Crossing borders is a funny funny thing. There is something particularly interesting about crossing borders over land. We passed through a stack of waiting vehicles, shuffled through a line of passport holders, then visa holders (in a mercifully air conditioned building) and seemingly passed through a portal with Turkey on one side and Georgia on the other. All there is to separate these worlds is a line in the Black Sea pebbles. There are no insurmountable mountains or bodies of water, none of the barriers that keep culture and histories separated. Even more, this particular border has changed many times- having been both Georgia and Armenia centuries ago. The point...the point is that once we crossed that last air conditioned threshold- despite proximity, despite crisscrossing history- we were in a very different place. The attitudes (mostly), which translated to traffic conditions changed instantly. There is a clear bravado or machismo. Road maintenance and fuel standards (already alluded to) took a dive- signs of economic differences to be sure. Georgia is more or less indifferent to us, she has given us a colder than expected shoulder in the human kindness department. I have speculated about this quite a bit and guessing around it is just fruitless. Positive note: Georgia is stunning!
We have just spent the last week or so biking a loop through the Svaneti region. It is known as the only "kingdom" to thwart all attempts of past conquerors. The mountains are intimidating indeed! We started just north of Zugdidi, zagged off course to camp and bike in the Dolra valley at the base of Mt. Ushba, and made our way to Mestia. After a half day of replenishing our food stores and soaking in a little bit of traditional Svan food and architecture in the regional capital, we made our way over the pass toward Ushguli. The pavement ended and the mud (helped by a healthy amount of rain) started after Mestia. Traffic all but stopped as the roads are rough and people are sparse. Carcasses of Svan towers and stone houses dot hillsides and valleys along the way, but the landscape is mostly dominated by green foothills and glacier flanked peaks. The descent from the last pass was a dooooozy- 80k of semi-controlled, bone rattling, blissful riding that dropped us through head-high patches of (mostly) purple wildflowers and into a new rain soaked river valley.
We have just spent the last week or so biking a loop through the Svaneti region. It is known as the only "kingdom" to thwart all attempts of past conquerors. The mountains are intimidating indeed! We started just north of Zugdidi, zagged off course to camp and bike in the Dolra valley at the base of Mt. Ushba, and made our way to Mestia. After a half day of replenishing our food stores and soaking in a little bit of traditional Svan food and architecture in the regional capital, we made our way over the pass toward Ushguli. The pavement ended and the mud (helped by a healthy amount of rain) started after Mestia. Traffic all but stopped as the roads are rough and people are sparse. Carcasses of Svan towers and stone houses dot hillsides and valleys along the way, but the landscape is mostly dominated by green foothills and glacier flanked peaks. The descent from the last pass was a dooooozy- 80k of semi-controlled, bone rattling, blissful riding that dropped us through head-high patches of (mostly) purple wildflowers and into a new rain soaked river valley.
We are in Tbilisi for a few short hours to set up bike boxes for the trip home, stock up on food, and clean ourselves. By tonight we'll be on our way up the Military Highway to ogle the Greater Caucus range for anther week of quad busting, heart exploding riding and hiking.
No comments:
Post a Comment