Laxity

Not been getting on great with preparations. Need to book a hotel in
Tbilisi ASAP; leaning towards springing for a double room to myself in a
hostel with shared bathroom, as a compromise between not burdening
myself with the stress of a dormitory after the flight but still saving
a bit (not a huge amount, but still) compared to a hotel and offering
some prospect of meeting people. The main purpose of the trip is to "see
and, where appropriate, do stuff", not to socialise per se, but of
course a) that's also a potentially fun part of a trip (as long as it
doesn't lead me into excessive drinking any more than I can help) b) is
something I'd kind of like to get sorted out and c) is semi-necessary
when otherwise travelling solo for a couple of months at a stretch. In
respect c) this trip is of course slightly easier than the one in 2010
as I will never be away for more than three months straight, but the
issue still arises.

Went out shopping today and bought a pair of lightweight trousers at
Rohan; think I will take those and the combats I bought to go to
Edinburgh, eschewing jeans (heavy, slow to dry) and the trusty pair of
creamy lightweight-ish chino-esque Rohan trousers I bought for the 2010
trip (which are still in tolerable nick, however; if I didn't think
three pairs of trousers was pushing it a bit, I would probably take
them). Needed to have them shortened, I hope that will work out OK, and
bit of a pisser to collect as they are open from 10-7 so I can't go
before work nor can I conveniently go after work and I'm not in London
next weekend. I might pop over at lunch or failing that one day I will
have to leave work early or get in late. To be fair, if I made sure I
was at the shop in Covent Garden at 10am I'd probably be in work no
later than I often have been lately coming from home.

Got myself a T-shirt and a coat as well. Those were dead cheap,
Debenhams and Primark respectively. I got the lightest coat I could
find, obviously this isn't an ideal time to be shopping for one in this
country. Frankly I suspect it may well be too hot even at night, but we
will see. The cream-y jacket I bought prior to the Mexico trip was too
warm there, definitely during the day and AFAICR at night too. This just
might be lighter in a way - it's waterproof-ish-looking fabric rather
than proper cloth - but you never know. If I don't wear it I don't wear
it, but I will probably want a coat (plus layering underneath) for
Georgia and maybe some parts of Latin America (e.g. if I end up down in
the far south again), and I think it's borderline jacket-y enough that
if temperatures permit I could wear it in the evening and look
reasonably smart without being overly formal. I hate clothes, they're so
complicated. ;-)

Need to get to bed really. Do want to book the hotel in Tbilisi tomorrow
and also look into booking more flights, ideally all of the remaining
flights for the pre-Christmas phase of the trip.

Raj and Manmeet at work gave me some tips on India; apparently I can
hire a taxi for a day for something like £15-£25, which sounds like a
good way of doing some sightseeing in Delhi (although I do want to try
the underground there). Was surprised Raj recommended taking traveller's
cheques, which everyone else I've ever talked to seems to regard as a
prehistoric curiosity. However, I have checked and I have USD200 of my
pre-2010-trip purchase left, so I will regard that as enough for
emergencies and I will try to ensure (Raj recommended £500 in cash,
which is a bit too mugger-prone for my liking) I have maybe £100-£150 on
me (or in my belongings) as a reserve of cash on top. They seemed to
lean towards recommending expensive-ish (although relatively cheap by UK
standards) hotels/restaurants, although Raj said he had stayed in 1* and
3* places and they were OK. I think - oh, Andy made a similar-ish
recommendation about Bangkok - I will lean towards something relatively
fancy when I first arrive in both India and Thailand to allow me to find
my feet before possibly moving down to the cheaper end of the scale. I
am not really intending to go 5* unless it's super cheap however, but
reputable 3*/4* perhaps.

This perhaps makes my choice (not booked of course yet) of a hostel for
my arrival in Tbilisi a bit odd, but then again it's a different kind of
place, I suspect.

Have done lesson 5 of the Georgian course today. So progress has been a
bit slow due to my laxity. Still, better than nothing and I hope to do
one or two more lessons tomorrow, and I think I am pretty much
remembering most of the stuff that has been covered (I keep recapping
some of the older lessons to keep them fresh).

Anyway I am going to go to bed as I hope to not be up mega late tomorrow.