The taxi ride from hell, with a side of sexual harassment

Today I left the mountains of the Svaneti region; it took two buses to get down the hills, and when people tell you Georgians drive crazy, believe them. I thought, no way are they crazier than the Colombian bus drivers; I was very, very, very wrong.

It was supposed to be small, but since only four of us, they called a local taxi driver, who must be in training for the formula one race.

The ride started crazy; he was chatting with the other couple in the car, and they all spoke Russian; I had my headphones in, trying not to vomit, then I saw him look at me.

I was thinking, ¨watch the road, ¨ since we had to go 60mph around a curve, and the edge was a cliff. Then he said something to the girl, and she looked at me, and I already knew. She said ¨he wants to know where you are from¨, I looked up, took out my headphones, and told The States. That is my response; they did not know, she said America.

I nodded yes. He continued to ask if I was married or had a boyfriend and how long am I in Georgia. I said no, and I was not sure how long.

Two crucial mistakes, from now on, I am always married, and my husband is in the destination I am headed to, and I am on a quick two-week vacation.

I was not thinking; he caught me off guard and utilized a girl who spoke English as his matchmaker. He stopped with the questions thankfully to watch the road, you know, the one that we might fly off at any moment.

Then we take a bathroom break, and there is a natural mineral water spring he wants to show us. That was cool; the water came out a bit sparkling and tasted different than normal sparkling; they call it here mineral water, which has a bit of a zing to it, not my favorite, but so incredible that it comes right from the earth, as is!

Anyway, he instructed me to follow him, and at this point, he was just a friendly taxi driver, appearing harmless. Then the couple and his translators came down to the spring, and around six people were there.

It was a very public space. He gets us water and is very respectful at this point. Then he decides to take pictures of us all; he wants in the photo and picks me up.

I was like, what the actual fuck is happening. He put me down. I moved close to the couple and was like, what is going on? She then translates for him; he wants to marry you.

He asked her to ask me to marry him and that I had to let him know before the ride ended. I laughed it off, and in my head, thinking yea, I have heard this before. I am a taxi driver magnet.

In Colombia, they are flirty. They laugh and joke, and they never touch. No one has ever touched me in a taxi or picked me up. I say I am not looking to get married; I must return home.

He said no, don't make the decision yet, and told me how Georgian men are good and robust. I was like ok, let's get back on the racetrack; at that point, it was better.

Then about an hour goes by; we stop again. There is a waterfall I walk over and a guy selling fruit, corn, and honey. He walks toward me and says come; many people are here, so I walk over.

He decides to take pictures this time with my camera; at least now, I have some pictures of myself at the waterfall, which is the silver lining.

He then decided to hug me and try to kiss me; I swear his hands started wandering. I pushed him away once, and then he did it again; this time, I had to push him away from me and practically yell no for him to get the hint.

Then I walked over to the couple and said we needed to leave. He is insane. I think he got the tip, but he came over to me, put a corn ear practically in my mouth, and kissed my cheek again. I had to move away; it was so awkward and uncomfortable.

Luckily we all walked to the car like we needed to go. He kept staring at me in the mirror, and I was ready to get out of the car; I told the girl I was getting out.

Wherever you do, I will not be alone with this man. Luckily we all got out of the car at the bus station. And believe it or not, he had the nerve to ask me if I would marry him again, for the 5 or 6 times. I was appalled. I said no and walked away to my hotel.

Which is where I am not, safely in my room. In all my years of traveling, I have never had someone so aggressive and in my face. It is why I am extra cautious about how I dress when traveling; I even had to think I wore a t-shirt, jeans, and a baseball hat.

I am not dressed provocatively, not that it should matter, but unfortunately, it does in some parts of the world. I am always cautious; I booked what I thought was a bus and am grateful that three other people were in the car.

Anyway, it has been a weird day. I met two friendly travelers today, and we all safely made it to our destinations.

I am now out of the mountains and plan to head to the black sea, as I have never been. The town I am in has a heat wave. It was 40 today, and I feel the next three days will be the same.

I will pray for rain and be grateful that I have a nice bed and that my situation did not escalate