Georgia

Not got as much done re the trip today as I might have liked, but still.

I have now skimmed most of the guide book on Georgia (skipping the bits
on the other countries). In no particular order:

Looks like there could be a jazz festival in Tbilisi during pretty much
the exact time I'm there, which could be interesting.

Tandem paragliding is probably an option "in" Tbilisi; this scares me a
little as I don't want to break a leg so early in the trip :-) but would
be pretty cool.

I very much get the impression that flying into and out of Tbilisi is
the way to go, which sort of minimises the amount of planning I need to
do up front.

The guide was (I think; haven't double checked just now) published in
2011. The country looks almost scarily off the beaten track; typical
accommodation details seem to be of the "son/daughter X speaks a little
English and is sometimes around" variety outside the bigger cities. I
have just had a look and hostelworld.com does at least have a number of
places in Georgia listed, which is probably helpful.

The Georgian language has its own script. This makes the idea of hardly
anyone speaking English even more scary. ;-)

I think it will be cool. Probably best is not to try to cram too much
stuff in, take a few risks with buses/trains around the country and do
what I can. I don't think it's my style anyway, but trying to cram in as
much stuff as possible in the two-odd weeks I intend to be there seems
like a recipe for toppling dominoes when I accidentally end up on the
wrong bus somewhere. Oh, and obviously I also want to have a nice buffer
of time planned in Tbilisi at the end of my time in the country so any
delays are less likely to result in me missing my onward flight.

The guidebook says Russian is widely spoken in all three countries it
covers (though I only intend to go to Georgia) and few people find it
objectionable to be spoken to in Russian; I do wonder if I should invest
in some kind of basic language course (of the "please may I borrow your
garage?" variety), although whether I'd find the time to work through it
properly would be another matter. If cheap it wouldn't hurt too much. I
imagine English will be more widely spoken in India, so that would
"only" leave me needing to do Russian and Thai for the trip, which is
probably just about achievable. (I also suspect English is moderately
common in Thailand, although I really don't know - but it is such a
stereotypical backpacker destination I feel justified in making the
provisional assumption, I will of course be reading a guide book on it
in due course, and that's not to say I won't make some effort to learn
the language anyway.) I suppose I could possibly do Georgian, if there
is a suitable CD+book type course available, on the grounds that I might
as well go for maximum goodwill if I'm learning the language from
scratch specifically for this trip. In reality I don't think these
courses get you to a fantastic level, but on the other hand I've never
been anywhere so probably non-English-speaking before, and something has
to be better than nothing. (I have also read that just a few words of
the local language make you seem more like a human being and less like a
target for exploitation; there is probably something in this.)

I hope I can get wifi at the typical accommodation over there. The
guidebook rarely seems to show its wifi symbol on the places it lists. I
can live without surfing, but it is a very convenient way to book onward
accomodation, not to mention e-mail if not Skype contact with friends
and family and of course this fascinating blog. (Oh, I am also hoping to
keep up my Spanish lessons over Skype to some extent while travelling.)

I think beyond possibly ordering a language course (can I get something
over the internet to avoid waiting for it to be posted? I am not so sure
for an audio-based item like this) I can provisionally consider Georgia
sorted. Two weeks will be fine, I think. When I come to book the flights
I also need to be sure I can book a ho(s)tel in Tbilisi for the first
two or three nights, then I will probably make my onward plans while I'm
actually there. Quite apart from not wanting to be too harried with a
rigid plan, I want to remain open to any interesting options that come
up, or meeting other people who might provide comfort if nothing more to
travel with, or tours offered etc.

Looking on amazon.co.uk for Georgian language material, there is a
bizarre subgenre of lightly sexually suggestive clothing/mugs (in
English), e.g. T-shirts saying "If you don't ask me in Georgian, I won't
do you!" Maybe this exists for all languages, I don't know.

Sod it, there was a DVD (e-book+MP3 files) on amazon.co.uk for £7.98
including postage, I've just ordered that. That's only the price of two
or three pints and I might manage to get some of it studied. It says the
course was prepared for diplomats, ambassadors etc and was "digitally
remastered"; I have the possibly half-baked idea this is going to be
some material produced by (e.g.) the US government in 1940 which has now
been acquired cheaply and tarted up. We will see. Delivery is in 3-18
days, I hope it's nearer the former but 18 days would still give me some
time with it.