Having some expectations is fair and correct. But sometimes you need to „correct“ them as well. We have been living in Georgia for two years now, yes, the time is flying by….And observing and listening to my dad when driving, it seems it is different from what we have experienced so far. As far as I remember the bosnian drivers were not meeting the driving standards rather frequently neither. But here, there is a completely different level, not sure if an upgrade or downgrade…. to drivers hell…
There are some simple rules we have learnt – you need to watch permanently what is going on in front of you and the big posh black car has a priority, especially if wearing some exclusive immatriculation and you need to respect these! Strange. One would say all you need is to respect the basic rules and safety of all involved. My dad loves Georgia completely for many reasons but declares the driving is pain…Competition on each traffic light, everyone trying to get out first, no matter if there is space, start overtaking when common sense would prevent you from doing so……Car horns are a must and save you many times, the traffic is annoying in Tbilisi likewise in many capital cities. Very special is Batumi at the Black sea coast where they report the drivers are much more mad than anywhere else in Georgia. Getting there you need to use the local highway, at the moment some very good standard approximately 150 km west from Tbilisi, the remaining part of journey in reconstruction. I do not know why but the people are rather respecting the rules on the highway compared to towns, not speeding that much. Of course, there are some exceptions. But driving there you need to be aware of the fact you may meet cows in the fast line, as there is delicious grass on the division lane and from time to time they decide to step in. Animals are rather frequent in driving through the countryside, herds of sheep, cows enjoying the shadow of bushes or bit cooler bridges in the hot summer.
Driving in the mountains is also a very special chapter. Bumpy roads, 4×4 vehicles and local drivers with great experience and a bit fatalistic approach. „Normally you do not meet anyone behind this curve.“ „Yes, there is space for two cars“ on the edge dozens meters about the river. Sometimes it is much safer to hire a driver with an offroad, like we did in Mestia and were amazed where we got with a 30 year old car and the driving skills of the local quys. Very famous is the mountain road to Tusheti, which is still on our bucket list, sure my dad will not accept this challenge with our car. Here you meet many Delicas, narrow and high cars which is like a mountain goat, it balances and gets nearly everywhere. Frequent landslides may cause significant delays, like when my mum got stuck in Usghuli last year, and had to take some deviations for hours. But there is heavy machinery stored in the parts of the road which gets blocked after each heavy rain. There is no other way! Make sure to have spare tyre with you (from our own experience).
Rather unique is also the old military road going to Vladikavkaz in Russia which we drive through every weekend in the snow season to get to Gudauri, one of two most recognized skiing resorts in Georgia, some two hours from Tbilisi. The only road the tranzit trucks are using so if the border is closed (mainly bad weather related, heavy snowfalls or avalanches), you see dozens of kilometres of trucks parking aside the road, drivers making BBQ (sashliks) and wait. They normally open the road allowing one direction only to pass through, sometimes they wait for days. I got huge respect for them. They need to climb with the old truck up to like 2500 meters and again descend towards Stepantsminda (using tunnels due to avalanches in winter) getting to the borders. Hopefully the planned tunnel below the mountain range of Gudauri aimed to open 2025 will help these brave men. It will hopefully eliminate the air pollution in Gudauri as well as such black snow alongside the road is a proof of the best times of the used track are history.
Last but not least, interesting comparison of the way men and women drive here. Can you imagine that majority of ladies were not driving here until some 2005 or so? They are making great efforts to catch up, though missing some basic rules (I recognise from what I hear in our car😊). The men are fast and competitive, the ladies are simply driving the posh cars, giving you a very special look if you challenge their driving experience. But they match with the cars, nails, hairs, extraordinary:-) The common way here is that the youngsters receive a driving licence for their 18th birthday, some of them taking some courses (slow moves around the corns on the big car parks), some not. So no wonder it is so adventurous to drive here.
And if I mention the youngsters, there is one more category I admire – motorbike deliveries of Wolt, Bolt food and others. These are “brave” ones, speeding and hoping to match between the cars, on the road or on the pavement, green or red, just colours. Simply need to get there as fast as possible, watching the mobile app – you had better watch the road, quys! Luckily the accidents they have been involved which we had to wittness were not crucial, damaged box of pizzas, scratches, for good reason they opted for not calling the police nor insurance company. Wish them the best of luck.
„Put the brakes on“ instead of “Pedal To The Metal“ should be the driving mantra here… If you drive, stay safe and tuned!
