BATUMI HOSTEL VIDEO

ELVIRE

I went to the Nobel museum (which should have been named the 'Petro-Chemical history of Batumi with some stuff on Tea thrown in for good measure' - though it wouldn't fit in on the name plaque as well) with a lady from France named Elvire.

For anyone to travel by themselves requires a certain level of 'mental toughness' - often it seems more so with women. She was unique in that she was both married and traveling by herself. She said that she preferred to travel without her husband on vacation. Also, she is no casual tourist. She has been (solo) to both North and South America as well as Europe and Africa. She has a long list of countries she's been in from each of those continents. She even met her husband in South America and has been married to him for six years.

I asked her what was important for a woman to know when traveling by herself. The most important thing Elvire said was knowing how to say 'no' in the language you were going to in order to put a stop to the (often clumsy) sexual advances of men. You could even get a fake wedding ring and say you are married.

She said that people are a lot nicer to her when she's traveling on her own. She enjoys hitchhiking a lot and says she has twice the chances of getting a ride as single women will also stop for her.

Elvire very much seems to enjoy traveling alone and I wish her continued happiness from this!



COMPETITION? NO

I had gone over to Bbeach Hostel in Batumi to check it out at the same time I was escorting a couple of guys over there, since we ran out of room at our hostel. It is much larger, dirtier and louder was my initial impression. When I reported a lack of toilet paper in a restroom (at a very unfortunate time) I was told it was the cleaning ladies fault and nothing more was done about it. I've talked to a couple of people from Poland who told me they got a quieter night sleeping on a public beach than they had spending it there. Another guest reported that the place was filled with Georgians and he didn't like it - nobody spoke any English. Note, English isn't this guy's first language - but it is the international language of travelers.

This reinforces (like it needed it...) my opinion that hostels need to be clean and quiet for sleeping. Also, if you let the locals stay there, your international crowd will dry up.



GERMAN SAYING

"Der wegg is das ziel." AKA "The way is the goal." Thanks Phillip. An excellent reason to more closely consider Jordan for the next destination... More on that later...


I LIKEA DO THE 'CHA CHA'

After hearing about the alcohol content of Cha Cha as well as how it is made (distilling that which is left over after making wine), Grega from Slovvenia remarked "Cha cha sounds like the 'crack' of alcohol."



BATUMI HOSTEL VIDEO



I recently made a short video with a walk through of Batumi Hostel. I didn't talk during the first half of it but eventually I started to babble. The volume is faint but remember, this is a standard camera - not a video camera. It was also quite a nightmare uploading this short video. With the crappy wifi found at the hostel, twelve hours to upload it...

I hope people enjoy it!



TURKEY

Turkey gets cold November to March. Be out by the end of October.

In Istanbul, be sure to check out Harmony Hostel. It has been recommended by others.



COSTS

Prescriptions filled for about a month and a half, several meds, 110 GEL.
Business cards, 20 GEL for 100, 60 GEL for 300. Felt the guy was on crack and I'd get them done elsewhere.