| Page Views: 3,866 Last Visit to Georgia: November, 2004 | through georgia on my bicycle. by cachaseiro - last update: Dec 11, 2004 |
| drinking wine from an old jerrycan. |
georgia is one of these places you barely ever hear about and if you do it usually has to do with revolutions or organised crime.
that should not stop you from visiting though.
georgia has stunning scenery and a population with an outstanding hospitality.
i was constantly invited for food and drink when i travelled the country on my bicycle and found that after many years of soviet repression, the people are very eager to meet the world. |
| meeting the players in tblisi. |
|  | i came for a football game. i got the idea of cycling from denmark to georgia, because denmark and georgia had to play a world cup qualifying match.
it was really great to tell people along the road that story.
it kinda made them understand why someone would ever want to spend several months cycling that far.
a passionate football fan get's sympathy all over the world.
one good thing too was that because it was such an off the beaten track destination, only 2 other danish fans had bought tickets for the game.
that kinda gave me VIP treatment when i arrived and the danish players and the coach came over and greeted me when they saw me at the press conference before the game.
a real trat for a football fan. |
| mamuka in his danish room. |
| | the incredible mamuka. his name is mamuka kvaratskheila, but he prefers to call himself preben.
mamuka caught interest for denmark when he read the fairytales of hans christian andersen as a kid and it grew to a complete obsession, when he watched the danish national football team play in the 80's.
his favorite player was preben elkjaer larsen and when he was in the red army during the world cup in 1986 he deserted the army one night and sneaked in to a neighbouring village to see denmark play uruguay.
after the iron curtain came down he became a big man in georgian football and now works for UEFA.
he is also vice president for FC.tblisi.
he has one room in his house that is dedicated to denmark.
the room is full of danish football posters,little mermaids and portraits of hans christian andersen.
and the clock on the wall runs on danish time of course.
i was invited for dinner at his house during my visit, together with some other danes who were there for the game and i must say that it was one of the most bizarre and fun experiences of my life.
i'm looking forward to september when mamuka and his family comes to denmark for a visit. |
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| Pros: | "a population that really put's pride into being hospitable" | | Cons: | "soaring unemployment that creates a lot of frustrated youth." |
cachaseiro's Georgia Travel Tips
 Comments for cachaseiro about Georgia | | | | |
PierreZA Tue Aug 18, 2009 05:24 UTC
Thank you for your visit, I do hope you will enjoy 2010 World Cup here in SA. Let me know if you have any questions! | Ekaterinburg Sun Aug 5, 2007 21:26 UTC
An interesting trip through Georgia with loads of interesting local colour and details. I loved the picture of the railway workers cultural house and the strange building in Tblisi. Maybe made with giant lego blocks ? :)) | Obak81 Tue May 22, 2007 22:12 UTC
Lyder som en fed tur. Jeg tager hatten af bare pga den lange distance! | Rustaveli058 Sun May 20, 2007 17:23 UTC
To answer Yuberts Q:No Spent a month there the last 2 summers and only heard english a handful of times. |
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