Ka Pai Kiwis

Nice sleep in  although I went for an early wander up some steps to visit the Mother of Georgia and take in the view. After breakfast we headed out for a stroll and visited the Holy Trinity Church, quite an impressive building especially at night when the golden dome is lit up. Last nights photos Wandered about a bit more but it is just too hot, maybe only 30ish but high humidity making us very sticky. No health and safety here! 

Another lovely morning and a rare sleep in as breakfast wasn’t till 9 and we have only 200 km to travel to Tbilisi. Our hotel turned out to be a bit of Fawlty Towers and compared to where we are now in Tbilisi and completely overpriced. Never mind it was an experience. Nice travelling through a picturesque and steep sided gorge which gradually widened out to what must be the garden of Georgia. Orchards and horticulture everywhere in this very pretty countryside and every so often the remains of a primitive castle dot the landscape. The driving standards certainly kept me on my toes until we hit the motorway for the run in to Tbilisi where the driving standards improved somewhat, although we did pass the scene of one nasty accident. We found our hotel ok and it has turned out to be a gem!  Just as well as we have much planning to do for our re-route around Iran. View from the hotel room - not bad. Statue of Mother of Georgia. Honey in left hand, sword in right. We ...

We woke up to a beautiful morning. Lovely ride this morning, the road hasn’t got any better but it does seem easier earlier in the day. The scenery is just spectacular, we could be in Switzerland. We wound up and up with many switchback roads and a mild temperature. Finally at the top then a steep descent into a lovely fertile valley. Then again we began to climb more gently this time but we got to 2470 metres and it was a bit cold. Down again then up up up to 2550 metres and still the remains if the winter snows. The landscape dotted with shepherds summer cottages and the shepherds themselves tending their animals. Down again and then a very pleasant meander to the border. Could have stopped every 5 minutes for photos but press on we must. Border formalities were straightforward except once again the bloody NZ bike registration papers. Because everyone else has a passport like vehicle document it makes ours look like a fake. So this all took an hour and we had ...