Georgia on my mind

After just over three weeks driving east across Turkey we finally ran out of road and headed north and west towards Georgia. Initially uncertain as to whether to stay another day in Turkey we decided given the impending rain that we would be better off driving than huddled in the van. For the most part we are setup to live outside and when it rains things become cramped as we share the van space with all of our stuff.

Bizarrely on our last night in Turkey, we shared a campsite with a party of Russian off road vehicles and another group of Italian motor homes. In the last three weeks we’ve hardly seen another non Turkish vehicle. The only exception being Cappadocia, where we camped near to a group of Danish motor homes.

Leaving Mount Ararat in the beautiful morning sunshine, we headed for the ancient citadel at Ani. Spectacular, immense and majestic sitting on the side of a gorge cut into the Armenian uplands by the river that flows through the bottom. Now in Turkey, Ani was once in Armenia. Many of the structures that you can see are 1,000 years old, but there is evidence that the site has a much longer heritage. There are a number of churches and a mosque left, along with a castle and some impressive city walls. At one time Ani was home to 100,000 people and it’s easy to see as you walk around how that could have been. The site is vast. It’s well worth a visit if you are ever in eastern Turkey. While it’s off the beaten track, the detour pays big dividends.

It was after visiting Ani that we made the decision to head for Georgia. While the border crossing was only 100 miles up the road, the miles were hard, as we headed towards the edge of the lesser Caucasus mountain range. The roads so steep, that at times we were forced to change down to first gear and drive at a slow running pace. We stopped halfway up one 2,500 meter pass and removed the air filter from Jenifer to give her as much air as possible.

Finally as the light started to draw in, we reached the Turkish boarder and went through the checks that we are getting used to. Passports, vehicle and customs. Then we repeated the process on the Georgian side, where it was a bit slower as we had to wait for an enormous truck to pass through. Struggling with the new sounds of the unfamiliar Georgian language we managed with the help of Google translate to explain why we had just arrived at the border in a 54 year old van with an Ikea bed strapped to two homemade sets of drawers. Many of the border staff seemingly interested in Jenifer and wanting to look at her “machine passport” to see how old she was.

As the rain came down in bucketfuls we finally entered Georgia. The light fading and our headlights on full beam, we headed 15 miles down the road to an AirBnb that we’d booked. Working on the basis that it would be good to have somewhere to re-group as we start in a new country, with no cash and no internet.

The drive slow, at times passing through puddles, so big that waves of water splashed over the bonnet. Finally we made the town where the AirBnb was located. Totally dark as we struggled to find the AirBnb we were pulled over by the Police, who seemed to be interested in the van. Possibly with a need to find a reason for being pulled over, they decided to breathalyse me in the pissing rain.

After much back and forthing along the road, out of the dark jumped our AirBnb host Gia – such a nice man and immediately we knew Georgia was a good place to be. For the price of £21 we have the bottom floor of their house for a night.

To add to that he gave us a bottle of his home made wine. In the UK when someone offers me home made wine I tend to shy away. However, Georgia is the birthplace of wine making in the world. Evidence shows that grapes were vinified here over 8,000 years ago. My first glass of Georgian wine hasn’t disappointed. Natural, unfiltered and very easy to drink, it’s a far cry from the tanker sludge that we are served by supermarkets. If you’ve ever drunk unfiltered natural wine, then you will understand what I’m talking about. If you haven’t had natural wine, I would urge you to try some. It is what wine is really about and it’s comforting to know that the birthplace of wine has it.

I’m really looking forward to the next few weeks discovering more of what Georgia has to offer in terms of food, wine and culture. So far it hasn’t disappointed.

As we sit here this morning contemplating the world, we feel happy that we have managed to get this far. It’s a roller coaster, but one that we will ride some more.


Comments

2 responses to “Georgia on my mind”

  1. David Evans Avatar
    David Evans

    Have fun in Georgia. I was there for a few days in Adjara and loved it. They have a strange green fruit there which I had for breakfast everyday. No idea what it was but it is grape sized and very lovely. Adjustable is where Stalin comes from and I was collected from the airport by a uK taxi. Love from Nassington .

    1. Thank you – we will go and see Stalin’s birth place/house while we are here. I saw some green grape like things in a vege shop earlier will investigate – in Turkey we had some unripe baby plums – Erik is the Turkish name – quite different but interesting.

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