We will come back to Georgia!

24th – 26th of November:

In the morning we visit the Stalin museum in Gori. Actually visiting this museum was the only reason to go to Gori, but we met such nice people there that we almost forgot about the museum. It is always like that, we have a main direction and are open for everything what happen. Finally, the monument to visit gives us just a direction. However, before we leave we wanted to see the museum. Unfortunately, the museum shows basically the heroic parts of Stalin’s live. Most interesting is for me the house he was born in. It stands in the a park and as protection they build something like a hall with antique columns over it.

We would like to see more of Georgia, its people and nature. Unfortunately, now it is not really the time for our kind of travel. In the mountains is already snow and the streets are difficult to go. In the lowlands you have rain coming from the Black Sea. We decide to definitely come back to Georgia another time. The street in the South through the mountains sounds nice, but all suggest just to go to Batumi as the road in the mountains are closed because of snow. I am not sure and with the broken spring of the car I am not in the mood for an Off-road adventure. Somewhere in the mountains between Gori and Batumi we find a sleeping place in the mountains. Again people come and invite us to there home to drink some wine and stay there. We have to refuse since we need some rest from the drinking in the last days (:).

(N 42.09221°, E 42.3084°)

When we arrive in Batumi it is already afternoon. We decide to do some shopping and I bring my shoes to a shoemaker for repair. It is to late to cross the border to Turkey that day and anyway I have to pick up my shoes next day. We eat some Katchapuri (cheese pie) and drive back to the scenic bluff at the black sea. From the street it is going down very steep to the sea but all the way down you have mandarin trees and some houses from time to time. Everything seems to be private area. I drive a small road down to such a house. I can see some people and ask if we could park our car behind the house and open our tent. The lady, her name is Valentina, offers us a place in her house to stay. She, her son and the grandmother are living there. In the moment we are there they just sell their harvest of mandarins to an Armenian guy who will sell it later in Armenia. Around half a ton they harvested and are tiered from the hard day. In the evening we are chatting and I recognise that her Russian is very good and also with her son she speaks Russian. Actually she has Georgian passport but is Russian Nationality. In this part of Georgia still a lot of Russians are living, although a lot of them left already because of the bad economic situation. She tells us a lot of Georgians work in Russia and especially at the universities. The other way round it is not like this anymore. She prefers to speak Russian and is not really used to the Georgian language. The old Russian times she likes and a lot of things seemed to be better. In former times this area around the Black Sea was very touristic. Nowadays there is almost no more tourism. She complains that everything is too expensive here and most Russian will go to Turkey for holiday instead of Georgia. But she do not want to go to Russia. It seems she has a hard but satisfied live in something which looks for me like paradise. She has her own cow, potatoes and all kinds of vegetable. From the mandarins she has a small income which helps her family to buy the things she can not crow. But she starts dreaming and telling us how nice it is here in spring and summer. A lot of flowers and a smell in the air you never forget. We have to come back in these seasons she says and we really think once more that this was not the last time we visit this cultural and natural rich country.

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In the morning we start for Turkey and say Good Bye to Valentine such a warm hearted and strong lady. We hope that we will see her again.

Again I risk filling up my entire additional canister. Again 140 Litre illegal Diesel are inside the car. From Azerbaijan to Georgia the Diesel price doubled from 30 EUR Cent to around 60 EURO Cent and now from 60 Cent to 1.2 EUR. The border check point is located just between the black sea and the steep rocks of the fast ascending mountains. It is an incredible place. The street is blocked by a fence and after entering the neutral zone you drive through scanners and a big gate is closed behind you. We are trapped and I am always hoping they won’t find the Diesel. Georgian’s check this time is no problem as we just leave the country. In Turkey everything feels already European; the custom guy is not really interested. He looks inside sees all the “garbage” and he let us go. Just get car insurance for 20 USD for 3 month and we are in Turkey. It is dark, heavy rain, and no cheap place to stay. We go to the South into the mountains and after 100 km of amazing good streets it clears up and we make our camp.

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Great Time with Micha in Gori

19th-23rd of November:

A short visit to Tbilisi an old and interesting town is all we planed for the day. It is not like Baku, the houses are not perfectly renovated. For me this town has more charm than Baku. Nevertheless, in the evening we go on to Gori and want to make a camp somewhere on the way. We can not find a good place, it is cold and windy and suddenly we are already in Gori. The homestay from Kotomi's guide book is not easy to find. But father destiny helps us again. When asking for the street where the homestay should be, we get invited by Micha and his friends. Micha is director of an Alpine club and also of World Vision Gori. In the evening we celebrate together with him and his co-workers (friends) the coming day (:). After travelling almost 4 month in Islamic countries we are back in the world of wine and beer. All of them doing their own wine and brought it that evening in 30 litre tanks. It is first time for Kotomi to drink such a wine. We really enjoy the wine, the food and the company of Micha and his friends. We learn how to drink in Georgia. There is no drink without a toast. We drink for peace in the world, health, woman, kids, ….., ….., ….., ….. until the 30 litre are finished (:).



Friday: In the next morning Micha invites us to a very special Georgian breakfast. We are driving to a shop of his friend. It is a small cafeteria from a butcher. The special food which is necessary after heavy drinking consists basically of milk and bowels of the cow. It is called Xas and you have to drink 3 class of Vodka with it. For us drinking Vodka in the morning is quite hard but we give our best. Coming back to his office the training or conference already started. The guys who already participated in the training several times before are drinking beside. Tschatscha is the stuff with 75% alcohol called. I kindly refuse but Kotomi is very brave and stands 6 more of this dangerous stuff. Meanwhile we are disturbing their conference when we are walking through the conference room to come to Michas “royal” office. There we use the internet and from time to time we chat with the great and interesting people from World Vision. World Vision organizes and supports the help for the refugees from the last years war with Russia. Almost everybody lost somebody in the war but still they do not hate the Russians. Although for them it is partially hard to understand the reasons of this war. Along the highway from Tbilisi to Gori we saw a lot of this huge refugee camps. That is all which we can see from the war. Gori itself was also bombed but it can not be seen so much. Almost everything is renovated.

Saturday: We go on a trip to Kakheti region with all the workers of World Vision. I am a little bit scared in the bus, since the driver seems to make a rally. Fortunately we arrive safe at the monastery but with a quite high adrenalin level. The monastery is located just in front of the snow covered Caucasian mountains and the day is clear and sunny. The monastery was used as storage room in the communistic times and almost all paintings were destroyed. Now around 20 years after independence they still have to renovate and to bring back the beauty of this monastery. All together we have a picnic and of course with Tschatscha (:). After being almost drunken, we visit an old kings palace that also includes a gallery of old and new art. In the night the guys from World Vision Tbilisi join us in a restaurant where we enjoy full course Georgian food and experience the great Georgian dancing.




Sunday: That is the day before the Saint Georges day. We are drinking all the day, I stick with wine but Kotomi can not refuse the 75 % Tschatscha. She is already drunk in the morning and has to sleep all the afternoon. In the evening we are again invited to a restaurant with all kinds of Georgian food and a lot of dancing. Enjoying live with food and dancing is great and I enjoy the time with these people and their Georgian soul. Kotomi is very moved by this emotional dancing and is almost crying.



Monday: It is cold outside and raining, it is Saint Georges day, the day of Georgia. Kotomi can not do anything, sleeping all day, recovering from all the alcohol. In the evening we visit together with Micha and his friends a village and are drinking, eating again.


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140 Litre Diesel Problem

18th of November:

We were driving through rainy landscape all the day. The street is bad but interesting villages surounded by autumn. It is noon when we are close to the border, it is raining and we do not feel to stay and decide to cross the border that day. We have to wait a long time at the Azerbaijan side. Finally we can cross the bridge to Georgia. Welcome in Georgia! After we get checked from the custom, they find 60 litre of our 140 litre of additional Diesel in 20 litre tanks. They say it is a problem and we have to go back in the neutral zone (bridge) to throw it away. I want to ask a truck driver if he wants to buy the Diesel. The customs get angry and say I should go in the neutral zone to sell it. That means I have to leave the country again. I go out, on the bridge are a lot of cars and everybody is wating to enter Georgia. For them it is funny how we put our 7 tanks on the bridge, but I succed and sell it to a Turkish truck driver. He can speak a little German and is like a Papa to me. After selling our cheap diesel (:(( we leave the neutral zone and enter Georgia again. This time they do not check again; should I have kept the 80 litre that they did not find? (:) Anyway I could at least sell it and for the firts time we did not need a visa anymore. It is already night, after some kilometeres it is not raining anymore and we decide to make a camp in a field.

(N 41.75702°, E 46.10201 °)