Lost in Tbilisi: Cemeteries, Missed Flights & Unexpected Friendships in Georgia 🇬🇪

The year was 2017 — one of my very first real adventures as a solo traveler.

After trips to Oman 🇴🇲, South Korea 🇰🇷, China 🇨🇳, and a vacation back home in the Philippines 🇵🇭, my next destination became Georgia 🇬🇪 specifically its charming capital, Tbilisi.

Even back then, I was already used to traveling alone, with or without a partner. Independent, curious, and thankfully capable of funding my own adventures. In fact, this particular trip came from a huge commission reward from my previous job. They gave me a choice: cash or travel.

Of course… I chose travel.

And honestly? That decision gave me one of the funniest and most unforgettable travel stories of my life.

It all started the moment I landed in Tbilisi. I realized I had booked the wrong hotel. The place looked creepy enough that I didn’t even dare check in. Looking back, it was my fault for not researching properly.

Panicking slightly, I asked the taxi driver to bring me to another nearby hotel. In my confusion and exhaustion, I accidentally handed him 50 euros instead of 50 local Georgian lari 😭. Thankfully, the driver was kind and genuinely helpful… although he drove me straight to a fancy hotel that cost way more than my budget.

At that point, I knew absolutely nothing about the city or the country, so I just accepted it and stayed there for one night.

The next day, I connected with someone from Couchsurfing, yes, the app I used a lot during my travels back then. They offered for me to stay with their family instead, and honestly, it felt safer. They picked me up the next day, and I was relieved to see it was a family with two kids.

Little did I know… those same kids would later become part of one of my biggest travel bloopers 😭😂

Like every traveler, I spent the next days exploring Tbilisi — wandering through the charming old streets, admiring the colorful balconies, tasting local food, interacting with locals, and visiting famous tourist spots around Georgia.

One of the most memorable places I visited was the stunning Chronicles of Georgia.

At that time, it wasn’t as famous yet and barely had tourists around. The giant stone pillars overlooking the city looked both majestic and mysterious. Often called Georgia’s

“Stonehenge,” the monument tells the history of Georgia and scenes from Christianity through massive carved sculptures towering over the hills of Tbilisi. The atmosphere there felt surreal quiet, dramatic, and almost cinematic.

That trip to the Chronicles of Georgia became unforgettable for another reason.

I had connected with a local and another traveler from Iraq, and we decided to explore together. On our way back at night, we relied on Google Maps… which turned out to be a terrible idea 😭

Instead of leading us home, it directed us into a cemetery area near a cliffside road outside Tbilisi. It was pitch dark, there were howling dogs everywhere, and at one point we nearly had an accident because the road became dangerously narrow near the cliff edge.

My friend and I were so terrified that we actually got out of the car because we thought it might flip over. Meanwhile, the poor driver had to slowly maneuver through the creepy mountain cemetery road for almost 30 minutes just to get us out safely.

The moment we finally escaped and reached the city?

We celebrated survival the best way possible with ice-cold beers 🍻😂

But wait… the biggest blooper was still coming.

A few days later, I was supposed to fly to Armenia 🇦🇲 — my next destination. I was already dressed, packed, and fully prepared three hours before my flight when suddenly… disaster happened.

The kids in the house accidentally locked the main steel door while playing.

And I got trapped inside the apartment 😭😭😭

Not just a normal lock either — the door was solid steel and impossible to force open. We tried everything. Eventually, we had no choice but to call the police to help unlock it.

The family was terrified because they were Egyptian residents living in Georgia and felt extremely guilty about the situation. By the time everything got resolved, my flight was gone.

So where did I end up instead?

At a pub 😂

I was sitting alone in the corner upset when locals noticed me and asked what happened. I told them I missed my flight.

One guy suddenly shouted:

“YOHOO! THAT’S A CALL FOR PARTY!”

And just like that, my miserable missed-flight moment turned into an unforgettable night out with locals in Tbilisi. Drinks, laughter, random conversations, music, and memories I still laugh about today.

I stayed in Georgia for two more unexpected days because I still couldn’t rebook my flight immediately. During those extra days, my local friend continued showing me around the city.

Fast forward one year later…

That same friend and I ended up traveling together in Turkey 🇹🇷 same year.

But that’s another story for another blog 😉

And as always, my trusted agent Malik the man who somehow always managed to fix my flights and travel disasters eventually got me onto a plane.

But this time?

Destination: Armenia 🇦🇲

And trust me… that trip became another adventure on its own.