Akhalkalaki

September 29, 2023

It was a chilly seven degrees when we walked across the street for breakfast this morning. And a very good breakfast it was too. By nine o'clock we were heading north on the newly laid road, so new in fact that the tar for the first five hundred meters had only been laid yesterday afternoon.

Climbing out of Ashotsk on newly laid tarmac.

The thirteen kilometers to the border had all been laid recently.

Lots of livestock along the way. One of the shepherds in this picture rode over to chat to Leigh while I was taking photos.

After a gentle climb up to the border through very pleasant Armenian countryside it was an easy crossing back into Georgia. Once again it seems that we were the first South Africans to pass through. The passport control officer first had to check that we could be allowed in and then he and a number of other officials spent time browsing through all the visas and stamps from other countries we have visited. I'm not sure what they would have said if I told them that we have a whole collection of full passports in a drawer at home.

In Gorelovka there were many buildings with roofs covered with growing grass.

From the border until Akhalkalaki we raced thunderstorms with lightening and rain all around us but we stayed dry the whole way.

The Georgian countryside was much the same as south of the border. However after the town of Ninotsminda the traffic got heavier and much more Georgian in driving style. It didn't take long for us to decide to get to Turkey as soon as possible. So tomorrow we are heading eastwards to the closest border crossing at Aktaş.

Today's ride: 56 km (35 miles)
Total: 1,752 km (1,088 miles)

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