Day 22 began with a pot of beans on the stove. From morning until afternoon, they simmered — the kind of cooking that can’t be rushed. Beans have a long cooking time, and I had nowhere to be. The apartment filled with the smell of slow food, the quiet domestic soundtrack of a rainy day.

The weather forecast for the next few days suggests rain. With that in mind, I decided to go see a movie at a cinema here in Tbilisi. The film was Fall 2: Deadpoint — a thriller as predictable as the rain forecast. You know exactly what’s going to happen, and it happens exactly when you expect it to. 15 GEL for the ticket, 8.60 GEL for popcorn. Not a great film, but a great way to spend a rainy afternoon in a foreign city. There’s something about watching a mediocre thriller in a Tbilisi cinema that makes you feel less like a tourist and more like a resident. Locals see bad movies too.

After the movie — and because the weather was still doing what the forecast said it would — I decided to hit up Pho Bo and have some chicken pho — 21.90 GEL. My third visit to this place. The pho is consistent: clear broth, tender chicken, rice noodles, herbs on the side. Rainy-day food from a country 7,000 kilometres away, eaten in a food court in Tbilisi. The globalisation of comfort food is one of travel’s stranger gifts.

Tomorrow I’m headed to a cave to do some spelunking. From beans and bad thrillers to underground exploration — the rhythm of this journey continues to surprise me.

By the Numbers