🇬🇪 Georgia (საქართველო)

A spontaneous camp a metre from my pillow, the dreaded X-ray scanner and a form that looked like a hieroglyphic. Crossing the Russian border turned into a game of infinite patience where the soldiers turned out to be as nice as ninepence.

A mass of stone fit for giants, a road that makes you dizzy just looking at it on the map, and snow in the middle of May. The journey north continued among slow lorries and tunnels that look like they’ve been pulled straight out of a horror film.

A thermometer in forbidden zones, a month of dirty laundry going round and round, and a wad of roubles obtained in a dark alley. Crossing into Russia requires overcoming an obstacle course of people that nearly leaves us breathless.

A staircase hanging from a cliff face that induced vertigo just by looking at it, and a city wedged into a valley full of floating cabins and rusty cables. The journey through Georgia continued amidst Soviet heritage and a wind-swept secret hideaway.