheap here and he wanted to develop a farmland. I was not very impressed. I came back to my accommodation and did some washing. After a dinner of bread, tomato and cucumber, I made a cup of coffee.