Chaja Nights

After a few days with Levani, Petra and Toto, Tim and I were hosted by Irakli the philosopher. At the moment Irakli lives with his mother in a small but warm apartment in the center of Batumi which, like all of the homes I had entered in Georgia, seemed in a way antique - the furniture, statuettes, even curtains seemed to be from a more prosperous time, one of Soviet wealth, before the war, before the financial crisis. Irakli's collection of Kant, Hegel, Nietzche and Socrates all kept him company in his sanctuary of rock and roll, classic literature and fine chaja. He made a good host and the three of us (along with some of his friends) spent two days enjoying the grape brandy of Georgia and watching classic rock videos on his computer. After sobering up we decided to split for Kobuleti, the next town on our way. Irakli had some friends there - Giorgi (not to be confused with his name sake from Batumi) and Levani (again not the same as from Batumi!), and agreed to meet us there in the evening. Tim and I left early and unfortunately didn't get around to saying good-bye to Zura, Petra, Giorgi, and Levani, all of whom were of great help to us, but I hope our paths cross again....

"I think I was made for this", I turn back to say to Tim as we exit Batumi and take one last look at the ships in the port. It felt good to be back on the road and after getting my first taste of Georgia I was thirsty for more. The road was tough to Kobuleti - narrow, uneven and with many sharp turns which made walking dangerous, but it was sunny and the large old pine trees along the way kept me in good spirits.

"Hey guys!! Over here!!" It was Irakli and he had found us in Kobuleti. We had asked a woman working in a shop to use her phone but he did not answer and we were worried. It was late and the city was dead. The old 19 century buildings were grey and uninviting and the city seemed lonely to me - hearing Irakli call us from down the street was salvation! We soon found ourselves at Giorgi's house with some chaja in our belly and smiles on our faces. Tired from our long walk and our bodies adjusting again to the abuse we retired early but continued our merry company the next day, first with Giorgi in the morning and with Levani in the afternoon.

"I don't think we should be drinking so much nigger..." Tim was right and he knew we would pay later for the chaja, beer and wine but I didn't care. It felt great to be back to my old ways, to be in good drunken company and to let myself go. The mental and spritual strains of the walk were the real problem for me but for Tim the troubles were more of a physical nature and I was soon to learn in how bad of a shape he was in....

"Thanks for the fried fish, the great wine and for the magnificent hospitality Levani." Although at first I had the feeling that he was cold and aloof, Levani turned out to be a great guy. We had spent a great deal of the evening learning about each others countries and I had grown fond of him quickly. I could tell why Irakli had made friends with him, as well as with Giorgi who was an amazingly generous host as well.

"I plan on going to India in a month but I'll see you guys in Tbilisi before I leave." Irakli planned on selling his car and hitch-hiking to India, which after walking across Turkey didn't seem like a crazy idea at all, in fact I was almost sure he would make it. "Doesn't seem very far to India anymore, we've crossed a lot of country." Tim was right, not even China seemed unreachable at that time, yet in a few days it would seem a distant dream, we were about to enter some hard days....of doubt, of pain, of peril....