Georgia (the country, not the US state)

Back when I was still in Rio my friend Julie emailed and said "we're thinking of going to Armenia and Georgia in the spring, do you fancy coming?"

At that point the Paralympics hadn't even begun, I hadn't done my South American odyssey and wasn't thinking much beyond the next few weeks. But by Christmas, two months home, I was already getting itchy feet (and not much work!) and willingly signed up for three weeks around Georgia.

"Why Georgia?" asks everyone, quickly followed by, "and which one, anyway?"

The answer to the second is that we're in the former Soviet state, a country which borders Turkey, embraces the EU (there are EU flags everywhere, although Georgia is not a member state), and which has been consistently invaded and occupied by Russia throughout its history.

The answer to the first is broadly, "why not!" When Julie and Andrew were on their two-year trip around the world we met up for a fortnight in Uzbekistan and had a wonderful time and the thought of another journey to a country in that broad region appealed. Obviously Georgia is culturally, politically and historically quite different to Uzbekistan but it also sits on the ancient Silk Road and there are commonalities. It's also supposed to be stunningly beautiful and everyone who's been there raves about the people and their friendliness.

Also, they make wine and the local speciality is a sort of bread pastry filled with melted cheese. Was there even a question?

Flying to Georgia is a bit of a mission with few airlines taking you there from the UK and all at unsociable hours. My flight left Stansted just after lunch and after a four-hour layover in Istanbul got me to Tbilisi at 3.30am. Apparently there are few rules in Georgia about when flights can land, so many international flights get in at stupid o'clock in order to cut costs.

Apart from that, though, it's a pretty easy country to visit for a Brit with no tourist visa required, lots of goodwill towards the UK and very low costs.

We began our journey in the capital Tbilisi ... more soon!