sory to tell you that I speak the langage, so I would not be able to answer that

But people are usually hospitable and nice. You should enjoy it a lot

I’ve been to Georgia twice for about a month each time, and heard all the rumours about rising crime and travellers being robbed before I went…had no problems though. Tbilisi is like any other big city at night, although perhaps a little less lit up…just take precautions like you would in any other unfamiliar city.

The language is difficult, although you can pick up the basics quite easily. I found learning the numbers and question words before arriving very useful. The Lonely Planet guidebook has a useful language section, so you can try to learn a bit before you go, and once you’re in Tbilisi, go to the Prospero Bookshop on Rustaveli (the main street), which sells a small Georgian conversation book and a Survival Georgian phrasebook…some of the phrases are completely ridiculous, but with a bit of work, you can have a conversation of sorts with Georgian speakers. Learning the alphabet isn’t essential, but will help with finding out where buses are going.

English speakers are quite hard to find, although most people who work in tourism (agencies, museums, etc.) speak English and other languages well. But mostly, you’ll need to use Georgian or Russian to communicate. Russian is spoken by nearly everyone, and there doesn’t seem to be a reluctance to speak it like you find in some other ex-Soviet countries.

Travelling outside Tbilisi, there are places that are not always safe…although it depends on who you talk to. Some of my Georgian friends in Tbilisi warned me not to go to certain mountain regions, others told me it was safe. It is quite hard to find out what is true and what is exaggeration.

I would advise you to use the Lonely Planet thorn Tree forums to try and get information from travellers in the country recently, as well as joining one of the many online travel communities and making contact with some of the Georgian members…one I cna recommend is Virtualtourist.com which has a number of helpful and friendly georgians who know a lot about travelling in their country.

Hope you have a successful trip…Georgia is an amazing place ;@P