Along the Georgian Military Highway

Day 20 152 Km ( 6642 km Total)

 

Special day today - our wedding anniversary, so congratulations to my lovely wife & I who unfortunately can't be together this year.

Today also marks the start (for me at least) of what feels like the second & more 'adventourous' leg of my journey. Tonight I will stay at a small hostel up in the mountains of Kazbegi & not far from the Russian border - then its over the border tomorrow through Russia & into the Stan's.

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Today started as yesterday with a full english brakfast cooked by Princess Tamara, who is full of insights & intersting facts about her country & its history. She was also very interested in my daughter Emily's art work, having s pent a number of years in the UK and also having a degree & background in art & design herself.

Tamara gave us a quick tour of her palace, much of which is still under construction, but will be quite a special place when it is finished. It is a combination of large high spec apartments, a hotel & smaller guest rooms. It is this latter bit that is finished & where we were staying.

The apartments have a rooftop terrace, with a stunning view!

And finally a shot of the Princess herself & her two shining knights in armour, well almost !

I tried to get a discount & good price on one of the apartments using my Tesco Club Card vouchers, but unfortunately they seem to be a little out of my price range!

So it was back to packing, bid the Princess farewell & off on the road north.

I was heading for Kazbegi - as far as you can go north before hitting the border with Russia. It is not a long run but this border is notorious for long delays & so it made sense to get close & allow an early border run.

Once out of Tibilisi, the route up into the Caucaus mountains was lovely

 

 

 

 

 

I left Russ at his hotel in Gudauri & I continued along the pass for another 35km to Kazbegi, with the helmet cam on ...

Quite a few avalanche tunnels ...

 

The view from inside (no avalanche today)

This is a beautiful range of mountains, mount Kazbegi, where I am headed towards is 5033m high, the third highest in Georgia. The pass itself gets to 2379m not long after Kazbegi village which is at about 1850m.

The Georgian military highway has been used by traders & invaders through the ages. In its present form it was begun by the Russian Military in 1769, and featured heavily as a transport route in a number of wars since then.

Its use as a through route has apparently diminished in recent years due to border delays & closures.

 

I assume this is also an avalanche tunnel or shelter in the making

 

 

It continued by the side of the road for a kilometre or so

 

 

About 20km before Kazbegi, I encountered a long queue of parked lorries, presumably backed up from the border .... It went on for about 10 km ....I hope we dont have to wait that long!

 

 

 

Ominous clouds hanging around Mt Kazbegi, as I approach my destination for the night

 

 

Arrived - bed for tonight ...

 

With a lovely view from my window :-)

 

Russia tomorrow!

Tbilisi

Day 19 0 km (6490 km total)

 

Today was a planned rest day, in part as I knew yesterday would be a long rough one and also to give some time to get the bikes & other things ready for the next major leg of the journey into Russia & 'the Stan's'

The journey so far ...

 

It had also been a meeting point for the three of us who had come via different routes from the UK but were all heading for the same pre-arranged China crossing. So Alan, who I rode with for a few days between Croatia & Turkey had also planned to stop here, in fact he got here a day ahead of me & Russ.

After a full breakfast cooked for us by the lovely Tamara, our hostess and manager of the Red Fox appartments, Alan packed up his bike to leave. He is planning to cross the Caspian sea by ferry, whereas Russ & I will travel around the northern side through Russia & Kazakhstan. All being well we will meet up again somewhere in Uzbekistan.

Russ & I then set to giving some TLC to our bikes. Both had suffered damage to the chain oilers as a result of flying rocks and/ or just the constant bumping along. Quick repairs & a few other adjustments made, we spent some time catching up on blog's and then headed out for a bIt of sightseeing.

Tbilisi is home to almost a quater of Georgia's 4+ million population and has had a long & varied histroy since its foundation in the 5th century. Sitting as it does in close proximity to the east west trad routes it has been influenced and ruled bay various rival empires over the years. This is reflected in its architectire & sights.

There is a very nice walk just by our lodgings, through the botanical gardens & pass some old sulphur bath houses.

 

The walk continues up a small canyon like valley

With buildings rather close to the edge ...

And a pretty waterfall at the end.

Russ asked me to take a photo of him by the waterfall, but my camera had other ideas ...

Oh, go on then ...!

Tried to get an artistic close up of the water but was photo-bombed again ;-)

Fun over, the walk back revealed a spiral staircase up the side of the cliff

With a nice view from the top

... and leading to pretty local streets in the old town

 

 

I then headed across the river to See the old Church there

 

From there I could see Narikala fortress on the opposite bank, so walked back across and up the incredibly steep cobbled roads to it. The fortress was originally built in the 4th century.

 

Revealing a nice view back to the church I had just left

 

at the top there is a large monument 'Kartvlis Deda' which was erected in 1958 to celebrate 1500 years of the city's institution.

With more excellent views

Round the rear of the fortress you can see how difficult this would have been to attack

 

 

 

In the distance there is another fine church - Cathedral Sameba

And a good view of the river Mtkvari valley that passes through central Tbilisi

Nice walk back down, theough the old town

And back to the Red Fox

Off to Kazbegi in the mountains close to the Russian border tomorrow - thunderstorms forecast :-(