Trip Archives: To the Caucasus and Back

Four months and 5000km of cycling around southeastern Europe, the Caucasus, and the Middle East in the summer of 2011.

Lakhani – Mestia

Left around 8am. The road’s surface switched back and forth between muddy track, cobbly stones, and freshly paved every couple of kilometers. And it climbed.

Had a short break after 20km and when I turned around – I saw a touring cyclist! Alexander from Switzerland, on his way to Mestia. He’d started his trip in Istanbul and is on a tour around Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. We cycled on together. Small world: Alex is the Swiss cyclist who the Polish guy had told me about back in Batumi.

Beautiful vistas along the road. The first snow-covered peaks in the distance. Deep gorges. Beautifully situated villages. Great weather.

And: the first Svan defensive towers! Impressive, amazing, old. Some of them have been built between the 9th and 13th century AD. As you may remember, these towers where one of the main reasons why I’m on this trip.

We finally arrived in Mestia. Took us some time to find a welcoming homestay (I wouldn’t recommend the one that was recommended to me), but we ended up in a lovely farmstead – and they have their own Svan tower in the backyard!

The Russian border is just 10km to the north.

Mestia’s roads are a catasprophe in its own right. Whatever type of bad road I’ve seen on the 140km from Zugdidi to here – it is also represented within the single kilometer or so of Mestia’s main street. Whatever type of good road I’ve seen – it is not here. Contrary to what I would have expected, there’s a Toyota Eclipse (a kind of sports car) driving around and women proudly take their high heels out for a walk in the mud. :)

Cycled: 62km, which took me almost 6 hours of net riding time! (Including about 2km just inside Mestia – we now know the main street like we’ve been living here for years!)

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Hiking from Mestia to Mazeri somewhere near Guli Pass

Last night Alex and I talked about our plans here in Mestia. They are as follows: Alex will do two or three single-day hikes and I will attempt a two or three-day hike from Mestia to Etseri via Mazeri. Then we both want to hike to Ushguli, which may take three to four days.

The first sections of the walks chosen for today matched and we left around 10am to hike up to ‘the cross’, just to the north of Mestia. From there we turned northeast along the Lamaaja ridge. At some point I turned west and followed a hollow while Alex continued on the ridge. The walk was easy and well-marked until I came to a gully and the confluence of two streams. It was still covered in snow and it looked like landslides had possibly destroyed the guideposts/markers. I could see the Guli Pass (2960m) which I had to cross in front of me, but the walls of the gully were quite steep and I didn’t see an obvious way out other than climbing up between the streams (partly over the snow fields, partly up and along the walls), which also seemed to be the suggested route based on the markers I found. Sometimes the underground was so muddy and loose that I had to make really quick steps to have my feet moved away before everything gave way under me. I felt a bit like in a cartoon where the protagonist tries to avoid the inevitable fall by trying to run in the air.

So I climbed and climbed and didn’t find any more way marks. I realized that by now I was seriously going in the wrong direction, so I decided to try and reach the ridge above and to the west of me, hoping that it would have a maneuverable connection to the pass.

With every few meters I ascended and moved closer towards the pass it became more and more difficult to go on. Around 6pm, at an altitude of approx. 2850m, clounds and dust started to drift fast across the ridge I wanted to reach. There was no way I could continue if visibility got any worse. Luckily I was just at a place that would allow for pitching my tent, and the options for moving on were slim. The available space was tiny, just enough for my 1-person tent, and high above the valley that I apparently was supposed to climb up in. Thunder started rolling above me and it started to rain. Put up the tent and moved in.

Temperatures dropped considerably and the rain turned into hail and later snow. Heard something that sounded like footsteps passing by – but that was pretty much impossible up here, wasn’t it? I peeked out of the tent – and visibility was NIL. The entire valley below and all the peaks around me were covered in fog/cloud.

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Somewhere near Guli Pass – Mazeri Mestia

The night was pretty horrible. Temperatures dropped to 3°C inside the tent. They must have been around 0° or even below outside.
I’d put on all the clothes but was still freezing and didn’t sleep much. A couple of times I dreamed that I was very close to some village, with a proper path across the pass.

Around 5.30am the sun rose and started to warm up the tent a bit, so I dozed off properly. At 6.15 I heard the foot steps next to the tent again, and suddenly realized what it was: rocks falling down from the cliffs above.

I was out of my sleeping bag and had packed everything in no time. (The tent was half covered by a thin layer of ice.) Luckily, the stones sought some other way down and didn’t come too close to my camp site.

So, what were my options? Continue towards the pass from where I was? Didn’t seem possible. Go back the same way I’d come? Certainly not. Go back to Mestia? This seemed like the best idea.

I backtracked a few hundered meters on the way I had come, then ziggzagged down into the valley below. Almost half-way down I crossed a little path and my adventurousness flickered back to life. Would that path take me to the pass? It went in the right direction!

I gave it a try and emerged on not-so-steep slopes a few hundred meters right below Guli Pass! All I had to do was cross a couple of snow fields and climb up some meadows and more snow fields. It looked easy enough!

Well, I made it to approx. 100m below the pass. Then I didn’t dare go any further, the snow fields were too steep.

Had a break and explored other options without the backpack, to no avail. Eventually I turned around and descended back into the valley. On the way back I found the way markers again and followed them in reverse direction, towards Mestia, to find out where I had gone wrong. It was indeed yesterday in the gully where I had climbed up between the two streams. I should have crossed them both as well as a third one, but the markers had been washed away and the remainder was not visible to me.

I returned to Mestia where I arrived at 5pm, totally exhausted. :)

Guli Pass has beaten me. This time.

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Chalaati Glacier

Had a lazy morning. After lunch Alex and I jumped onto the bikes and cycled to the north, towards the Russian border, along the river Mestiachala. The track is rough and rocky and every now and then a stream crosses, or both track and stream use the same bed for up to a few hundred meters. We got wet feet but it was fun to ride through the water.

After about 9km the track ended at the confluence of the Mestiachala and the Chalaati rivers. We left our bikes behind and crossed the Mestiachala over a narrow Soviet-built suspension bridge. Near the bridge there is a border control post. The soldiers there welcomed us with lots of ‘my friends’ and ‘welcome to Svaneti’ (the name of the region here).

Then we continued along the Chalaati river on a well-trodden path for about 2km to the foot of the glacier. The river emerges from under the ice. Not just a few drops. It’s a full-blown river right from the start. It looks awesome. We walked around on the ice directly on top of the river for a bit. Everything is covered by small rocks and big boulders that have fallen down from the melting ice.

Returned on the same way we’d come.

Cycled: 19km

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Mestia

Alex and I had planned to go to another glacier, the Leghziri glacier, today but this morning I decided I’d have a rest day, so Alex set out on his own.

I spent some time reading on the veranda of our guesthouse and had lunch with the American/Australian couple staying here, too.

In the afternoon I went to the tourist information to get some maps of the region and of Georgia (check), to ask about an Internet place (no check), to tell them that the markers for the hike across Guli Pass are incomplete (half check, I don’t think the guy fully understood what I wanted to tell him), and to find out where the local ethnographical museum is located exactly (no check, it’s closed and being renovated).

Interestingly, in the narrative on the back of the maps the disputed Georgian areas of Abkhazia and South Ossetia are simply not mentioned. For example, for the Kazbegi region (central north of Georgia) only the northern (Russian) and eastern and southern (Georgian) neighbouring regions are listed, the western neighbour (South Ossetia) has been silently omitted. Maybe one reason is that it is quite difficult (or impossible) to categorize South Ossetia in terms of nationality, as was done for the other neighbouring regions. The area is currently not under Georgian control, but occupied by Russian troops, and claims independence from both countries. However, almost no other countries recognize it as independent. Pretty much the same story holds true for Abkhazia.

Finally visited the Svan tower in our host’s backyard. Amazing. The first floor is approx. 3m above the ground. Inside there are four more storeys, all of which, including the first one, can only be reached by means of removable wooden ladders. The roof is partly open so that we could climb out and have a splendid view over Mestia.

Like every evening, the host’s dog is trying to hump the local cows, doggy-style.

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Almost Mt. Zuruldi & almost Eli

Lazy morning.

In the afternoon I jumped on the bike to cycle to the village of Ieli (or Eli). According to our guide books Ieli is the only place in the world where people still use sheep skins to filter streams for gold.

Left Mestia to the south and started riding up Mt. Zuruldi. After a few kilometers I came to a T-junction with two signs. Right: Ieli 8km, left: Ieli 8km. I took the left option as it was tarmaced and not on my map.

The road continued uphill and after a few more kilometers I hit a dead end: A hotel and a ski lift. Backtracked a bit and found a track that branched off the road. It was a bit muddy at times but mostly ok to ride on. After a while it got worse, though, and eventually it was almost entirely overgrown and only a footpath remained. Then all of a sudden it terminated at a freshly bulldozed track that seemed to be a maintenance track for the ski lift. I followed that track. It was so muddy and steep that I had to push the bike.

Eventually I reached the ridge near the ski lift’s hill station. Just like the track, everything in its vincinity was bulldozed without love, and very muddy. I cycled eastward until I could see Ieli – far down below in the valley! No path or track visible from where I was. So I turned around (and thereby unintentionally missed out on the summit of Mt. Zuruldi which was just a few hundred meters further down (up) the track).

The (muddy) track went downhill on the western slopes of Mt. Zuruldi and I came to the abandoned village of Heshkili, beautifully located at an elevation of about 2000m, amidst alpine meadows.

Here I met the other option coming from the T-junction, the track going to Ieli. It was quite late already and still a few kilometers to Ieli, but I decided to try and follow the track for a bit, at least until I could have a glimpse at the village again. When I did see it, it started to rain and I turned around to return to Mestia.

It was an awesome downhill ride, going down from almost 2000 to 1400m.

Too bad I chose the ‘good road’ earlier. I’d have reached Ieli for sure had I used the track to Heshkili immediately.

Cycled: 32km
Max. Speed: 60kph

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Mestia – Ushguli

Yesterday we felt that we’d been in Mestia long enough and that it was time to move on. Our next destination was Ushguli, a community of four villages in the remote northeastern corner of Svaneti.

What is so special about Ushguli? First and foremost it is said to be beautifully located high up in the Caucasus. Second, it boasts about 20 Svan towers and numerous old houses, which have been listed as world heritage by the UNESCO. Third, at an elevation of approx. 2100m, it claims to be the highest year-round inhabited community in Europe(!).

So we left Mestia around 11am. The road, which is now merely a track (though a pretty good one most of the time), follows the Mulkhura river eastwards towards a few hamlets, then crosses the Ughviri Pass (1922m) and from then on follows the Enguri river. We had a short break before climbing up the pass when a police jeep stopped next to us. The first question was about our nationality. We answered and the police officer started babbling away in fluent German! Amongst other things we learned that the road from Ushguli to Lentekhi is impassable for cars, but we wouldn’t have any problems with our bikes.

We crossed the pass and from that moment on the landscape was of an otherworldly beauty impossible to describe in words.

We came to the hamlet of Bogreshi and visited the St. George’s Church of Nakipari nearby. Bogreshi and Nakipari where the first places we’d seen that were truly out of the loop. That is, there are no shops there, no tourism worth mentioning, no jobs, no future for the people living there other than doing what they’ve done for centuries: subsistance farming and herding.

Many houses are really old, exceptionally beautiful, in a bad state of disrepair, and/or abandoned.

We continued along the Enguri and were wow’ing and aaah’ing constantly, about the beauty of nature or about location or architecture of houses and towers. Our cameras were busy all the time.

Visited the St. Barbara Church of Khe, a tiny chapel in a tiny hamlet. The key keeper’s family invited us to cheese, bread and matsoni (yoghurt), which was a much appreciated gesture. The situation got a bit awkward at the end when Alex tried to pay for the food, but neither of us was sure if that was appropriate, and how much would be a sensible sum. They did accept the money.
Khe, just like Bogreshi and Nakipari, is out of any loop as well.

We finally arrived in Ushguli at almost 8pm and were again awestruck by the views. The truly old buildings, towers and ruins were illuminated by the setting sun.
Checked into a Lonely Planet-recommended guesthouse, or so we thought.

It’s only about 45km to Ushguli but that distance took us 5 hours of net riding time (excl. breaks). In total we spent almost 9 hours on the road (incl. lots of photo breaks, etc.).

Cycled: 46km

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Shkhara Glacier

When arriving in Ushguli yesterday we were almost immediately certain that the one day we’d planned to stay here would not be enough. We’d need at least one more day to explore the villages and churches that belong to the Ushguli community.

The plan for today was to hike to the foot of Mt Shkhara to have a look at the Shkhara Glacier, which is the source of the Enguri river, which we’d followed since the Ughviri Pass.

We set out at 9.30am and walked through Chvibiani and Zhibiani towards Mt Shkhara, approx. 10km to the northeast. The villages are exceptional; I felt set back to the middle ages. It wasn’t always a pleasant view, of course, but a fascinating one nonetheless. There is some kind of sewage system for the houses, but pigs, sheep, goats, cows and horses use the paths between the houses, including for being fed and milked. Houses and towers are deteriorating. Quite a few are abandoned.

Outside the villages the track went across colorful meadows, was crossed by numerous streams, and blocked by an avalanche. We met a group of four Israeli-Americans and a Canadian on the way.

At the glacier we had a bath in the ice-cold waters of the Enguri directly where it gushes out from under the ice, with rocks falling down from the glacier cliff above every now and then. We explored a cave in the ice, climbed up the glacier and enjoyed the view over the ice masses and toward Mt Shkhara (5068m), which was just a few hundred meters (guesstimated!) away. At that point we were at an elevation of approx. 2600m, just half of that of Mt Shkhara!

Returned the same way we’d come.

The family we’re staying with consists of three generations: grandpa and grandma, both in their 70s, Giorgi and Tiko, in their late 20s/early 30s, and Lika, their three year old daughter.

Walked: 20km

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Ushguli

Today was reserved for the community of Ushguli. We went to see two of the three local museums (one of which was a bit disappointing and expensive for what’s on display). The third one was closed by the time we got there. Walked around the hamlets and noticed that in the two upper ones, Chvibiani and Zhibiani, there is quite abit of refurbishing going on and there are actually a lot of guest houses (and an unexpectedly high number of tourists – we met 10+ or so). Not all of the guest houses seem as sympathetic as ours, though.

Wanted to rent horses to ride to the ruins of Tamar mepe (Queen Tamar) church, which is located on a hill overlooking the Enguri valley and all of Ushguli. After hiring the guide and horses he told us that the path would be too steep or whatever and that it wouldn’t be possible to go there by horse. Gna! Instead we were offered a ride to the Shkhara glacier where we’d been yesterday. For lack of options we accepted that route eventually.

I hadn’t really ever ridden a horse (other than once around a soccer field or so years ago) and I was looking forward to it now. The ride was short, though. At the avalanche we’d crossed yesterday the guide stopped and turned around, telling us that it wouldn’t be possible to cross it with the horses. Oh well, in other words, we got ripped off. ;)

Walked down to Chazhashi, the second lowest hamlet of the Ushguli community. Here there is less (re)building going on. Tracks between houses are narrow, twisted, bumpy, and dirty. The towers are mighty and strong, though deteriorating. I don’t think many of them are put to good use, and most are just rotting away slowly. Very sad.
If you ignore the satellite dishes in the backyards, this truly feels like having traveled back in time to the middle ages.

The only part of Ushguli we haven’t visited yet is Murkmeli, the lowest of the four hamlets. We’ve only seen it briefly from the road when we arrived here two days ago. It looked like it is the poorest and most rotten one.

At night we had a farewell supra in our family. It was short, fortunately, but the chacha was strong. The etiquette is very difficult to grasp, especially given the language barrier. Ours and their Russian combined only got us thus far. We never knew when we were supposed to reply to the toast, when to drink, and how much. Well, we managed anyway and had quite a bit of fun.

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Ushguli – Confluence of Tskhenistskali and Zeskho rivers

Left our lovely host family shortly past 10am and went to the local treasure museum, which was closed yesterday when we went there.

It was still closed and we had to wait for half an hour until someone heard our shouting and told the officials that there were visitors. The local police officer showed up with one key. He phoned the ‘director’ of the museum who brought the other keys to open the door (three or four locks in total). The museum is located in an old Svan tower. It has icons and crosses from Svaneti churches on display, some of them really old (many things from the 11th and 12th centuries, some from the 6th century, some even older). Taking pictures was not allowed.

We left Ushguli almost half past 11 and cycled to the east. The road (read: track) climbed steadily and steeply towards the Zagaro Pass (2623m) which we crossed happily after about 9km. From then on we went downhill pretty much all the time. We’re quite happy that we didn’t attempt to go to Ushguli from this side. It is so steep it wouldn’t have been fun at all.

Came to a glacier on the south flank of the Ailama massif, which is the source of the Zeskho river. Explored a house in the abondoned hamlet (or maybe military base) of Koruldashi at the foot of the Ailama.

A few kilometers further we came to Tsara, a tiny village on the right bank of the Zeskho. At first glance it looked abandoned, too, and we crossed the river to have a closer look. Curiously, there are no defensive towers in Tsara. Found a couple of very nice-looking old houses, though. We also found people. They were strange, however. The first lady who spotted us didn’t care at all – kinda unexpected here. Then a guy followed us and we were asked where we were going. He pointed out that we were on the wrong side of the river, and said: “This is just Tsara”. It seemed obvious to us that he didn’t really want us to be there.

We continued along the Zeskho. The gorge it flowed through was amazing. High slate cliffs, thick forrest, little streams crossing the track, fabulous weather.

At the confluence of the Zeskho and the Tskhenistskali we noticed a bridge across the Zeskho that wasn’t on any of our maps. A bit curious, we crossred it and found a beautiful grassy place between the two rivers. We decided to call it a day and camp here.

Had a bath in the Tskhenistskali and lit a fire. I cooked some pasta for dinner.

We saw exactly one car all day: a Polish family traveling in the same direction as we did.

Cycled: 31km

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Confluence of Tskhenistskali and Zeskho rivers – Lentekhi

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

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Lentekhi – Kutaisi

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

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Kutaisi – Surami

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

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Surami – Gori

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

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Gori – Uplistsikhe – Tbilisi

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.

Trip: To the Caucasus and Back | Country: | 2 Comments