I got into Georgia, made it 7 miles down the road and headed to the beach at Gonio for a couple of days off. I arrived to check into the hotel that I had booked over the internet. That didn't get off well as they were surprised to see me. I shown them my confirmation and a quick phone call later we moved on. She then tried to collect payment but I had paid in advance.
I was walked up to my room on the 4th floor, the lift didn't work, I was show the restaurant which was yet to be fitted out so no kitchen or furniture and also the pool that was not finished. On the positive side the room itself was nice like a mini suite with separate bedroom and full length balcony so I thought I would stay the first night and then review the situation.
As I walked around the resort it was all a bit of a work in progress with lots of hotels with empty pools and being refurbished or repaired. I found one bar/restaurant open which I guess is enough so decided this was not yet the start of the season and I would probably not do much better so rather than trying to check out and recover my money from a third party website I would stay put.
There was not much to do around the town and whilst the pool at the hotel wasn't open the sea was so I headed down there in the mornings then spent time getting my photos and blog up to date as well as planning the route ahead.
The plan was to stay on the coast up to Kobuleti and then head inland to Gori where the Stalin museum looked interesting. Then I would take a back roads route to Tbilisi picking up a couple of other cultural sites before heading further east past Lagodekhi to exit the country.
After a couple of day off I was back on the road again and headed for Batumi passed mile after mile of currency exchanges who the hell changes all this money? As I approached Batumi it was wall to wall adverts for casinos so it was the Turks who were changing all this money as they came over the border to gamble.
I pushed through Batum and managed to sort out stuff I could not at Gonio. I found and ATM to get more local currency and bought a Georgian sim card so was now good to go.
Pushing on up the coast I was struggling to find my staple diet of Magnums and the local equivalent was a poor substitute. There was however M&M's which I had not seen for nearly three weeks so not all bad!
I headed inland, I avoided the temptation of the wine route and made it to Ozurgeti my target for the day after 50 miles in good time.
So carried on another 15 miles to Chokhatauri which would make the next days mileage more manageable. I stocked up and headed off to find a camping spot, as I rode into the town I would see many spots in fields or river banks but leaving I started to climb in a narrow corridor with the road fenced in by the houses. There were a few houses that looked derelict but well secured so I did not want to cross the line between light trespassing and breaking and entering.
Eventually, after 71 miles I found a small patch of land with a picnic table on it that looked like public space. This was closer to houses than I would like but I just rolled in and set up camp
It was a warm night and the first time I had not used the sleeping bag as I just slept in the silk liner. I had bought some milk to have a real coffee but in the morning but this had turned to cottage cheese! Things are only going to get hotter from here so I guess that's the end of keeping fresh milk on this trip.
The next morning I packed up overlooked by a placid dog but as soon as I set off there was barking behind and the dog was chasing me up the road and I mean up as I was climbing so not able to outrun the damn thing! As I approached a bend I stopped and got off at which point the dog just reverted to placid mode and shuffled back to where we had both started from. How strange that as soon as I got on a bike I become something to chase! It's also not every dog that chases you I would say it is roughly about 50/50.
I continued my climb into the hills with a nice view over the forest and the cows I was sharing the road with as well as some pigs both of which don't chase bikes!
Soon I was out of the hills with 20 miles of reasonably flat land but unfortunately a strong headwind was building which brought my speed down and diminished my expectation of getting finished by 2 pm.
On the way down I thought how unsightly it was that gas pipes where not buried but ran exposed along the roads, can you imagine the uproar if they tried to do this in the UK?
I stopped at bakery at Vani to restock and pointed at a long brown thing that looked like it might be meat based. It was and best described as a spicy Greggs corned beef pastie but a foot and a half long for 30p. Bargain! I ate half then and stuffed the rest in my pannier for later.
I was managing OK with the Georgian signage as most things were repeated in English with one for my Colliers friends below. Failing that you can rely on pictures, I assume the last one is where you can get a dog shot....tempting!
I then stumbled back on the wine route and passed a few wine cellars but not knowing how far off the road they were I didn't turn off to visit any.
I did however get to sample some. As I was recovering at the top of the biggest climb (wrong no ice lolly) when a guy in a Hawaiian shirt arrived on a rotavator with his girlfriend in the trailer behind. On the way out of the shop he rummaged in the trailer presented me with a litre of white wine in a fruit juice bottle which I tried to refuse but he would have none of it.
I waved him goodbye and thanks then packed in in my pannier for later and set off. I came to the next hill and could feel the wine sloshing around I thought I hope this wine is worth the effort of getting it up this hill. I then decided to find out so pulled over and had a taste...it was rank I poured it away and continued to climb!
I finished in Zestafoni after 56 hard miles at about 4 pm and found a hotel was built over a sports centre so I checked in. There was a chlorine environment in reception and a group of kids were waiting for their swimming lesson!
The next day I had a big climb so I skipped breakfast which was at 9 am and got on the road at 8. I was heading up the main road which was climbing 33 miles up the valley, there was an alternative route but that was 20 miles further so was not that appealing.
The road was a single carriageway with no hard shoulder to speak of just some gravel which was a lottery whether it would be compacted or you would sink into and grind to a halt. I therefore stuck to the road despite the horns from the traffic behind and was making slow progress as I had a headwind again.
I did think maybe the back road scenic route might be worth considering but when the turn off for this route appeared it was closed and you could see they were working on landslides and road collapses down by the river below so that was it main road it was.
This did however give me a great opportunity to view the terrible terracotta which was on offer at every lay-by.
As I climbed I saw a disused tunnel so was tempered to try again. Looking on my map there seemed to be a route through so I dug out my helmet light and when into the darkness to cut the corner on the road and rejoin further up.
A little further on I met this guy, another member of Team Turkey a real one at that. He had cycled to Baku but been refused a visa to travel on so was on his way back to Ankara. Later in the day a Japanese cyclist caught me up but he was not so sociable just asked if I was OK then cracked on.
Some more tunnels came after which were short 300 m affairs so I timed it to head into them safely when there was a gap in the traffic. Then after 30 uphill miles I came to a mile long tunnel and faced the dilemma whether to take it or go round.
It looked downhill so I thought why not and headed in. No sooner had I entered then I know I had made a mistake it was another one of those optical illusions and was uphill so I was making 4 mph not my expected 20. Also with it being a single carriageway and a high kerb that would catch my front pannier there was no room for lorries to pass so I was a obstruction at a closing speed of 45 mph.
I leapt up the kerb and dragged my bike to safety there was no pavement to speak off just a row of uneven paving slabs which I started to push the bike along but realised that was not practical for the next mile. So when there was a gap in the traffic I crossed over and instantly felt the road slope away so rode hard downhill and out.
I then took the old road over the pass and this was great with the road to myself the whole way passed eerie disuse shops and petrol station abandoned since the tunnel had been opened. The road had been blocked by landslides in some sections but luckily these had been cleared
Soon I was back on the main road and blasting downhill it was 3 pm and I had 20 more miles to go today so need to get a move on but now it was downhill or flat.
That's when disaster struck.
I was pushing hard taking a suggested cycle route down the back lanes of a town when the I hit an unmarked speed hump that landed me into a pothole and the bike started pulling to the right. As I pushed on I checked the handle bars they were in line the wheels they had not buckled and the tyres no puncture. then it struck me I'd lost a (expletive) front pannier!
I quickly turned round and retraced my route but there was no pannier lying in the road. I made 2-3 sweeps going further up and down the road but was convinced I knew exactly where I had lost it which was in a poor residential area and concluded that someone had seen it or found it in the short time it took me to realise and had had it away.
I stayed round looking and asking people for the next hour and a half even gesturing that I would pay if it was returned thinking someone might have worked out it was probably worth more to me than they could get for the contents but no joy. I thought hard about involving the police but I think I have a jaundice view from our own force that there was little chance they would lock down the neighbourhood and go house to house so I reluctantly cycled on.
As I climbed up towards the castle at Kareli I noticed the back wheel was soft and thought How luck it was that I had not transferred all my tools into the missing pannier which I was intending to do and ditch the saddle bag to save weight so I still had a puncture repair kit and one spare inner tube.
With just 4 miles to go I pumped up the tyre at the castle and eventually made it to Kareli at 6.30 but could not find any accommodation so stocked up and camped on the outskirts finding a disused site with thick grass as my 50 euro self inflating mattress was one of the things in the missing pannier. As were my major tool kit, all my spare parts, water filter, solar battery charge and my gopro accessories.
The next day I decided to just cycle the 15 miles to Gori then look for a hotel so I could have some time to work out what to do about my missing gear. I decided to follow the cycle route that MapsMe had suggested which took me over the main road and ran alongside. Things were going well until the road surface deteriorated to the point where it was a mud track with a steam flowing down it.
I was completely bogged down could make no headway so pushed back to the motorway and found a lovely services for my usual mid morning refuel.
I arrived in Gori by 10.30 and on the third attempt found a nice hotel which had a room available immediately so settled in and started making plans.
I found out there were no bike shops in Gori but a few decent looking ones in Tbilisi as well as some outdoor shops so was hopeful that I might find some replacements there. I got onto Amazon and ordered some specialist tools, brake blocks and water filter. I got these delivered to a friend Angela, who was looking at the options to post them to me in Baku which would be the next major city on the route. I also had another friend Chris, who would be coming out in August to do the Pamir Highway and could also bring some non-essentials then.
With progress made Gori was the birthplace of Stalin so I headed off to the museum which was on my sight seeing list.
The museum, the building with the flag on, was constructed behind the house where Stalin was born. This was preserved and enclosed under a glazed canopy you can see in the foreground whilst the rest of the neighbourhood was bulldozed to create you guessed it Stalin Square.
I would agree with the other reviews that the museum even now seemed to glorify his life which was obviously it's initial objective but I thought with Georgian independence they would have toned it down a bit or added some balance.
I love this painting where one obvious dissident has been not so subtlety airbrushed out, it was a good job he was standing on the far right.
The exhibits included Stalin's death mask and his bullet proof train complete with bath I bet the driver was nervous to keep the train steady when he was in the tub!
There was a single cabinet that listed local victims of and a token display under the stairs involving a net curtain and some words but there was no description of his evil regime and where he got his plans for world domination from!
The next morning I was back on the sight seeing trail with two more in the top 10 things to tick off the list the cave city of Uplistsikhe and then to the Svetitskhoveli Cathedral in Mtskheta.
I could find no sign of breakfast in the hostel so called in at the bakers round the corner and grabbed a couple of pastries.
The one on the left was a sort of almond and choux pastry brick that was a bit dried out and was obviously not fresh but I was able to wash it down with the orange juice and that would fuel me for the morning so I saved the other for later on.
I fired down the road on my sugar and almond rush and was soon crossing the River Kura that I would follow to Tbilisi and could see Uplistsikhe in the distance.
The city was amazing with a mass of buildings and open space carved from the rock with a more recent christian church built on the top.
I was struck by the complex carvings in some of the spaces to mimic plaster work or beams.
The audio guide kept referring to different buildings and features as being thought for some religious ceremony and I imagined the poor guy with the pick axe saying "you want what now father?? " or words to that effect!
There was even a secret runnel cut from the stone that linked the city to the river
After that but of culture I was off to Mtskheta and had my second pastry as an addition to my usual morning rations!
I pushed on to Mtskheta and 15 miles out balanced my diet with some bananas from a one armed man who I didn't seek out for this lack of limbs but is abundance of fruit.
By 4 pm I was at my destination and stuck lucky with a nice homely hotel with a splendid view of said Cathedral.
I strolled over to take in the culture
My mother who passed away in 2010 would have loved this when she came to visit me in Budapest we limited her to just two churches a day and as she was responsible for this trip I lit a candle for her in front of Our Lady.
I had some dinner and returned to me hotel with the a stunning view of the cathedral lit up, my mother would be making plans for the far one on the hill to the left!
At 3 am the next morning I was woken by loud clap which heralded the start of a thunderstorm that would last the rest of the night. After a broken sleep I snoozed my alarm and dozed until 8 am and it was still raining as I made it down to breakfast.
I was presented with two fried eggs which I sent back and tried to explain they were the Devil's food but I think that got lost in translation. These were then substituted by cheese bread, pizza and bread. Good job I am not a celiac or there would have been a riot!
A huge slice of what I would describe as Black Forest Gateau with walnuts then appeared with only 20 miles left to cycle to Tbilisi I might not burn that off but it disappeared. The rain continued but the forecast was it to clear up later so I stayed put and at 10.30 the sun was out, I loaded up and was on the road.
As it was a short ride I chose to take the recommended cycle route and was following this when I saw two touring cyclist ahead. They were slower than me so I was catching up. I was almost on them I realised I was off route and stopped to check my whereabouts which was approaching the main road I was trying to avoid. It was a short cut and I could dive off in a couple of miles so I followed the other two into the traffic. I caught them up again and they were a retired Swiss couple who had been on the road for a month but had got the ferry across the Black Sea from Odessa to Batumi and were on there last leg finishing in Tbilisi.
I wished them well and headed off but in no time I was entering the city so just stuck to the main road and made my way to the cheap hostel in Old Tbilisi I had booked. As I negotiated the city traffic right on cue my back wheel started to make noises and I noticed now an excessive amount on play so was a good job I was heading to a bike shop later.
Bit of a change of view from my window compared to yesterday!
I headed off to the bike shop that looked the best and managed to pick up some replacement brake pads which I thought I would struggle with as well as some other missing bits. After that I had two more bike shops on my list to I walked between them so see if they had anything useful.
At the second shop I met up with the Swiss couple again and chatted with the lady while her husband was at the counter. She advised they were storing the bikes here and spending the next month trekking. I wished them well again had a snoop round but didn't find anything so off to the next. I eventually arrived back into the city centre and who cycled past me but the Swiss couple how spooky.
Next morning I went shopping for my missing outdoor gear I started in the main shopping centre and as I walked across the second floor saw the Swiss couple on the opposite mall, this was getting weird! I came away from there empty handed and again the specialist shops were spread out across the outskirts of the city. So I started by taxi to visit the biggest and worked my way through them.
A water filter or some purification tablets was an essential but no joy I did manage to pick up a new sleeping mat but a cheaper foam one this time. At my last shop I asked again about water filters and the guy said he could ask a couple of store he knew. One said they had no filters but had water purification tablets, it was only the one I had started out at! I was back there in a taxi they were in a locked cabinet on the ground floor not with the camping equipment so no wonder I didn't find them but I did ask the assistant up there on my first visit but left with enough for 40 litres of water which should keep me going.
After exhausting the what was available locally I spent the rest of the day internet shopping on Amazon and ebay to replace the rest of the missing stuff for Wally to bring out to The Stans. I had to do this at cafes and the restaurant next door as there was an issue with the WiFi at the hostel which was a pain to put it mildly. I had however come to the conclusion that with what I have been able to get I didn't need to arrange a deliver to rendezvous with me in Baku which was good.
The next day I set about getting my visa for India which I could only apply for until 3 month prior to arrival. I planed to get an e-visa but when I looked into this the website said they could only be used at major airports and sea ports I was entering at New Dehli airport but would exit to Nepal and back by land borders and then overland to Myanmar.
Oh well I thought better get to the embassy in Tbilisi but further research advised that this and any other Indian Embassy on route would only issue visas to citizens of that country. I was thinking I'd better board the next flight home but 2 coffees in at a Look-a-Like Starbucks and more research later I discovered on travel blogs that only your first entry has to be at major airports after that you can use any authorised border crossing problem solved!!
I spent most of the day grinding thought the e-visa process which was painful. For example they rejected my visa photo as too small so I had to take a new one. The first attempt I looked like a right criminal so I put a clean shirt on and tried to smile a bit!
I took some calls from the bike shop saying my my cassette and front middle ring were "destroyed" and needed replacing as did the chain. The cone in the hub needed replacing again and yet again with it being a specialist hub they were fishing around for the parts that were needed. Later on they called to say they had found a part and it would cost me just £5 to fix and would be ready on Saturday ready for my Sunday departure which was great news.
Saturday was upon me my last in Tbilisi and whilst I waited for the bike shop to open at 11 I finally did some sightseeing and phone by sister Becky on here birthday from my Look-a-Like Starbucks where I was now also part of the furniture. I picked my bike up and gave the guy a big tip for his time in hunting down the part required which I do not think he had factored into his £5 cost and took it back to the hostel.
Back to the restaurant next door where I was again now a regular and worked out the distances to Baku I came to the conclusion that I was still 2 days ahead of schedule and having been flat out on shopping and visas I would stay put for another day. I also ran the numbers and worked out I could afford to upscale to a nearby 4 star hotel for my last ight in the city so made a booking.
Having been unsuccessful in buying a replacement pannier so I played about with some dry bags and string to to bodge something together which would balance the bike and give me some more capacity.
Whilst in Tbilisi I got some great news that my sister Rachael and her husband were planning a trip to meet up with me and we arranged a rendezvous in Baku. This meant that she would be able to bring out to me a replacement set of panniers and the equipment I needed from the UK.
With everything squared away I headed to the sulphur bath district which I had walked around earlier for a soak and was scrubbed within an inch of my life!
I didn't have a good night sleep between a private party at in the restaurant next door, which despite all the time I'd spend that I was not invited to and the noise from nearby anti government and Russian demonstrations.
These were caused by some Russian MP's being invited over and one addressing a meeting from the speakers chair which ignited the population. I ran into them earlier in the week video below.
You have to remember that just over a decade ago that Russian troops entered Georgia so there remains tension between the two neighbours.
The next morning I got confirmation that my India Visa had been accepted which was a result and moved into my one night only posh hotel. So with all my jobs done I was able to have a proper day off apart from of course updating this blog which I am now doing from the desk below.
I will be hitting the road tomorrow so will leave you with a slide show below of Tbilisi
Right it was to go I was unable to find a replacement pannier so used one of my dry bags to give me some balance and luggage capacity I also added a nifty wing mirror that I found on my shopping trips.
I followed the MapsMe suggested route out of Tbilisi which was longer but took me round the back of the airport on minor roads which were again pretty rough with speed humps and potholes so I kept and eye out for my panniers!
Whilst skirting the airport there were hundreds and hundreds of crickets on the road which as I rode past I worked out what was happening. The live ones were eating the flat ones then when a lorry when past they were picked up in the back draft and dragged further into the road and then under the following cars to add to the feast. I did my bit as well, I tried to avoid them at first but then gave up and pressed on with a regular crunching noise as one went under my wheels.
As the day drew on I knew there was a climb to 5,000ft coming and the hills started to appear. I also had a couple of questionable navigation issues which added 3-4 miles by now which didn't help.
It was a relentless climb but mostly rideable as I got into it I saw a peak ahead and was thankful the road was heading to the left.
The next time a saw it which as you can tell is much later in the day I was at the same level!
I was beginning to run out of steam with more regular stops and started to zig zag across the road to try and ease the effort. When one of the frequent minibuses came round the corner and I tried to get to the side of the road but overshot and came to a grinding halt.
I pushed the bike about 100 metres up the road and could see the summit which was annoying to have got so far and then having to push but remounted to get to the top and the obligatory shot.
It was now 6.30 pm and there were 12 miles to go to the nearest city Telavi where I hoped to find a hotel but I had a cracking decent and arrived at 7 with a thunderstorm on my tail. The hotel had a mirror on the back of the bathroom door so you could watch yourself going to the toilet not a feature I would recommend!
I passed this shop as I was looking for a hotel and wondered why people take disused tyres and make utter garbage out of them!
The next day it was about 50 miles to the border but I didn't want to cross too late in the day so thought I would see how the day went and take it from there.
As I left Telavi I dropped to the valley floor with an imposing view of the Caucasus mountains behind which sits Russia fortunately I was turning right.
As I headed east I passed the stunning Gremi monastery which it would have been great to explore but I wanted to give myself every chance of getting to Azerbaijan today.
I was now in the eastern wine growing region and firmly on the wine route it was nice to see vineyards and wineries some offering tasting and accommodation but I held my resolve and sped past.
I was so hot I was stopping regularly to pick up cold drinks along the but a really dry heat so as soon as I set off and took a few breaths my mouth was dry again. There was lots of water in the irrigation channels but most of the river beds were dry which made me think they must have a pretty efficient system!
As I rode along I saw many roadside stalls selling melons and with 15 miles to go thought that would be a good idea for my lunch to stopped to buy one. The guy watched me arrive and when I had selected a melon waved me off and would not take payment which was a nice gesture so I found a spot of shade under a tree and demolished it.
I made the town of Lagodekhi by about 3 pm my iphone had stopped due to overheating and I was in two minds there to stop or press on. As I rode thought I looked out for a hotel or a cafe where I could take a break and plan. I found neither so that was the decision made Azerbaijan it was.
I bought some supplies and then set about changing money. The first place after I got to the front of the queue didn't change Azerbaijan currency but the next did so I got some ready money. I converted the rest to US dollars and headed off to the border where this cheery sign was waiting for me!
