May 26^th 2022

Çanaksu (Çıldır Lake), Turkey – Kartsakhi, Georgia

Miles: 40 (60km)

Miles total: 9’690 (15’600km)

Border crossing to Georgia:

After 170 days in Turkey it's time to move on. If we hadn't really liked Turkey, we probably wouldn't have stayed half a year ;-).

Our departure from the country goes smoothly, but our Iveco doesn't make it that easy for us. The guy was only allowed to stay in Turkey for three months. We were actually half aware of this, but still missed it to go to customs months ago to apply for an extension. Well, it's your own fault. So, we have to go to an office and we're expecting a fine. But how high? A very friendly and helpful Turkish woman takes on our case. We wait and wait. She also calls and discusses the matter with her boss. After about 1 ½ hours in the office we got a cup of tea :-). She explains that it has no consequences for us, but for our Iveco. The poor guy is not allowed to enter Turkey for 185 days! She asks us several times if we really want to travel to Georgia! Because she has now subsequently extended the residence permit for the Iveco to the same date that also applies to our Turkish IDs (July 5th). So now we have a choice: either drive back to Europe across Turkey or be “stranded” in the Caucasus for 185 days. If everything goes according to plan, the 185 days shouldn't matter to us as we have a different route in mind anyway. According to the paper, the fine is 16$ at the end, but the employee got a discount for us and we only have to pay 12$ :-). Next, we wait for payment. We ended up losing 2 1/4 hours due to staying too long.

So, after a total of 2 ½ hours we leave Turkey and roll gentle towards Georgia. We see the flags waving in the strong wind in no man's land. Next to the Turkish on one side, the European flag is also waving right next to the Georgian one! A political statement! It is unclear whether the flag has only been up since the Ukraine war. It's a strange feeling for us to be driving on European soil again, since we've been driving several thousand kilometers eastwards on Asian soil in the last few months!

The entry into Georgia was completed in just under 30 minutes. Maryse now has to go through customs separately on foot, and I drive the Iveco over there. Stamping the passport, showing our vehicle documents and Covid certificate, do a small vehicle check and finally buying a car insurance (30$ for 3 months). Hello Georgia :-). We are very excited to see what awaits us!

A few miles after customs we park the Iveco at a picnic area by the lake!

May 27^th 2022

Kartsakhi – Vardzia, Georgia (Cave city Vardzia)

Miles: 50 (80km)

Miles total: 9’740 (15’680km)

It's 6 o'clock in the morning, Stefan is already awake, a car pulls up. Oh great, the border police! We already suspect that there is probably no cozy breakfast at this beautiful place. And so it goes, according to the border guard, we are in the border zone and he tells us to leave the place immediately. Under other conditions we would certainly not have stayed so close to the border. But this lake is in a nature reserve and right next to us there is a picnic area and a bird watching tower. Access was also possible without any problems and was not blocked or marked in any way. Well, of course we don't get into any discussions, pack our things, drive to the parking lot of the small national park hut 100 yards (100m) away and eat our breakfast there. It's not bad if we're on the road a bit earlier ;-). On the way to the first town of Akhalkalaki, we can't believe our eyes. The truck traffic jam, which we drove past yesterday on the few miles away from the border, continues for a whopping 14 miles (22km)! We count around 800 trucks! Surely more than half are Turks, the others are Russians and Central Asians as well as some Azerbaijanis and Armenians. And the traffic jam is not fluid, no, the trucks are absolutely still! Fortunately, the trucks are stopped in front of the small villages that are on the jammed route, so that the whole village is not blocked. 

We stop at the last truck and ask the Turkish guy how long he calculates for the route to the border. It speaks little German and says it will take about a week! However, due to communication problems, we cannot find out whether this is the normal situation. However, we do not assume so. It could be that there are effects of the Ukraine war or the closed borders because of it. In Akhalkalaki we organize a local SIM card, got some cash and do some shopping. And we eat our first Georgian lunch: Shawarma, a fast-food classic from the Caucasus, as well as many other countries in the Arab world and the Middle East. And the counterpart to the döner kebab in Turkey. The common feature of these two dishes is the large vertical skewer, from which the meat is scraped off in thin slices. They differ in the type of meat and the spices, sauces, etc. used. In any case, we don't miss the "goaty" taste of the Turkish kebab at all ;-). Here in the first Georgian city, shopping is a little different again. There is a small Spar supermarket, but it only has a very poor range. There are also a few small grocery stores, some of which are hardly recognizable because they are not labeled. And there is a market street with vegetables. Even something very ordinary, like shopping, becomes a challenge in a foreign country and a new one every time you cross a border. 

Hundreds of large and small cave entrances can be seen in a high rock face. The city was built in the 12th century as a fortress, later expanded as a monastery, with around 2000 monks living there. The huge cave city was built on 13 floors, the caves are connected by tunnels, stairs and terraces. Today, however, only a fraction of the original Vardzia can be seen. The city fell victim to a severe earthquake in 1283, the outer walls of the caves collapsed and the city was doomed to collapse. Since the end of the Soviet era, a few monks have actually been living here again! 

We explore the cave city for two hours, look into countless, partly spacious dwellings, whereby only a few details can be seen apart from the fireplaces. And yet we are always impressed by what man has created through hand work and muscle power. There are also horse stables, wine press rooms, wine cellars, apothecary rooms and much more. In the center of the cave complex is the Church of the Assumption of Mary, whose interior frescoes are well preserved, but are difficult to see due to the dark interior. After two hours, we escape the labyrinth of caves through the secret tunnel :-). 

May 28^th – 29^th 2022

Vardzia, Georgia

Miles: 20 (30km)

Miles total: 9’760 (15’710km)

Since we like the Kura river valley so much, we want to explore it with hiking boots. From Vardzia it is 3 miles (5km) to our destination, the approximately 1100-year-old Tmogvi Fort.

Spring flowers line our path and after 1 ½ hours and a steep final part we are at the top and can enjoy the view over the valley. We don't see a way that leads closer to the castle on the fly, so let's leave it alone for now. But we like the "parking lot" at the fort so much that we decide to use it as a place to sleep the next day. What we don't know at the time is that the road here is very bumpy and time-consuming. We hike back to Vardzia and spend another wonderful evening in the same great spot as yesterday.

Now (next day) we tackle the short drive to Tmogvi Fort. For the last 3 miles (5km) of the rocky "road" we need 20 minutes!

Since we didn't walk to the castle the day before, we'll make up for it now. The "path" is sometimes barely visible and individual passages are also rather critical. Back at the Iveco, we soon get a visit from two tour groups in 4x4 minivans walking the same route to Vardzia as we did yesterday and we realize that Georgia is a very popular travel destination after all and the season is already in full swing.

May 30^th 2022

Vardzia – Gorelovka, Georgia

Miles: 50 (90km)

Miles total: 9’810 (15’800km)

Once again, we stock up on provisions in Akhalkalaki. A small addendum to our first purchase a few days ago: An old lady is standing at the cashiers desk, who doesn't operate a modern cash register, but skillfully and quickly adds up the prices with her antique counting frame. We are impressed! For tomorrow's planned hike into the "Tiger Canyon" we have to register at the visitor center of the Javakheti National Park. The trek runs in the border region with Turkey and therefore the border authorities must be informed if there are trekkers there. The visitor center employee calls the responsible ranger and finally advises us against this hike. Unfortunately, he does not know the reason for this... We suspect that the hiking trail could still be partly covered with snow, since the highest point is at 9’000 feet (2700m), and we therefore received the negative decision for safety reasons. Instead, we are recommended the smaller hikes at one of the many lakes and wetlands of the Javakheti Plateau, which are known for their rich bird population. We already got to know one of them, Lake Karzachi, at the border crossing a few days ago. The Javakheti volcanic plateau is at around 6500 feet (2000m). The large forestless grassland plain is dominated by a harsh climate and is the coldest populated region in Georgia! The numerous lakes, including the six largest lakes in Georgia, have been frozen for several months. We first pay a visit to the nearest Khanchali Lake, which is dotted with many small islands. Around the lake it seems to be quite swampy, the indicated trail leads through plowed fields and swampland. We are not particularly interested in going this route. We can't find a suitable place to camp either.

So, we continue to the small but very picturesque Bugdasheni Lake, which is almost on the Armenian border. Small pyramid-shaped rocks stick out from the water and in the middle of the lake there is a small island with a bare tree, where many birds and ducks frolic. According to information boards, the lake is nowhere deeper than 3 feet (1m) and is completely frozen over for five months in winter. We like it here, there is a picnic area and a bird watching tower and we settle down for the night. Towards evening a friendly man, the father of the ranger responsible for this lake, speaks to us. He gives us his phone number in case we have problems.

May 31^st 2022

Bugdasheni Lake, Georgia

Observe animals and enjoy nature. In the mornings and evenings, the shepherds drive their large herds of cows into the surrounding grassland and back on horseback, with loud shouts and sometimes, unfortunately, strong blows with sticks.

June 1^st 2022

Bugdasheni Lake – Paravani Lake, Georgia

Miles: 30 (50km)

Miles total: 9’840 (15’850km)

Before we set off, we get a personal visit from the ranger. He speaks a little English and tells us that he comes here every day and checks on things. He also monitors that illegal hunting is not taking place. He also organizes trips for tour groups. The young man knows that the lake is fed by groundwater springs. One of them is close to the shore and you can see the water gushing out of the ground very nicely. He has two small plastic bottles with him, fills them directly in the lake, where the spring is bubbling, and gives us one of these bottles. He thinks we can drink this water without hesitation. In addition to his job as a ranger, he also does a little farming. He points to a large tractor that is just plowing its field. Potatoes are mainly planted here in the region, supposedly from the best in the country! At the end, he gives us a box of cookies. For us, the journey continues to the largest lake in Georgia, Lake Parawani.

That sounds a lot like at home :-). Soon we reach the lake, we choose the western shore of the lake and drive towards our overnight stay on a bad road. By chance we discover a public well near the road, we seize the opportunity and want to increase our water supply.

The drink reminds us more of sour cider than of wine. As a farewell, one of the kind gentlemen gave me a small bouquet of cowslips he had picked himself :-). What we definitely realize after this encounter is that mainly Armenians live in this region. The ranger from the lake already tells us that he is Armenian, then the Armenian restaurant and now the group of young men who also very definitely call themselves Armenians. According to our research, more than 90% of Armenians live in the south-eastern communities of the Samtskhe-Javakheti region. This is due to two waves of immigration: a smaller wave after the Russo-Turkish War of 1828/29 and a larger one after the Armenian Genocide and the associated expulsion of the Armenians from the Ottoman Empire in 1915. Many of the residents still do not speak Georgian today, because the public schools only teach in Armenian, and Russian is also taught. Because of their mother tongue, many young people leave the country to study in Yerevan or Moscow. Often, they just stay there. There was also a strong independence movement in this region in the 1990s, but this lost momentum as the activists became involved in state authorities and the infrastructure improved.

Our place to stay is right on the lake, in front of us is a long island full of seagulls and pelicans!

June 2^nd 2022

Paravani Lake – Abuli Pass, Georgia

Miles: 10 (20km)

Miles total: 9’850 (15’870km)

(Under "Videos" you will find a short film about this route)

First, a quick word about the appearance of the villages here in the south-east: drab gray brick houses without plaster and with corrugated iron roofs, above-ground gas pipes run through the whole village, there are a few traditional buildings with grass-covered roofs. As in the forestless area in eastern Turkey, due to the lack of wood (and possibly as an alternative to expensive gas), cow dung is often used for heating. The dung is formed into manageable chunks, dried and stored in neat stacks.

Today we go over a pass that is normally only used by shepherds and cattle. We became aware of it on the internet and decided to master an off-road route. The path leads over green hills past beautiful mountain lakes and several huge flocks of sheep, higher and higher.

The shepherds usually travel with hundreds of sheep, their dogs, donkeys and sometimes with horses. We drive very laidback through the flock of sheep. One of the shepherds comes up to us and we greet him friendly in Georgian with a "gamardschoba". To our astonishment, he asks if he can have water from us. Of course, we give him and a second shepherd water to drink and at the same time we ask ourselves if they would otherwise be thirsty all day? It could be that they are hungry too, so we give them a box of biscuits :-). Our path ahead is still reasonably OK to drive, but consists of only two brown tracks in the green grass. We're really lucky we have a 4x4 Iveco with diff locks and lots of ground clearance for this route! But what's coming? A Mini-Skoda Fabia and further ahead an Opel Corsa :-). From the pass, we turn onto an even lonelier track towards the Abuli ruin. What we can hardly believe is that this partly barely visible path is still marked as a road on Google Maps!

June 3^rd 2022

Abuli Pass, Georgia

The Javakheti plain is crossed from north to south by the Abuli-Samsari mountain range, a series of volcanic cones. The off-road tour brought us here. From our place to stay we have a wonderful view of one of the highest peaks in the Lesser Caucasus, the Didi Abuli at 10’830 feet (3’301m). The flanks of the extinct volcanoes have a slightly violet hue, which makes them particularly picturesque for us. We are tempted to climb this beautiful cone, but there is still too much snow in the upper part for our taste. So, we opt for the easier hike to the Abuli Fortress, which dates back to the Bronze Age and was built using dry-wall technology. Actually a very interesting ruin.

On the way back we still climb a peak, the Patara Abuli. There is no hiking trail here, the mountain basically consists of a large pile of stones :-). A very peculiar and for us unfamiliar mountain landscape. Are these rubble heaps the remains of a volcanic eruption? From the summit we see far below, very small and alone, the Iveco in the green landscape :-).

June 4^th 2022

Abuli Pass – Tskhratskaro Pass, Georgia

Miles: 50 (80km)

Miles total: 9’900 (15’950km)

Now our Iveco has to take the sufferings again and drive down the other side of the mountain towards Achalkalaki. Creeping, that would actually be the better word, because for 4.5 miles (7km) we need a whopping 1 hour 20 minutes! At this point it must also be said that we always drive slowly and in a way that protects the vehicle.

Arriving down in the valley, we see several storks in a village. There is a nest on almost every telephone pole, which often contains 2 or 3 young animals. Our next destination is Borjomi National Park. We take Google Maps to hand, see a normal road over a pass, don't think anything bad and set off. Half way up to the pass we can't believe our eyes. The asphalt ends abruptly and a rocky "road" forces us to slow down to 6mph (10kph)!! We look at each other in disbelief, but the detour is no longer an option either, so we move on.

The landscape is fantastic with the green hills and the colorful mountain spring, and the beautiful fox that darts across the road in front of us puts a smile on our faces. But frustration will soon catch up with us again. The snowfields along the roadside make it clear to us that the pass may only be open for a few days or weeks. It's 7:00 p.m. and we finally reach the top of the pass and the police station there. The policeman asks for our passports and vehicle registration and we are registered. The reason for this is an oil pipeline that comes from Azerbaijan and runs over this pass. A few hundred meters from the police station (we weren't allowed to park our car there) we set up camp. After today's driving stress, a strong thunderstorm with wind and hail is coming our way. But this also passes ok and we spend a quiet night at 8040 feet (2450m).

June 5^th 2022

Tskhratskaro Pass – Borjomi, Georgia

Miles: 30 (50km)

Miles total: 9’930 (16’000km)

Before driving down into the valley to Borjomi, we treat ourselves to a three-hour hike. We want to stay reasonably fit :-).

Passing beautiful mountain spring flower meadows, we soon enjoy the wonderful view over the surrounding mountains. Below us is the ski resort of Bakuriani, where the construction industry is in full swing! However, we also see countless half-finished houses and new buildings that were probably not completed because of the corona pandemic.

Back at the Iveco, we launch our own washing machine for the first time!

This consists of a wide-necked barrel and a "solar shower bag" :-). Open the barrel, put in the sun-heated water, put in the laundry and ecological detergent, close the bin and put it in the Iveco, and off we go over the stony, tedious pass road. But, the bumpier the road, the cleaner the laundry :-)!! While the laundry cleans itself, we enjoy the flower-strewn meadows of the beautiful valley.

Oh yes, now comes the rinsing of the laundry! We stop at a spring in the valley below. We wring out the laundry, empty the barrel into our waste water tank and fill the barrel with fresh spring water. The journey continues and our laundry is rinsed :-).

June 6^th – 8^th 2022

Borjomi, Georgia

To visit the national park, we first have to register at the visitor center in Borjomi. We couldn't do this yesterday when we were in town due to having not enough time. Today we don't want to get back in the car, so we walk 4 miles (6km) to Borjomi. Unfortunately, we have to walk most of the way along the main road. 

To us these buildings look close to collapsing, we are shocked that hundreds of people still live here. In the meantime, however, tourism is on the upswing again, and the health resort is particularly popular with Georgians, Russians and visitors to the national park (like us :-)). Registration for the national park is a short, purely formal matter. After a delicious lunch, of course with a bottle of the famous salty-sulphurous-tasting Borjomi water, we go to a few supermarkets to stock up on provisions for the next few days. We notice that a lot of goods are imported, mostly from Russia and Turkey. We try to take local products into account as much as possible, which is often quite time-consuming and tedious, since the origin of the goods is usually not clearly printed or only in languages and scripts unknown to us. The second day we rest on the idyllic and quiet campsite. Today's Borjomi National Park was founded in 1995 with the help of the WWF and the German government. With 85,000 hectares, it is the largest national park in Georgia and the largest contiguous, unaffected piece of forest in Europe! With the exception of nature-based tourism and a few traditional grazing areas, nature is left on its own. On the last day, we finally do our planned hike into the forests of Borjomi National Park. 

The path leads us through dense coniferous forest, over flower-strewn forest meadows and clearings with wonderful panoramic views of the wooded hills all around. We stop for lunch at the Chitakhevi Shelter, an unmanaged wooden hut in the national park, where you can spend the night in bunk beds on hard wooden boards. 

The steep descent through a sparse pine forest leads us down into a beautiful river valley, where we are caught by a short rain shower with hail. Soon, however, the sun will shine again and we will tackle the last part of the hike to the village of Kvabiskhevi. Taking a taxi back to the campsite.

June 9^th 2022

Borjomi – Goderdzi Pass, Georgia

Miles: 80 (120km)

Miles total: 10’010 (16’120km)

Of course, before we leave Borjomi, we pay a visit to the local, allegedly health-promoting, Tsar's Bath (sulfur water bath).

So, and now to our choice of road to get to the Black Sea. There are two choices, and as you can imagine, we're picking the wrong one. Since we do not want to drive the same route twice, it is clear that we will choose the southern Borjomi-Akhaltsikhe-Batumi route. This is also a street that gives the impression of a real traffic axis on Google Maps. The journey in the green valley is beautiful, but it soon becomes crystal clear that our current plan to reach the Black Sea today, fails miserably. A long construction site lies ahead of us. It is planned to asphalt the entire unpaved pass road over a length of 30 miles (50km). Let's start the unwanted adventure! Just by the way, a few days ago we said that we should always take a close look at the condition of the roads :-).

We manage the 9 miles (15km) to the top of the pass in a silly 2 ¼ hours ;-). Once again, we are happy about our off-road capable vehicle! After a number of muddy passages and stony sections, we finally arrive at 8 p.m. at the 6’600 feet (2000m) high pass, which is shrouded in thick fog! The villages near the pass are of the poorer kind. Mostly old wooden huts with tin roofs and a small field next door. For the first time, we are also seeing a mosque here in Georgia, because the local province of Adjara, which was autonomous until 2004, was occupied by the Turkish for a long time. Many of the residents converted to Islam because, as Christians, they suffered from massive economic and political disadvantages. That is why around 376,000 Muslim Georgians live here in Adjara.

Now find a place to sleep quickly! Thanks to the "iOverlander" app, after a few minutes we land in the parking lot of the "Goderdzi Alpine garden".

June 10^th 2022

Goderdzi Pass – Batumi, Georgia

Miles: 90 (140km)

Miles total: 10’100 (16’260km)

As soon as we crawled out of the camper, a man greeted us and explained that he was working on a house and that we should come take a look. Not so hasty I think :-), have breakfast first. Now we go to the unfinished wooden house, meet another older man and are invited to coffee and biscuits by the lovely fellows. With our poor knowledge of Russian we chat a bit and soon we continue to the "Goderdzi Alpine Garden". A park that you can walk through in half an hour. Various trees, swamps, shrubs and flowers are labeled; a beautiful park in the middle of nature.

The path in the park takes us past the house (becomes part of a small hotel) and the two older men who don't just let us pass by. We are invited again, this time for chacha, the typical Georgian high-proof grappa :-). The two men don't seem to be averse to alcohol, and one tells us that if he drinks chacha, his shakes go away... So, we drink three chachas, have fun, and head back to the parking lot.

Next destination, a few miles away, is the small “Green Lake”, which lives up to its name. Based on a few smaller new buildings, the newly made road to the lake and also the previous "Goderdzi Alpine Garden" it is clear that this region would also like to benefit from the Georgian tourist boom!

But now down towards the Black Sea. Our hope that the road is better on the other side of the mountain is shattered in short!

All in all, it's four hours down at 6 mph (10km/h)! Construction site, mud, ditches, tons of pesky stones and last but not least a lot of cows on the road. Despite the miserable road, there is a ski area almost at the top of the pass! Is the road easier to drive on in winter thanks to the snow? On the way, a 70-year-old man stops us and says we can take him with us! So, the man gets in and he chats with us as if we were fluent in Georgian or Russian. Not for 5 minutes or so, but for the whole two-hour drive that he rides with us :-). At the end, he wants to invite us to his home. But since he supposedly lives far away from the main road, it's already late, and we and our Iveco really don't want to go on any more miserable 4x4 roads, we politely decline. Shortly before 9pm we finally reach the city parking lot of Batumi exhausted after the long day. A completely different world that could hardly be more different from the last nature days. Futuristic, luminous skyscrapers and towers adorn our view from the camper.

June 11^th – 12^th 2022

Batumi, Georgia

We have not yet seen a city like Batumi on this trip! In recent years there has been a massive construction boom here, the skyline along the extensive, well-kept promenade consists of modern hotels, residential and office towers, casinos and buildings and parks used for entertainment. And new buildings are still bouncing up. At night, many of the towers are illuminated in color and the beach promenade looks like a large amusement park. The whole thing seems a bit unreal to us, not far from this glamorous world, there are large block buildings from Soviet times, where people obviously do not live in luxury... Sheer contrasts that can unfortunately be found in many cities around the world.

But apart from that, we actually really like the city. The location on the Black Sea, in the background densely wooded hills and a pretty old town with renovated buildings from the Belle Epoque make the city worth seeing. And of course, as always, we appreciate the culinary advantages of a big city :-). In midsummer, there is also a lot going on here, many Georgians, Russians, Turks etc. spend their holidays on the Black Sea coast. We also spend two beautiful and hot days in the city and actually swim in the sea for the first time on this trip!

What is also very special here are the dolphins, which frolic in the sea right in front of the city, sometimes relatively close to the beach! With a four-wheel bicycle, we stroll along the promenade like local tourists :-), but then get caught in a sandstorm and flee, like in a bad movie, on the four-wheel bike from the storm, while the sunshades are flying around us and the people are escaping the beach :-).

We take a cable car over the city to a hill 840 feet (256m) higher, where there is a magnificent view of the city, but the beautiful atmosphere is somewhat spoiled by the extremely loud music played in the restaurant. We would have liked to have a nightcap up here, but with the loud music you can no longer understand your own words... On the cable car rides we make brief but interesting acquaintances: a young family from Russia who emigrated to Georgia after the start of the Ukraine war. They no longer want to support the government in their home country. Both are programmers by trade and can work from anywhere. They chose Georgia because they can easily get a visa here, unlike in many European countries. By the way, as a tourist you also get an annual visa when you enter the country! On the way back, we are in the gondola with a couple from Belarus who are on vacation here in Batumi for 10 days. As an evening program we attend a performance by the "Georgian State Choreographic Ensemble": men twirl across the stage in wild, fast dances, turn on tiptoe in fast pirouettes and make high, graceful jumps like in ballet; dainty like dolls, the women dance across the stage in small steps, heavily made up and in beautiful costumes. Behind the dancers, a 10-piece live band plays traditional music with accordion, flute, drums and guitar.

Our "campsite" is also very funny: a quiet parking lot, super located directly on the beach promenade and with a wild variety of camping vehicles from all over Europe.

June 13^th 2022

Batumi – Magnetiti, Georgia

Miles: 40 (70km)

Miles total: 10’140 (16’330km)

Get out of the lively Batumi and off to a lonely beach. During the trip, we particularly notice the lush vegetation along the coast. It almost seems a bit tropical to us, with lots of forest and wild scrub.

June 14^th – 17^th 2022

Ureki, Georgien

Four days in a paradisiacal lonely place, between pine trees, on the Black Sea with black sand. Daily dolphins near shore, frogs croaking on the moor behind us and always a nice breeze.

Tasty restaurants can be reached on foot in 20 minutes in the somewhat desolate tourist village of Magnetiti. And we even have a temporary pet :-). A young skinny dog, we call him "Brownie", which we feed for 4 days. We also have nice neighbors. A Dutch couple that we met in Batumi parked their camper 200 yards (meters) from us.

We try kitesurfing, but unfortunately this fails due to a defective valve on the largest kite and not enough wind. Too bad.

All together it's like a vacation from traveling :-)!

.

June 18^th 2022

Ureki – Ganmukhuri, Georgia

Miles: 90 (140km)

Miles total: 10’230 (16’470km)

At some point our vacation is over and we dive back into the everyday life of traveling ;-). We take one last “morning swim” in the Black Sea, give our doggy Brownie the last breakfast and then head to Poti. One of the two major seaports in Georgia (along with Batumi) is located in the city and it is therefore of great importance for Georgian foreign trade. Manganese, corn, lumber and wine are carried out via Poti. We'll make just a quick stop here for lunch and soon continue to the city of Zugdidi. Almost the whole way is lined with houses, it seems as if the villages are not built in width but in length. All houses are built similarly, on a similarly sized lot with some land around it. The regularity is very striking and possibly comes from the Soviet era. Self-sufficiency with vegetables, fruit, meat, eggs, etc. is still a priority here. It seems that every house has a large garden and a few pigs, chickens, cows, etc. The animals all move freely on the road, which makes driving more exciting ;-)! The region is apparently also very suitable for growing hazelnuts. Again, we are overwhelmed by the green wild vegetation in this part of Georgia! In Zugdidi, we then have to take care of a more unpleasant matter. For a few days I, Maryse, have been having problems with clogged ears again. A tiresome topic that I know and that I can usually fix myself. This time, however, it is particularly persistent and we decide to go to a hospital to have my ears thoroughly rinsed again! With the help of Google Maps, we find the city's public hospital, but are not very impressed by its appearance. The old, discarded Buchanka ambulances in the backyard don't really add value to the picture either ;-). But after two unsuccessful attempts in a small private clinic and a small medical center, we still end up in this hospital! We explain our request to a young woman who speaks a few words of English. But we can't be helped here either. She writes down an address for us, shows us the correct street on Google Maps and says something else about "Home". We drive there, a residential area, where fortunately the house numbers are written and we can easily find the house we are looking for. We thought it might be a doctor's office in a private home. But this doesn't seem to be the case, it's not written anywhere. We're starting to think we're wrong when an elderly woman comes out of the house. She probably wants to ask us why we're roaming around here in front of her house with our strange car, I think :-). 

Nevertheless, I sit a bit tense on the wooden chair as the younger woman performs the procedure skillfully, but with unusual intensity. After rinsing each ear three times, my ear canals are free of earwax! The treatment costs 17$. We make friends on Facebook and then she shows us her corn field behind the house. Happy and with completely free ears again :-), we drive out of the city towards the sea to spend the night there. 

We come to a very strange place: a kind of artificially built beach resort with a large promenade, a relatively empty beach with an excessive number of lifeguards, a kitschy tower, a large modern footbridge, a water park and individual hotels. We do some research and come across the following explanation for this bizarre place: “Anaklia was already a popular bathing resort in Soviet times. But that changed after 1990, when the city was only a kilometer south of the now impassable border with Abkhazia. Around 2010, under the Saakashvili government, extensive expansion work began to develop Anaklia into a top seaside resort on the Black Sea. But the tourist rush has still a long way to come”.

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