With rested but again untrained legs we cycled from Telavi through the Tbilisi National Park back to the Georgian capital. It was our third visit to Tbilisi, which served especially to pick up the long-awaited parcel with replacement parts.
With many great memories we look back on the wonderful ten days of volunteering in Telavi. Guga and Nutsa, a young Georgian couple, welcomed us with open arms in their future guesthouse “friendly home”. We immediately felt at home with them and their animals (two dogs, four cats, two rabbits and two ducks) and lived together like in a great flat-sharing community. Each morning the tireless dogs greeted us with expectation and wagging their tails. We couldn’t have asked for better hosts with Guga and Nutsa!
With our newly issued Iran visa in our luggage we left Tbilisi in north-eastern direction. Since the last mountain passes on gravel roads were much easier than we had expected, we tackled the journey over the 2826m high Abano Pass into the Tusheti National Park in good spirits. We planned to split the climb of 2600Hm into two days, considering that halfway up the pass there was drinking water, hot springs and apparently the only flat place where we could pitch our tent.
During our first stay in Tbilisi we would have liked to organize the visa for Iran. Unfortunately, the required reference letter did not arrive in time, so we left for northwestern Georgia without having achieved anything.
The first changes were already evident at the border crossing. The Turkish border post, officially open 24 hours a day, was manned when we arrived at 8 am, but no one was allowed to cross before 9 am. Finally, at 9:30 am, we could queue for the passport control at the counter 🙂 The apparently uncoordinated large construction site at the Turkish border post as well as the chaotically piloted Iranian trucks made the waiting highly amusing. In contrast, the entry to Georgia was straightforward. Within a few minutes we were processed by the border guard under a probing look and without any words.
