June 10th – 60 kms, 875+, Tbilissi
June 11th to 12th- visiting Tbilissi
June 13rd – 55 kms, 560+, Dashtapa

After a nice night in our spot in the middle of the flowers, it was time to go to Tbilissi, capital of Georgia. The road until the city was great, beautiful downhills, until coming close to downtown where it started to be very crowded. Also, it was much warmer down there, coming from the countryside the temperature difference was obvious. Once there, we had troubles to find a hotel, everything was closed or booked… Finally, Zaira’s Guest House had a place for us. As always, Georgians are very happy to share their language, food and, above all, their alcoholic beverages… Every morning, Zaira offered us fresh wine, chacha, vodka… At 9AM! It was somehow too early for our stomachs 🙂 We spend 3 days in this nice city, eating icecream, tasting georgian food and visiting this very pleasant place. We also met a french couple, Jeanne and Alex, travelling with motorcycles, also going east. Having some company to visit a city is always fun!

Views of the city

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Architecture

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On the streets

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Botanic garden

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Our last day in the city passes very quickly. After trying to fix Pierre’s wheel and making a huge logistic effort to send a package from France to Armenia, we left the city. While we cycled, we decided to look for a place to camp, using the app iOverlander. We ride in the direction of the place and, on our way, we met another cyclist. Suzane is coming from Germany and traveling alone. And is carying 3kg of cherries for some reasons! We had a nice evening all together in this spot full of turtles and snakes, eating cherries, sharing histories and diner.

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Recap

Distance travelled inside the country
Flat tires – 0
Chacha – We stopped counting
Icecream – 3 per day when there was a Luka Polare store
Kachapuri – 20/person
Nights with locals – 3
Bivouac – 5
Hotel/Guest House – 7

What did we like?

• Food ! Khachapuri, Khinkali, Lobiani, Georgian cheese, ice-cream among others, everything was really delicious.
• Wine : Georgia is producing interesting wine. What is even more interesting is the home-made wine produced by the people in their cellar. It was especially enjoyable for us after having travelled 6 weeks in Turkey including 3 weeks of Ramadan, meaning close to zero alcohol.
• Freedom : after 3 weeks of Ramadan in Turkey, it was good to eat & drink freely during the day, without having to hide ourselves. Also good to be dressed with short/t-shirt without the risk to shock locals.
• Black sea : large streets for pedestrians and even a cycle path along the beach in Batumi. Big contrast with Turkey! Beautiful blue, clean and pleasant water to unwind.

What did we dislike?

• Bad roads : if you think the roads are in bad shape in your country, come to Georgia. Even the government apologizes for the road conditions.
• Crazy drivers : too many Schumacher in this country. And honking all day long.
• Storms : almost every night we had a storm while we were in the mountains
• Having to drink wine/chacha at 9:00 am. This happens a few times and it was quite difficult to escape such invitation without having one or two shots.

What is growing?

Beside the many fields we have seen, we had this impression that almost everyone in the countryside has a small garden, where one grows what they need. Corn, beans, wheat, melon, water melon, grapes, cows, goats, sheeps,…

Curious facts we learned

• Georgia is one of these countries where the animals are breeded outside enclosed plot of land, and usually without a shepherd. So the cows/goats/sheeps are just walking freely everywhere : in the middle of the roads, in the bus stops, on the bridges aso. We are still asking ourselves how many times a farmer takes to group his herd at the end of day.
• Georgia has a complex relationship with Russia. There’s a tension among both countries considering some territories. But, on the other hand, many russian tourists come to the country to enjoy the cities, the Black Sea and the mountains.
• It seems that Georgia is a kind of a new underground tourist destination, still a bit unknown, and attracting more and more tourists because of its food, wine, beaches, mountains, culture. We were happy to visit it before the tourist explosion. Maybe you also shall do it. 🙂
• There’s no right time to start drinking alchool in Georgia. It only depends on your thirst.