Georgia

Georgians love foreign visitors, and it’s easy to meet them, though not that many people speak English, though kids are starting to learn it in school now. Almost everyone speaks some Russian.

Unless you look Greek or Turkish yourself, you will probably stand out a lot.

Politics can be a tricky issue in the Caucasus, with fairly hardened attitudes prevailing thanks to years of war and ethnic and religious strife, so be careful what you say about such issues. Not everyone in Georgia thinks of Stalin and Beria as mass-murdering tyrants, for instance, although many do.

The people love it when foreigners interact with them, so by all means be prepared to join in at impromptu drinking and dancing sessions in restaurants. Almost anyone is prepared to have their photo taken.

The Georgian flair for business dealing can extend to fleecing the tourist, particularly if they think you are loaded (compared to them you probably are). Bargain, where necessary.

Female Travelers
Georgians tend to have traditional values about women, who definitely have a lot of esteem in society – you only have to look at the Tbilisi skyline, with its huge Kartlis Deda (Mother Georgia) statue to see that! There is always a toast to women at a Georgian banquet.

Georgian men are pretty macho in their attitudes, and are probably a lot more likely to be protective of foreign female travellers than threatening, though the level of protectiveness might be a bit stifling for some.

Attitudes to foreign women are likely to be dependent on how you react – dress provocatively and flirt a lot, and you’ll get all the attention you want, and a lot more besides. They are fairly used to Russian and Ukrainian women, who are not as conservative as Georgian girls, and are regarded accordingly – “sleep with a Russian, marry a Georgian” was a phrase they used years ago. A taxi driver in Batumi told me some nostalgic tales of what used to go when hordes of Russian girls came to the beaches every week in the 1970s “when we had money and no AIDS”.

If you dress modestly and behave normally, you are likely to be left alone.

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