Tbilisi: a return to ‘civilisation’

Since the last blogpost in Ushguli we climbed to the 2600m Zagar pass, descended to the lowlands via a very tough dirt track and have come back to the ‘civilisation’ of Tbilisi. We are by now getting a little bit skinnier despite the khachapuri caloriebombs and Cyrils beard is getting pretty wild. Three months on the road already, it is flying by.

Descending

After Ushguli we made the final 8km and 500m altitude push for the Zagar pass in perfect weather. The track was bad but again doable because it wasn’t too muddy. No traffic, just us, two French cyclists and snowtopped mountains all around. On the other side of the pass the weather turned foul and we started our descent in clouds and rain on an even worse track. Water was gushing down around us and we had to navigate big stones and rocks. We ended up doing 20km in total that day because the descent was even harder than going up to the pass. We camped in someone’s garden in Tsana village, the first inhabited place we came across. In the following two days we kept descending through lush green and wet mountainland, on narrow roads stuck to steep rock cliffs, riding through the occassional village. The track through the villages is made of mud and a collection of puddles ranging in size from saucer to SUV, filled with a greenish mixture of rain water and cow dung. We slalom around the puddles but sometimes we have to splash right through them. This was too much for the bikes, even for the Rohloff: the shit glued all our moving bike parts together and we had to wash our bikes in a mountain river to be able to keep cycling. We didn’t realize the region would be so uninhabited so in the end we ran out of food and had to do the last 20km to Kutaisi on an empty stomach, including some Ardennes-like steep little climbs in very hot weather. On one of our last nights of camping  before Kutaisi we met a group of hiking Ukrainians who had a cooked a very tasty soup and shared some of their food with us.

Tbilisi

We loved the 10 days of wildcamping wilderness of Svaneti, but at the same time we were also really looking forward to putting all of our gear through the washing machine and exploring Tbilisi. Again we find ourselves questioning the notion of civilisation as soon as we enter the city: the pollution and the noise of the traffic are overwhelming. Tbilisi has a small old town which is geared towards tourists with souvenir shops, wine bars and guest houses. The rest of the city consists of mostly Soviet housing blocks and new high rise development. It stretches long and narrow from North to South in a river valley between two hill ranges. Insanely busy North-South roads full of shiny new 4WD’s, taxis, beaten up yellow minibuses are impossible to cross for pedestrians. There are no cyclists. Still, the vibe is relaxed and we are quickly finding our way around town by public transport.

We love Georgia and we are very happy with choosing to do the tough but stunning Svaneti loop. It is such a small and quirky country, and considering it’s small size it is disproportionally full of natural beauty, history and culture. The people we have met are kind and funny even though we can’t always share a language. We are happy to find that they love our own quirky little country right back because of Sandra Roelofs, the hugely popular Dutch former first lady.

Today we went to the Tbilisi Botanical Gardens which is a lovely quiet oasis just South of the old town. We have found a bench in the shade next to a river where we are writing, editing photos and reading up on Armenia. Close to the gardens are the Byzyantine sulphur baths which we will enjoy tonight. On Wednesday we will hopefully pick up our Chinese visum before we continue South to Armenia and Iran. We are after all cyclists, we want to keep moving.

7 thoughts on “Tbilisi: a return to ‘civilisation’”

  1. Vera, your way of describing your adventure is really inspiring for me and a lot of other people I think. I’m still jealous on you guys. 😉 Good luck for the next ride!

  2. Hey – Thanks for liking some photos I shared on Instagram, that led me to your blog. I’ve heard such good things about the part of the world you are in now but haven’t gotten there myself (yet).

    Are you familiar with Tom Allen? Formerly of Tom’s Bike Trip (http://tomsbiketrip.com/) and now of Transcaucasian Expedition (http://transcaucasian.com/) – when he’s not trail building he’s based in Yerevan – he’s a really lovely guy and knows that part of the world really well.

    Safe travels and tailwinds!

  3. I just got alllll caught up on your posts – what a great read! Your pictures are lush with many happy faces – you both look so relaxed and happy. Can’t wait for the next installment. Amsterdam is sunny today and we’re thinking of you!

    1. Miss you Peaches! Was wondering the other day what you would make of Iran. Lots of love xxx V

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