Meeting the Kartvelebi, day 12, XXX km, Ananuri in Georgia

This morning I started at 8 o'clock with a full georgian breakfast. I meet David, a student from Honk Kong, who is visiting Georgia for two weeks. When I was placing the top luggage on the bike, I realized that yesterday I've lost the spare front inner tube ( which is the most important, as it can also be used for the rear wheel). So I went to Tbilisi in order to find another one (no way to find one in Gori).
On the way I rode down the the Magalaant Church Complex, sadly all frescoes inside were full of graffiti and scratches.

Magalaant Church Complex.

Being in Tbilisi with full armor looking for something without any idea where it could be, was really a pain in the ass. 

I entered it as a cake goes in the oven. I stopped by a mechanic and he told me that 1 km away there was a Yamaha seller. Urrah! I went there and it was just for ATV. The guy was very kind and he showed me where in the city spare parts are sold. I went there and I spent 20 minutes looking around but it was all about cars, no motorbikes parts. Traffic jam, full armor, 37 degrees celsius. Amazing time. Tbilisi was really funny. I gave up and I went north for riding on the Georgian Military Highway. I found a bike seller and I stopped for asking and they told me about a mechanic for motorbikes not far away. I went there and the entrance was brutal: a broken xrv 750 RD04 was there welcoming guests. The mechanic told me where to find my inner tube. A young and kind man, he had just Ducati in his workshop at that time. I told him that Ducati soldi sprecati, he couldn't speak Italian, luckily. Then I went to this shop and they had just heavy duties inner tube. It will be fine anyway. After 3 hours the cake was ready and I rode direction Truso Valley. Near the Bazaleti lake I took a dirt road which was not a road anymore. Tough ride but worth it.

The non-road near the Bazaleti lake.

After this road I was in the middle of a small village. I've stopped in a bar in order to drink something and some old men there started talking to me, in Georgian and Russian. We had a beer together and they wanted to offer me more, but that would have been illegal and I had to ride into the Truso Valley, which was a tough ride.

The Georgian Military Highway is a very nice road but full of traffic and TIRs. When I took the road into the Truso Valley I was feeling like in heaven, a tough road with some deep water passages and a breathtaking view. Almost at the end of the road there is a fortress (2100 m above the sea level). At the castle there were some guys wearing a Vegetata, one came to me, he started talking in Georgian, he understood I couldn't understand, so he pointed back to me and he made the sign of "jail" by crossing his forearms. I thought I had to pay a fine, then he turned to point in front of me and he told Russky. On his back was written: Border Patrol. So easy, I visited the castle and then rode back, as planned. 

The fortress at the end of Truso valley, very close to South Ossetia.

A view from the fortress.

It was to late for reaching Shatili, so I stopped near Ananuri and planted my tent, because no guesthouses are available here, but just to "expensive" hotels.

Sleeping near Ananuri.