Tesla

He is Georgian - or more precisely, Mingrelian. The Mingrelians are a sub-ethnic group of Georgians living in western Georgia. I arrived in Zugdidi, a small city near his village. He met me there, showed me around, and told me a lot of interesting things about the region, local traditions, and history. He says he’s tired of modern Western values and big cities and plans to stay here. The first thing I saw after leaving the train station was a cow running down the street between cars. I dropped my stuff at the hostel: my paint and 2.5 litres of homemade wine that Nikoloz had given me. We went to explore the city, and I tried the local shawarma. As darkness fell, the city slowly came to a standstill. I went back to the hostel to sleep.

The next day we went to the sea, to Anaklia. We walked along the coast and reached the border with Abkhazia. The border looks pretty improvised - the fence is made from whatever materials were available, but there are floodlights. We heard the voices of Russian border guards. Abkhaz people can cross the border from Abkhazia into Georgia relatively freely; the government even provides them with certain benefits. For Georgians, crossing into Abkhazia is not allowed. This is despite the fact that Georgia has nearly 200,000 refugees from Abkhazia. Many of them left behind their homes, which have since been taken over by Abkhaz residents. Many Georgians also have ancestors buried there, and Georgians traditionally have a very deep respect for the deceased and their graves. Nevertheless, people still cross the border quietly and unofficially.