Locations: Lagodekhi, Tbilisi [Republic of Georgia]
Week 37 is over. Let’s see what my wallet’s been up to.
Transportation
On Friday, Sunday, Monday, and Thursday, my travel expenses can be explained by metro trips: $0.19 per trip. Most of them were for language exchanges, but Sunday’s was to see see a friend who left Georgia on Monday. You will be missed…until I see you again.
On Tuesday, a friend and I went to ლაგოდეხი (Lagodehki). The travel expense is from catching a mini-bus after we’d made it most of the way out there. We went hiking in the mountains, but more on that in the ‘other’ section.
On Wednesday, we took a mini-bus back to თბილისი (Tbilisi): $2.70. And we took the metro from where the bus dropped us to the house. The mini-buses / large vans called ‘marshutkas’ by the locals are a cheap way to get around, but they can get rather crowded. This one was no exception as it started off all right, but a few people had to stand towards the end.
Accommodation
The rent on the house is $5.48 per day this month.
On Friday, I payed the gas bill. My portion came out to $1.35. Considering how much we use the kitchen, that’s really cheap.
On Tuesday, the hostel / guesthouse came out to $7.71. Two of us rented a 3 person room, and that’s what my half came to.
Food
On Sunday, I splurged a little for the goodbye party. I ordered trout at a restaurant, and was surprised to find they’d grilled a whole fish! It was delicious though. For reference, the aforementioned trout and a salad, and a glass of wine and some fries at a bar all came out to $11.57. I love it here.
Tuesday and Wednesday involved finding food in Lagodekhi so that’s why they’re a little higher. The food out there is even cheaper than Tbilisi! We ate pretty well.
Other
Travel insurance: $8.64 per day.
VPN service: $0.13 per day.
Amazon Prime: $0.33 per day.
On Friday, I bought a book: $5.87. It’s called ‘Any Way You Can’, and I expect it to teach me a lot about how my body processes energy. I also expect a rather large portion of it to be dedicated to talking about ketones. I’ve developed a mild fascination with the ‘keto’ thing so it should be an interesting read.
On Tuesday, a couple friends an I decided to take a ‘day trip’: $19.28. It included a tour of a wine bottling factory (as well as a lot of wine tasting), a trip to სიღნაღი (Sighnaghi) which is called the romance capital of Georgia, and a stop along the road to see how Georgian bread is made.
Right before the trip back to Tbilisi, it was about half way to Lagodekhi so a friend and I hopped off. It wasn’t easy convincing him to let us off at the main road to go hitchhiking. I think he figured it was an unreliable means of transportation. But we flagged down a truck driver who took us part of the way, and a mini-bus that finished it. If you’re willing to deal with unpredictable times, you can wait along bus routes, flag one down, and pay a fraction of the price for the whole ride.
Summary
| Week 37 | ||||||||
| Fri | Sat | Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Total | |
| Travel | 0.39 | 0 | 0.39 | 0.39 | 1.54 | 2.89 | 0.19 | 5.79 |
| Lodging | 6.83 | 5.48 | 5.48 | 5.48 | 13.19 | 5.48 | 5.48 | 47.42 |
| Food | 6.05 | 0.46 | 13.96 | 5.59 | 14.45 | 9.06 | 1.93 | 51.5 |
| Other | 14.97 | 9.1 | 9.1 | 9.1 | 29.15 | 9.1 | 9.1 | 89.62 |
| Total | 28.24 | 15.04 | 28.93 | 20.56 | 58.33 | 26.53 | 16.7 | 194.33 |
So, it was a little more expensive than just staying in Tbilisi, but I had a lot of fun. See you all next week.
