Meeting the Kartvelebi & Kurdistan, day 15, Iğdir in Turkey.

I left Tblisi direction Didgori, the direction I took was almost a straight line, so at some point I finded myself in an a stage of an Enduro race, that for the Africa Twin is extremely hard Enduro.

 A V-shaped mule track, plenty of rocks, trees and very steep. I had to work a lot with the clutch in some points. The temperatures of oil and coolant reached 103 degrees celsius, the beast was sweating and suffering while the pilot was doing the same and he was worrying about the fixed chain slider. The beast was feeling alive and free once again!

 When I reached the Didgori I was completely soaked. The monument is huge and epic, big swords are everywhere. You can find more by googling. 

Didgori.

Then there was an unpaved road, very large and fast. Near Manglisi I was again on pavment, and I followed the road to Tsalka, Poka and I've crossed the border with Turkey near Çildir. This Custom is new and it has been opened again (after 1995) in december 2015. There was no waiting line.

This border between Georgia and Turkey has been opened recently. I was the only one that was crossing there. The border is near Kartsakhi lake.

 All this region is a plateu at 2000 meters above the sea level. On the Georgian side they are building a railway and on the Turkish one a 4 lane road will be available in the next years. The Çildir lake is part of the plateau, and it is really big and the road around it is very nice. 

Çıldır Gölü and the D010.

But the best roads are outside the main one: The whole region (in Turkey) is full of very fast unpaved roads, which allow the rider to hit speeds up to 120 km/h easily. 

BRAAAAAAP!

By following some of these roads I went to Ani, an abandoned middle age city. I just passed nearby sadly, but visiting it with full armor would have been painful. Then down to Digor, the weather was grey and a storm was arriving, so I had to jump into the rainsuit, in Digor I should have tanked, but petrol stations didn't have Benzin. So I had to head to Tuzluca, but I wasn't able to reach it, because I run out of fuel few kilometers before it. 

Run out of fuel, few kilometers before Tuzluca on the D080.

I stopped a car an the man inside kindly offered to bring some fuel to me. After 20 mins he returned with 5 liters of fuel, water and ice tea. He didn't accept my money. I thanked him a lot and I went on, to Tuzluca, where I tanked fully. Then after few kilometers I was in Iğdir, where I found a cheap hotel for the night.

There are a lot of soldiers everywhere outside cities, in every small village that I've passed through there was a garrison in a well defended fort. I think it is like that because I've ridden very close to the border with Armenia and because it is the kurdish part of Turkey. In Iğdir and at petrol stations people were really friendly and kind.

Meeting the Kartvelebi, day 14, Tbilisi in Georgia

I went to the city and tried to find help by the spare parts shop, but they were not able to help me till Monday, so I will figure it out by myself.

So, I'm an engineer, so I started gathering informations about my problem and how to solve it: I've found a very nice paper about the duct tape/wd40 flowchart.

Engineering at its finest!

Since the chain slider should not moved, I decided to use the duct tape. Engineering at its finest.
On the way back from the store, the GPS died (The Garmin GPSMAP 64s is worthless, buy an used 60csx and you will be fine forever). The speedometer died aswell (The plastic gear broke) and a fastex of the upper luggage broke aswell.

 What a black Friday.


But I think it is normal, here in Georgia the bike has met the Real Freedom for the first time in its life and I'm not talking about the Freedom Square in Tbilisi, but I'm talking about riding where there are no roads, feeling the nature on its fairings, feeling the earth under its tyres. And as there is no way you will be able to keep in captivity a beast after it tasted the Real Freedom, because it will try to break the chains of its captivity, the Africa Twin is trying right now to break the chains that keep it in captivity and the chains for it are all the useless things that are not required for riding, such as the gps, the fastex and the speedometer. The ride must go on and the beast must feel free.

Meeting the Kartvelebi, day 13, 6k something km, Tblisi in Georgia

I woke up around 0630 local time, I've slept very well and the temperature this morning was 13 degrees celsius. I've packed everything up and I started riding direction Shatili. I was on the tough road to Shatili and not on the main one, according to the GPS. After a turn, I entered an abandoned road, so I had to fight against trees and fallen rocks.

Zhinvali reservoir.

At some point there was no more road and I was riding on a path. I had to give up because there were some narrow and steep stairs, which didn't allow a fully loaded Africa Twin to pass. 

The road to Shatili on the west side Zhinvali reservoir is not a road. I had to ride back, very tough to pass there with fully loaded Africa Twin, moreover being alone doesn't push you to do such things.

So I had to go back to Ananuri and ride on the main and only road to Shatili, which is 100 km long. Very nice road, 70% is unpaved and there is a 2500 m pass about 20 km before Shatili, the road goes on after Shatili and actually it came close (800 meters) to the border with Russia and once it was possible to cross this border, which was not a border, comrades, during holy great CCCP times. Shatili is nice but nothing special, the fortess in Truso valley was more magical. 

Shatili, this region is amazing!

But the road to Shatili worth the travel. The road backwards was eve better and the views were stunning all along it.

The road to Shatili.

I came back and after 1 km that I was again on the Georgian Military Highway, I've heard a noise and a shock on the rear wheel, I've stopped immediately and I realized that the chain slider on the swing arm was broken. I removed the remains of it and luckily I was able to cut the bottom part in order to fit as top part, where otherwise the chain would have touched the aluminium swing arm. The bottom part is needed on bumps, so less essential.

I headed to Tbilisi slowly and I looked for a spare parts: the welcoming broken Africa Twin at that shop is apparently there in order to be fixed, so i couldn't get that one. Tomorrow I will try to build something somehow that will have to last for the next 2 weeks till Greece. I will spend the night out in Tbilisi.

More tomorrow, stay tuned!

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.

Meeting the Kartvelebi, day 11, 71 km, Gori in Georgia

My stomach is still in Australia. Today I took a tour of Gori, a very nice and small city near Tbilisi. I went to the Stalin museum, very nice, it seems like he did just a lot of good things, nothing it's said about Gulags, the pact with Hitler, etc. 

Well comrades, propaganda is propaganda. 

On the middle of the Stalin Avenue there is also a Mausuleum, inside of it there is the house were Stalin lived his first years of life. A very nice part of Gori is the giant fortress: on the top of a steep hill, high walls, a lot of towers, looks like something that was impossible to conquer by direct attack. On the bottom of the hill there is a monument, memorial of the 2008 war against mother Russia: Gori was bombed and then conquered by the Russian, some prople died by trying to defend the city, so the memorial is made of some mutilated middle age warriors. 

Monument to the fallen of the war with Russia in 2008

After this small tour of Gori, I went to Uplistsikhe, an ancient cave town. The entrance was only 3 Lari and as student I got in for 1...The city is from the 6th century BC, but it reached the maximum expansion ( around 20k person) after the 645 AC, when the Arabs conquered Tbilisi. In 1240 it was completely destroyed by the Mongols (thanks to Lonely Planet for all these information). They screwed with everything the same way as Attila did. 

Attila was around 420 AC, the Mongols 1240 AC, so I suppose in 2060 AC an horde of Mongols/Chinese will destroy Europe again. 

Uplistsikhe offers very nice views!

Easy peasy I might be dead by then. Then I moved to Ateni Sioni, by following no roads, the best way for completely feeling free. Moreover it was an Ignoranza Enduristica ride, because I was wearing sneakers, shorts and a tank top. 

Ignoranza enduristica, going outisde roads with shorts, tank top and sneakers. Gloves and helm always on!

Ateni Sioni is under renoval, so I could just see it from quite far away. Then I followed the road to Biisi, along this road there are a lot of spots were it is possible to bath, in Biisi itself there is a public shower with a thermal water (They are building water pipes along the road right now). Chill day, let's hope that tomorrow I will feel better because the Georgian Military Highway awaits me!

Meeting the Kartvelebi, day 10, 385 km, Gori in Georgia

Today was the toughest day so far. I couldn't sleep well because I was feeling sick, at 8 o'clock I woke up and I got pinned down on the toilet for one hour. After that I've eaten something for breakfast and I left Mestia direction Ushguli. Mestia is a very nice and turistic city, it is the first place in Georgia where I've heard people speaking German and English. The road to Ushguli was paved for 20 km and unpaved for 20 km. The unpaved part was very nice and I could hit speed up to 80 km/h.

Murkmeli and Ushguli.

 Before Ushguli there were some small agglomerations of houses with typical defensive towers. Ushguli is around 2200 m above the sea level and and it looks very old. The view on the mountains ( some of them are 5000+ meters) around is breathtaking. I've bought a Cola because I was still feeling sick. 

The ride must go on anyway! 

Climbing up the Zagar pass.

Ready for takeoff!

I continued on the direction of the Zagar pass (2623 m), climbed it and then down to Lentekhi. Tough ride because most of the road was muddy, but the nature was uncontaminated and views were amazing. After I was there all plants and flowers died for sure due to my CO2 emission. Sorry for this Georgia. 

Back in 2012 this road was unpaved!

Then after 90 kms of unpaved roads I was in Lentekhi, I went to Tsageri, there I've climbed the road to Orbeli and from there on I've followed paved and unpaved roads through Patara Oni, Zedra Shavra and Tkibuli. The climate started to change, from subtropical with high umidity it started turning into an arid one. In Turkey I had temperatures up to 37 degrees celsius, Today at some point there were 41 degrees celsius with high humidity, I was completely soaked...at least my balls couldn't burn. Tkibuli and Chiatura are soviet style cities. Chiatura looks very nice because it was full of cableways, since the city is built between canyons. Have a look at this album for some pics: https://m.facebook.com/Georgian-Roads-130936246968…/photos/…

After Chiatura I went straight to Gori. In total today I rode around 150 km on unpaved roads, I was able to clean the motorbike in Gori. This is the city where holy and mighty comrade Stalin was born, so it is the right time for: Privet tovarish!

 If tomorrow my stomach will still be upside down, I will spend 2 days here for recovering, comrades! Moreover is plenty of historical things to see and that I have to see, for mother Russia. Comrades, for today it is all and remember, better dead than red, oh wrong one, Workers of all land unite!

Meeting the Kartvelebi, day 9, 435 km, Mestia in Georgia

The Day started in Batumi at 0730 local time. I've ridden direction Gomismta, Georgian roads are small but nice so far.
20 km before Gomismta the road turned to unpaved and started to climb: there was even a gate that I had to pass through with the tag: "welcome to Gomismta" the road continued to climb, from sea level up to 2100 meters. 

The muddy road up to Gomismta

It was very nice unpaved road, but for around 10 km it was completely muddy, so I had to ride slowly and I'm quite surprised from the mitas e07 tyres, wich showed a very fair grip on this conditions. On the top there was the big village of Gomismta, I estimate around 1k people live there. No electricity was available from cables, but of course the signal for mobile phones was perfect. 

Gomismta

There were also some children, they were enjoying my pass and when I used the horn they were all saying beeep beep. In Gomismta I took the road for Bakhmaro, which isn't a very common one: on the top, around 2500 meters above the sea, there was no road and I was riding on green grass. Amazing moment of pure freedom. 

The pass between Bakhmaro and Gomismta, the road is not marked on google maps and on the ground.

When I reached Bakhmaro, after 60 km, the road was again paved and I started the descent to sea level. On this region, a lot of person uses horses has main vehicle, but they are always using mobile phone: that's a hard contrast. 

 On the flatland, I rode to north and after Zugdidi, I saw the Caucasus for the first time. It looks like the Alp from Milano. 

Zugdidi.

The road for Mestia was long (more than 130 Km) but very nice. In a dark tunnel I risked to hit a cow, which was laying on the pavement in stealth mode without caring about cars. In Georgia farm animals are almost always free, which means you will find cows, ducks, pigs and horses in the street or around them. In Mestia I spent an Evening with two guys from Ticino (one of them saw me working on a Caucasus map on the train for Zurich) at cafe layla, where a choir of Folk Svaneti music was singing and dancing. Very stunning evening.