First impressions have a lasting impact and can also make or break a relationship… with a country. Let’s talk about our first 45 minutes in Kutaisi, Georgia shall we? First off, we arranged to be picked up by the host of our Airbnb. Walking out of security, we see a man wearing a “USA Wrestling” T-shirt and holding a hand-written sign with our names. Celebrity status never gets old. He motions for us to follow him outside toward his car and we quickly learn that he doesn’t speak any English after my attempts at small talk.

We hop in his car and leave the airport, straddling the dotted center line and cruising along at a cool 120 km/hr. That’s roughly 75 mph for the folks at home. I am in the passenger seat and Kristin is in the back and we exchange some wide-eyed glances. We pass cars that are too slow, even though there is a steady stream of oncoming traffic.

I’ve been to one NASCAR race in my life and I know going 3-wide into a turn can get dicey. I can’t tell if he is an aggressive driver or if this is just the norm in Georgia. The large two-lane road seems to be built for this type of make-up-your-own-fast-lane strategy.

We pass by cows and horses that are very close to the edge of the road. One of our drivers later tells us that hitting animals can get you in a lot of trouble with the cops. A few minutes into the drive, I see a cop car coming up and assume our silent chauffeur will slow down, or get in the correct lane. Nope. We pass the cops who have a woman in an evening gown pulled over. I have so many questions about this country right now.

Thirty minutes in and I have lost count of cop cars and cows. I try and figure out how close we are with Silent Man, but I don’t get much information. I take a quick Snapchat and send it out to the masses, you know, just in case this is actually some sort of kidnapping. People need to have clues. We end up turning down an alley, and you guessed it… We arrive at a quaint little studio that is hosted by a kind older woman. Also, we get our own slippers.

Georgia… not the one with peaches

The country of Georgia lies to the east of the Black Sea, shares its northern border with Russia, and its southern border with Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan. If you are traveling around these parts, you don’t need to specify that you are going to “Georgia the country. ” You end up looking like an idiot. At least that is what happened to me in Aegina when buying some pistachios. Who talks about the state of Georgia!?

One of the first questions that comes to my mind is how this country got its name. Turns out that people in Georgia actually call the country “Sakartvelo.” This isn’t even close to what the rest of the world calls the country, why? There are a few different theories about how the name “Georgia” came about. Some say it comes from the Russian word Gruzia, which was in turn derived from the Persian and Turkish versions of the name George, Gorj and Gurju. Others say it originated from King George who brought Christianity to the country.

I ask about the Georgia name a few times on our trip and the native Georgians are just as confused about the origin as I am. This brings me to our words of the day; exonym and endonym. An exonym is an external name for a geographical place, person, or language. Therefore Georgia is an exonym. An endonym is an internal name for a geographical place, person, or language. This means that “Sakartvelo” is an endonym because the people inside the country use this term to refer to their homeland. Got it? Good.

What do they eat in Georgia?

Let’s dive into the culinary delicacies of this country that lies on the border of Europe and Asia.

Our first taste of real Georgian food is the Lobiani, a bean filled pastry, almost like a bean quesadilla. We order it as an appetizer, but quickly realise this thing can easily feed a small army.

Khachapuri is our next adventure. This is an open-faced cheese and egg bread concoction. Not learning from our Lobiani mistake we order this as an appetizer along with some main dishes, and find ourselves with waaaay too much food. We start to learn that Georgians have bigger portions than the European/Balkan plates we are used to.

Khinkalis are by far the most popular food in this country. You have a few choices for fillings with these Gerogian dumplings; cheese, minced meat, mushrooms, or potatoes. I have a bit of a love hate relationship with these guys. Our first khinkali has the minced meat filling and they are veeeery salty. We try the cheese khinkali and this one is a winner. The meat khinkali makes another appearance because we can’t judge based off of one restaurant experience. The second meat khinkali is just as salty as the first. Not my jam. I regret not giving potato and mushroom a try.

Kutaisi has quite a few stray dogs walking around and one little dirt dog becomes the lucky recipient of a leftover meat khinkali. Kristin sets it down in front of his nose and he gives it a sniff and looks uninterested. It isn’t until she breaks open the dumpling that the dog realizes he has been offered Georgian gold. He devours the food and slowly returns to his dirt bunker by the side of the street.

Something else I don’t quite understand about Georgia is the popularity of RC Cola. I mean the soda is made in the state of Georgia, so does the country get a discount? How did it make its way here?

Caves of Kutaisi

The caves around Kutaisi are a popular tourist attraction with the two most visited being Prometheus Cave and Sataplia Caves. Believe it or not, these are our first major caves of the trip.

Prometheus cave is the largest in Georgia. The highlight of Prometheus is not the massive caverns with towering stalagmites and stalactites, it is the dry deadpan humor of our Georgian guide. She is glorious.

“You like cave? Make wish. It free.”

“You like make believe. This rock look like Gorilla… or Stalin”

“There is shuttle back to visitor center. 5 Lari (Georgian currency)… I joke it free.”

Sataplia is our next cave stop and boasts a short hike to the cave with some spectacular views.

Sataplia caves are not as popular as Prometheus. We explore the cave with classical music playing in the background. We are the only ones inside. Leaving the cave, we stumble upon a look out point with a glass bottom. Only slightly unnerving.

Transportation is inexpensive in Georgia and to get to all these destinations we hired a driver from the Kutaisi Tourist Center.

Georgian Transportation

Borjomi is our next stop in Georgia. We receive very specific instructions about how to arrange transportation to this new city. “Go to the bus station and there will just be a bunch of buses. One will be for Borjomi.”

We leave our apartment and head towards a Main Street to get a cab. We had heard that people tend to be cold in the Georgian culture, but thus far, everyone has been super nice and helpful. The cab driver asks us where we are headed and when we arrive he shows us where to go at this chaotic “bus station.” I’m sure there is some sort of organization involved, but all I see are a bunch of minibuses, taxis, no signs, and a McDonalds.

We hop out and walk towards a minibus. After confirming it is headed to Borjomi, buy our ticket and they tell us it won’t leave for a bit, so we can come back. We find some snacks and make our way back. The minibus is now packed and there are only a few seats left in the back and we snatch them up. The last seat gets grabbed by a man who proceeds to buy 20 pairs of socks to a woman who has been going around the bus station.

The minibus isn’t so bad even though a metal rod has made my right butt cheek numb. We pick up people and packages along the way resulting in passengers standing in the walkway. Full capacity. Let’s keep in mind that this cost us a whopping 10 Lari ($3.73) for this 4-5 hour ride.

You can hire private taxis or transfers between these two cities as well. You’d think that’s what we would have done since our next stop is a 5-star hotel. Yes, this is the fanciest hotel on our trip. Maybe fanciest of my life?