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Batumi - Don't bother with Rep. of Georgia (6 months report)
#1

Batumi - Don't bother with Rep. of Georgia (6 months report)

I primarily moved to Georgia for its' 360 day visa and 0% foreign income tax (I make money online).

I was also able to make a bank account within 20 minutes and they gave me a Debit Card with MasterCard as a payment processor. I have been able to use this card online to buy stuff on Expedia, AirBnb and Steam but I have no idea yet if it will work in foreign ATMs or not.

You would think with such a generous visa policy and 0% tax this place would be overran by westerners but I guess the few who came discovered the negatives of living in Georgia and then left. Although some people online claim to lived in Georgia for years I never met said people in person. So I guess these mysterious invisible long term expats must be hiding in their apartments 24/7 because I never met them at the most popular cafes and bars in Batumi.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batumi
I've primarily been living in Batumi the so called 'Las Vegas of Georgia'

I am happy about making a lot of tax free money. Cost of living is super cheap. I've been staying in $500/month studios on Airbnb. Just the other day I was able to buy 5 sodas, an ice cream sandwich and a MnMs for like $4 USD. If you eat out at restaurants then expect to pay $5 - $15 per trip.

Effectively this is one of the cheapest places in the world to live. The only country I know that is cheaper is probably 2nd tier Ukraine like Lviv or Laos in South East Asia. But the special thing about Georgia is they will let you stay for a whole year and then you can do a border run to reset your 360 days.

Allegedly if you try Facebook or Real Estate websites then you should be able to get an apartment down to $350 a month (but after paying utilities it will be $400 a month if I had to guess).

There's no such thing as $200 or $300 apartments in Batumi's old town. The only realistic way you could get a place that cheap is living in the outskirts and I don't recommend it. My understanding is Batumi is more pricey than Tbilisi because Batumi is a huge tourism center.


Where to live in Batumi
The Piazza, Argo Cable Car, Art Musuem or across the street from the Alphabet Tower. The rest of Batumi is like an urban sprawl and the quality of restaurants / stores is lower outside of the old town.

If you have zero interest in restaurants / bars and just want to cook everything and be a shut-in then I would recommend living close to the Batumi mall for its' supermarket and 24 hour Gym.

Restaurants to go

Most Georgian restaurants are consistent in quality. Just be forewarned that the food is often oily, fried and over-seasoned. I often had high blood pressure after eating Georgian unless I ate something healthier like Lobio (Red Beans with Cornbrread). So if you do live here long term then I recommend to avoid Georgian restaurants and eat at places serving other cuisine (Bacio serves Italian, Restaurant Ukraine, et cetera).

Restaurants to avoid in Batumi: Georgians have a weird love fetish with German culture so you will find a lot of 'German Restaurants' in Batumi. The most famous being HB and Munich. I found the quality of the food to be really low (tough gamey meat), not authentic (as someone who has been to Germany 4 times) and overpriced. A lot of the negative reviews for these places point out the food quality issue but for every 1 negative review there's like 5 positive reviews (which makes me wonder if these restaurants are hiring marketing companies to pad up fake reviews).


Gyms in Batumi
There's a gym in the old town called Orbi Fitness Center but the hours are really weird (like often not open until 10 AM) and they charge like $45 USD a month. Which means if you live in the Old Town then you have a limited window to go to the Gym. Or you're forced to go to the 24 hour Gym in the Batumi mall (but this would require you to walk, take a taxi or drive).

Internet speed

I often get 20 mbps at most places (even in the evenings). I am actually amazed at this speed because internet providers in the United States and Canada seem to throttle their speed a lot. Someone from Europe or East Asia might think the internet is slow for them though.


Not much to do in Batumi

There's only 1 movie theater and it's tiny and only plays movies in Russian (meaning a lot of Georgian people can't watch movies there either!). The beach is just hard rocks and primarily middle age women & kids. No topless sunbathers I am afraid but I kind of half-expected that.

The 'Batumi Shopping Mall' is like 2 kilometers from the old town and inside it's pretty disappointing.

There's almost no women in the alcoholic nightlife. You do sometimes see them in big groups at the Piazza but from the looks of it they're with their family or on some kind of package tour group. So I often found myself (a bit frustrated) having to stay at home and then play computer games or Netflix.


English friendliness

Every waiter / waitress I've had in a restaurant, cafe or coffee house was capable of taking an order in English and responding back in broken English. Same with shopkeepers. So English here seems to be better than infamous areas of Europe like Italy or France. But even though there's fairly high rates of English the local Georgians won't be interested in you.

Xenophobia

I found Georgian people don't like westerners. Some cafes and restaurants I have been to 30 times and the staff haven't once asked me what country I am from, smiled or even tried small talk. So they have very little interest in outsiders even when you come from a nationality that is super rare in Georgia.

Cliquey

Not sure if it's me but EVERYONE in Batumi seems to be part of a group (and these groups are often 5 or so people). They're either going out with family, co-workers or they're on a package tour. I never see anyone alone in public unless they're a taxi driver or a shop keeper waiting for a customer. This strong cliqueyness reminds me more of Asia than American or Western European cultures.


Too many men *** IMPORTANT TO READ **** [Image: dodgy.gif]

For some reason there's too many men in Batumi! If I do a headcount in public then I often count 6 men for every woman. Sometimes 12 men for every woman! You almost never see women at restaurants, cafes or bars unless they work there.

I suspect this is because of the Casinos and Oil Jobs in Batumi (Las Vegas in America has more men than women. As do oil towns). Locals and expats also claim the Adjaran-Georgian culture encourages women to stay home all day.

I've never been anywhere in the world that was a sausage festival 24/7 like Batumi is.

Prostitution

Because there's too many men in Batumi this also attracts a ton of prostitutes. There's about 30 or so 'Thai Massage Parlors' that are mini-Asian brothels and they have fixed prices. Usually $28 for a hour massage + $20 for a handjob or $40 for sex (meaning $70 for sex if P2P is your thing).

Just for Turkish men and Georgian men but allegedly there's sauna prostitution networks where the women are really cheap but there's no information in English or Russian on how to access this. This might just be an urban legend or maybe it was true 10 years ago but the police have since shut it down.

Practically every nightclub attracts freelancers who charge $200 USD/hour. Which is a crazy high price because monthly incomes in Georgia is like $150 a month! Also before the US Government shut down Craigslist a lot of American Prostitutes were charging $150 - $200 on there (but in America incomes are much higher. So why the Georgian prostitutes in nightclubs are charging so much? Georgian men and Russian men are too poor to afford $200/hour. It's mysterious. Sometimes you see 10 prostitutes waiting for a customer because too high of a price means no man wants or is able to buy).

Tinder

Batumi has been the most disappointing place for Tinder in my entire life so far. I almost never get any matches even though a westerner is considered high value in other continents (see xenophobia). I've had a few matches that were actually prostitutes trying to get me as a customer.

I don't understand why a Georgian woman wants a Georgian man (they are very short and poor) but I guess they have a strong slut shaming culture or it is the xenophobia.

Even though there's some Russians / Ukrainians coming to Batumi ~ on Tinder they don't seem as easy as back in their homelands. I think it's because women within 12 hours of coming here get sexually harassed or approached by a stereotypical Turk / Georgian with rapist day game: "SEX IN MY CAR NOW" and then their bitch shield remains high forever.

Oddly Turkish women on Tinder seem to love me (I was surprised about this because of the bad reputation of Turkish women) but I often lose interest because they look really ugly on their Tinder profile.

In all ~ I was only able to get 2 dates off Tinder over 6 months and both women were obsessed in A) wanting to know how much money I make and B) how soon I can marry them (these aren't exaggerations)



Verdict

I already decided I will leave Georgia. I guess I have to come back in 2020 or 2021 to pick up a new bank card but that would just be a maximum 2 week trip. I would rather pay higher taxes or commit tax evasion in an Asian country than to waste anymore time of my life here (especially with the women situation).
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#2

Batumi - Don't bother with Rep. of Georgia (6 months report)

I haven't been to Batumi, but have been to some other cities. If I had to sum Georgia up it would be "Great nature, but boring as fuck with ugly women"
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#3

Batumi - Don't bother with Rep. of Georgia (6 months report)

Quote: (08-23-2018 02:50 PM)Henny Wrote:  

I haven't been to Batumi, but have been to some other cities. If I had to sum Georgia up it would be "Great nature, but boring as fuck with ugly women"

But honestly it's discount geography when Americans / Canadians have far more beautiful sights in their country and Europeans can head over to Scandinavia / Balkans.

In my case I mainly came here for the 0% tax and the 360 day no-visa access. In fact that's the only reason to come to Rep. of Georgia (because of the lax business laws, low taxes and so on).

As for ugly women I don't think they are that bad. The fattest women in their 20s are still skinnier than the vast majority of western women. The problem I've noticed is 90% dress like Nuns and nearly 100% don't fool around.

Expat men tell me most Georgian men (allegedly) are virgins or only had sex twice in their whole life just because of the nature of women here.


I guess this is a historical problem. Because if you look at Georgia on the map it's very large country but extremely underpopulated (just 3.7 million people) when the last major wars on its' soil was like 200 years ago. But there's countries like the Czech Republic and Belgium that are nearly the same size but have 2.5x - 4x more people. So Georgian women must have hated sex for a very long time.
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#4

Batumi - Don't bother with Rep. of Georgia (6 months report)

Thanks for this post, OP.

Georgia was on my list of countries to possibly live in, due mainly to the friendly visa policies, but some of the other characteristics of the country had dissuaded me from making the move up to this point. This thread is the nail in the coffin.

Repped you, this is excellent, on the ground info.

Also, welcome to the forum.
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#5

Batumi - Don't bother with Rep. of Georgia (6 months report)

Quote: (08-23-2018 05:58 PM)Spaniard88 Wrote:  

Thanks for this post, OP.

Georgia was on my list of countries to possibly live in, due mainly to the friendly visa policies, but some of the other characteristics of the country had dissuaded me from making the move up to this point. This thread is the nail in the coffin.

Repped you, this is excellent, on the ground info.

Also, welcome to the forum.

Thank you

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_policy_of_Georgia

I thought that Georgia might be ok if you recruited a FWB / Girlfriend from Ukraine or Thailand to come here. Because their visa policy means you could be together longer than 90 days. It's definitely an option for guys with Eastern European girlfriends who don't want to risk marriage (and divorce rape).

But then in Batumi's case the insane gender imbalance would make me nervous if I brought a woman here. Especially if she wasn't dark Mediterranean looking she would probably get a dozen or more men per day trying to hit her up for sex (Georgian men are similar to Turkish men for their unlimited thirst). And you don't know which woman is going to be loyal or not when she has unlimited cheating options.


My tentative plan so far is to go back to Asia but instead of working as an English teacher (like last time) I'm just going to do be on a tourist visa and do border runs.
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#6

Batumi - Don't bother with Rep. of Georgia (6 months report)

Yes Balkans are a much better option, the people are friendly, the girls are hotter, nightlife better, food better.

I don't know if I would even take a girl there, she would just end up being dry humped by a sexually starved local(or Turk) every time she goes to the shop. In the non EU Balkan countries you can do border runs, so a 1 year visa is not very enticing tbh

One big draw is that you are close to Russian cities like Sochi and Krasnodar.

The worst element for me was all the Turkish and Middle Eastern tourists, the bars are almost entirely filled with men.
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#7

Batumi - Don't bother with Rep. of Georgia (6 months report)

Hmmmm... I’ve read and heard decent things about Tbilisi. Could it be that Batumi is worse off for game because of the male tourism, P4P, and etc that you describe?
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#8

Batumi - Don't bother with Rep. of Georgia (6 months report)

Quote: (08-24-2018 01:40 AM)Cam Newton Wrote:  

Hmmmm... I’ve read and heard decent things about Tbilisi. Could it be that Batumi is worse off for game because of the male tourism, P4P, and etc that you describe?

The gender balance was better in Tbilisi. Tbilisi also has 10x more people, more international students and foreigners in NGOs so all those things are going to improve your odds in terms of Tinder and perhaps nightlife. But Tbilisi is not to be mistaken for a Kiev.

Still I thought the lifestyle in Tbilisi was worse. Tbilisi has insane pollution ~ there was a story of an NGO American woman who got her blood tested and had dangerous levels of lead. Tbilisi is an urban sprawl and I really hated having to take the metro train and to walk so much every single day (it's a car dependent city for sure). The beggars and public drunks were crazier too. I think I saw more Arabs in Tbilisi than Batumi (Batumi is more Turkish and Russians than Arab). So the problem of too many foreign males also happens in Tbilisi but the Georgian female percentage is healthier nonetheless.

The prostitutes and casinos are also in Tbilisi too and arguably that's why there's a lot of these foreign males coming into the country (I doubt they're coming for cheese pies or to score with socially conservative women).

What I like about Batumi is it has an insane number of restaurants and shops per capita (especially in the old town) and everything is rather walkable.
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#9

Batumi - Don't bother with Rep. of Georgia (6 months report)

I think this thread gives Georgia a bad wrap, so I'll give another side to the story. I spent some time there last year and found plenty of positives.

For starters, Batumi is an absolute shithole - not representative of the rest of the country. There is absolutely no reason to visit that city unless you're unable to leave Georgia for some reason; you'll find far better coastal resorts in Turkey, the Balkans or even Crimea... Montenegro, Croatia, etc leave Batumi in the dust. Abhkazia, which Georgia lost in 2008, was the crown of the Soviet riviera... all of the state dachas were in that region. Batumi is a tourist trap built for the Arabs who are unable to visit Europe.

If you're serious about living in Georgia, Tbilisi is quite nice as long as you have a place in the hills and a car to get around (any foreigner can register cars - residence permit or any other special documents not required). Mtatsminda, Tskhneti or Vera districts offer good quality of life at very low cost. There's a lot of stuff to do just outside of the city and resorts aren't far. It's a great place for those who love the outdoors - plenty of hunting, skiing, lakes and hiking within a couple of hours' drive. Winter is very mild in Tbilisi; some years don't see any snow cover and it rarely lasts longer than a week. You'll still need winter tyres if you're planning on driving out of the city as it's surrounded by mountains.

Local produce is fantastic and Tbilisi has a reasonable mix of foreign restaurants. You'll get sick of Georgian food after a week in other cities. Seafood is very limited as Georgia's black sea is polluted and the government limits fresh-water fishing. Their diet is heavy in meat and vegetables and low on carbohydrates except for sugary drinks and bread, which can easily be avoided.

It isn't a country I would recommend for bang missions... Most Georgian guys I've met place a lot of importance on virgin brides, and that reflects strongly in girls' attitudes. You won't have any trouble in Georgia if you follow the "no hymen - no diamond" rule. I banged a few, but they were from broken families or the daughters of slutmothers, which is rare.
If you're looking for easier targets, Georgia is always full of Slavic sluts in holiday mode and there are a few western low-budget backpackers who hang around the larger hostels.

Georgian girls have banging bodies if you're into petite skinny girls with nice tits and well-shaped asses... I don't mean the oversized cartoon-style asses that are popular in the Americas, just small but well-shaped. Facial beauty on average leaves a lot to be desired, but since you'll probably only be in Georgia if you're looking for a wife, you'll have plenty of time . Women age well if you keep them away from bread and sugary drinks. Fashion sense is, unfortunately, very lacking.. girls tend to dress like teenage dudes from the 80s. They need a lot of guidance.

As far as languages are concerned, English won't cut it... Russian is spoken far more widely and at a much higher level, even amongst young people. "Younger people speak English" is a trope peddled by people who aren't able to speak both languages. If you don't speak Russian, you'll be limited to teenagers. Most of them forget whatever English they learned in school within a few years out.

I found Georgians very sociable and friendly, very similar to southern Italians, but they drink a lot of their shitty wine, which they're very proud of so don't criticise it. Guys are all Christian betamaxes, making them utterly useless as wingmen, but they make good friends otherwise. They don't accept any LGTQ concepts and don't take kindly to anyone desecrating their religion.

State education is terrible, which I found surprising for a country in the western part of the FSU; they probably dumped the Soviet system assuming everything western is superior. If you're planning to raise kids in Georgia, you would want to them to a Russian or European school. The English-language international scools are full of Western government/NGO faggots' kids (the UN, EU SMM, OECD, etc. have large presences in Georgia). Plenty of my neighbours' kids went to those schools and they all speak and act like valleygirl cunts.
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#10

Batumi - Don't bother with Rep. of Georgia (6 months report)

Quote: (08-27-2018 10:05 AM)DaveR Wrote:  

I think this thread gives Georgia a bad wrap, so I'll give another side to the story. I spent some time there last year and found plenty of prostitutes.

At first glance...
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#11

Batumi - Don't bother with Rep. of Georgia (6 months report)

Quote: (08-27-2018 10:49 AM)scrambled Wrote:  

Quote: (08-27-2018 10:05 AM)DaveR Wrote:  

I think this thread gives Georgia a bad wrap, so I'll give another side to the story. I spent some time there last year and found plenty of prostitutes.

At first glance...

you've got hookers on the mind scrambled [Image: wink.gif]. I think most of the pay for play is with the thai massage parlours, or Russian hoes nipping across the border for some special clients.

Not many men would pay a Georgian woman for sex, even Turkish have their limits
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#12

Batumi - Don't bother with Rep. of Georgia (6 months report)

My grandpa has a vineyard in Rome and we've been selling a lot of wine (in bulk) to several countries in Europe. I want to go to Georgia mainly because of wine in near future because they kept selling wine to our restaurants for way cheaper than we can provide.

I heard from friends that Batumi is a really nice city but I'm confused right now. Plus, I didn't know that Americans can live there straight a year long without a visa.
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#13

Batumi - Don't bother with Rep. of Georgia (6 months report)

The Nomad Capitalist is a huge fan of FSU Georgia as a great place to run a virtual or online location independent Business from and as a low key offshore place to set up a virtual "bug out bag" Plan B lifestyle in a Low Tax (Note not Tax Free) Business Bank Account and life especially if you want to live well on limited Social Security.

As for Bangable Tang - Romania, Ukraine, Sochi Russia are all prime hunting grounds and Russian women from across Russia looking for a good husband have no problem traveling to Sochi for a Romance holiday...

http://nomadcapitalist.com/2016/05/17/pa...y-georgia/

http://nomadcapitalist.com/2016/07/27/ho...h-georgia/

http://nomadcapitalist.com/2016/07/12/ge...m-low-tax/

http://nomadcapitalist.com/2014/12/03/ge...ies-world/

You get the idea with Democommunist Socialists taking over American Universities and the new mainstream thought leaders of the Democuntycommie party Georgia makes a lot of sense for 3 to 6 months out of the year or as a good plan B place for a low cost safe offshore under the Radar IBC International Business Corporation.

By Comparison currently Costs about $1M USD to set up an IBC in the Bahamas in a safe reliable bank with state of the art online banking with 6% fees on total IBC cash assets per year but a solid OECD compliant Asset Protection haven and a short plane or boat ride from Florida.

I suspect near IBC level banking available in Georgia for a much lower setup cost.
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#14

Batumi - Don't bother with Rep. of Georgia (6 months report)

Quote: (08-27-2018 11:48 AM)Rossi Wrote:  

My grandpa has a vineyard in Rome and we've been selling a lot of wine (in bulk) to several countries in Europe. I want to go to Georgia mainly because of wine in near future because they kept selling wine to our restaurants for way cheaper than we can provide.
Most of the vineyards are in the East of Georgia - the opposite side of the country to Batumi.
Lots of German companies are buying up land there. You could probably buy a vineyard at low cost, import the wine into Italy, mix it with 5% Italian varieties and call it Italian.


Quote: (08-27-2018 11:48 AM)Rossi Wrote:  

I heard from friends that Batumi is a really nice city but I'm confused right now. Plus, I didn't know that Americans can live there straight a year long without a visa.
Those friends... were they Italian? Italian guys love blonde girls, and there are plenty of the Russian variety half-naked on Batumi's beaches every Summer. [Image: biggrin.gif]
Batumi is like Rimini, but without any of the history and replace all of the Italian guys with Arabs and Turks.
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#15

Batumi - Don't bother with Rep. of Georgia (6 months report)

The beach in Batumi is actually very nice. Very well managed and surrounded by parks and green spaces and water temperature was good even in September. The scenery around batumi is nice too with the mountains. The city itself has some nice spots. It’s tacky a bit but certainly beats a lot of European trash beach resorts. The problem is it’s absolutely dead outside of summer.
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#16

Batumi - Don't bother with Rep. of Georgia (6 months report)

Quote: (08-23-2018 02:37 PM)BaatumMania Wrote:  

I primarily moved to Georgia for its' 360 day visa and 0% foreign income tax (I make money online).

I was also able to make a bank account within 20 minutes and they gave me a Debit Card with MasterCard as a payment processor. I have been able to use this card online to buy stuff on Expedia, AirBnb and Steam but I have no idea yet if it will work in foreign ATMs or not.

You would think with such a generous visa policy and 0% tax this place would be overran by westerners but I guess the few who came discovered the negatives of living in Georgia and then left. Although some people online claim to lived in Georgia for years I never met said people in person. So I guess these mysterious invisible long term expats must be hiding in their apartments 24/7 because I never met them at the most popular cafes and bars in Batumi.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batumi
I've primarily been living in Batumi the so called 'Las Vegas of Georgia'

I am happy about making a lot of tax free money. Cost of living is super cheap. I've been staying in $500/month studios on Airbnb. Just the other day I was able to buy 5 sodas, an ice cream sandwich and a MnMs for like $4 USD. If you eat out at restaurants then expect to pay $5 - $15 per trip.

Effectively this is one of the cheapest places in the world to live. The only country I know that is cheaper is probably 2nd tier Ukraine like Lviv or Laos in South East Asia. But the special thing about Georgia is they will let you stay for a whole year and then you can do a border run to reset your 360 days.

Allegedly if you try Facebook or Real Estate websites then you should be able to get an apartment down to $350 a month (but after paying utilities it will be $400 a month if I had to guess).

There's no such thing as $200 or $300 apartments in Batumi's old town. The only realistic way you could get a place that cheap is living in the outskirts and I don't recommend it. My understanding is Batumi is more pricey than Tbilisi because Batumi is a huge tourism center.


Where to live in Batumi
The Piazza, Argo Cable Car, Art Musuem or across the street from the Alphabet Tower. The rest of Batumi is like an urban sprawl and the quality of restaurants / stores is lower outside of the old town.

If you have zero interest in restaurants / bars and just want to cook everything and be a shut-in then I would recommend living close to the Batumi mall for its' supermarket and 24 hour Gym.

Restaurants to go

Most Georgian restaurants are consistent in quality. Just be forewarned that the food is often oily, fried and over-seasoned. I often had high blood pressure after eating Georgian unless I ate something healthier like Lobio (Red Beans with Cornbrread). So if you do live here long term then I recommend to avoid Georgian restaurants and eat at places serving other cuisine (Bacio serves Italian, Restaurant Ukraine, et cetera).

Restaurants to avoid in Batumi: Georgians have a weird love fetish with German culture so you will find a lot of 'German Restaurants' in Batumi. The most famous being HB and Munich. I found the quality of the food to be really low (tough gamey meat), not authentic (as someone who has been to Germany 4 times) and overpriced. A lot of the negative reviews for these places point out the food quality issue but for every 1 negative review there's like 5 positive reviews (which makes me wonder if these restaurants are hiring marketing companies to pad up fake reviews).


Gyms in Batumi
There's a gym in the old town called Orbi Fitness Center but the hours are really weird (like often not open until 10 AM) and they charge like $45 USD a month. Which means if you live in the Old Town then you have a limited window to go to the Gym. Or you're forced to go to the 24 hour Gym in the Batumi mall (but this would require you to walk, take a taxi or drive).

Internet speed

I often get 20 mbps at most places (even in the evenings). I am actually amazed at this speed because internet providers in the United States and Canada seem to throttle their speed a lot. Someone from Europe or East Asia might think the internet is slow for them though.


Not much to do in Batumi

There's only 1 movie theater and it's tiny and only plays movies in Russian (meaning a lot of Georgian people can't watch movies there either!). The beach is just hard rocks and primarily middle age women & kids. No topless sunbathers I am afraid but I kind of half-expected that.

The 'Batumi Shopping Mall' is like 2 kilometers from the old town and inside it's pretty disappointing.

There's almost no women in the alcoholic nightlife. You do sometimes see them in big groups at the Piazza but from the looks of it they're with their family or on some kind of package tour group. So I often found myself (a bit frustrated) having to stay at home and then play computer games or Netflix.


English friendliness

Every waiter / waitress I've had in a restaurant, cafe or coffee house was capable of taking an order in English and responding back in broken English. Same with shopkeepers. So English here seems to be better than infamous areas of Europe like Italy or France. But even though there's fairly high rates of English the local Georgians won't be interested in you.

Xenophobia

I found Georgian people don't like westerners. Some cafes and restaurants I have been to 30 times and the staff haven't once asked me what country I am from, smiled or even tried small talk. So they have very little interest in outsiders even when you come from a nationality that is super rare in Georgia.

Cliquey

Not sure if it's me but EVERYONE in Batumi seems to be part of a group (and these groups are often 5 or so people). They're either going out with family, co-workers or they're on a package tour. I never see anyone alone in public unless they're a taxi driver or a shop keeper waiting for a customer. This strong cliqueyness reminds me more of Asia than American or Western European cultures.


Too many men *** IMPORTANT TO READ **** [Image: dodgy.gif]

For some reason there's too many men in Batumi! If I do a headcount in public then I often count 6 men for every woman. Sometimes 12 men for every woman! You almost never see women at restaurants, cafes or bars unless they work there.

I suspect this is because of the Casinos and Oil Jobs in Batumi (Las Vegas in America has more men than women. As do oil towns). Locals and expats also claim the Adjaran-Georgian culture encourages women to stay home all day.

I've never been anywhere in the world that was a sausage festival 24/7 like Batumi is.

Prostitution

Because there's too many men in Batumi this also attracts a ton of prostitutes. There's about 30 or so 'Thai Massage Parlors' that are mini-Asian brothels and they have fixed prices. Usually $28 for a hour massage + $20 for a handjob or $40 for sex (meaning $70 for sex if P2P is your thing).

Just for Turkish men and Georgian men but allegedly there's sauna prostitution networks where the women are really cheap but there's no information in English or Russian on how to access this. This might just be an urban legend or maybe it was true 10 years ago but the police have since shut it down.

Practically every nightclub attracts freelancers who charge $200 USD/hour. Which is a crazy high price because monthly incomes in Georgia is like $150 a month! Also before the US Government shut down Craigslist a lot of American Prostitutes were charging $150 - $200 on there (but in America incomes are much higher. So why the Georgian prostitutes in nightclubs are charging so much? Georgian men and Russian men are too poor to afford $200/hour. It's mysterious. Sometimes you see 10 prostitutes waiting for a customer because too high of a price means no man wants or is able to buy).

Tinder

Batumi has been the most disappointing place for Tinder in my entire life so far. I almost never get any matches even though a westerner is considered high value in other continents (see xenophobia). I've had a few matches that were actually prostitutes trying to get me as a customer.

I don't understand why a Georgian woman wants a Georgian man (they are very short and poor) but I guess they have a strong slut shaming culture or it is the xenophobia.

Even though there's some Russians / Ukrainians coming to Batumi ~ on Tinder they don't seem as easy as back in their homelands. I think it's because women within 12 hours of coming here get sexually harassed or approached by a stereotypical Turk / Georgian with rapist day game: "SEX IN MY CAR NOW" and then their bitch shield remains high forever.

Oddly Turkish women on Tinder seem to love me (I was surprised about this because of the bad reputation of Turkish women) but I often lose interest because they look really ugly on their Tinder profile.

In all ~ I was only able to get 2 dates off Tinder over 6 months and both women were obsessed in A) wanting to know how much money I make and B) how soon I can marry them (these aren't exaggerations)



Verdict

I already decided I will leave Georgia. I guess I have to come back in 2020 or 2021 to pick up a new bank card but that would just be a maximum 2 week trip. I would rather pay higher taxes or commit tax evasion in an Asian country than to waste anymore time of my life here (especially with the women situation).

Very interesting writeup, thx!

-When you say that you wouldn`t recommend living in the outskirts of Batumi, is it due to safety reasons or more convenience etc?

-Also, are you a 100 percent sure that an online business does not fall under the corporate tax umbrella? (15% tax if so.) If you do say affiliate marketing via Amazon etc. as an example.

We will stomp to the top with the wind in our teeth.

George L. Mallory
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#17

Batumi - Don't bother with Rep. of Georgia (6 months report)

Quote: (08-23-2018 02:37 PM)BaatumMania Wrote:  

I am happy about making a lot of tax free money. Cost of living is super cheap. I've been staying in $500/month studios on Airbnb. Just the other day I was able to buy 5 sodas, an ice cream sandwich and a MnMs for like $4 USD. If you eat out at restaurants then expect to pay $5 - $15 per trip.

Effectively this is one of the cheapest places in the world to live. The only country I know that is cheaper is probably 2nd tier Ukraine like Lviv or Laos in South East Asia. But the special thing about Georgia is they will let you stay for a whole year and then you can do a border run to reset your 360 days.

Allegedly if you try Facebook or Real Estate websites then you should be able to get an apartment down to $350 a month (but after paying utilities it will be $400 a month if I had to guess).

There's no such thing as $200 or $300 apartments in Batumi's old town. The only realistic way you could get a place that cheap is living in the outskirts and I don't recommend it. My understanding is Batumi is more pricey than Tbilisi because Batumi is a huge tourism center.

Utilities are very cheap in Georgia. I rented a 400sqm house and paid about $20/month for electricity (and I use a lot), almost nothing for water and city taxes (garbage collection). Gas cost about $300/month in Winter but the house was built '40s-style cavity brick without any modern insulation. If you rent an apartment, the cost of utilities will be negligible.

https://www.myhome.ge/en/search?Keyword=...rrencyID=1
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#18

Batumi - Don't bother with Rep. of Georgia (6 months report)

Quote: (08-27-2018 02:47 PM)Johnnyvee Wrote:  

-Also, are you a 100 percent sure that an online business does not fall under the corporate tax umbrella? (15% tax if so.) If you do say affiliate marketing via Amazon etc. as an example.

Only foreign SOURCED income is exempt from income tax - dividends, royalties and interest, rent on foreign property, etc. I.e. passive income.

If the source of your income is work that you do in Georgia, you're liable to local taxes.

Affiliate marketing could be structured to avoid local taxation, but you'll need to set up an offshore and pay yourself a small wage for services to the company. Local wages are low, so it shouldn't be an issue.

Georgia doesn't have any anti-CFC legislation, so owning offshore companies isn't an issue.
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#19

Batumi - Don't bother with Rep. of Georgia (6 months report)

Quote: (08-27-2018 02:47 PM)Johnnyvee Wrote:  

-When you say that you wouldn`t recommend living in the outskirts of Batumi, is it due to safety reasons or more convenience etc?[

-Also, are you a 100 percent sure that an online business does not fall under the corporate tax umbrella? (15% tax if so.) If you do say affiliate marketing via Amazon etc. as an example.

Primarily conveniences. Most of Batumi's amenities are in the old town. If you load up Google Map then you realize there's fewer things by the Batumi mall and almost nothing around the Aqua Park. The so called western Batumi is just over development of condos and nothing else.

I suppose if you lived outside of the old town then you will see way more Georgians but as I've said they don't seem to be that interested in foreigners (and never mind their English isn't fluent so you would have to learn Georgian if you wanted a chance to integrate in their society).


And yes the tax here is 0% (Georgia isn't well known as a tax haven) unless you're doing something like having local clients.
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#20

Batumi - Don't bother with Rep. of Georgia (6 months report)

Quote: (08-27-2018 01:41 PM)DaveR Wrote:  

Quote: (08-27-2018 11:48 AM)Rossi Wrote:  

My grandpa has a vineyard in Rome and we've been selling a lot of wine (in bulk) to several countries in Europe. I want to go to Georgia mainly because of wine in near future because they kept selling wine to our restaurants for way cheaper than we can provide.
Most of the vineyards are in the East of Georgia - the opposite side of the country to Batumi.
Lots of German companies are buying up land there. You could probably buy a vineyard at low cost, import the wine into Italy, mix it with 5% Italian varieties and call it Italian.


Quote: (08-27-2018 11:48 AM)Rossi Wrote:  

I heard from friends that Batumi is a really nice city but I'm confused right now. Plus, I didn't know that Americans can live there straight a year long without a visa.
Those friends... were they Italian? Italian guys love blonde girls, and there are plenty of the Russian variety half-naked on Batumi's beaches every Summer. [Image: biggrin.gif]
Batumi is like Rimini, but without any of the history and replace all of the Italian guys with Arabs and Turks.

I don't see that many natural blondes here. If I had to guess most of the Russian tourists are road trip types coming from Southern Russia (which was an area settled by a lot of Ukrainian Cossacks, Germans and there was likely intermarriage with aboriginals in the area).

Never mind a lot of Ukrainian chicks (a ton of them here) are often dark haired.

Actually it can be a tad difficult to tell apart Georgians and Ukrainians (in terms of coloring) but there's some noticeable facial differences I think.
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#21

Batumi - Don't bother with Rep. of Georgia (6 months report)

Quote: (08-27-2018 10:05 AM)DaveR Wrote:  

Mtatsminda, Tskhneti or Vera districts offer good quality of life at very low cost.

But this in itself is a problem. If someone loads up a map of Tbilisi then it's a huge urban sprawl that necessitates owning a car or having to ride the train all the time.

There's a lot of studies that indicate sitting in traffic and commutes is very stressful and takes years off your life. What happens if you get a car accident in the Rep. of Georgia? Will everyone side against you for being a foreigner? Will the other person try to scam you?

I was told by a lot of Georgians they think Vake is the best area of Tbilisi but it isn't connected to the train, its' prices seem to rival Batumi and there really isn't much in the neighborhood.

Then Tbilisi's pollution problem is rather incredible.

I don't see any reason to live in Tbilisi unless you're in a NGO and they're paying you $30,000 - $150,000 to live there (and sure enough that describes a fair amoutn of the Americans you will meet there).
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#22

Batumi - Don't bother with Rep. of Georgia (6 months report)

Quote: (08-27-2018 11:11 AM)Not-a-libtard Wrote:  

Quote: (08-27-2018 10:49 AM)scrambled Wrote:  

Quote: (08-27-2018 10:05 AM)DaveR Wrote:  

I think this thread gives Georgia a bad wrap, so I'll give another side to the story. I spent some time there last year and found plenty of prostitutes.

At first glance...

you've got hookers on the mind scrambled [Image: wink.gif]. I think most of the pay for play is with the thai massage parlours, or Russian hoes nipping across the border for some special clients.

Not many men would pay a Georgian woman for sex, even Turkish have their limits

The P4P scene here, unless the underground sauna network is real, seems to be 98% Thai and Chinese women. Maybe the one exception is Discorium where there's 10 - 20 white prostitutes waiting for customers and they want $200/hour (which is higher than prostitution rates in USA and Germany. So one would have to be a fool to pay for it).

Escort websites have few listings for Batumi. Some profiles I saw were advertising $100 USD but the photos were a bit shady.

It's obviously way better to go to Kiev for P4P. I'm no Kiev expert but I read you can get an erotic massage for just $40 - $70 in Kiev (not sure if this includes a free orgasm or not) and some punters claim you can get street walkers for under $40.

Thing is Kiev seems to be in the top 10 or top 20 cities in the world for women swiping right on Tinder so I'm guessing the guys who are buying sex there are either Turkish or over the age of 50.
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#23

Batumi - Don't bother with Rep. of Georgia (6 months report)

Quote: (08-27-2018 10:05 AM)DaveR Wrote:  

It isn't a country I would recommend for bang missions...

The problem isn't just limited to ONS / SNLs. I've been here for 6 months and there's just a general aversion of local women wanting to date foreign men. I have yet to see a Georgian woman with a foreign guy. I even asked the male expat owners of bars if they have ever seen a case of a Georgian with a foreigner and they said no.

The Russian / Slavic girls don't live in Georgia and they're gone within a week (most I met had to fly out the next day or so).

Russian girls tend to be frugal (their country is poor) so I don't really see them go to bars or nightlife that much. Women are rare in the nightlife but they often seem to be girls from Tbilisi on vacation.

If you want to pull a ONS with a Russian girl then it has to come from cold approaching day game but one will probably be cockbocked by her boyfriend (a lot of dating couples come here) or cockbocked by the people she's traveling with (people travel in groups here a lot).

it's not a realistic option to believe in a fantasy that one will get a Russian FWB or girlfriend in Georgia.

This is probably a great country if you come here as a married couple or if you're an monk / incel who has accepted his fate.


But if you're a 20-something or 30-something guy then I wouldn't waste time on this place unless a NGO is giving you a well paying job. It's far better to live in an Asian country that allows unlimited border runs. A guy can probably get 100+ matches in a day in Bangkok or Taipei but in Batumi just 5 in a whole month (and Tbilisi at 1+ million people wouldn't be much better)

If you're married then it's quite feasible to have a high quality life here just because it's really cheap, low crime and so on. At least for the guy. Maybe a western woman here would be bitchy at the crappy malls and other stuff.
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#24

Batumi - Don't bother with Rep. of Georgia (6 months report)

Quote: (08-27-2018 04:53 PM)BaatumMania Wrote:  

Quote: (08-27-2018 10:05 AM)DaveR Wrote:  

Mtatsminda, Tskhneti or Vera districts offer good quality of life at very low cost.

But this in itself is a problem. If someone loads up a map of Tbilisi then it's a huge urban sprawl that necessitates owning a car or having to ride the train all the time.

There's a lot of studies that indicate sitting in traffic and commutes is very stressful and takes years off your life.
Yes, Tbilisi is a car city. All of the problems you've identified stem from your apparent dislike of cars. If you don't like cars, you don't like cars. Anywhere worth visiting can be reached within 20 minutes from the areas I identified in peak traffic. Commuting is stressful if you have a deadline to meet, but as you're location independent, that isn't a problem. If driving stresses you that much, you could hire a driver for $300/month. The only problem I had was slow drivers.. get a V8 so you won't have any trouble overtaking.

Quote: (08-27-2018 04:53 PM)BaatumMania Wrote:  

What happens if you get a car accident in the Rep. of Georgia? Will everyone side against you for being a foreigner? Will the other person try to scam you?
Install a video camera.

Quote: (08-27-2018 04:53 PM)BaatumMania Wrote:  

I was told by a lot of Georgians they think Vake is the best area of Tbilisi but it isn't connected to the train, its' prices seem to rival Batumi and there really isn't much in the neighborhood.

Then Tbilisi's pollution problem is rather incredible.
Vake has the highest average price for apartments, so if you insist on living in an apartment, neighbours in that district would be wealthier than others. But as it's a small city, Tbilisi is much better suited to suburban living.

Annual vehicle inspections are being reintroduced this year, so that air pollution will quickly disappear. The yellow Ukrainian busses are being replaced as they can't pass exhaust gas tests.
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#25

Batumi - Don't bother with Rep. of Georgia (6 months report)

Quote: (08-27-2018 05:10 PM)BaatumMania Wrote:  

Quote: (08-27-2018 10:05 AM)DaveR Wrote:  

It isn't a country I would recommend for bang missions...

The problem isn't just limited to ONS / SNLs. I've been here for 6 months and there's just a general aversion of local women wanting to date foreign men. I have yet to see a Georgian woman with a foreign guy. I even asked the male expat owners of bars if they have ever seen a case of a Georgian with a foreigner and they said no.
Of course you're not going to see foreigners with Georgians in Batumi. The available pool of local girls is miniscule and Georgian tourists aren't open to flings. Tbilisi is the only city with an eligible pool because that's where all of the universities are and where everyone relocates for work. The people left behind in villages and shitholes like Batumi are already married by the time they're 20.

Some understanding of the culture would have gone a long way..


Quote: (08-27-2018 05:10 PM)BaatumMania Wrote:  

The Russian / Slavic girls don't live in Georgia and they're gone within a week (most I met had to fly out the next day or so).

Russian girls tend to be frugal (their country is poor) so I don't really see them go to bars or nightlife that much. Women are rare in the nightlife but they often seem to be girls from Tbilisi on vacation.

If you want to pull a ONS with a Russian girl then it has to come from cold approaching day game but one will probably be cockbocked by her boyfriend (a lot of dating couples come here) or cockbocked by the people she's traveling with (people travel in groups here a lot).
Get a wingman and hit Lesolidze or Rustaveli where you'll find an endless stream of two-sets in holiday mode. Your competition is gameless Georgians and horny Arab/Indian tourists who couldn't tell a vegana from a navel.
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