{"id":1640,"date":"2011-07-06T23:32:11","date_gmt":"2011-07-06T19:32:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onmytodd.org\/?p=1640"},"modified":"2015-02-15T17:23:54","modified_gmt":"2015-02-15T16:23:54","slug":"gori-uplistsikhe-tbilisi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/onmytodd.org\/?p=1640","title":{"rendered":"Gori – Uplistsikhe – Tbilisi"},"content":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n

Otherwise the cycling today wasn’t very pleasant. More than 41\u00b0C (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.<\/p>\n

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.
\nNeed to cure\/fix both issues over the next days.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

And guess who was sitting there at a table when I checked in? Zolt\u00e1n, the guy I’d shared a cabin with on the boat from Varna to Batumi! Small world!<\/p>\n

Went out to dinner with him. One(?) beer and I’m ready for bed. Good night.<\/p>\n

Almost forgot: I cycled 90km today.<\/p>\n

PS: It is HOT here in Tbilisi, even at night. It’s 30\u00b0C at half past 11pm in the room I’m sleeping in. I’m sooo looking forward to going back to the mountains soon!<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n