I’m back in Georgia since last night. Changed the bike’s tyre today and noticed that one of the spokes is broken. I packed my stuff and am now ready to leave for Azerbaijan tomorrow.
Met a couple of cyclists from Germany, France and the UK, and we might meet up in Iran next month.
Met a guy who knows the bass player of the Georgian ESC contestants. He may be able to hook me up with the guys for an autograph when I come back to Tbilisi soon.
You may be confused about this post’s title, and rightly so. It’s easily explained: I have to do some work in Bremen and consequently had to take a break from the trip for a few days. I’ll be back in Tbilisi on Friday, July 22.
Shared a taxi to David Gareja today with Nena from Slovenia and a Polish couple whose names I have forgotten.
David Gareja was a monk who lived in the 6th Century AD and wandered to present-day Georgia from Jerusalem to found a monastery here and spread Christianity. The monastery is located about 60km south-east of Tbilisi, directly at the border to Azerbaijan, and was later named after its founder.
The countryside is almost steppe-like with no surface water nearby, which is very unusual for Georgia. There used to be water here, and maybe there still is at some time during the year, as the deep-cut valleys and river beds prove.
The present-day monastery, still – or rather, again, since 1991 – inhabited by monks, is partly hewn into the rock, partly built over the rock chambers on the eastern slope of a ridge. The border runs along the western slope, only few hundred meters away. Apparently, the monastic complex comprises of many more cells and churches spread across the neighbouring hills than are obviously visible to the casual tourist, and there is an on-going conflict with Azerbaijan about the exact border line. Based on uncertain grounds, Azerbaijan claims the David Gareja area as part of the historical Caucasian Albania (not related to Albania in the Balkans)
It is possible to climb up and wander along the David Gareja ridge, which extends for a couple of kilometers. Up there one has a splendid view over the adjacant Azerbaijani plains. There are also a number of unused artificial monastic caves to discover. In some of them frescoes can still be found on walls and ceilings. Additionally, there is a Georgian border post stationed there in the shade of a little church(!!!). That is, these guys have to hang out up there without much shelter from the weather. They didn’t want to be photographed by us. :)
We spent some time up there, drank some wine, got a little sun-burned, enjoyed the tranquility and peacefulness of the place, and wandered around between the caves looking at the frescoes and watching out for snakes.
Our taxi driver had suggested a visit to the town of Sighnaghi for a minor surcharge. Sighnaghi is located above the Alazani valley (where that awesome wine came from). Georgia’s current president, Mikheil Saakashvili, took a liking in the place and ordered the renovation of its buildings. It is now very touristy (as touristy as a Georgian town can be) and I prefer more authentic places. However, it was good to have been there because I can now cross it off the list of places to visit in Georgia (which is still quite long).
Returned to Tbilisi for the night.
I’m still in Georgia’s capital. I’m getting itchy feet. Got to move on!
Got my Azerbaijani visa yesterday. The tyre’s not here yet, though.
Six days in Tbilisi, holy crap! I’m getting tired of counting the days here, it’s been too many already. My passport is at the travel agency/embassy and my bike’s rear tyre is still waiting for it’s replacement – my options for this week are kinda limited.
Managed to find a new camera today. Same model as before, pretty much the same price as in Germany half a year ago. I hope this one lasts longer.
No luck on the camera front.
Had a look at the former Hotel London not far from the hostel.
One of the nice stories of today: We were on the way to a restaurant to have dinner with a few people. We got lost wandering around the old town, searching for a specific place. A courtyard struck us a exceptionally full of character and we took some pictures, then decided to sneak up some stairs to have a look at the place from a different perspective. We came to a balcony spanning along three sides of the building we were in. There were people around, of course, and we asked if it was OK to have a quick look. The guy we asked had no objections and even told us to go around the next corner where we met a lady who happily told us all about the history of the beautiful house. Erlend, being fluent in Russian, interpreted for the rest of us. The house was about 150 years old and used to be an accountants school, or something similar. The entire building was owned by a single gentleman back then. During Soviet times the large rooms were split up into individual flats, with shared kitchen and bathroom across the balcony in an adjacent building. So, the point of the story? Instead of being suspicious or annoyed about our showing up on their doorstep, or even kicking us out, these people were happy to see some folks being interested in their house/city/country and took the time off from whatever they were doing to talk to us and answer all our questions. That’s just another tiny example of the amazing Georgian hospitality.
Went to a sulphur bath and sauna with Erlend and Helmut from the hostel. Had a Georgian full body massage and peeling. Lovely.
Noticed that my camera doesn’t work anymore. Dunno what’s wrong. Need to investigate tomorrow.
After lunch/tea we strolled around the old town and the flea market again.
All in all a(n almost) relaxed day.
Allegedly, the building below is featured in ‘5 Days of War’. Like many other houses in this part of Old Tbilisi, it will be torn down soon (and replaced by something “new but looking like old”) in an attempt to make Tbilisi nicer (read: more tourist-friendly).
Enjoyed hostel life today and fixed the image rotation issue. Uploaded some more pictures. May is complete and July is almost complete. June is still almost entirely incomplete.
Arrived at the Azerbaijani embassy around 11am. The Georgian police(!) officer at the gate handed me an application form to fill in (but had no pens). Some locals lent me one and let me fill in the form on their car’s hood. I had to produce two passport fotos at the gate and was let through – to a barred door through which I had to hand my application form and one photo. They wouldn’t let applicants enter the actual embassy building. I was then asked for a ‘Letter of Invitation’ – which I didn’t have – and sent to a travel agency that would take care of that for me. To make a long story short, I’ll hopefully have my visa one week from now, on Friday, July 15. Crap. When asked why this would take so long they replied that the embassy had run out of visa stickers. What?!
Met Ben from Texas who also applied for a visa. Went with him to meet two other Americans, Alex and Roy, who are teaching English in villages here in Georgia. Turned out they had been to Batumi after I was there and knew the big American guy I’d met in Batumi hostel back then, who’d annoyed some people there, and they also know Lasha, one of the owners of Batumi hostel. Lasha, who’d invited me to his parents place when I come through, lives not far from where Roy teaches. Small world!
Ben used to play Lacrosse in high school and college back in the states.
Went to the National Museum with Ben. It doesn’t have much on display; the little that is there is mostly pretty cool, though. They have the Georgian Treasury, archeological gold and silver findings mostly from excavated burial sites with old but magnificently fine and detailed works. There’s an exhibition about the Russian communist/Soviet occupational period, and they show an excerpt of pictures from around Georgia from the early times of photography, i.e. from the late 19th century and early 20th century.
Bought a map of the whole Caucasus region and learned that it is well possible to go into Abkhazia. South Ossetia is strictly off-limits. It is also possible to go through Abkhazia to Russia. New possibilities!
I know now that there are no bike shops selling spare parts. That means I’ll have to have a new tyre shipped from Germany.
Took no pictures today so there is nothing to post. ;) And the rotation issue is still not fixed. :(
Interestingly, in early June a Hollywood movie was released that covers the 2008 war between Georgia and Russia over Abkhazia and South Ossetia. I had the chance of watching this tonight.
The movie is called ‘5 Days of War’ internationally, and ‘5 Days of August’ in Georgia. It is a bad movie. It is simple and dumb pro-Georgian and anti-Russian propaganda with lots of special effects and no brains and even less insight into the conflict. Vital facts are omitted and Russia and especially the South Ossetians are displayed as raw evil. Apparently, war crimes happened on both sides, but not so in the movie. On top of all that, all the lead characters are played by Americans. Not a single Georgian or Russian actor.
First order of the day: apply for an Azerbaijani visa. First disappointment of the day: the visa department of the Azerbaijani embassy only accepts applications Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Of course you only learn that when you’re being turned away at their door; this info is not on their website.
Strolled around the old part of the city several times today. Successfully getting lost (intended) and getting a feel for the place. And finding a barber shop. There’s lots of ‘Beauty Salons’, but not a single one of the small, dodgy, run-by-an-old-guy, cheap barber shops located in a single room in the basement of an old house that I was looking for. Got a hair and beard-do anyway. It was done with a machine built in the GDR(!), so it’s at least 20 years old. At times it felt like the guy was trying to tattoo me.
Tbilisi is cool (not in terms of temperatures!). Lots of little shops in the streets, all selling basically the same items: bottled drinks, ice cream, cigarettes. Many small bakeries selling freshly baked … not bread. All kinds of Georgian baked things which I don’t know the names of, some filled, some plain. Older women selling sunflower seeds, single cigarettes or paper tissues in the streets from mini stalls (just an upside-down cardboard box); live music (guitar and a full drum kit) in the subway. Flea market on the Saarbruken bridge, with Soviet memorabilia, medals, money, knives, daggers, sabres, porcelain, glass ware, tools, books. Allmost all of which are really second-hand, unlike on ‘flea markets’ back home.
Traffic is massive.
Zoltán cooked a great gulyás for dinner – it took ages and was ready right for the midnight meal.
I’m working on getting pictures ready to upload here. You’ll find today’s samples below. :)
For the interested, some interim statistics about this trip:
First port of call today was Uplistsikhe, 10km from Gori but not exactly en route to Tbilisi. I made the detour anyway. Why? Uplistsikhe is a cave city inhabited since the 6th(?) century BC, but now abandoned. The visit was quite interesting.
Otherwise the cycling today wasn’t very pleasant. More than 41°C (in the sun) again and hilly landscape. The bike had made funny noises two days ago. Yesterday I didn’t hear anything. Today the noise was back. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to identify the source yet.
I also noticed that the rear tyre will give up soon. The reason, probably, is that the air pressure was not high enough for the amount of luggage.
Need to cure/fix both issues over the next days.
So, I cycled into Tbilisi, aka Tiflis, Georgia’s capital, in the late afternoon. Coming in on the southern bank of the Mtkvari river, there is only a motorway. Not willing to make the long detour to avoid it, I just cycled onto it and – nobody cared, not even the police.
Bori, who I’d met in Batumi and who’s long back in Budapest by now, responded promptly to my desperate help request and recommended a hostel which I quickly found.
And guess who was sitting there at a table when I checked in? Zoltán, the guy I’d shared a cabin with on the boat from Varna to Batumi! Small world!
Went out to dinner with him. One(?) beer and I’m ready for bed. Good night.
Almost forgot: I cycled 90km today.
PS: It is HOT here in Tbilisi, even at night. It’s 30°C at half past 11pm in the room I’m sleeping in. I’m sooo looking forward to going back to the mountains soon!
PPS: I’ll stay here for a couple of days. Most importantly, I need to organize a visa for Azerbaijan. Last I heard is that visa application handling is a bit chaotic since new visa procedures were introduced in June. I’ll see how it goes.
Arrived in Gori at 1pm. The ride was easy and uneventful.
Gori is the birthplace of Joseph Stalin. There is Stalin Avenue, Stalin Square, Stalin Park, and Stalin Museum. The Stalin statue, apparently huge and still mentioned in my Lonely Planet, has been taken down not so long ago.
Walked around town and visited Stalin Museum. It feels a bit dull, mostly showing photographs of him from various occasions. There’s presents he’s gotten from other heads of states, and his death mask, a strange exhibit, I find. The museum focuses on his achievements, there’s no mention of his ‘dark side’. My group’s guide admitted this but added that by now this is intentional. The museum hasn’t been changed since 1977 or so. Kinda like a museum in a museum. The souvenier shop features a lady wearing some old military uniform but doesn’t even have Stalin postcards!
Walked up to Gori Tsikhe (Gori Castle), centrally located and overlooking the city. Unfortunately, there’s not much up there other than a grassy plain, good views, and a police post(!). From below the walls look more promising.
All in all, I somehow expected more from Gori.
Cycled: 53km
Not an eventful day. The road, S1 connecting Kutaisi with Tbilisi, was mostly in good condition but a bit hilly at times. Must have crossed the river Dzirula a thousand times. It winds and ziggzaggs between the hills and the road tries to follow it for a long time.
The original plan was to go as far as Gori, but that turned out to be a bit too much. Temperatures peaked at 42°C (in the sun). Decided to stay in Khashuri. Unfortunately, there’s no hotel there, so I had to backtrack a few kilometers to Surami. The hotel here doesn’t deserve the name. Dirty, unfinished, smelly, expensive for what’s on offer.
Surami is a mix of rotten Soviet-era industrial complexes and ramshackle residential areas.
It felt a bit strange to be cycling alone again. The past two weeks of traveling with Alex were a good and fun time.
No police trouble today.
Cycled: 111km
Max. speed: 61kph
Today was Police Day.
Left Irina’s, who’d brewed us a magic coffee, and had breakfast at a quiet spot at the edge of town. It’s Alex’s birthday, and all I had was two Snickers and a tiny candle. Anyone remember the ‘Yes’ TV ads from the 90s(?)? :) The police officer who’d directed us to Irina’s yesterday magically showed up with some colleagues to say good bye.
We followed the Tskhenistskali river down south. The road was now tarred most of the time.
Alex’ plan was to turn east near the town of Tsageri, towards Oni and South Ossetia. He wanted to try to get into and through the disputed area. I wanted to go straight south to Kutaisi. About 20km from Lentekhi and right outside Tsageri we approached the turn-off. Before we even realized that this was the spot of saying good-bye we were stopped by the police and asked about our travel plans. Knowing that going to South Ossetia is not something Georgian officials like to endorse, we both said we’d be going to Kutaisi. The police then escorted us into the town of Tsageri where we had a break, and bought some food and water. Our hopes were that the police officers would leave us alone. Instead we became the towns No. 1 attraction. Soon there were not two but six police officers around, all being very curious and asking the same questions we’d answered before. The lucky horse shoe attached to one of my panniers and Alex’s maps were the most interesting of our belongings. Alex asked about a place to get a Georgian SIM card for his phone. Instead of giving directions two of the officers took Alex to a phone shop in their car! There was just no escape!
When he returned they gave us two handfuls of cherries! We ate them on the spot, said good-bye, and continued our ride. Stopped at a bank where I withdrew some money. When I came back to the bikes – the police car was standing next to Alex, waiting for us to go on. He’d asked them about alternative routes to Kutaisi, ones that brought us closer to the road to South Ossetia, but they’d insisted that we take the direct one.
So we cycled on, followed by the police. Eventually they honked good-bye – but we were well past possible turn-offs to the east! Well done!
So Alex changed his plan and we rode on together. So far the road had been going downhill most of the time. Then it suddenly started to climb steeply and continued to do so for a few kilometers. When we finally reached the highest point we saw that we were pretty close to the southern edge of the Greater Caucasus. We could see the western Georgian plain below. Had a short break there – when a police car drove up and stopped next to us. The driver asked us about our route. Both Alex and I had the impression that he was checking if we were the two cyclists he’d been informed about by his colleagues in Tsageri.
So we left the Greater Caucasus behind us and came to a little shop where we stocked up on water. Another police car stopped next to us and the driver got out. He spoke English and asked us … about our travel plans. Then they waited. We had some ice cream, chatted, and eventually they got bored and left. We reached the town of Tskaltubo. In the town center we stopped in front of a hotel where Alex decided to stay, to be nearer to a National Park that he’d decided he was going to visit tomorrow. We were chatting with some locals when that same police car drove past, turned around and stopped next to us. The officers didn’t talk to us at all, but they did talk to our new friends who’d even offered to host us, and seemed to scare them off with their comments/questions. Our friends left quickly, the police stayed, still without talking to us. We had enough. I said my final good bye to Alex and left for Kutaisi, 10km away.
I reached it without further disturbance by the police.
I have no idea what was going on with these guys. Maybe it’s the proximity to South Ossetia. Maybe it’s just curiosity. Whenever I tried to ask what’s going on people didn’t seem to understand crucial words like ‘dangerous’ and gave rubbish replies.
I’m in a hotel which has wireless Internet and English-language TV – for the first time in more than two weeks.
Sting is in Batumi tonight.
Cycled: 90km
Max. speed: 65kph
It was a rainy night. No bear showed up.
Got up, packed our stuff, had a quick breakfast, and continued along the Tskhenistskali river.
We came through hamlets or villages more often now, but most of the houses were abandoned. The closer we came to Lentekhi, the center of the Lower Svaneti district, the more people actually lived in the villages.
Reached Lentekhi in the early afternoon and decided to stay here for the night. Asked a police officer about possibilities. He phoned a friend with a car and they escorted us to Irina’s, in Stalin St. Irina is a friendly woman of Russian descent renting out rooms in the oversized house standing in her frontyard. I got the cheapest accomodation on the entire trip here (20 Lari (~8 Euro) incl. dinner).
Not long after we arrived in Lentekhi it started to rain heavily. We went out anyway to check out the party scene have a look at the town. We also wanted to buy some wine. Finally found a shop that sold some – self-brewed in a 2 liter beer bottle!
We invited Irina to some wine. She accepted but was busy making phone calls and listening to music on her laptop all the time. The TV was running. Her little daughter watched TV in the next room, too. Media overkill after the quiet days up in the mountains.
What’s worse, there is no bathroom that we know of. We had our showers in Irina’s bathroom, but to reach it we had to walk through her living room AND her bed room.
Cycled: 46km
