Day 21 — a rest day. But in the language of long-term travel, “rest day” is a euphemism for laundry day, grocery day, and — in Tbilisi — sulfur bath day. The kind of day where you start early, move through chores like a well-oiled machine, and end up in a state of greater refreshment than any sightseeing day could produce.

🧺 The Early Routine

I used to be annoyed that Tbilisi doesn’t wake up until 10 AM or later. Now I enjoy it. I start laundry at 8 AM, cook breakfast while it washes, and by 9 AM I’m hitting the grocery store. The streets are quiet, the morning light is soft, and by 10 AM, I’ve had breakfast, laundry, and shopping (86.12 GEL) all done. Three hours into the day and the admin is behind me. The rest of the world is just opening its shutters and I’m already ahead.

✋ Sanctuary — Gulo’s Sulfur Bath

I booked a sulfur bath at Gulo’s — 150 GEL — for 1 PM. I took a Bolt (8 GEL) to get there because I wasn’t in the mood to deal with buses. Some days the extra few lari for door-to-door transport is self-care, not indulgence.

Before the bath, I stopped at a restaurant for a light meal to kill time: tomato and cucumber salad with a side of mchadi — a Georgian cornbread — for 24 GEL. Simple, fresh, the kind of meal that feels like it’s doing your body a favor.

The sulfur bath at Gulo’s was decent. I chose this place specifically because it offers both a cold pool and a hot pool — the contrast therapy that Georgian bath culture is known for. I got a nice private room to myself and immersed myself in rotating between the pools: hot sulfur water, pungent and mineral-dense, then the cold plunge that shocks your system awake, then back to the hot. The hour I booked went by fast, but I was totally refreshed at the end.

👅 Palate — Baan Thai

I was too lazy to cook dinner — a legitimate category of decision that rest days permit. I stopped at a new Thai restaurant near my apartment called Baan Thai. Green curry, egg rolls, and a coke — 52 GEL. The food was way better than the other Thai restaurant I ate at earlier in my stay. Flavorful curry, properly crispy egg rolls, actual spice levels that existed. A find. The kind of place that becomes a regular rotation entry.

🎵 Planning — Candlelight Concert

I also did some planning and bought concert tickets to a Candlelight Concert at the Tbilisi State Conservatoire for September 27 — 116 GEL. Something to look forward to. The Conservatoire has already delivered one transcendent evening (Day 16, Sandro Nebieridze and Sandro Gegechkori), and the idea of hearing music there by candlelight was too good to pass up.

By the Numbers

Item	GEL	EUR (≈)
Groceries	86.12	€29.29
Bolt to sulfur bath	8.00	€2.72
lunch (salad + mchadi)	24.00	€8.16
Sulfur bath (Gulo’s)	150.00	€51.02
Dinner (Baan Thai)	52.00	€17.69
Concert ticket (Candlelight, Sept 27)	116.00	€39.46
Total	436.12	€148.34