Day 19 - We spent our day at Tostea Coffee in the border town of Ardahan writing our blog and creating video content. Don’t be fooled, a simple day of riding involves 2-3 hours dedicated to writing, editing, and posting. Now, the off-road mountain passes we intended to take were all blocked by snow, so we opted for the regular route to Turkgozü and crossed into Georgia in the late afternoon. The crew at the border was friendly, it took us about 60 minutes to exit Turkey and enter Georgia. Customs checked our medications for any substances, and that was pretty much it. Just 200 meters after the border post, we stopped to purchase the mandatory vehicle insurance for Georgia. A flat rate of 10 € for 15 days, fair enough. We’re in Georgia! Gion located the ideal camping spot with a view of the castle in the lovely city of Akhaltsikhe via iOverlander and we got ready to setup camp. But not before being stopped by a Georgian police patrol for an alcohol test… I guess not because of our driving, but it seemed the boys were more interested in chatting about our bikes and travels… than our alcohol levels.
Day 20 - They appeared fast and without warning. Many of them. And when you just think it’s finally over, there they come again, out of the blue, leaving you unprepared, testing your reaction skills. Potholes. As we rode out of Akhaltsikhe along the winding roads land inward, there wasn’t really a second to appreciate the stunning Georgian scenery. Hitting a 30cm deep hole in the asphalt, cleverly hidden in the shade of the trees lining the road, would undoubtedly mean the abrupt end of our journey or worse! Our Suzuki DR’s stock front fork wouldn’t be able to swallow that depth, nor would our Mitas MC23 motocross tires. However, they certainly managed to swallow the incredible off-road trails of TET Georgia section 24. We were glad hitting the dirt again! You want wild? No civilisation for as long as the eyes can see? Ride Georgia. Before long, volcanoes came into view as
we navigated through the rolling hills, and for once, we set up camp while the sun was still up, down by the shores of steel blue Lake Tabatskuri.
Day 21 - “Dobre!” the man said as we were trying to push start Gion’s bike over the muddy rooted tracks on our camp site in the morning. We sure could use a Russian hand to overcome the failed battery. There are still many Russians around here in Gerogia. We assume not because Russia as today still occupies 20% of Georgian sovereign territory, but because they enjoy the wild outdoors down here as much as we do. Spasiba, we said, and meant it for helping with the bike, not for the occupation. We headed towards east, following the Trans Euro Trail, towards Shavimta volcano crater. Gion was serious. About the getting up there, to the ridge between two volcanos. I was less, feeling my driving skills inadequate to say the o conquer the steep slopes. And my machine too heavy. I made it half way up, which is a success at least in my books. Gion got there almost ninety percent navigating steep up through stone tracks and along snow fields until his Mitas E07 tire was covered in mud and just slid instead of gripped. Even my pushing and swearing didn’t help. End of the story. More knobbies would have been needed. We decided not to let go yet and walked the rest of the way to be presented with a Mars like scenery of the four of five volcanoes around us and a wide open view into the south Georgian landscapes almost up to the Armenian border below us. Time to head back and make our way to Tbilisi that we needed to hit by tonight.
