Stage 75: From Ardesen to Batumi

After breakfast in Ardesen, it had actually stopped raining, and I was curious about a new country. Already 20 kilometers before the border, it quickly became clear to me that this border crossing is an important gateway to Central Asia. Trucks were parked everywhere, with Hopa being the busiest. The license plates were exciting, besides Georgia and Turkey, Russia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Romania, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan were represented. Who knows if my journey will take me through some of these countries!

There was a long queue of trucks again before the border. I had to go through a few tunnels, which unfortunately were single-lane due to the waiting trucks. As a cyclist, it's not so pleasant. On the Turkish side, everything went quickly, after a few standard questions, I already got the stamp. At the Georgian checkpoint, I was treated as a pedestrian and had to scan all my bags individually through a scanner. But it wasn't a big deal, the vaccination certificate and PCR test were both accepted in digital form. In Georgia, the main road towards Batumi was single-lane, but I'm used to hectic traffic by now.

My hostel in Batumi was run by a super nice older lady who everyone called Mama and who sleeps in the women's room herself. The 'boys' room' was actually a living room where her son played computer games all evening. The atmosphere there was very familiar, and apart from me, there were some Turks and Azerbaijanis who seemed to have come to Batumi mainly because of the casinos.

Free walking tours are offered in Batumi, but apparently not outside the season. But it wasn't a big deal, and I really wanted to explore the city, which I already liked a lot the day before. I could have uploaded many more photos and can't describe each one. I really liked the city, and I have no comparison to any European city that I know. Batumi is a very clean combination of hotels, casinos, many green parks, open-minded people, and authentic bazaars in run-down neighborhoods. All of this, combined with architectural masterpieces like the Alphabet Tower or the Italian-inspired Batumi Piazza and its location right on the Black Sea, made Batumi something unique for me. The city is sometimes compared to Las Vegas, but from everything I've heard, that would be an insult. While strolling along the boulevard, I was amazed.

The second night in Batumi was very restless, mainly because of my drunken Turkish roommate who had lost a lot of money at the casino and couldn't find his passport and credit cards at night.