Ajaria as the main region of tourism in Georgia started to develop rapidly during Saakashvili’s presidency. Before that the given region was semi-independent with a semi-feudal system of government, the head of which was Aslan Abashidze, almost uncontrollable master of that region. And in the Soviet period, Abkhazia was more popular, which, according to Georgians’ claims, is richer than Ajaria in its natural traits. Since I was able to spend two free weeks of the summer in other countries too, I can roughly imagine what Spanish seaside resorts looked like 50 years ago or the Turkish ones 20 years ago. They were in roughly the same condition as Ajaria is now. For example, the city of Antalya doesn’t differ from Batumi or even Kobuleti in almost anything. Instead, around it, along the whole coastline, Turks have built such wonderful hotel complexes with such a service and entertainments that one can spend a 10-day vacation there without leaving the premises of the complex. Georgians, on the other hand, I hope, will build them sooner or later. Well, as for Spain, besides all that, there is, as opposed to Turkey, a rich cultural background – possibilities of tours are limitless.
Batumi is a rather big provincial town, Kobuleti is a small coastal town, Ureki, Chakvi, Gonio and the others are coastal villages. Everywhere active hotel and road construction is under way, which gives hope that in 20 years, these places will be like the Antalya region. It is not so yet – the center of Ureki, for example, reminds of a “village club,” where one can hear from 7 sides loud, deafening Armenian “rabis” (labor art) and cheap, old-fashioned Russian “popsa” (popular music).
The biggest drawback for me is that the local population doesn’t speak any foreign language. My peers must have studied Russian at school, but they have probably forgotten it and the youth, certainly, haven’t even studied it. OK, guess there are some political reasons here – they don’t want to speak the language of the hated empire, but in that case, be kind enough to learn English. However, it is not there either – they give answers in Georgian to questions asked in Russian or English and moreover, seem to be displeased that you don’t understand them.
…The guesthouse where we lived was a few kilometers away from Ureki – the quality of the sea and sand was excellent, the number of guests was limited. The price was half the price of similar guesthouses in Armenia and roughly the same price as in Spanish hotels of the same quality. Add to that, say, $200 for the gas or less money for the train or share taxi and you will understand why Armenians are so many here.
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ARAM ABRAHAMYAN
