Can't Plug

Every homestay I was at I could plug. Most of the women acted like mothers. They wanted to care for you. I stayed at Lmedo's five nights on and off. Her place was convenient. It was in the old town Tbilisi, next to the baths, the hip cafes and restaurants. Lmedo cared for people. She had her hands full caring for people: her two beautiful daughters, two nephews and whenever I came back from wherever there was always another young man sleeping on the sofa ( 2:00 in the afternoon) and/or in the room I stayed. I could never put my pack in there immediately because of that. I didn't care. I usually wanted to just pee ( but the bathroom would be occupied) and splash water on my face (I did it in the kitchen sink) and take off my hiking boots and put on my Tevas. I would head out to my favorite cafe for the best ice coffee I've had in my life. As soon as they saw my face they knew what I wanted. I knew Tbilisi. I knew where the various bus stations were located, I knew the metro system to get there.

At the Kala Cafe I would use their clean bathroom and load up on toilet paper. At Lmedo's there was either none or it was sopping wet (the sopping wet brown paper towel type) from one of the kids using the shower and spraying the water everywhere. The kids, meaning the boys, were around 20 yrs old. They were unemployed college students (I'm assuming) who slept until 2 pm and stayed out all night. If you're the type that sleeps from 5 am until 2 pm you would be fine staying here. Fine if you don't mind dirty bathrooms and fleas from the kitty. My body is covered in bites now. I never slept there much but the last night was the worst. There was always some kind of racket going on - fights in and out of the house. Maybe someone was upset that I was occupying their room.

I stayed there because of the convenience and because of Dako, and especially Anna, who one night took me on a night tour of the city. The best time to see Tbilisi - the beautiful buildings were lit up and the night breeze made it bearable to walk. Anna wasn't being my guide just to be nice. She wanted to go out too but didn't want to walk alone. She was only 13 yrs old. Dari (Dako) was 14 yrs old. They both spoke English but Anna spoke it best. You can see how cute they are!

Like I said my last night was the worse. I don't know who was fighting but in the morning Lmedo unlocked the door for me to leave when she heard I was up. She didn't want to see me off like the other times and I really didn't want to see her either.

A couple of notes: drivers - you know the white line down the middle of the road? Well, that is a passing lane. The cars on each side will move over to widen the road even police cars - I swear! It happens every time I'm in a vehicle. Second note: I absolutely love Georgian people. They will stop whatever they are doing to take you where you want to go - I mean way out of their way.

The streets in Tbilisi are similar to the ones in Vietnam. I scream as I cross and I only cross with someone. I did this as a man was taking me to my desired restaurant. Then the last: I don't normally like transportation people I think they always try to rip you off. Twice I've had the mini bus driver give me a free ride because I was lost. And when I ask where the mini bus to Borgomi was located a taxi driver yelled out, "I'll take you there." A man that was helping me pointed correctly to where I should go then went over to the taxi driver to start a fight. I know he said something to the effect, "Do you think she's stupid or rich? Who would take a taxi to Borjomi hours away?"

I'm in Borgomi. Another mountain town and my last before going back to Turkey.