2023 Georgia – Legs and Feets

Heading to Kazakhstan 17 – 26 June, 23

Over the next few days we needed to find boxes, pack the bike, fly to Kazakistan, and unpack the bike again. Of course we had additional days visiting a few museums and seeing the sights.

First pack and get ready to go. Trinx had bicycle boxes and would provide them for free. You must call in the morning and pick up that day. They will not hold boxes over night. The boxes were pretty thin and many were damaged. GeoExplorer will sell boxes. We were fortunate that the Marco Motel is next to a furniture warehouse and were throwing away several couch boxes a day. With an easy modification we turned a few into three adequate boxes for the Saphira.

Making boxes, disassembling Saphira and packing.

Boxes packed it was time to play. Tbilisi was 20 km from the motel so we took the bus and subway into town. Each ride cost 1 Lari which could be purchased with a credit card but this would get crazy with all these small purchases so we purchased a bus pass at the station and loaded 20 trips.

Arriving in Tbilisi Liberty Square we found the City Tours bus and hopped on. It was raining and this provided a quick way to see the town. After we walked to the old fortress, through the botanical park, through old town and the National Museum.

King Tamar overlooking Tbilisi She was Regent in the 12 century.

Clock tower built in 2010. The angel in the balcony is ring the bell.

Spoon, projectile points and beads also found in burial site 3,000 B.C.

Recreation of what Homo Erectus probably looked like 1.7 million years ago found in Georgian valley. The oldest know humanoid outside Africa.

It is time to fly out of Tbilisi so we head to the airport with our three boxes. Our agent asked what was in the box and we stated a bicycle. The older agents on either side hearing our conversation stated thay were oversize and you must pay more. We stated no we built these boxes with-in luggage size and asked if they had a tape to measure? Both the other agents looked around and shrugged. Our agent said they look okay so just took the boxes without charging us. Our plane is an hour late so after check in we find some food and wait until called for the flight.

Boxed and wrapped bicycle waiting for checkin at the airport in Tbilisi.

After landing in Aktau, Kazakhstan we are shuttled to the motel at 1:00 A.M. and the next morning start the work of unpacking.

Saphira is all together and ready to ride.

Now that Saphira is together it is time to see some sites. We found the Robinzon sporting goods store and purchased some compressed gas for our camping stove. We then rode down to the Caspian Sea and put our feet in the cool water and rode around the shore boardwalk.

Putting our toes in the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea in Aktau Kazakhstan.

Welcoming arms. Riding the promenade along the Caspian Sea we found this bronze statue of a camel driver welcoming travelers.

Return to Tbilisi, 16 June 23

Tuesday 16 June Highs 79 F, wind up to 9 mph from Northwest. High clouds alternating with sunny skies. We rode 72 km from Kachreti to Tbilisi.

Following the same S5 road back to Tbilisi the route was the same but we captured some additional photos. Since Khashuri (9 June) we have noticed these strings of Churchkhela for sale along the road. Our curiosity finely caught up and we captured a photo of one of the sale stands. We felt the ones along the road were a little gross with all the dust and dirt. It turns out that these are the only real Georgian deserts. Walnuts are strung on a string and soaked in thickened grape juice.

Churchkhela are nuts hung on a string and dipped in grape juice.

This is the entrance gate to a large chicken farm.

Return to Kachreti via a Different Route, 15 June 23

Tuesday 15 June Highs 80 F, wind up to 4 mph from Southwest. High clouds alternating with sunny skies. There were thunder storms with light sprinkles after 4:00 P.M but we were in the motel. We rode 76 km from Lagodekhi to Kachreti.

We decided to return to Kachreti via a southern route. Getting up early we ate a quick meal and left the motel before 7:00 A.M.

Leaving the Motel. A beautiful morning to ride.

Lagodekhi is tucked up against a steep Caucus Mountain Range. The top of the range is Georgia’s boundary to Russia.

Looking North from Lagodekhi the top of the ridge line is the border with Russia.

Heading into the valley we found this modern day cowboy riding his bicycle and moving his herd to greener pastures.

One often overlooked component of Agriculture is bee keeping. Of course there are bee hives along the road but we also saw many of these bee trailers along the road.

Bee trailers. A wise way to move your hives. Also when in this wagen it is more difficult to steal the hives.

Yesterday the upper route took us through several different watersheds. Today these drainages had combined and we rode through a wide open flat land with miles of farms. In one area they were harvesting wheat and the trucks were lined up waiting to take the harvested grain.

We saw miles of wheat farms. They were just starting to harvest.

Trucks lined up waiting for their turn to haul a load of grain outside the town of Tsnori.

At Tsnori we turned north. Stopping for a loaf of traditional Georgian bread and a cold bottle of water, we sat on the corner and watched grain trucks pass headed out of town. The buildings were old Soviet area apartments that looked like they needed a little repair.

Of course we have talked about sheep and cattle all along and yes we saw plenty grazing today. But today we saw a band of brood mares and foals.

A Run To The Border, 14 June 23

Wednesday 14 June Highs 82 F, wind up to 2 mph from West. High clouds alternating with sunny skies. We rode 76 km from Kachreti to Lagotekhi.

The border is 70 km so the wisest option was to store the extra baggage at the Ambassadori Hotel. We started the climb out of Kachreti but a lot of the road was to steep so we did some walking.