Onward to Batumi

Batumi

Leaving Kutaisi

We woke up about 8.30 today and after packing up and a little breakfast we were ready by 10. We caught the no1 bus that goes right through the middle of the city to a McDonald's southwest of town near which was the intercity marshutka station. A man from the station found us almost immediately after leaving the bus and took us straight over to the correct marshutka. Shortly we found out we were the only passengers heading that way and after an hour the clearly annoyed driver gave up waiting and hailing passing potential passengers, got in the marshutka and we were on our way. Aside from the disgruntled grumpy driver, we had the entire bus to ourselves for at least half of the journey!

Batumi

The ride was very bumpy but our sturdy marshutka didn't break down on the way. A number of passengers were picked up on the way, to the point where the minivan was indeed packed to the brim just as we arrived in Batumi. After getting off at the central bus stop I called up our host who very kindly arranged to pick us up and give us a tour around the city in her car before dropping us off at the apartment. Our first impression was a building that was much in need of a facelift however the apartment itself was fully renovated and much more reminiscent of a hotel room than an apartment!

Following some R&R, we went about exploring the city and its exotic black sea and Turkish lifestyle influence. The abundance of stray dogs stood out and at one point with had a canine follower for quite a while. A friendly black stray who eventually got bored and wandered off after the sight (and smell) of a kebab. The sunset here was quite breathtaking and photos simply don't do it as much justice as it deserves. The Medea monument and the Alphabet tower are probably the main two landmarks in the city, but the city also prides itself on the sizeable number of casinos conveniently located near the 4-5 star hotels by the waterfront promenade.

The Medea monument shows Jason of the Argonauts holding the legendary stolen golden fleece. The Alphabet tower, on the other hand, symbolises the uniqueness of the Georgian alphabet and culture which is a source of great pride for the Georgian people. It resembles a DNA double helix with the bands rising up displaying the 33 letters of the Georgian alphabet.

The next day we decided to eat out breakfast at this quaint little cafeteria hidden away near the trade district of the city centre. Ate this fantastic plate-sized khachapuri with egg for less than 2 euro! Not sure what the place was called or if it even has a name but still a gem for the quality and insanely cheap price. Following this, we caught the bus to the Batumi Botanical Park about an hour away from the city.

Batumi Botanical Gardens

Although not the biggest botanical fan out there I'll admit the sheer size and variety of the park was definitely impressive and not something you see in a typical city park. Very sublime black sea beach views were possible views from the cliff. Its construction was started by the Russian botanist Andrey Nikolayevich Krasnov in the 1880s and officially opened to the public in 1912. Krasnov died a couple of years later and was interred in the park itself. It actually consists of 8 different floristic sectors; The Caucasian humid subtropics, New Zealand, Australia, Mexico, South America, East Asia, the Mediterranean, and even the Himalayas. After a couple of hours wandering through the park, we stopped by the beach just beneath the cliffside of the park. It was quite pebbly and cold being early May and all but at least the lack of beachgoers gave it a nice calm and relaxing vibe.

We caught the bus back to Batumi by around mid-afternoon and continued the rest of the day by walking along the entire length of the promenade while admiring the very tourist-oriented hotel architecture perpendicular to it. Just as sunset set it we took in more spectacular views and caught a bus back to the centre, stopping by the Alphabet tower on the way. On top of the tower is a slowly revolving restaurant. The restaurant itself was kind of cheesy but the views itself were worthy of the ticket purchase and we admired the view with a couple of beers before heading back to the apartment.

Next: Tbilisi