Aug 13- hello Georgia

We had a good nights sleep in a little shack at a small marina near Pazaar. We were able to get in touch with a man, Necip, who James befriended there a few years ago so it was great to see him again. He, his wife and son came down to the marina again in the evening to say good night and even brought us some food along. Wow so nice!

THANK YOU NECIP AND FAMILY FOR YOUR HELP AND GENEROSITY :-)

Crossed the border into Georgia and funny enough, already within the first few hundred meters the driving style was remarkably different than over in Turkey. Georgians are wonderful people but they are the scariest drivers we have encountered so far with an insane obsession for overtaking eachother in the most dangerous situations. More on that later.
Unfortunately James' friend's family was away on vacation the day we arrived in Batumi but we found a camping spot at Gulnasi's Guest House. We loved that place immediately. The family who runs it is so nice and the vibe very welcoming and relaxed. Our first mission in town was to buy Adjara Khajapuri, a beer and some Kvas.
Khajapuri is literally "cheese bread" and every region in Georgia has its own shape and style of Khajapuri. In the Adjara region it is a cheese filled bread boat topped with a chunk of butter and an egg. Stodge alert!!! Yummy!
Kvas is a mildly alcoholic, sweet drink made from bread and tastes like pear juice. It is generally sold directly from big barrels set up at street corners. Beer can be purchased the same way.Coming from Canada where alcohol consumption is so strictly controlled it is such a novelty to freely wander around the streets of Batumi with a drink in my hand!
This may sound strange but what I loved most about Batumi was the large percentage of women in western clothes freely socializing in the streets with men and other women. I have seen very little of that in Turkey. Especially in eastern Turkey women generally don't hang out in the streets and it was very rare to see a woman wearing anything other than a long skirt and head scarf. So I always clearly stuck out as a (immoral) foreigner. I have not the slightest disregard for men but when we got to Batumi I felt like I finally fit in again because there were so many others of my kind around me. I felt like I could breathe again after having held my breath for a long time and walk around freely knowing I was not attracting more (unwanted) gazes than any of the other girls.