The decision not to cycle into the Great Caucasus we make after Frank welcomed us in the morning at the tent with friendly barking. A 60 kilometer long gravel road up to over 2000 meters high, into the Great Caucasus does not seem feasible to us. Instead, we decide to spend the next few days in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia.
On the first meters a hoopoe accompanies us and later a bee-eater. A bird paradise.
Our hostel in the Sololaki district of Tbilisi where you find houses where prominent poets and poetesses stayed, is like an appartment shared with two or three others. Directly below us in the cellar is a great restaurant, or perhaps more like a refectory, serving Georgian khinkali and tapped beer in a casual atmosphere. It is open daily for lunch and dinner and is packed then. A real insider tip. 200 meter away is a family restaurant where everything is freshly cooked and prepared and where we take breakfast.
There are little shops, craft stores and the Government of Georgia, a stately building among all the old Art Nouveau houses, partly dilapidated, partly renovated, whose paint is peeling and whose windows and doors are not tight in many places. The neighborhood is also called ‘Paris of Asia’.
Kazbegi – The White Giant
Kazbegi, at 5047m, is the third highest Caucasus mountain and because it stands so solitary, it is a tourist magnet.
Instead of torturing ourselves with muscle power up to 2400 m in early spring, we book a day trip with a bus. Surely the road is no pleasure even with a car – with the bike it is not possible at all.
We see only one motor home – German license plate, struggling up the mountain. The driver is obviously shaking, at every oncoming truck.
We sit in a ‘comfortable coach’ with a fearless driver driving the 150 km to just before the Russian border. The 15 passengers come from Russia, Ukraine, Finland, Germany, Austria, India, Abu Dhabi and our guide Nino from Georgia. We spend a long day together. Nino tells us so much about the sights along the way, about Georgia’s history, economy, education, language and much more. On the way back we have wish concert. Everyone is allowed to wish for a song and sing along. The Internet makes it possible.
