Negatives of Georgia (country) - What we didn't like. 

So now you know what we didn't like. My wife has the bite marks as a memento. Don't forget to checkout the positives video. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-OPWq6PoFITg.html

As someone who lives in the "West" yet is of "East" origin, let me state my opinion on a few things you addressed: - "peach vs coconut" is a theory about how Western people (Americans & Brits) are very friendly [soft] on the outside but usually arrest the relationship to avoid intimacy or friendship [hard on the inside, like a peach] whereas Georgians and French are "hard" on the outside [like a coconut] but with invested time and energy it turns into a very loving, soft relationship. - Georgians (and many Eastern Europeans) are "crazy" drivers, but doesn't mean they are bad. In Eastern Europe, you'll notice slow traffic stays on the right side. People know how to use roundabouts and fight their way into intersections. Drivers are very perceptive when it comes to "obstacles" in road (pedestrians, bicyclists, parked cars, unloading trucks, etc.) and will instantly drive around them without stopping. In the U.S.A., people block the fast lane, are useless at roundabouts, become flustered/hesitant when there are obstacles in the road, and constantly hit potholes. So yes, Western drivers "stay in their lane" but it doesn't make them more skilled. - Truly I empathize with your food allergies, but Georgian ancestors have been living off of wine (fructose), dairy (lactose) and grains (gluten) for thousands of years with high life expectancy. Problem is the modern diet, especially Western, is not balanced and is laden with processed and refined "food", damaging the gut, creating food sensitivities and autoimmune disease. - The stray dogs are always an issue in Eastern Europe, but if you grew up there you know how to fight them, and while I have seen dog sh*t here and there, its never been too overbearing in my opinion...

Thank you for your videos. It give us useful info on our planned trip to visit Georgia.

As a Georgian I approve these negatives. Spot on mate and hope you come back in the future.

You're spot on with the allergies and stuff like that. I'm a Georgian myself so every time I'd go to my village my grandmother would get very upset when I couldn't eat her food. Especially tomatoes and other vegetables because she grew it in her garden. Btw I've never been bitten by a dog even tho I had contact with em.

I am a Georgian with gluten intolerance and I have hard time finding gluten-free products here, so every time i visit western countries I always bring some products home.

Nice video.. surely not for negative comments but for being fair in all aspects

Very accurate and honest review of our drawbacks. As a Georgian I agree with you. We have to improve in many areas. Employees not being friendly drives me crazy as well.

Sadly I was Robbed during lunch hours near McDonald's in Batumi Georgia by group of kids they attack like professional and so quickly and unexpected and Dispite we were Screaming for help NO BODY HELPED I was told by several other people the same happened to them So Sad

Having been to Georgia recently, this is spot on. It was insane seeing the way drivers behaved, driving over 100 kph and bypassing other vehicles on a regular basis. While the stray dogs didn’t bite me it was quite sad seeing them everywhere, they followed me around, thinking I could feed them.

I worked in supermarket and piting on a smile is hard when you are getting payed 120$usd a month

from where I live, we also have a lot of stray dogs. most of them are flea ridden with scabs(yummy). they're usually either passive or afraid of you at daylight, but at night, they can be really protective and aggressive so be careful around them. don't show them your fear, and don't ever panic, or they will really go after you. I usually pretend I'm gonna pick a stone, and they suddenly back out a bit. keep at it until you're far away from their turf. or carry a baton... intimidation tactics don't work well when they're in packs. stay safe, and always watch your step :D

How is the covid situation in Georgia? Heard the country approved a new therapeutic for severe disease. Anyone heard any success story?

Thanks for sharing. ARE you planning to stay longer in this country?

Thank you .

Hi,is it possible to visit Tibilsi, Georgia for an Indian citizen

I live in Georgia and one time, three dog's followed me to my house. They didnt bite me but i was scared a sh*t. The dogs started to figth and whould have biten me if a kind old man didnt save me. I wanna thank whoever the old man was for saving my live form being almost biten🙂

Hi: I know that this video is two years old, but I'm getting ready to head to Georgia in a few weeks and I needed to verify one thing. You mentioned that you had to go through hoops to order some electronics from the US back then. Are their any types of restrictions in Georgia on ordering electronics from abroaad such as excessive tarifs? Thank for your informative video.

Hi Tony, Greetings of the day. How about public transportation in Georgia. Are hotel are clean and teddy in budgetary range. Vegetarian foods are available ?. Do they understand and respond Russian language? Sivakumar, India

I agree with you

As a Georgian I completely agree with most of it, I find most of this also bizarre. Taxi service is made a little better by using "Bolt" application... those drivers are still sometimes crazy, but not Georgian driver krazy... Electronics? - Amazon, Ebay via USA2Georgia, there is no other way, unless shopping for Home electronics like a Fridge or TVs (For these there are atually may decent shops like "Alta" or "Elite Electronics" or "MetroMart"). PC parts, Laptops? - Those are much better imported with a "delicious" 18% of import tax... xD

Hi is there any changes price wise in 2023 ,are you still there?

My theory on not being able to find small items is based on the profit motive. Most shops are small. They seem to only sell items with a high mark-up. For example, in a computer store, you can find most things, but not cheap things, like mouse pads, adapters of various kinds, etc.

You are correct in most points, even though I am not a Westerner. Some notes are taken into account for development. I noticed that some people here are nervous to deal with

(I am using Google translate) I agree with what you were talking about 100 percent , these problems must be solved, that is why we are a "developing" country. I want to give you a little info about Georgian drivers. In the 1980s, as you know there was militcia, quite corruped, so people were buying a driver's license, the government tried to fix this problem by: driving licenses taken before 1990, were not considered as valid, although now modern drivers are better off on the roads. Thanks for talking about these problems. Sincerely, Luke.

Very educational

Thanks for mentioning the stray dog problem. Not much is being done about it if anything at all. Most people don't think of it as a problem even.

1:40 - don't you usually look were you walk?

You described Albania Perfectly, especially the dogs and insane driving.

Driving in Georgia sounds awesome, it’s like grown ups Mario Cart! Can’t wait to get there👍

I appreciate you as a Georgian man. Right on.

I’m from Mexico, sounds very similar so I’m hype

Wife and I have spent the last 6 weeks in Tbilisi and we cant agree more with all of your cons of Georgia so far. Highly recommend to future tourist to not spend a lot of time in Tbilisi and instead go out into the countryside. Kazbegi was great. Heading to Batumi for a month next !

As a native Georgian, yes this is very true. agree 100%

Totally agree with someone who is a native in tbilisi. its definatly a problem of so many dogs and their presents. i grew up terrified of dogs because one bit me when i was very young. so i lived in constant fear at the time. at night all you can hear are dogs barking at cars driving by and at each other.

2:30 'We love you, but you can't drive'. We are always brutally truthful to those we love in trying to help them fix any shortcomings that may be holding them back.

In georgia stray dogs are friendly but sometimes there not we have a dog in the front of our ampartment and we have a dog he plays with other stray dogs but he attacks people that he thinks that are trying to like hurt us and we always have to stop him

Don't forget about being a taxi magnet as tourist. When they realise you're a tourist, they come to you asking if you need a taxi. Sometimes they even pull up to you to ask.

One thing to note regarding customer service is that, though you pay a 20% tip, usually it does not go to the waiter/waitress.

I went work in Georgia I’m living in Qatar How to get work permit

Thanks, Tony. Very informative and well researched. Most grateful.

I am Dutch and live in Georgia for 5 years but never experienced such kind of dog you spoke about they barking but you must keep them on distance and in case you know how to speak with them then they are more scarred from you then you need to be from them. Concerning the shops I am very agree with this point and I have in Georgia only foreigners from several countries who are our friends but it's complecated to be friend with Georgians the only way is to go to a other city and the hotel where you stay you can have a nice talk with the staff!

That's strange because initability in my neighborhood we have tons of dogs and cats and they're not this hostile or any other neighborhood I saw they mostly leave you alone but if you have food sometimes they're going to follow you

Omg I will be traveling with my family in 4 days to Georgia…. I m already scared of dogs n cats … will there be too many even during winter n snow on streets 😢

ohh that was scary experience to be bitten by the dogs. Yeah even I have noticed there are many street dogs here and I do hope the govt should do something about it. I do experience the driving is not safe and many times the local drivers dont follow the lanes and drive insanely erratic. My experience of customer service was ok. Some hotel and restaurants were extra polite but yes there were few who were quite rude.

I agree mate

interesting points, what initially inspired you to travel to Georgia? I'm Georgian based in Hamburg and my Partner is German. We'll be out and about there in August posting a lot of content from there soon, so I'm going through ALL the videos anyone ever posts about Georgia (-: so that's how I found you. I think the allergy awareness is becoming better. They recently opened a SUGARFREE cafe for all people with diabetes or other types of sugar sensitivities BIG LIKE for the video

I got bitten while living in Georgia as well. Three shot series. Attacked a few times. It is a pain.

Everything is so true...

Hi tony do you live there ?

The first point is very true there are many stray dogs everywhere on the streets I know because I’m Georgian

Georgia is a fantastic country but the driving and parking is crazy!

Im a native georgian and currently still live here. I probably agree with you on everything except for the service complaints. I personally hate overbearing costumer service, especially after experiencing it abroad, i dearly missed the more casual style of georgian service. I go into a store, get what i want and just buy it without the hassle of making smalltalk or having to deal with people trying to sell me more things. I go into a cafe or a resteraunt, order what i want and i never have to deal with them until i leave. I don't care if they're smiling or im smiling or whatever, i know what i want, i get it and jobs finished. I guess it's just a difference in culture.

Georgian here. Couldn't agree more. It's strange how many of these cons I've slept on until I moved to States and went back. Now that I bring some of my friends from Europe and States to Georgia, they always mention this points and I try to prepare them for it and be ready for the possible "surprises" to make their stay as great as possible knowing how much good the country has to offer. Also, I think it's worth of mentioning that I go back to Georgia once a year and unfortunately, I don't see anything being improved but opposite.

Dogs are also a problem in villages and town where there's life stock. They are shepherd dogs guarding the life stock but they can be very agressive and i know few people have been attacked in Tusheti and Kazbegi

I also have food allergies ....I order a small bowl of chopped raw onions before my meal and swallow them like pills ; this really works for me

Fair. I agree , as a Georgian

here in Madeira island it's the same...crazy drivers...stray dogs..cats...almost same in every country

Did you prefer Georgia or Ukraine!? I’m deciding where to study!

Thank you for your videos, but can I ask why you stay short in Azerbaijan and so long in Georgia? And so many videos about Georgia and only one short video about Azerbaijan?

What about dogs driving?

Not safe I was robbed sadly in Batumi

Beautiful country with a lot of rude locals. Starting from immigration to waiters etc.

Ive been in NYC where man has dollar sign in his eyes when he greets you in. Georgian people have more pride and dont really care for tips they just want respect generally speaking, of course there are some Americanised minds here as well..

Very true, the drivers are worse. And the service is very bad where ever you go, if you go to bank they think as if they are giving you money, if you go to restaurant they think they are giving you food. And nowadays the curruption is very high, the power is just belongs to the people who have money.

Seeing the Georgian people in the comments makes me want to go to Georgia even more! No one getting pissy and pretending like the country is perfect, which obviously NO country is! Georgian people seem awesome!

if supermarket workers were paid as same as uk salaries they would be smilling too

It's extremely difficult to deal with the problem of dogs. Georgia is a part of the Eurasian Continent. If all the stray dogs of Georgia were shot, it wouldn't be too long before dogs from elsewhere would come in and breed. Look at the wild dog problem in Australia for example.

If you think the driving in Georgia is bad, you should've seen my driving the first time I drove home from work by myself! I went the wrong way down a one-way street (thankfully there was no one coming), and my mistakes added up as my disorientation increased. I failed to stop at stop signs, forgot to put on my turn signal, and in general just acted like a crazy driver. It's a good thing that there were no cops around or they would've stopped me in a heartbeat! Maybe drivers in Georgia are all new?

I am going to Tbilisi in two weeks time and I have been looking forward to seeing the stray dogs. Apparently they are looked after - fed, neutered, flead. I think it is a better way of keeping dogs. Dogs don’t like to be stuck at home all day by themselves while their owners go out to work. They are pack animals. For me this system reaches back to when wolves became dogs by living around the outskirts of the village. Also you can just get friendly with a neighbourhood dog rather than owning one and having to take full responsibility and not being able to travel for extended periods.

You right draiving is so bad in Georgia end dogs is big problem

As a Georgian agree in many point expect for customer service that is not about our mentality that's because of low salary and low standard of life as a British and western cityzen u might don't understand this but unfortunately that's reality but anyway hope u had a great time here ! 🇬🇪

You forgot to talk about the scams

Hi, you're intolerant! :) I notice you use past tense, does it mean you're no longer living there?

Also next time you see dogs running towards you just don't run, walk very slowly and trust me they won't bite, they will just burk doesn't matter how scary a dog seems it works

Thanks for that. Much appreciated bit of honest reality is always appreciated and valuable. I noticed in other Tbilisi videos a lot of barking dogs and wondered if it could be like Mexico or Thailand where Buddhists don't believe in exterminating animals and Mexicans don't eat them as in Korea or China. As an alternative to escaping poverty in the U.S., and in particular Oregon and California, we seem to be at bigger threat from two-legged, armed and drug-crazed, ferrel animals and ANTIFA revolutionaries than the smaller four-legged verities you describe in Georgia. Here, literally everyone on my street have half-crazed pit-pulls they allow to run loose and I've been attacked three times already and one child-was recently mauled. So from that aspect, perhaps the former Soviet state of Georgia ranks above the New Soviet States of California Oregon for wild animal attack risk eh?

Dear Tony, I was born and lived in Georgia for 35 yers. I left in the mid 90s and have been living in the US for 26 years. As someone who learned how to drive in the US and have been driving for over 20 years, I cannot imagine getting behind the wheel in Georgia. I will probably end up in an accident within 5 min for driving "differently"...Another Huge negative that I find very disturbing: cars don't give way to pedestrians! During my visit about 5 years ago I was walking in Saburtalo part of Tbilisi, near place called "Ipodromi". Unfortunately, in some parts of that road there were no pedestrian walkways and I was forced to cross the street a few times. I was shocked to see that not a single car would slow down and all the drivers, men/women were honking and cursing at me...and this is called a civilized nation! What about people who cannot rush, who are elderly or disabled? I think this is a deeply embarrassing thing overall and this has to change. I am sorry that your wife ended up being bitten by a stray dog! There were always plenty of stray dogs and cats in Georgian cities and my association with it is that in the 90s, during the extreme economic devastation when we were hungry and had 1-2 hours of electricity a day, those stray dogs and cats strangely disappeared...most likely eaten by people who had very little food...I really appreciate that you are describing negatives of Georgia with kindness and respect. I also appreciate kind responses by Georgians viewers. There is an ancient tradition that is deeply ingrained in Georgian's psyche: "Guest is a gift from God" and I hope that most of the times your experiences were positive...And it's not a great place for gluten free, dairy intolerant, etc. people. I think it can be fixed but will require a more systematic approach.

yeah i see what you mean but thats in the not well known places. soo supermarkets...yeah its weird for us, we dont rly do that if we dont know the person..or if they are not talking to us. and probably those products were here but you kinda need to know where to search. and i always walk and ive seen a lot of stray dogs but all of them are tagged and they dont even come close to you so you were either really unlucky there or walked in like a shady place and they were someones dogs.

georgian post is also a big negative, 50% of my post either gets lost or returned to sender. totally agree on traffic, i get road and pedestrian rage every time i venture out on foot or by car. a lot of the dog poo is caused by owners who think it above them to clean their own dogs mess..

They respect dogs and share their space with them. They are good people and would not let the government kill them. That is how it is in Thailand where I have retried except for the Tourist corrals. I enjoy the stray dogs very much.

I am very sorry about the accident with your wife in Sighnaghi. Unfortunately, the dogs in the villages are sometimes aggressive, often because they are hungry or maybe rabid. But despite this, I would be very sad if they disappeared one day. I really love Georgian stray dogs and, fortunately, have always found kind ones. In Soviet times, stray dogs were very aggressive, as people treated them very badly and aggressively, so they defended themselves. Now the situation has radically changed in relation to cats (many Soviet people did not tolerate them for some unknown reason) and all animals. When I travel around Europe, I miss stray dogs. All animals live like humans). They seem to go to work and also pay taxes)). As for the georgian service, I would advise you to compare their salary with the British one, and you will understand the reason. Also working conditions and so on. I also do not like the service here in most restaurants, but I force myself to remember how it was 5-10 years ago and it passes and gives hope). I would say that the services in western and eastern Georgia are completely different. Of course the east is much better, but it's a matter of climate, I think). I know all these problems well, but we are learning and improving as we are still a young country. I absolutely agree with your statements about Georgian drivers. Yes, we have a huge mess on the roads. We are always in a hurry, but when we arrive we are the most relaxed in the world. This is the only thing that we do not improve))

In England supermarket they are rude too my man

IF GEORGIA WANTS TO BECOME PART OF THE WESTERN WORLD THE QUICKEST WAY , ALL THAT GEORGIA HAS TO DO IS TO RECEIVE A SIGNED ASSURANCE FROM THE USA that if Georgia adopts and implement the American Georgia State Constitution to be part of the American Georgia State, and implement English as official State language starting with the next generation of children, and the USA to sign such insurance if the European Georgia implements it to become part of the United States of America's Georgia State.

I'm Georgian and everything is truth. I'll never visite Signagi any more, because same was in my case, this is one what we have for tourists and no one managed to take Care of dogs. I'm really afraid to go alone. Hope it will be better, i am very happy that so many people are interesting to visite my homecountry and we should offer better conditions.

Azerbaijan is more modern and safe.

Apart from what you have shown here, in my opinion the biggest negative of Georgia is street beggers. I was really surprise to see them coming inside the restaurants and hotels for selling flowers or asking for money. The experience started right from the time I arrived at the airport. While i understand that Georgia is a poor country, however the street beggars really put a dampener to your trip when they approach you and kind of clings to you demanding food or money.

Thanks for honest review.. I am Georgian emigrant living in Europe for 30y and I hate all this minor bad habbits and teaditions.. o was there in 2010 .cars are kings of ther road ! Hate it. Air is terrible in Tbilisi !

Driving is the worst part. Especially if you own nice vehicle 🤣

not every dog is crazy tho... some of them are very kind who need homes : (

Mentally? It's about salary and schedule at this point not mentality

Basically the country and its people need time to become friendly they are still on 3G

1:56 the government is not gonna do anything

As to the crap problem. I recommend informing your government to start up a program where people can first get easy cheap access to a simple extended bar pooper scooper device with bags and if people scoop it into bag and deliver it to a receptacle that would be like a unique small garbage container along streets. Then people will get credit added to a special card (Like a Debit card they can scan at receptacle when they deliver poop) that they can use as real money towards their purchases. So effectively people would be paid to contribute to the clean up. & the money they would get from it would easily eventually even pay for the extended bar pooper scooper device they buy.

For someone that looks as healthy as you do, you have allergies to quite a large number of things. You may want to learn how to become a master chef so that you will never have to worry about strange restaurants and their staff not understanding what you mean by gluten intolerance.

It's the only country I've been to where when you say a few words in their language , or try to start a friendly conversation you are met with total ignorance or contempt. You can see it in their eyes , I believe a lot of the people there don't like foreigners. I was in the local supermarket, and the girl serving literally threw the change back at me. Every day I went there , I said Madloba and was always friendly , I was totally ignored. This was a recurring theme. They say that it is because they are on low wages , well I've been through south east Asia and they are very polite and friendly people... Manners cost nothing.

If i ever reborn, I wish to be born as Georgian, very beautiful people

stray dogs are everywhere.. most of them are big and friendly.. so far nothin happened.. for driving and customer service, this is the top priority of the government to fix.. so far georgia is a good country..

Hi Tony. Great Channel keep it up 👍🏼 I actually canceled my whole trip to Tbilisi. I have heard the racism and rudeness of people there towards tourists ( I’m an Arab from Dubai ). I’ve heard there are even face controls in the clubs so it made me uncomfortable and off to visit there. I couldn’t risk going there and spend my money and waste my time. Thanks for your great video .

Yes the dog issue could get scary. Sad your wife got biten.

After 3 or 4 times you are family. Great.