“Happy Birthday to ya” (Lionel Ritchie)

We arrived into Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, in the afternoon and re-discovered the joys of hot showers and western style toilets. After a bit of preening and general upgrades in hygiene, we headed off to “Russian night”, a cheesy Russian themed night similar to the one we went to in Turkey. When in Russia… so we chose to drink vodka, hold the mixer, so it was fairly messy by the end! There was Russian food, music and dancing (and Odyssey interpretations of traditional dancing of course!) Tbilisi (view from Mother of Georgia statue):

The next day dawned with bright sunshine, and many sore heads. We joined our local guide Tamuna for a walking tour around the city. We wandered up (always up!) through the botanical gardens and to the Mother of Georgia statue which sits high on a hill and has commanding views over the city. We bumped into the Dutch couple who we had met in Mestia and who were on their way to the Ukraine, and they promised to stop following us! After wandering back down the hill the “ladies what lunch” club was founded in a lovely Italian restaurant (you can only eat so much meat bread) with the greatest chocolate cake ever (until Baku, but more about that later!). A bit of emailing abd blogging, and then it was time for dinner. My starter was “Georgian style aborigines cooked with walnuts, garlic, fresh herbs and Georgian spices” – turned out to be aubergines, but someone’s translating skills need a bit of work I think. Tbilisi is a lovely city which seems to be just setting itself up for tourism to really hit (the new Prague?). Cartier and other big brands have arrived, and there were plenty of renovations going on all over the city. I would suggest that a major boon to tourism would be to sort out pedestrian crossings though. Using locals as shields to dash across four lanes of random traffic, all tooting their horns is quite an experience. And then there was “the roundabout of death” (so named by Jo), where all traffic rules seemed to be out the window. But we made it across safely and lived to tell the tale!

View of the Caucasus mountains from Telavi:

Leaving Tbilisi behind, we headed to Telavi, the wine making area. We were lucky to be able to visit a couple who make wine in their back garden, who plied us with much of their produce, fed us bread and strawberries, and poured us back into the truck. It was a fascinating visit, wine-making at its most basic, and the results were delicious (and remarkably hangover free, trust me, we tried our best!). After a short but raucous truck journey, we arrived into Telavi where our accommodation was home stays in what looked to be old Russian generals’ houses – very grand indeed! Another massive Georgian feast and more wine (cause we needed it) – I definitely farewelled 30 in style.

Pete explaining the wine making process (our Georgian is not so good...):

Decanting the cognac into a 5L container: Carolyn and me after wine tasting... Guess which one of us was drinking - you would be surprised by the answer!

The next day dawned and I was another year older. At breakfast I was presented with my present – a “Birthday Box of Cleanliness” – a reflection of my obsession with having a shower! The group had kindly filled the box with soaps, shampoos, and even a whole roll of toilet paper (quite a sought after commodity from now on…) which had been procured from the hotel in Tbilisi, and from kind donations by group members! I also received an amazing card which had been carefully handcrafted by C and her team. After breakfast (and Penelope’s overdue shower), we headed to a lovely bush camp where we were set up before lunchtime, so had a whole afternoon of sitting doing nothing. It was fantastic! As a special birthday treat, Mike T had provided the “Pink Sofa of Love” (that’s the official name for it in the catalogue!) for me to sit on, throne-like, with the only downside being a requirement to drink whatever someone brought me while I was sat on it! The blender came out and we had a strawberry cherry chacha daiquiri, which was delicious, and by far the best way to drink chacha, the local firewater. The local police arrived to look after us (as they did at all our bush camps in Georgia), and even brought wine and chacha. Mine was the first of four birthdays in close succession, and our guides gave myself, Lesley, Andrew and Jo Georgian dolls as presents.

Bush camp with the pink sofa of love: For dinner we had an amazing beef feast cooked on the bbq, and it was followed by a lovely birthday cake which was covered in cream and was very conducive to a food fight (probably not the best idea on the first of four nights of bush camping, but it made sense at the time (although I think the policeman was a little bemused!) I had an absolutely fantastic day, and could only sum it up in my traditional Georgian toast that was required by saying “To amazing new friends, to amazing new experiences, and to an amazing birthday celebration”