Beachin' Batumi

Looking for a wild and crazy time in the Caucasus? Beach bars, bikini babes and general debauchery? Well then Batumi, Georgia is you're place. Or at least as close as you'll get to it in this part of the world.

I've never really been much of a beach resort kind of guy. In the summer there are too many of those annoying things... oh what are they called? Oh yeah, tourists! But in the off season the towns tend to dry up into something resembling shrivelled up little helium balloon cowering the corner of some room, long after the party has finished. And of course that's when I visited. But Batumi isn't half bad, even in the off-season. The centre of town is actually quite "pretty", although it depends on your tastes. With century old buildings all being tastefully restored, the "downtown" is rather photogenic. Granted there's not much to do other than take pictures, but it's a great way to spend an afternoon. In the evenings the building are flood lit, some more gaudy than others. But in general, i have to give it a thumbs up.

And of course, there's the beach. Well, OK it's more like a collection of river rocks, but it'll do. The seaside promenade is immensely long. And while I'm terrible at judging distances, it's at least 2 Sprites and 3 bench sits in length. The locals dig it. This is a great place to walk in the morning to see the elderly swimming irregardless of the weather, young kids rollerblading or construction crews thinking over the days inactivity. There are plenty of benches for young couples to sit and enjoy the view, that is when they surface for air after attempting to eat each others faces. There are a few entertainment type things going on, too. There are more than a cities fair share of musical fountains. You can wander around a bamboo forest (pretty sure bamboo's not from Georgia). And what would a beach resort be without a water park. Including big ass slides to give major wedgies. Clearly, the park was closed when i was there. But the one thing i do recommend is the enormous Ferris Wheel. It's cheap at less than 1 lari and the views from the top are awesome, especially at around sunset. In the summer, the boulevard is THE place to be seen in the Caucasus. "Dumphing" club carry on well into the early morning. Accompanied by some of the hottest DJ's and club bands in Europe. But luckily when i was there, they were mostly just serving tea from the terraces.

Batumi is, at it's core, a transport city. The port here was vital 100 years ago as a hub from Azerbaijani oil. At it's peak, Batumi transported around 25% of all the world's oil production. The town has since lost some of it's shipping importance, but the port is still fairly active. Cargo ships come and go, and there are also passenger ferries to the Ukraine and one to Russia (although accurate info is hard to come by). In the morning you can even see all the fisherman preparing their vessels for a days work. Fixing nets, baiting hooks, drinking and all other important fishing procedures are visible.

But all this "new from the old" does come at a price. More than half of the
city is a construction site. And not the "I'll just put a fence around it" construction site that is Baku. No no! This is a "we're going to rip up half of the roads in the city and dismantle all the infrastructure" kind of construction site. Water turns off-and-on without notice. Walking at night becomes an adventure sport. Not to mention the lovely aroma of open sewers. But in the end it is for the better. Pretty soon the entire city will resemble what is now exclusively confined to the city centre.

Getting to Batumi couldn't be easier. There are bus connections to pretty much every city in Georgia. And a fancy-pants new overnight train that is apparently quite fancy-pantsed. And the city is just across the border with Turkey with numerous mini-bus departures to and from the centre.