...MOST EFFICIENT
Georgia is probably the most efficient country in the world, because even toilet papers do not have any cardboard roll inside. It is a bit difficult to unroll paper, but then again, you get more for your money, no air in the middle, just good old toilet paper. OR is it that Georgia is very poor and people just can't afford empty space inside toilet paper roll ;-)
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| The lighter is for scale so that you have an idea, how wide (or narrow) the roll of paper is. This very "modest"size would rather point to Georgia's being poor more than efficient. Indeed, this may be documented by not-so-infrequent holes in the paper, too. |
...MOST MODERN
Almost all bus stops in wider city centre feature electronic boards which show bus line, its destination (or direction) and time to departure. Though bus lines are often served by minivans (marshrutkas) or old decrepit minibuses, the boards are big, accurate, up-to-the-second real-time, and actually working!
Something you hardly see anywhere else.
...MOST TIME-AWARE
Every, and I say every single intersection with traffic lights (apart from traffic lights being LED) is equipped with an LED countdown timer, big ones in Tbilisi, smaller ones in towns.
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| This is countdown timer is a small one, in the town of Zugdidi |
...MOST FACILITATING
When we were first told about Automated Payment Machines, I thought our Georgian instructor did not know what ATM stood for. But Automated Payment Machines (payboxes in short) are different, as I soon found out. You can pay there all your bills, just choose your language on touch screen (yes, English is included) and then basically choose the type of payment (water, electricity, gas, generally utility bills, cell phone top up and post-paid payment, parking fees and fines, on-line casino moeny deposits, I guess it must also contain an option to pay your taxes!). Insert money (or I guess a credit card) and voila - a receipt is printed for you. The screen contains so many items (to pay for) that I guess you can pay for virtually anything, any bill.
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| This paybox is provided by TBC Bank. That is a pretty bad name for a bank. I'm afraid to go in their branches! |
And a note about receipts - every receipt from every Georgian merchant contains something similar to a bar code, which, I guess, can be read by a smart phone - and that's probably details about the receipt. Nifty thing! It seems to be a good customer measure. It is also part of a governement sponsored lottery, to enforce the merchants use the system to avoid tax breaks.
...MOST UNIQUE
Unique street names, to be accurate. Not only Tbilisi features George W. Bush Avenue (yes, named after Bush jr.) which is, as far as I know, the main thoroughfare from the airport to the city, but there is also Politkovskaya Street, apparently named after murdered Russian anti-Putin journalist
But not to make Georgia look like paradise on Earth (well, it's far from it, as pretty much every country), there are mostly old, Soviet-style buildings in Tbilisi, some still with hammer, sickle and red star engraved. One of the most interesting pieces of Soviet heritage is a long inner-city tunnel - it looks as if it was built in 19th century and never maintained since. Spooky, you've got the feeling it's prone to accidents and if one happens the whole thing crumbles down.
And although Georgia presents itself outspokenly anti-Russian, a lot of buildings still feature signs both in Georgian and Russian, old generation still speaks very good Russian and you will find many products imported from Russia in stores. Which is understandable, as Georgia is a small country that can't afford to live without open economy. Even Russian keyboards are more common here than Georgian ones.
Finally, smoking is a big thing here, obvious from everpresent printed cigarette ads, which is now exceedingly rare in the world (the only other country I've been to with smoking ads is Indonesia, where the situation is equally as bad).
