The Bridge at Inguri, the Georgia/Abkhazia Border!

Having somehow stumbled onto Georgia's finest police officers, I walk past the police checkpoint. Behind the checkpoint lies an amazing sight, created as a result of the current political situation.

First though, a quick background to the war. In August 2008, war broke out first in South Ossetia and several days later in Abkhazia, two of Georgia's autonomous regions (the third being Adjaria on the border with Turkey) which have struggled with military actions and economic devastation by the Georgian government since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The initial position of every major international media publication was that Russia declared war on, and invaded Georgia, annexing its territory and is exercising its might to punish Georgia for trying to join NATO, the European Union and for it's increasing ties to the United States of America. A knee jerk reaction based mostly on information gathered from Georgian sources.

An independent European Union fact finding mission investigating the war has since put out a report which can be summarised in two key points.

1. Georgia started the war by attacking peace keepers in Tskhinvali (the capital of South Ossetia), mobilising its army and attempting to retake the autonomous region by force. In response, Russia mobilised its troops and entered South Ossetia, in order to repel the Georgian offensive, to protect the 3000 peacekeepers they have in place since the last war in South Ossetia and to prevent the death of countless civilians from the Georgian military's constant attacks on the capital.
2. Russia reacted with disproportionate force, heading beyond the boundaries of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in order to destroy most of Georgia's military capabilities, including the sinking of most of its naval fleet in the Black Sea.

Shortly after the war, Russia recognised the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia shortly joined by Nigeria and then Venezuela. All other countries, including most of the European Union constituents and the USA recognise Abkhazia and South Ossetia as the territory of Georgia. Some food for thought, Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 and has since faced recognition from many countries (though most still recognise Kosovo as part of Serbia). It's interesting to note that the USA recognises Kosovo but not Abkhazia and South Ossetia, while Russia recognises Abkhazia and South Ossetia but not Kosovo, ah the fun of global politics.

Georgia maintains that Abkhazia and South Ossetia are part of its territory and as such no Georgian laws are violated when crossing in or out of the areas. Abkhazia and South Ossetia are working on rebuilding their countries after the war and as such freely allow Abkhaz, Russians and Ossetians into the country. This creates an interesting situation where Abkhaz are able to cross freely between the two countries (or regions if you prefer) without facing any taxes. This allows them to act as intermediaries between Russia and Georgia (who have mutual trade embargoes).

While I was there, I witnessed a lot of people crossing the border in both directions. Most of the people were Abkhaz, some were Mingrel and I'm not sure if there were any Georgians making the trip. Each person crossing had a goods with them that they would take to the other country, effectively nullifying the Georgia/Russia trade embargo.

As I walk beyond the police checkpoint, I see a lot of horse drawn carts taking people (along with their goods) across the bridge into and out of Abkhazia. There are a couple of cars parked and one of the drivers offers to drive me to Sokhumi (the capital of Abkhazia), I decide against it, opting to first check out the situation and if I deem it safe, to walk across.

The bridge itself lies 200m beyond the checkpoint (and out of its sight), I walk towards it and notice a camouflaged bunker with Georgian soldiers along with the monument of a pistol just before the bridge, pointed at Abkhazia.

I decide to not stop and chat, walk past the soldiers, another 50m to where I was told to stop and return from...

The bridge at Inguri, the border crossing over the XX river, between Georgia and Abkhazia.

I don't hesitate for a second as I continue onto the bridge, expecting the entire time to hear a shout from Georgian soldiers to return. When I'm far enough along the bridge that I'm sure the Georgian soldiers wouldn't dare to enter, I snap of photo of the Abkhazian side.

The Republic of Abkhazia (as seen from the bridge at Inguri).

Feeling bolder still, I decide to shoot a video (stealthily) as I cross the bridge.

One of the many horse and carts crossing the bridge.

While crossing the bridge, I once again check that I have both passports with me, put away my Georgian Laris and take out my Russian Rubles. I reach the other end and prepare for the final hurdle, convincing Abkhaz soldiers to let me across. I start chatting with some of the people on the other side of the bridge just before the the checkpoint while I calm my nerves, they are all incredibly friendly and wish me luck, telling me Abkhazia is a beautiful place.

I arrive at the Abkhaz military checkpoint and am told by soldiers to go through to see the commanding officer. I walk to the ranking soldier, a very serious looking Abkhaz soldier.

Soldier: Passport. (the conversation takes place in Russian)

Me: *Handing over my Russian passport* here.

Soldier: Where is your invitation?

Me: Russian citizens don't need a visa to enter Abkhazia.

Soldier: What are you doing here?

Me: *Sh!t, I should have organised with one of the people on my marshrutka to cross the border with them as their guest. No time for that, time to improvise* Travelling.

Soldier: Get out of my sight?

Me: Why?

Soldier: This is not an official border crossing, in fact it doesn't exist, we aren't here and neither were you. *Returns passport*

I'm shattered, such a simple oversight in my preparation  prevents me from crossing into Abkhazia. I walk away, returning to the people I'd chatted with before. They see that I've been turned back and am no longer in cheery spirits.

Waiting Abkhaz: They didn't let you in?

Me: Nope, said they wanted an invitation.

Waiting Abkhaz: Two options, you can return to the soldier and tell him that you have an invitation to join me, I'll go there shortly, or alternatively, offer the man some money. How much would you be willing to pay to cross.

Me: $100 USD (a figure big enough to get anyone interested in helping).

Waiting Abkhaz: That should get you across, good luck.

I take a deep breath, turn around and head back to the same soldier.

Soldier: What do you want?

Me: I have an invitation.

Soldier: F*ck your invitation, get out of here.

Me: Maybe we can come to some sort of an agreement? *hinting at a bribe*

Soldier: We won't be reaching any agreements. In fact, if you don't get out of Abkhazia in the next fifteen seconds, I'll arrest you myself.

Me: Come on friend, *I contemplate offering the money again but think he'll probably just take it and tell me to go away*.

Soldier: I'm not your friend, your time is running out.

I give up, defeated.

I turn back towards the bridge, find the group of waiting Abkhaz and tell them that my adventures in Abkhazia have ended before they've started.

Waiting Abkhaz: He didn't go for it?

Me: No.

Waiting Abkhaz: So what are you going to do?

Me: I have no real choice, I have to go back.

Waiting Abkhaz: *discusses with the other people around him* Here are your options. You can wait here until they change shifts and try your luck again. You can head back along the bridge and pay one of the drivers to take you across, they might not even check the car. You could try again tomorrow... or, you could go in though the black entrance.

Me: There's a black entrance?

Waiting Abkhaz: There's one marshrutka every day from Zugdidi. It avoids this bridge and instead goes across the river a little downstream. I normally take it across when I cross, or you could pay a "guide" to walk across the river with you.

Me: Tell me about this marshrutka.

Waiting Abkhaz: Ok, because you're such a nice guy. Head down to the XX garage in Zugdidi tomorrow at 2pm, there's only one per day and it should cost 1,500 Rubles.

Me: Thanks.

I stand there, contemplating trying to pay a driver to take me across the bridge, or waiting until the shift change but decide against it for two reasons. One, if I'm caught by the soldier, I could be in some serious trouble. Two, if I take too long and am forced back to the Georgian police checkpoint, I could face problems there.

I decide to head back to Zugdidi and try the marshrutka the following day. I walk back across the bridge, stopping to chat with another one of the passengers from my marshrutka, he confirms the details of the black entrance for me and wishes me luck, saying I should mention his name if there are difficulties.

As I walk across, a petrol tanker drives past and stops to offer me a lift back across the bridge. I hop in and we drive across, past the bunker of soldiers and to the Georgian police checkpoint where I get out, walk to the police and have a quick chat with them so they know that I have made my way back and not gone across the bridge like they warned me.

The driver tells me he's selling Russian petrol from Abkhazia in Georgia and makes several trips a day, but won't take me across because he doesn't want to risk the money earner. He drops me off just outside Zugdidi.

I decide to see if I can find more information about the 2pm marshrutka to Abkhazia.

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