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Tbilisi

958 bytes removed, 19:21, 14 September 2020

→‎Northwest towards Gori, Kutaisi, Samtredia or North towards Gudauri, Russia, Vladikavkaz

=== Northwest towards [[Gori]], [[Kutaisi]], [[Samtredia]] or North towards [[Gudauri]], [[Russia]], [[Vladikavkaz]] ===

The best way out of Tbilisi depends where you currently are in the city. Basically anywhere along the road north from Tbilisi will work well for hitchhiking. Bus routes are on google maps but marshrutkas are not, so if you haven't learned how to read Georgian yet, you might find it easiest to take a bus to the spot. Not far from Tbilisi, the road splits, with one direction going towards Kutaisi and Batumi and the other way towards Gudauri and Russia. Georgian drivers often seem to think that if they're not going all the way to your destination, taking you won't help. Of course, as hitchhikers, we know that any distance helps as long as it gets you to a decent spot to continue hitchhiking. So, if the driver is going the other way at the Russia/Kutaisi intersection, just make it clear that you want them to take you to the intersection before they drive off. Asking "do pa-ve-rot?" (Russian for to the turn) and signaling a cross with your hands usually works.

1. A great hitchhiking spot is about 200 meters after Tbilisi Mall. Look for the hitchwiki sticker on a sign post just before the gas station. There's plenty of space for a car to pull over and everybody driving past that point is going out of the city. It's quite common to encounter other hitchhikers here but even so, it's Georgia, you won't wait long. Several marshrutkas go to Tbilisi Mall and it's even possible to hitchhike there from in the city. Look for marshrutkas 44, 51, 87, 60, 116, 117, or bus 121 to Tbilisi Mall. If you're really in a hurry, taxis to the mall are 10-15 lari from the city center. You can take Marshrutka 121 for example from Didube metro station. Its very easy from all over the city.

3. One hitchhiking point is about 2km from the ''Didube'' metro/bus station, near the statue of David the Builder on horseback. This spot is along the same road as the previous two, just closer to the city (meaning you have more taxis and city traffic, but it's very easy to get to Didube from anywhere in the city).

4. If you're going to Didube anyways, you can reduce the walking distance to 0 by taking a marshrutka towards Mtskheta and tell the driver to let you out when the S1 national road splits off from the Mtshketa road (see photo). Or take marshrutka 11, which goes all the way from Tsereteli metro station to the end of the city, near where the highway joins the Tbilisi Bypass. Get off at the last stop, by the turn to Jvari monastery. Both of these routes also pass spot #1 (above), so it may be easier to get off there if you don't have GPS and/or don't speak Georgian/Russian (just tell the driver to stop when you're passing the Tbilisi Mall, which you can't miss).

[[File:tbilisinorth.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Hitchhikers going north from the turn off the Mtskheta road]]

54. ~~Another option is~~ If you're going to ~~get~~ Didube anyways, you can reduce the walking distance to ~~Metro Station Sarajishvili~~ 0 by taking a marshrutka towards Mtskheta and ~~walk over~~ tell the ~~bridge across~~ driver to let you out when the ~~highway to one of~~ S1 national road splits off from the ~~petrol stations~~ Mtshketa road (~~you can~~ see ~~both of them~~ photo). Or take marshrutka 11, which goes all the way from Tsereteli metro station to the ~~bridge) and start hitchhiking north from there. This is a slightly less common route out~~ end of the city ~~but should also get you~~ , near where the highway joins the Tbilisi Bypass. Get off at the last stop, by the turn to ~~the main motorway out~~ Jvari monastery. Both of ~~Tbilisi~~these routes also pass spot #1 (above), ~~and~~ so it~~'s a very easy spot~~ may be easier to get off there if you don't have GPS and/or don't speak Georgian/Russian (just tell the driver to ~~from most parts of~~ stop when you're passing the ~~city since the metro is quite fast~~Tbilisi Mall, ~~cheap, and easy~~which you can't miss).

=== East towards the airport and [[Telavi]] ===

Dxc

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