A Week in Georgia....

After the huge enjoyment of Ani I returned to Kars and parked up opposite the cheese museum (as you do) and was somewhat surprised after a quiet night to wake to 4 inches of fresh snow. Fortunately it had stopped falling and with traffic moving I too was on my way after a leisurely breakfast, stopping briefly at a small supermarket before heading out to one of the lesser border crossings about 100 miles away. The main road had been ploughed clear and was pretty empty as I passed through snow covered mountains that will merit a return visit later in the year.

Approaching the Cildir/Aktas border point there was a line of HGVs which I passed before arriving at the first barrier. Here I was directed to park up and get my passport stamped out before moving the van on to customs where after a cursory inspection and a chat with the friendly female official's sister who she was Whatsapping I moved on to the Georgian side of things where lorries were jammed in all over the place with nothing moving. I got out for a recce and met a friendly Turkish driver who pointed at the lowered Georgian flag which apparently indicates a National Holiday. The delays were due to minimal staffing levels and mainly affected HGVs as they had to pass through X-ray scanners and only one was manned. He said I should just barge through the assorted trucks and get to the car gate - easier said than done with frustrated drivers of various nationalities towering above me in their cabs. Fortunately an Armenian guy had decided to get to get his stove out and cook lunch so when the truck in front of him moved I squeezed past and was at Georgian Passport Control. There were no problems here, or at Customs, as usual I opened every external door, put all the interior lights on and invited the guys in for a good luck at my humble home. 

Insurance is easily obtainable at a kiosk near the petrol station just beyond the border with various classes of vehicle charged different rates for periods varying from 5 days to the 3 months maximum you are allowed in for. With less than a week planned I erred on  the side of caution and took a fortnight for £15 which seemed reasonable but then paid through the nose in the fuel station for a SilkNet SIM. Buying insurance got off to a shaky start as the power had failed and they were trying to start a small genny to run the computers but it had no fuel left. Fortunately the mains came back on before I resorted to digging out my genny and I was soon away after a total crossing time of under two hours.

We had passed this way in the opposite direction last year and the 20 miles towards Akhalkalaki was as bad as we remembered. 20 mph was rarely achievable, snow drifts and meltwater obscured the many deep potholes and oncoming trucks were all over the place trying to avoid the worst of them with the articulated bodies twisting and bouncing to a remarkable degree. The usual police checkpoint to ensure you have insurance was unmanned due to a combination of being almost buried in snow and the bank holiday and I eventually arrived at a less than glamorous spot by the frozen football pitch in a line with 3 industrial bins. I walked in to town in search of an ATM and then out a place by the remains of a small castle that was supposed to be a possibility for gas refills - not anymore. Strolling back to the van I was jolted awake by the sight of 3 recently severed  bulls heads on a table but got back to the van for a quiet night until the bins were emptied at 6am.

Google Maps was set for Gori and I left the outskirts passing several wreckers yards, none of whom seemed to understand my search for a spare wheel rim. At one point a local started waving at me and shaking his head whilst pointing up ahead and I realised that he was telling me the shorter road through the mountains was shut so I rejigged Google Maps to go via Borjomi and took a familiar road through a twisting valley and past the turning to Vardzia, the cave city that had so amazed us last summer.

A final blast on the Batumi to Tbilisi main road put me in the centre of Gori where the same guy from last year filled my CG907 for £6 and I spent a quiet night. A German couple in a T5 pop top weren't far away and later a young Swiss guy turned up in his T5.

They all left the following morning on foot presumably to visit the Stalin Museum whilst I moved on the hour or so to Tbilisi and a 4x4 accessory shop just off the main highway in to the centre. This was closed so I moved on to my planned park up at a private house a couple of miles away. When I arrived at the locked gates I got out and spoke to a guy who rang the owner for me. He explained that the family elder, the grandfather, had passed away the day before and that it might be quite busy but I was welcome to stay and within minutes the gates to a side yard were opened and I pulled in with some difficulty across deep gravel to park by a rather quirky white Transit. 

This contained two Greek girls from Athens who had hired the rather basic camper conversion for two weeks touring Georgia. They explained that it was  Easter Weekend for the Orthodox church which made the family loss even more poignant.

As they were about to leave I then moved on to the patch of concrete that was nearer the tap and plug socket. A family member came out to explain the set up and I expressed my condolences and confirmed I would be staying 3 nights as heavy snow up at the border crossing had stopped all traffic. This information came from Joris who had friends stuck up there in what looked like pretty challenging conditions so with the power on I settled in to do some planning. I cut a neat hole in the floor carpet to get to the socket for my larger table and spent a useful couple of hours with all my maps and guides plus reference back to Salvo and Sylvie's trip last year, the latest updates from the caravanistan website and current visa requirements to come witn a plan for the next few months that should cover the highlights of what is an enormous area. In the photo below my route is in pink, borders are green and Turkmenistan is unavailable for independent travel so not included.

I took the bike and cover off to make dealing with the loo and changing a gas cylinder easier and gave the bathroom area a good clean. Both bike tyres were a bit soft so I removed the valves, added more sealant and pumped them up fully with the compressor before loading everything back up. Using my two extending poles that usually support the tarpaulin awning I can raise the tailgate single handedly but on my return I must seek out uprated struts that will make life easier.

Yesterday I set off towards Russia with the border around 100km to the north along the Georgian Military Road that follows the only natural passage through the Caucasus mountains. I stopped at a money exchange for £120 worth of Russian rubles to make insurance and SIM purchase easier at the border as due to sanctions no cards will work and then carried on. However after only 20km the police were directing all non Georgian vehicles to pull over and park up. Apparently the border was still shut and only locals were being allowed up as far as Stepantsminda, the final town. Thus lorries of various origin were parking up and dozens of Russian plated cars were trying to secure food and beds for the night. After considering my options and mindful of a potential 60 mile backlog once the crossing was open I decided to return to Tbilisi where I could be parked up, plugged in and sit out developments for a very reasonable £15/night including a washing machine.

The family funeral was taking place, the hearse having been at the property that morning so I didn't intrude by calling them and noted that a Swiss van had also arrived. My phone credit had run out and without a connection it was hard to translate the texts regarding this so I decided to head out and find a phone shop but this proved elusive as the area is mostly home to garages and tyre depots plus the odd retail store. In one of these an assistant explained that I could use one of the Pay Boxes that I have seen dotted around but would need my number which I didn't know. Helpfully she suggested ringing her number so that it would display mine and hey presto I had my Georgian number.... Later I would discover it was also on the plastic card that had contained my actual SIM card - this is often not the case with say Lyca or Lebara as they reissue old numbers on SIM activation which as I discovered last year can lead to a whole host of new friends from the Asian subcontinent.

At a Pay Box near the park up I found the English button, selected Mobile Phones from the menu, then SilkNet and then browsed the various options choosing a week's unlimited internet for £3. I inserted a 10 lari note and soon had a text confirming all was well. Fabrice and his dog Otto were in a very well equipped 4x4 T5 with a roof tent and a host of other accessories and we decided it would make sense to be travel together on Friday after another day of good weather and backlog decline.

So today I decided to walk in towards the city to  visit the 4x4 shop, a stroll of about two miles along a busy dual carriageway passing  numerous luxury car dealerships - there are obviously some affluent people around, and also the heavily guarded and rather striking buildings of the American Embassy.

The well equipped shop had just what I wanted in the shape of a pair of recovery tracks with the slightly smaller version (1100cm x 30cm) only taking up 10 cm in depth when stacked together and weighing about 6kg but still capable of supporting a more than adequate 8 tons, the van is only about 2.8T fully laden. At £55 they were well priced and I walked back on a sunny afternoon stopping for coffee en route.

Back at the van I was pleased that they would easily store behind the passenger seat should they be in imminent demand but decided that most of the time they would be best stored above the cab below the solar panel, bedding and window insulation mats. This means they don't need an external mounting bracket (extra weight and cost) and are unlikely to be nicked. OK so you lose the pose factor but being bright green that was always going to be questionable anyway.

As the van was looking rather travel worn and there was a decent hose nearby I gave it a good wash having first hosed off the worst and then used bike MucOff as a very satisfactory shampoo. It was the first wash since last August and she scrubbed up well for a 25 year old. There are a few bumper scuffs and the odd scratch from other encounters but nothing I feel compelled to have seen to and I will be lucky if I escape unscathed over the next few months.

The owner has just turned up to collect payment, yesterday's funeral had been a long and tiring day, but he very kindly brought me a carrier bag of breads, fried fish, a meat stew, cheese salads and 2 more litres of wine plus a cake  for the journey : awesome.....

Anyway Fabrice and I have decided to head for Stepantsminda tomorrow morning in convoy and see what the score is so there is every chance that my next post wil be from Russia with love...... 

So until then there are a few extra pics HERE