July 30 - East meets West

It was yet another sunny day - and we were soon on the road. The road got back its blacktop, the ashphalt, until a sign from the Georgian Road Authority read "we apologize for the inconvenience". There was about 15 km of yet another tortorous section, but we did manage to reach the town of Adigeni. Georgian food is really good, I had some burek, followed by some spicy food - no wonder 3 liters of liquid disappeared in my system.

This was our campsite

Sunrise - note the nice church

This town hosts an impressive castle, which Chris and I decided to visit - it was a church, a mosque and even a synagogue in it. After the visit, we found the way onwards, but did stop for a plunge in the river. We were no longer in Austria, more in Utah, this river carved deep gorges in the rocky mountains. The asphalt was great - it was a major road with moderate traffic, we saw some lorries from Turkey and Iran - neither of these are too far.

The castle with a mosque (and church and synagogue)

Late in the afternoon, it turned rather grey, this is when we met the next group of Polish bikers going the opposite way, there were dressed up in full rain gear (I was in my shorts and bike pants). Here was the turn-off to Vardzia, an astonishing cave town. There was another 16 km to go uphill - I decided against it and found a lady who rented an entire house for the price of Eur 5 (yes, five), with the only downside of missing hot water. I must say, after a long day of biking in the heat, a cold shower can do wonders for a full night's sleep!

Another castle - notice the change in the landspace (a lot more barren)