Last Updated on 28 January 2025 by Cycloscope
Our bicycle trip in Georgia begins. Camping in the Batumi Botanical Garden, following the Black Sea, being stalked by police. Cycling adventures in Adjara.
A visit to the odd city of Batumi and its world-famous botanical garden, a failed Azeri Visa, and other stuff.
A few minutes to 5 am and we’re ready to get off the ship. Well, not really so ready. Since we should’ve arrived in Batumi but instead we’re in Poti, we decide to accept a lift in Daniel’s car, we’ll ride this 70km later. The plan is to get a visa for Azerbaijan in Batumi, which should be faster than in Tbilisi.
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We get in the car and head to the police checkpoint, where our passports are checked. The port officer joins us and leads us to several stations, where our documents are repeatedly examined.
Finally leaving the harbor, the officer demands a hundred euros, claiming he paid the police to let us pass. We firmly refuse and threaten to call our embassies.
He immediately backs down and exits the car, showing no attempt to negotiate. Clearly, he still has much to learn about his “job.”
We leave the port and head to Batumi, searching for food, though everything is closed since it’s too early.
The sea is to our right with beautiful beaches and pine forests, while to the left are fern-covered mountains. Before Batumi, we face a steep climb through bamboo and terraced fields, reminding us of Rwanda.
The scenery is hard to appreciate with the chaotic driving and constant honking. We stop at a bakery and enjoy a freshly baked cheese-filled dough square, plus a strong, short Georgian coffee, similar to Turkish coffee.
Camping Batumi Botanical Garden
We ask locals about camping, but no one seems familiar with the concept. Our GPS suggests a campsite 10 km back near the bamboo forest, and Daniel offers us a lift. We reach the botanical garden, where camping is allowed for 30 lari (12 euros).
After bidding farewell to Daniel, we set up our tent in a shady spot near the beach. Though there are no showers, we make do with public toilets.
We explore the garden, which is full of diverse plants, and then enjoy our first Acharuli Khachapuri, a delicious cheese-filled bread. We visit the nearby beach but hope for better seaside spots later.
Batumi
After waking up, we enjoy a refreshing swim in the crystal-clear Black Sea. At the Azerbaijan consulate, we learned they no longer issue visas in Batumi and must go to Tbilisi. Feeling a bit down, we explore the city.
Batumi strikes us as “weird”—a strange mix of futuristic and decadent. The city is full of odd sculptures, unusual buildings, and a Ferris wheel inside a skyscraper. The boardwalk is lively, and the crowded cobblestone beach is bustling under the hot sun.
Batumi is definitely an interesting place, and we quickly realize that almost everywhere in Georgia is worth visiting. Back at our “camp,” we have a bit of trouble with the guard at the entrance—he doesn’t seem to know about the campsite in the park, showing how rough the organization is. Despite this, we plan to leave tomorrow, head back to Poti, and then continue on to the Svaneti region.
Bicycle touring Georgia, along the Black Sea
Batumi – Grigoleti
We cycle out of the quirky Batumi, tackling a short but steep climb before enjoying a flat ride along the sea. We stop for the usual khachapuri along the way, with the coastal parts of the road offering beautiful views.
As we leave the coast, the road becomes less interesting. We set up camp a few kilometers from Poti, on what seems to have once been a popular beach.
Now, only a few dogs and cows come to drink from the nearby river. We pitch our tent on the lawn, surrounded by abandoned houses and boats.
Stalked by the Georgian Police
Grigoleti – Zugdidi
The temperature is about 40 degrees Celsius. The road today is quite flat. We quickly cross the city of Poti, which looks quite ugly from a superficial observation, and stop to eat fried eggplant with walnut sauce in the only restaurant within 30km. Georgia is a culinary paradise!
There is a Dutch-style headwind today, at least it keeps us from melting in the sun. We engage the first gear, and after some kilometers, the road turns north while the wind also changes to orient in the direction exactly opposite to ours.
About ten kilometers from Zugdidi we see a beautiful river with low water and we stop for a swim, the water is very warm but refreshing.
We would like to stop and sleep there but we don’t have food, so we go in search of it, while also looking for a bar where to watch the match of the Italian football team, but we find neither the one nor the other. Must necessarily go to Zugdidi, the big city… in fact 50,000.
Arriving in town we begin our search for a room, while a police car starts to follow us. They ask us something we do not understand, we ignore them. When we stop they also stop a few meters back, if we turn right they turn right too, and if we turn left they do the same. In short, a full-blown stalking.
Finally, we arrive in a street where there are two small hotels, ask the price, which is the same, about 16€, no competition, and choose the one where we can put the bike in the courtyard. In the meantime, the police are always out there waiting, we don’t know what for. We imagine they want money but it seems odd, they cannot ask for money in broad daylight, can they?
Eventually, just after checking in, they come in and speak with the owner, we imagine they want a bribe from him for having “brought” us to his hotel. From the tone, we understand that he must have fucked them off, just tells us “no problem”… well, mystery.
Anyway, we arrive at the perfect time to see Italy losing to Costa Rica.
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