Asia

Yes, the pictures show the ideal image, of how most people know Thailand: The country is easy to travel to, it is super safe, and the logistics are seamless. Everybody is super friendly and smiling, and Thai people are very service-oriented and hospitable. The food is incredible. Both traditional Thai food and their version of Western vegan food in the trendy coffee shops and restaurants that are popping up everywhere, especially on Koh Phangan. It is super affordable. You don’t cook, you don’t clean, you don’t do your laundry. There is always a friendly local offering to do all of that for you, with a smile, at a very affordable price. Many of my friends do their health checkups and dental visits in Bangkok, at a fraction of the price it would cost them in their home country. And without waitlists, with superb service, with a smile… But there are also downsides.

About 4 hours by minibus from Tbilisi gets you to the beautiful Kazbegi mountains. There’s skiing here in winter. Even now, at the end of April, there’s still snow in some places. The mountains offer nice hikes in the summer. The ride there has lots of stops to break the journey. You pass small villages that in winter are completely isolated. People there live a hard life, surviving on potatoes, flour, wine and wodka (chacha). We hiked up to the 14th century Trinity church. It was pretty strenuous, also considering the elevation of 2500 ft, but absolutely worth the effort. Then we had lunch in the beautiful Rooms hotel with stunning views. I would love to come back here one day to laze for a few days, or maybe organize a writing retreat: this place is so amazing. Another day trip combined two ‘sights’: the Stalin museum in Gori and the Borjomi mineral springs. Stalin was born in Gori, Georgia, and is still revered here. It was really weird to visit this museum in which a dictator, who killed millions of people, is portrayed as a hero. I left feeling slightly nauseous. This is not OK! The experience is best described in this article. It sparked an interesting discussion among our group about how our museums and versions of history might also be biased. The Borjomi mineral springs are located in a beautiful, green, hilly area. The village has a few shops and restaurants. This is where the famous Borjomi mineral water comes from. We had lunch at the upscale Crown Plaza hotel. Then we hiked down a steep hill, through beautiful forests, to get to the mineral spring baths. I had hoped for a hot bath, but it was actually only lukewarm. The hike back up the hill warmed us back up though. The ride back to Tbilisi offered spectacular views of the countryside, villages and mountains. I saw many older locals herding their cows in the street. The sunset provided beautiful light and different shades of golden and green on the countryside. Bye bye Georgia, you enchanted me with your friendly people (the people I met in restaurants and shops, not on the streets), great food and beautiful countryside!