Georgia : My introduction to the Caucasus

Working in the GCC certainly has its advantages, a few months prior I saw an advertisement floating in FB about visa-free entry for GCC residents to Georgia and despite the fact that I have no clue at all about the countries in the Caucasus.....I jumped at the chance of going to a new country without the hassles of applying for a visa!

With new visa regulations comes with it the lack of information dissemination......or maybe I just got into the wrong airline (promise, never again with Air Arabia!). Despite the updates in Wikitravel and Google about the visa-free entry for the GCC residents, apparently the ground crew of Air Arabia did not know that ALL residents from the GCC are allowed entry to Georgia. 

At first the check-in staff told me, I need to get a visa to Georgia because I'm a Philippine passport holder, then they asked for a travel insurance and hotel bookings, I got pissed off but managed to calmly ask if I can talk to an officer-in-charge, a few minutes after he confirmed that I can check in (after making numerous calls to different people -- why have flights to Georgia when your staff doesn't even know the basics).

I was dreading my arrival to Georgia, fearing the worst due to my check-in drama......but....the arrival was a whizzz.....immigration just looked at my passport, stamped it and voila! I'm officially in Georgia!!!

Since we arrived at around 3am, it was too early for us to check in to our hotel so we stayed a bit in one of the restaurants in the airport.....OMG! So many gorgeous people around us! Really, truly beautiful and fabulous-looking locals I am just so excited....we are all set to explore Georgia!