Stolen bikes, Mr. How and Christmas in Batumi

Tirsdag d. 19. december - Mandag d. 25. december 2017             (Update d. 27. marts 2018)

Argveta - Kutaisi 29 km
Kutaisi pausedag
Kutaisi - Lesa 84 km
Lesa - Batumi 75 km
Christmas in Batumi

Vi tog os god tid næste morgen. Fra floden til Kutaisi var der kun 29 kilometer, så vi skulle nok regne med et par timer på cyklen. Det første stykke cyklede vi på en helt ny anlagt vej med dobbelt spor, men inden længe skulle vi dreje fra og nu cyklede vi i et smukt område, hvor vejen snoede sig igennem landskabet med træer på begge sider af vejen, hvor efuen voksede op af de nøgne træer.
Til tider gik det også opad, men ikke slemme stigninger. Godt 12 kilometer før Kutaisi, satte vi os i et busskur for at holde pause. På den anden side af vejen stod et stort skilt, hvorpå der stod The Halo Trust. Det viste sig at være et stort område Japan og USA havde været med til at rydde for landminer og ammunition fra 2016-17. 
De havde sprunget 24 landminer, 130 stk ammunitation samt fundet 1227 andet slags ammunittion. Altsammen på et areal der strakte sig over 987.900 m2. Området havde været en russisk militærbase 1991-1994 og grunden til det var blevet ryddet, var fordi Russerne ikke havde haft miner og ammunition opbevaret forsvarligt.
I området vil sidenhen bliver bygget to store vand reservoirs, så Kutaisi´s godt 145.000 indbyggere kan få rent vand.
Efter pausen gik det ned af bakke indtil vi var i udkanten af Kutaisi. Her holdt vi ved floden der løber igennem byen og nød hvor smukt der var. Fra floden skulle vi cykle op af en hård stigning med brosten, inden vi fandt frem til Hostel Vagabond. Her ville vi blive to nætter.
Stedet var ejet af en ung fyr fra Tyrkiet. Han havde åbnet stedet i begyndelsen af sommeren og ville holde åbent, så længe han syntes det blev ved med at være sjovt. Som han sagde.
Vi endet med at havde stedet for os selv, efter at 3 englændere rejste først på eftermiddagen.
De kunne fortælle at de var fløjet fra England til Kutaisi for 50 pund. Retur vel om mærke. Så de havde taget en tur på 4 dage.
Næste dag gik vi rundt i Kutaisi og kiggede lidt på byen. Vi besøgte Bazaren hvor vi fik købt godt ind af Chuchela og var på en hyggelig Cafe´
(Cafe´Neta) ellers blev dagen brugt på værelset. Hvor vi slappede af og kiggede lidt på, hvor vi skulle cykle hen efter Kutaisi.
Da uret gav lyd fra sig næste morgen, var det ikke fordi vi sprang ud af sengen. Tanken om at vi måske skulle cykle i regn, trak ikke i os. Men vi kom op og fyren fra hostelet havde lavet tyrkisk kaffe til os, så blev vi kick startet med den kop.
Cykelturen ud af Kutaisi tog længere tid end vi havde regnet med. Undervejs nåede vi at se den ny parlamentsbygning. Et specielt bygningsværk, som mere mindede om en bygning, hvor der skulle være et vandland indeni.
Vi kom udenfor byen og cyklede af en vej med næsten ingen trafik. Igen var husene meget slidte og flere af dem næsten faldefærdige. Langs med vejen gik grise rundt og smaskede. Nogle af grisene havde to stykker træ bundet omkring halsen. Vi tror det var for at de ikke kunne komme igennem nogle hegn og så derved undgå at de hærgede en hel have eller andet på deres vej.
Vi fulgte vejen maps.me havde foreslået og lidt før byen Didi Gubi skulle vi dreje og endte på en elendig vej.
Nu måtte vi cykle slalom for at undgå store huller fyldt med vand og fordi det havde regnet var vejen muderet.
Heidi var ikke vild med al det mudder og skældte lidt ud. Det var først efter at vi havde snakket med en bondemand, som havde fortalt at det kun var 3 - 4 kilometer vejen var således, at hun var OK med beslutningen.
Da vi kom ud på asvalt igen, cyklede vi forbi den smukkeste lille ortodoxe kirke. Den var bygget i træ og rundt om kirken var der store og små gravsteder, hvor der var sat billeder op af de afdøde. Nogen steder var billederne næste så store som plakater. Vi stod ude på vejen og kiggede ind. Alt imens vi stod der og kiggede, kom en mand hen til os og spurgte om vi ville se kirken. Det viste sig at være præsten.
Først sagde vi det var OK at se ude fra vejen, men han ville meget gerne vise os kirken. Så vi sagde ja og han hentede nøglen og kom tilbage og fulgte os op til kirken og lukkede os ind.
Indenfor var der et stort rum hvor loftet var malet i en fin lyseblå farve og rundt om på væggene hang forskellige crucifixer på det flotte gamle træ. Vi spurgte om vi måtte tage billeder, hvilket var helt iorden. Vi kunne mærke hvor stolt præsten var over at kunne vise kirken frem. Den var virkelig også smuk og helt sikkert gammel.
Vi takkede præsten mange gange og fik endda lov til at tage et billede af ham også.
Fra kirken kom vi ud til vej 103 og landsbyen Didi Jikhaishi. Her satte vi os på en bænk lige midt i byen for at spise frokost. Imens vi sad der og spiste kom en del skolebørn forbi og de hilste pænt på os.
Af vej 103 cyklede vi stik syd, som førte os til en større og mere trafikeret vej. Undervejs begyndte vi at snakke om hvor langt How mon var kommet. Vi havde set på kortet, at der gik en mindre direkte vej længere syd for Kutaisi og vi snakkede om at hvis How var cyklet et par dage efter os og hvis han havde taget den mindre vej, ja så ville han måske være ret tæt på hvor vi var nu.
Lidt senere da vi sad og holdt en pause, tog vi et screenshot af vores position og sendte det til How og så skrev vi en besked: we are here. Where are you?
Der gik ikke lang tid inden vi fik en besked tilbage. Den var også med et screenshot af How´s position og ganske rigtigt han befandt sig cirka 15-18 kilometer foran os. Så nu ville vi se om vi kunne indhente ham.
How havde skrevet: at han ville begynde at kigge efter et sted at sove og indenfor den næste times tid håbede han på at slå lejr. Så det gav os mere blod på tanden, så vi trampede afsted.
Vi holdte små pauser for at finde ud af hvor langt der var imellem os og vi kunne se vi halede ind på ham, men det begyndte at blive mørkt og vi kunne regne ud der var stadig 8-10 kilometer imellem os. Så vi begyndte at kigge efter et sted at sove.
Det blev ikke let. Hele området vi cyklede igennem, var som en lang by. Der var huse overalt og de fleste var lukket godt af bag et hegn. Mange huse så forladte ud, men når vi kiggede nærmere, boede der mennesker i dem alligevel.
Vi endte foran en automekaniker, som lå overfor en slags p-plads, hvor der også var et toilet. I et hjørne af pladsen fandt vi et sted vi kunne sætte teltet op. Vi spurgte nogle mænd ved auto mekanikeren om det var OK.
Det kunne de ikke se noget forkert i.
Efter vi havde sat teltet op og fået lavet aftensmad, fandt vi ud af via flere screenshots og beskeder at How kun var 5 kilometer fra os og han havde sneget sig om bag et hus og slået lejr der. Det grinedede vi noget over.
Noget vi ikke grinede over, var da der var nogen der forsøgte at stjæle vores cykler midt om natten.
Nogen måtte have set os, sætte teltet op og stille cyklerne lige ved siden af med en presenning hen over og derved troet at det var den eneste måde vi havde sikret cyklerne. Hvad de ikke vidste var at de var låst sammen med en tyk wire og to mindre låse. Så hen på natten, hørte jeg nogen pusle udenfor teltet og råbte højt: HEY HEY....Heidi nogen prøver at stjæle vores cykler. Men Heidi reagerede ikke  i første omgang, da hun sov trygt.
Men da jeg blev ved med at råbe, kom hun til sig selv og forstod hvad der var på færde. Så nu fik vi åbnet teltet og hoppede ud for at se, hvor galt det stod til.
Heldigvis havde de ikke haft heldet med sig, det eneste der var sket, var at begge cykler var væltet og de to juleklokker vi havde haft på hver vores cykel, var revet af. Marianne´s støttefod var slået op og så var de ikke kommet videre. Pyha tænkte vi. Hvor heldigt og hvad havde vi gjort hvis cyklerne var væk???
Vi tjekkede at alt ellers var OK på cyklerne og lagde os lidt urolige til at sove igen.
Vi vågnede til en regnfuld morgen, så alt blev ordnet inde i teltet inden vi bevægede os ud i regnen. Inden vi cyklede afsted, sendte vi en besked til How, som lød noget i retningen af: We cycle 1000 sharp. Take care.
1000 sharp var en joke vi havde kørende, når vi skulle være klar på et bestemt tidspunkt.
Vi vidste jo ikke om vi ville nå at indhente ham. Men hvad vi ikke vidste, var at How havde været klar til at cykle da vi sendte ham vores besked og så tænkte han: 5 kilometer kan pigerne cykle på 15 minutter, så jeg venter på dem.
Ganske rigtigt, da vi havde cyklet de 5 kilometer, så vi How stå i vejkanten udenfor det hus han havde sovet bag ved. Vi råbet højt: Mr. How Mr. How og var glade for at vi mødtes igen. Denne gang var det treide gang på turen. Det virkede så naturligt at cykle sammen: How først, så Marianne og Heidi til sidst.
Munden stod ikke stille på How og mig. Hver især vil give en update på hvad vi havde oplevet siden vi sagde farvel i Tblisi.
Heidi og jeg havde snakket om at campere før Batumi, men vi ændrede vores plan og sagde til How at vi gerne ville cykle med helt til Batumi. Både fordi der var ikke nogle steder der egnede sig til camping og fordi vi var våde fra yderest til inderest.
Vi nåede helt ud til sortehavet og de sidste 40 kilometer, cyklede vi mere eller mindre langs med havet.
Humøret var højt også selvom vi blev plasket til af vand og smat fra lastbiler og biler. Cyklerne knasede i alle led pga. vand og sand der var trængt ind alle steder.
Vi cyklede igennem noget der hed Kobuleti Beach. En lang strand promenade med restauranter og massevis af hoteller. Alt var øde og lukket. Mest af alt mindede det om en spøgelsesby. Vi kunne godt forestille os at om sommeren ville der var fyldt med turister og fuld gang i alt, lidt ligesom Mallorca stemning.
Da vi var kommet over nogle gode bakker, fik vi endelig et udsyn ind over Batumi. Tror vi blev overrasket over hvor moderne den så ud, med store højhuse og spændende akitektur. Nyt og gammelt mixes mellem hinanden så det passede sammen. I den gamle bydel var gaderne med brosten og utrolig hyggelig.
Med det samme kunne vi lide byen. How havde fundet et hostel som hed Surf hostel, det lå lige i midten af den gamle bydel. Et super hyggeligt sted og det bedste af det hele, det lå i gade niveau så vi ikke skulle kæmpe med at få alt op af en trappe. Selv cyklerne kunne stå i ly under nogle parasoller og personalet var søde og hjælpsomme.
How vidste ikke hvor længe han ville blive, vi skulle bare være der en nat, da vi havde booket et hotel, hvor vi ville fejre juleaften. Det var blevet d. 22. december og hjemme i DK var vi sikker på at julestemning var i fuld gang. Jeg tror ikke vi følte det helt store julesus. Vi gik en tur ud i byen om aftenen og fik os noget af en overraskelse. Hele det store torv i Batumis midtby var pyntet med den vildeste jule belysning og store juletræer og det selvom at de først fejrede jul i midten af januar. Alle bygningerne omkring torvet var pakket ind i lyskæder og lysende engle og rensdyr. Altsammen utroligt flot. Så vi gik lidt amok med at tage billeder af det hele.
Da vi kom tilbage til Surf Hostel, lavede vi fis med How. Vi havde købt nisse skæg og nisse huer og dem iførte vi os og overraskede How som to julemænd alt imens vi spurgt ham om: have you been a good boy this year and have you seen your reindeers. How's reaktion var: hjerteligt grin og you guys are crazy!!!!!
Næste morgen efter vi havde spist morgenmad sammen, var det atter tid til at sige farvel til How. Det er aldrig skægt at sige farvel. Vi blev enige om at sige på gensyn,da der er en meget stor sandsynlighed for at vi skal til Malaysia på et tidspunkt.
Fra Surf Hostel cyklede vi 7 kilometer langs strand promenaden, som var fyldt med det ene store prangende hotel efter det andet. Hotellet vi skulle bo på var kun 6 måneder gammelt og lå i den yderste del af Batumi.
Vi fik tildelt vores værelse og cyklerne fik en plads i tørvejr i hotellets bagagerum.
Nu ville vi slappe fuldstændig af og fimde ind til jule freden og vores julehygge. Desværre blev det ikke helt som vi havde regnet med. Vi havde forstillet os at blive på hotellet og spise i resturanten baåde d. 23. og 24. december. Men uden for højsæsonen var restauranten kun åben for morgenmad.
Det endte med at en fra receptionen kørte os ind til Batumi d. 23. for at vi kunne spise et sted derinde. Det blev heller ikke en scucces, da der blev stor røget på alle restauranter.
Vi endte med at tage en taxa tilbage til et shoppingcenter tæt på hotellet, hvor vi spiste noget fastfood og fik handlet ind til vores helt egen jule tapas og snacks til næste dag.
Juleaften blev dog ret så hyggelig. Først spiste vi morgenmad og senere fik vi skypet med vores forældre og ønsket en masse venner glædelig jul. Vi optag et videoklip iført vores jule kostume, hvor vi ønskede alle en glædelig jul. Det blev postet på FB.
På vores computer havde vi jinglebells og I'm dreaming of a white christams, de fik lov at køre på repeat. Der var ikke meget jul over vejret. Det blæste og det sjask regnede.
Vi fik spist vores jule tapas og så havde vi fundet en kvark dessert med caramel hvor vi havde puttet en mandel i en af dem. Heidi var den heldige, at få mandlen. Hun har stadig hendes gave tilgode, som blev et eller andet cykeludstyr efter eget valg. Senere havde vi lejet en sjov julefilm, som vi hygge med. Alt i alt en dejlig aften. Selvom vi helt sikkert sendte nogle tanker til den danske jul hjemme og vores familier.
Vi skulle med færgen fra Batumi til Burgas i Bulgarien. Billetterne havde vi bestilt en god måned før, så næste morgen fik vi hotellet til at kontakte færgeselskabet for at høre hvornår vi skulle checke in. Her fik vi at vide at vi skulle cykle ned til havnen, hvor deres kontor lå. Her ville de regristrerer os. Når det så blev tid til at gå ombord ville de ringe til os. Så efter vi havde været på kontoret og afleverede vores oplysninger cyklede vi tilbage til Surf Hostel og checkede in. Vi var spændte på om How stadig var der. Det var han faktisk, så han blev glad for at se os igen.
Nu måtte vi se hvornår der ville blive ringet efter os????

English

Tuesday, December 19th - Mandag, December 25, 2017

Argveta - Kutaisi 29 km
Kutaisi restday
Kutaisi - Read 84 km
Read - Batumi 75 km
Christmas in Batumi

We started slowly the next morning. From the river to Kutaisi there were only 29 kilometers, so we would probably expect a couple of hours on the bike. The first part we rode on a completely new road with a double track, but soon we had to turn and now we cycled in a beautiful area where the road twisted and turned through the landscape with trees on both sides of the road.
At times it also went upwards, but not on hard slopes. Just 12 kilometers before Kutaisi, we sat in a bus shed to take a break. On the other side of the road was a big sign which said : the Halo Trust. It proved to be a big area Japan and the United States had helped clearing landmines and ammunition from 2016-17.
They had destroyed 24 landmines, 130 ammunition, and found 1227 other ammunition. All in all, an area extending over 987,900 m2. The area had been a Russian military base 1991-1994 and the reason it had been cleared was because the Russians had not kept mines and ammunition properly stored.
Two large water reservoirs will be built in the area, so that Kutaisi's 145,000 inhabitants can get clean water.
After the break, it went downhill until we were on the outskirts of Kutaisi. Here we stayed for a while by the river that runs through the city and enjoyed how beautiful it were. From the river, we had to cycle up a hard climb with cobblestone before we found Hostel Vagabond. Here we wanted to stay for two nights.
The place was owned by a young guy from Turkey. He had opened the place at the beginning of the summer and wanted to keep the place open as long as he thought it was fun. As he said.
We ended up having the place for ourselves after 3 Englishmen left in the afternoon.
They could tell that they had flown from England to Kutaisi for 50 pounds. So cheap for a return ticket. So they had taken a 4 day trip.
The next day we went around Kutaisi and looked a little on the city. We visited the Bazaar were we brought a lot of chuchela and were at a nice cafe
(Cafe'Neta) otherwise the day was spent in the room. Where we relaxed and looked at where we were going to cycle to form Kutaisi.
As the clock sounded the next morning, it was not because we ran out of bed. The thought that we might have to ride in the rain did not suite us. But we got up and the guy from the hostel had made Turkish coffee for us, so we kicked off with that cup.
The bike ride out of Kutaisi took longer than we had expected. Along the way, we reached the new parliament building. A special building that reminded us of a building where there should be a water park inside.
We got outside the city and cycled on a road with almost no traffic. Again the houses were very poor and several of them almost falen apart. Along the way, pigs walked beside the road looking for food. Some of the pigs had two pieces of wood tied around the neck. We think it was because they could not get through some fences and thus prevented them from ravaging a whole garden or something else on their way.
We followed the road maps.me had suggested and a little before the village of Didi Gubi we had to turn and ended on a miserable road.
Now we had to slalom ride our bikes to avoid big holes filled with water and because it had rained the road was muddy.
Heidi did not like all that mud and scolded a little. It was only after we had talked to a farmer who told us that it was only 3 to 4 kilometers the way was like that, she was OK with the decision.
When we came back on the tarmac again, we cycled past the most beautiful little orthodox church. It was built of wood and around the church there were large and small tombs where pictures were posted of the deceased. In some places, the pictures were the size of posters. We stood out on the road and looked in. Whilst we stood there looking, a man came up to us and asked if we wanted to see the church from the inside. It turned out to be the pastor.
First we said it was ok to look at it from the road, but he would like to show us the church. So we said yes and he retrieved the key from his house and came back and followed us up to the church and let us in.
Inside there was a large room where the roof was painted in a nice light blue color and on the walls wich was beautifull wood hung different crucifixes. We asked if we could take pictures, which was absolutely alright. We could feel how proud the pastor was about to show the church. It was really beautiful and definitely old.
We thanked the priest many times and were even allowed to take a picture of him too.
From the church we reached the road 103 and the village of Didi Jikhaishi. Here we sat down on a bench in the middle of town to have lunch. As we sat there  and ate some schoolchildren passed us and they greeted us nicely.
From road 103 we rode south, which led us to a bigger and more busy road. Along the way, we began to talk about how far How would be by now. We had seen on the map that there was a smaller direct route further south of Kutaisi and we talked about if How had left Tblisi a couple of days after us and if he had taken the smaller road, yes he might be quite close to where we were now.
A little later when we sat and had a break, we took a screenshot of our position and sent it to How and then we wrote a message: we are here. Where are you?
It did not take long before we received a message from How. It was also with a screenshot of His position and, indeed, he was about 15-18 kilometers ahead of us. So now we wanted to see if we could catch him.
How had written that he would start looking for a place to sleep and within the next hour he hoped to set camp. So it really kick started us and we speed up.
We held small breaks to find out how far there was between us and we could see we catched up on him, but it started to get dark and we could figure out there were still 8-10 kilometers between us. So we started looking for a place to sleep.
It did not get easy. The whole area we rode through was like one long town. There were houses everywhere and most were closed well behind a fence. Many houses looked abandoned, but when we looked closer, people lived in them anyway.
We ended up in front of a car mechanic who was facing a sort of parking space, where there was also a toilet. In a corner of the square we found somewhere we could put the tent. We asked some men at the auto mechanic if it was OK.
They could not see anything wrong in that.
After we had set up the tent and had dinner, we found out through several screenshots and messages that How was only 5 kilometers from us and he had sneaked behind a house and camped there. We laughed a bit when we found out.
Something we did not laugh at, was when someone tried to steal our bikes in the middle of the night.
Some one must have seen us, put the tent up and put the bikes right next to it with a tarpaulin over it, believing that it was the only way we had secured the bikes. What they did not know was that they were locked together with a thick wire and two smaller locks. Then at night I heard someone puzzles outside the tent and shouted loudly: HEY HEY .... Hey, someone tries to steal our bikes. But Heidi did not react initially when she slept safely. But when I kept shouting she came to herself and understood what was going on. So now we opend the tent and jumped out to see how bad it was.
Fortunately, they did not have had luck with stealing them, the only thing that had happened was that both bikes had fallen down on the side and the two Christmas bells we had on each bicycle were wrecked. Marianne's kick stand was turned up and then they had not moved on. Wow we thought. How lucky and what had we done if the bikes were gone ?? We where so lucky!!!
We checked if everything else was OK on the bikes and tried to get to sleep again.
We woke up to a rainy morning so everything was settled inside the tent before we moved outside into the rain. Before we rode off, we sent a message to How, which sounded something like: We cycle 1000 sharp. Take care
1000 sharp was a joke we had going on when we had to be ready at a certain time.
We did not know if we would catch up with him. But what we did not know was that How had been ready to ride when we sent him our message, and then he thought: 5 kilometers can the girls ride within 15 minutes, so I wait for them.
Quite right when we had cycled the 5 kilometers, we saw How standing at the roadside outside the house he had slept behind. We shouted loudly: Mr. How mr How and were glad we met again. This time it was the third time we met up on the trip. It seemed so natural to ride together: How first then Marianne and Heidi in the back.
The mouth was not quiet at How and me. Each one wanted to give an update on what we had experienced since we said goodbye in Tblisi.
Heidi and I had talked about camping before Batumi, but we changed our plan and told How we would like to bike all the way to Batumi. Both because there were not any places suitable for camping and because we were wet from outer to inner.
We reached the Black Sea and the last 40 kilometers, we rode more or less along the ocean.
The mood was loud even though we were splashed of water and mud from lorries and cars. The bikes crushed in all joints because of water and sand that had penetrated everywhere.
We rode through something called Kobuleti Beach. A long beach promenade with restaurants and lots of hotels. Everything was deserted and closed. Most of all, it looked like a ghost town. We could imagine that in the summer there would be filled with tourists and full entretainment everywhere, a bit like Mallorca atmosphere.
When we had come across some good hills, we finally got a view over Batumi. I Think we were surprised at how modern it looked, with big high-rise buildings and exciting architecture. New and old mixed between each other so it fit together. In the old town the streets were cobbled stones and incredibly cozy.
We liked the city at once. How had found a hostel called Surf hostel, it was located right in the middle of the old town. A super cozy place and the best of all, it was in street level so we did not have to struggle to get everything up a staircase. Even the bikes could stand in shelter under some umbrellas and the staff were sweet and helpful.
How did not know how long he would stay, we would just stay there one night when we had booked a hotel where we would celebrate Christmas Eve. It was December 22nd and at home in DK, we were sure that Christmas atmosphere was in full swing. I do not think we felt the big Christmas Joy.But it helped a bit when We went for a walk around town in the evening and got us a bit of a surprise. The whole square in Batumi's city center was decorated with the wildest Christmas lights and big Christmas trees and that even though they celebrated Christmas in the middle of January. All the buildings around the square were packed in light chains and luminous angels and reindeer. All incredibly nice and beautifull. So we went a little crazy about taking pictures of it all.
When we came back to Surf Hostel, we made some fun with How. We had bought christmas beard and santa hats, and we wandered and surprised How, just like Two Santa Claus Whilst We Asked Him: Have you been a good boy this year and have you seen your reindeers. How's reaction was: hearty laugh and you guys are crazy !!!!!
The next morning after we had breakfast together, it was time again to say goodbye to How. It's never fun to say goodbye. We agreed to say see you again, as there is a high probability that we will go to Malaysia at some point.
From Surf Hostel we cycled 7 kilometers along the beach promenade, which was filled with one big flashy hotel after another. The hotel we were supposed to stay at was only 6 months old and was located in the outskirts of Batumi.
We were allocated our room and the bikes got a place inside, in the hotel's luggage room.
Now we wanted to relax completely and fancy the Christmas peace and our Christmas time. Unfortunately, it was not quite as we had expected. We just wanted to stay at the hotel and eat in the resturant of the hotel on 23 and 24 December. But outside of the high season the restaurant was only open for breakfast.
It ended up that one from the front desk drove us to Batumi on 23rd to allow us to eat somewhere in there. It was also not a scucces when everybody end everywhere people were smoking at all restaurants.
We ended up taking a taxi back to a shopping center near the hotel where we ate some fast food and shopped our very own Christmas tapas and snacks for the next day.
Christmas Eve, however, was quite enjoyable. At first we ate breakfast and later we SKYPED with our parents and wished a lot of friends merry christmas. We recorded a video clip wearing our Christmas costume, where we made a happy Christmas video for FB.
On our computer we had jingle bells and I'm dreaming of a white christams, they were allowed to run on repeat. There was not much Christmas over the weather. It was very windy and heavy raining.
We had eaten our Christmas tapas and then we had found a quark dessert with caramel where we had put a almond in one of them. Heidi was lucky to get the almond. She still has to choose her gift, which became some kind of bike equipment of her choice. Later we had rented a fun Christmas movie that we enjoyed. All in all a lovely evening. Although we certainly sent some thoughts to the Danish Christmas home and our families.
We were going by ferry from Batumi to Burgas in Bulgaria. The tickets we booked a good month before, so next morning we got the hotel to contact the ferry company to ask when we were to check in. Here we were told that we should ride down to the port where their office was located. Here they would take our information. When it was time to board, they would call us. So after we had been to the office and handed over our information we rode back to Surf Hostel and checked in. We were excited about if How still was there. He actually was, so he was happy to see us again.
Now we had to see when the ferry company would call us ????

Small roads and beauty country side

Torsdag d.14. december 2017 - Mandag d.18. december 2017                (Update 18. mar. 2018)

Tblisi - Dzegvi 35 km
Dzegvi - Gori 52 km
Gori sightseeing
Gori - Chumateleti 64 km
Chumateleti - Argveta 67 km

Turen ud af Tblisi gik ganske let. Da vi næsten var ude af byen, var der pludselig en der råbte på klingende dansk: Hvor er i på vej hen?? Det viser sig at være en mand fra Danmark som arbejdede i Mtskheta, en by som lå lidt udenfor Tblisi. Vi fortalte lidt om vores tur inden han fortsatte og vi cyklede videre. Kort tid efter så vi Tblisi skiltet med den røde streg hen over, hvilket betød vi var ude af byen.
Vi kørte langs med Mtkvari floden og inden vi ville dreje af for at cykle ind i landet. Kunne vi nyde udsigten op imod Jvari Klosteret, som lå højt hævet over Mtskheta. Dette er et meget helligt sted for den georgiske befolkning, da det siges at det var her Georgiens dåb fandt sted.
Nu cyklede vi imod vest ind i landet og vejen blev mere kuperet. Der var bjerge at se og nogen af dem havde sne på toppen. Vi tog os god tid og cyklede stille og roligt afsted. Efter næsten 8 dages pause skulle vi lige tunes ind på cykling igen.
Vi cyklede igennem små landsbyer, hvor det ser ud til at befolkningen ikke har mange penge at gøre med. Mange huse ser ud til at forfalde og trænge til en kærlig hånd. Ydermer var det trist at se så meget affald der ligger smidt i naturen. Utroligt at mennesker ikke værner mere om den smukke natur.
Da vi først var cyklet afsted fra Tblisi klokken 12:00 og vi havde taget en rolig start, fandt vi et sted til at sætte teltet op efter vi havde cyklet 36 kilometer. Det blev et stykke fra vejen oppe af en skråning. Her kunne vi kigge ned igennem dalen vi lige var cyklet op igennem og vi kunne se en meget mørk himmel og tænkte at vi nok ville få sne eller regn inden længe.
Vi skyndte os at sætte det nye telt op og det var hurtigt gjort. Det mindede meget om det gamle telt, pånær vi havde højere til loftet og vi kunne selv vælge om teltet skulle være bredt eller smal.
En anden ting der var godt ved det nye telt, var et siderne gik helt ned til jorden og derved gav mere læ når vi sad i apsis. Vi var meget glade for at Friluftsland havde hjulpet os så vi kunne have tag over hovedet resten af vejen til Danmark. 
De truende skyer var blevet til klar himmel, så istedetfor regn eller sne kunne vi se frem til en kold nat.
Vi vågnede lidt efter 8:00 og kravlede langsomt ud af soveposerne. Der havde dannet sig en masse kondensvand på indersiden af teltet og soveposerne var også ret så fugtige. Først tørrede vi teltet af og derefter tørrede vi soveposerne ved at ryste dem og holde om dem så de fik noget varme. Vi forsøger altid at passe bedst muligt på vores udstyr, for så holder det bedre. Det er også vigtigt ikke at pakke en våd dunsovepose sammen, da den med tid vil miste sin varme evne og komme til at lugte fælt.
Dagens tur bragte os af små smalle veje der snoede sig igennem landskabet. Der var bevoksning og træer på bjergskråningerne, desværre stod de fleste træer heelt nøgne og vi måtte forstille os hvor smuk det havde været om sommeren eller for den sags skyld klædt i efterårs farver. På toppen af nogle af bjergene lå der sne.
Vi kom igennem en del små landsbyer, som alle var "pyntet" med de gule gasrør, der levere gas til husene.
Ikke et kønt syn, men meget karataristisk for hvad vi har set de sidste mange måneder i denne del af verden. I en landsby stod en ko midt på vejen og selvom en bil dyttede af den, flyttede den sig ikke. Et andet sted  solgte den "lokale" slagter kød fra et bagagerum i en bil, alt flot pyntet med et helt grisehoved. Der blev tørret majs på en terasse og næsten alle husstande havde store områder, hvor vinrankerne stod nøgne og ventede på at det skulle blive forår.
Vi havde sat byen Gori, som dagens mål og godt 10 kilometer før byen, kunne vi nyde udsigten over mod Uplistsikhe hulerne. Det er et historisk sted der kan dateres tilbage til jernalderen. Stedet kan samelignes med Capadocia i Tyrkiet. Bare i en mindre skala.
Et sted stødte vi på et skilt, hvorpå der stod "Wine route". Der er ingen tvivl om at Georgien er et vinland.
Solen skinnede da vi cyklede ind i Gori og vi havde nydt dagen.
Gori er en by i den georgisk provins Kartli med godt 48.000 indbyggere. Byen blev grundlagt af en af Georgiens største konger, David IV af Georgien (1089-1125). Gori ligger ved udmundingen af vandløbet Liakhvi i Mtkvari-floden.
Generalsekretær for Sovjetunionens Kommunistiske parti fra 1922 til 1953 Josef Stalin blev født i Gori i 1879.
Det var først noget vi fandt ud af, da vi havde googlet hvad der var at se i Gori og samtidig fandt vi ud af at der var et museum der omhandlede Stalin. Så det ville vi kigge nærmere på næste dag.
Museet har tre sektioner, alle beliggende ved byens centrale torv. Det blev officielt indviet i 1957. Med opløsningen af Sovjetunionen og Gerorgiens frihedsevægelse, blev museet lukket i 1989, men er siden blevet genåbnet, og er en populær turistattraktion.
Træbarakken, hvor Stalin blev født i 1878 og tilbragte sine første fire år, er bevaret i museumshaven. Stalins far, Vissarion Jughashvili, en lokal skomager, havde lejet sig ind barraken og havde sit værksted i kælderen.
I haven er Stalins personlig togvogn udstillet. Togvognen blev fremstillet i 1941, pansringen bringer vognens vægt op på 43 ton og indeholder bl.a. køkken, badeværelse, sovekupeér og spisestue. Togvognen blev blandt andet benyttet i forbindelse med konferencerne i Jalta og Teheran.
Vi brugte godt to timer på at gå igennem museet, som virkelig var interesant og spændende.
En anden ting byen bød på, var middelalderborgen Goris-tsikhe, som lå hævet over byen med en smuk udsigt, som vi nød godt af på en frostklar morgen.
Senere på dagen gik vi en tur rundt i de mange genbrugsbutikke der ligger i Gori, bare for at kigge. Her så vi masse af tøj med danske logoer på. En skæg oplevelse.
Morgenen var frostklar da vi cyklede afsted fra Gori. Solen skinnede, men der hvor solen ikke ramte vejen, var den helt dækket af et fint hvidt lag frost og når vi kiggede frem så det næsten ud somom det var sne der lå på vejen. Vi fortsatte med at cykle igennem små døsige landsbyer, her kunne vi se hvordan byens mænd stod i flokken og nød solen alt imens de diskuterede. En ældre mand beorderede hans høns ud af husets indhegning og lukkede porten bag den, så de først kunne komme ind når han åbnede for dem igen. Køer gik rundt i gaderne og kalkuner pludrede. Hunde var der en del af og nogle af dem virkede bidske.
Vi hilste på folk når vi kom igennem landsbyerne. Et sted blev vi vidner til et slagsmål mellem mand og kone, hvor nabo manden måtte springe til for at få fred.
Vejene var smalle og snoede sig igennem landskabet med udsigt til de smukke sneklædte Kaukasusbjerge. Det er her at Mt. Elbrus og Mt. Dykh-Tau befinder sig i mere end 5000 meters højde. Vi havde hele vejen for os selv. Måske en gang i timen kom en bil, så vi nød denne stille rute.
Landsbyerne så fattige ud, men overalt kunne vi se vinmarker, frugtplantager og høstede majsmarker.
Da vi skulle købe benzin til vores brænder, var der en mand på tankstationen, som solgte forskellig frugt og inden vi cyklede afsted, havde han foræret os en masse søde og saftige clementiner.
Da vi stoppede for at spise frokost, blev det i et vejkryds under et træ, hvor der var et bord med bænke omkring. Der var endda også et toilet. Solen havde fået kræfter, så vi kunne sidde og nyde strålerne og en temperatur på omkring 10 grader.
Ligesom vi skulle til at sætte os, kom der pludselig 3 turcyklister cyklende af den vej vi skulle efter frokost.
Det viste sig at være et tysk par og en fyr fra Brasilien. Alle tre havde været undervejs i længere tid, så snakken gik lystigt om forskellige oplevelser og gode råd. Det tyske par havde en passoin for dykning og havde alt deres dykker udstyr med, pånær iltflaskerne. Så der var godt læs på deres cykler.Efter en god snak fortsatte de mod Gori og vi fik spist vores frokost.
Da vi cyklede videre efter frokosten, kom vi forbi Samtsevrisi Fortet, som lå med udsigt over dalen. Her fik vi taget nogle billeder og fortsatte mod Khashuri. 
Khashuri er en større by med ca. 27.000 indbyggere og den ligger i 700 meters højde. Hefra skulle vi cykle op til Ritoti Tunnlen, som ligger i godt 1000 meters højde. 
Da vi cyklede ud af Khashuri, gik byen direkte over i landsbyen Surami og ikke nok med det, så smallede vejen og dalen sig ind, så der var bjergskråninger på begge sider af vejen med bebygelse. Jo længere vi bevægede os opad jo mere sne lå der og jo mindre muligheder var der for os at finde et sted at sætte teltet op. Vi kunne også regne ud at vi ikke kunne nå op til tunnlen og igennem inden det var blevet mørkt, så hvad skulle vi gøre????
Vores eneste mulighed, var et forladt hus der lå oppe på skråningen. Imens Heidi passede på cyklerne, gik jeg op for at se om det kunne blive et "hotel" for natten. Der var tre rum og jeg mente godt vi kunne passe teltet ind i et af dem, så nu baksede vi vores fuldt lastede cykler op af den stejle bakke og om bag ved huset.
Vi måtte tage en cykel af gangen, for at hjælpe hinanden. Cyklerne kunne vi stille i det der havde været en gang og inden vi slog telte op, måtte vi skrabe et stort lag jord og glas væk fra gulvet. Der var lige nøjaktigt plads til teltet, som vi måtte fastgøre til nogle mursten for at holde det oprejst. Pløkkerne kunne vi ikke banke ned i beton gulvet. 
Vi var selvfølgelig lidt spændte på om nogen havde set os og holdt et vågent øje med om nogen kom. Men da det var blevet mørkt og ingen havde gjort væsen af sig, var vi helt sikker på at nu var der ingen der kom.
En anden god ting var, at udenfor var det begyndt at fryse og vi havde det lidt varmere inde i huset end hvis vi havde slået lejr et sted i naturen.
Natten i det forladte hus havde været ganske god op og vi havde været dovne og sovet i alt vores tøj og tænderne var heller ikke blevet børstet. Da vi kiggede udenfor, var det overskyet og ingen frost.
Da vi kom afsted, kunne vi se at det forladte hus havde været den helt rigtige beslutning. På de 4 kilometer der var op til tunnlen, var der ingen steder hvor vi kunne havde sat teltet op og heroppe lå endnu mere sne.
Inden vi cyklede igennem den 1,8 km lange tunnel, satte vi lygter på cyklerne. Tunnlen var godt oplyst og med store udluftnings turbiner og virkede helt ny. Da vi kom ud på den anden side, kunne vi se at vi skulle nedaf og vi kunne lade cyklerne rulle med en god hastighed og ellers bare nyde den flotte natur.
Flere steder så vi lastbiler med sneskraber foran, jow Georgien havde gjort klar til vinteren.
Turen ned oppe fra tunnlen førte os forbi små resturanter og flere steder blev der solgt sovenirs i form af hjemmelavet tomatsovs, ting skåret ud i træ, honning og deres lækre Churchkhela. Churchkhela bliver kaldt “Georgiens svar på snickers chokolade”. Kort fortalt, er de lavet af saftige valnødder eller hasselnødder på snor, dyppet i friskpresset vindrue- og granatæblesaft, som er fortykket med hvedemel og majsstivelse. Sødmen kommer fra de kernefrie vindruer og granatæbler. Kan kun sige, at vi blev næste helt afhængige af Churchela, så vi standsede også ved en bod på vej ned og fik købt så vi havde.
Hele vejen ned fulgte vi en større flod og inden vi havde set os om var vi nede i 300 meters højde og sneen var væk, samtidig med at termometret viset 15 grader.
Vi cyklede igennem industribyen Zestafoni og så nogle mindre smukke mega store farbriksbygninger. Det er jo ikke altid vi ser smukt på vores vej.
Men vores lejr sted for natten, blev et dejligt sted. Vi fandt en lille vej som gik ind under en bro ved siden af en flod. Her trak vi cyklerne et godt stykke ind på en mark, hvor vi kunne gemme os bag nogle buske. Her havde vi udsigt til bjergene og floden rislede 100 m fra teltet.
Da vi havde sat teltet op, kunne vi nyde vores kaffe i dør åbningen af teltet og nyde at have 15 grader d. 18. december 2017.

English

Thursday, 14th. December 2017 - Monday, d.18. December 2017 (Update Match 18, 2018)

Tblisi - Dzegvi 35 km
Dzegvi - Gori 52 km
Gori sightseeing
Gori - Chumateleti 64 km
Chumateleti - Argveta 67 km

The trip out of Tblisi went quite easily. When we were almost out of town when suddenly there was a crying out loudly in danish: Where are you going? It turns out to be a man from Denmark who worked in Mtskheta, a town that lay a little outside of Tblisi. We talked a little about our trip before he  continued and we rode on. Shortly thereafter, we saw the Tblisi the sign with the red line over, which meant we were out of town.
We drove along the Mtkvari River and before we would turn to cycle into the country, we could enjoy the view of the Jvari Monastery, which was laying high above Mtskheta. This is a very sacred place for the Georgian people, since it is said that this was where Georgia's baptism took place.
Now we rode west into the country and the road became more hilly. There were mountains to see and some of them had snow on top. We took our  time and cycled quietly. After almost 8 days of break, we had to be tuned back to cycling again.
We cycled through small villages where it seems that the population did not have too much money. Many houses seemed to fall apart and needed a loving hand.
In addition, it was sad to see so much waste that is thrown into nature. Amazing that people do not care more about the beautiful nature.
When we first rode from Tblisi at 12:00 and we had a fun start, we found a place to set the tent after we had cycled 36 kilometers. It was a bit off the road up a slope. Here we could look down through the valley we had just cycled through and we could see a very dark sky and thought we would get snow or rain soon.
We hurried to set up the new tent and it was quickly done. It reminded much of the old tent, once we had higher ceilings and we could choose whether the tent should be wide or narrow.
Another thing that was good at the new tent, where the pages went all the way down to the ground, gave more shelter when we sat in apsis. We were very pleased that Outdoors had helped us so we could have our heads over the road to Denmark.
The threatening clouds became clear skies, so instead of rain or snow we could look forward to a cold night.
We woke up a little after 8:00 and slowly crawled out of the sleeping bags. There was a lot of condensation on the inside of the tent and the sleeping bags were also quite moist. At first we dried the tent and then we dried the sleeping bags by shaking them and holding them tight so they got some warmth. We always try to take care of our equipment as best as possible. It is also important not to pack a wet sleeping bag together, as it will eventually lose its hot ability and smell bad.
The tour of the day brought us through small narrow roads that wandered through the landscape. There were trees on the hillsides, unfortunately most trees were naked and we had to imagine how beautiful it had been in the summer or, for that matter, dressed in autumn colors. On top of some of the mountains there was snow.
We came through some small villages, all of which were "decorated" with the yellow gas pipes that supply gas to the houses.
Not a cool sight, but very karatistic for what we have seen the last many months in this part of the world. In a village there was a cow in the middle of the road and although a car honked the horn and drove past it did not move. Another place the "local" butcher sold meat from a trunk of a car, all nicely decorated with a whole pig head. There was dried corn on a terrace and almost all households had large areas where the vineyards stood naked and waited for spring to come.
We had set the city of Gori, as today's destination and well 10 kilometers before the city, we could enjoy the view of the Uplistsikhe caves. It is a historic place dating back to the Iron Age. The place can be co-existed with Capadocia in Turkey. Just on a smaller scale.
Somewhere we encountered a sign on which there was written "Wine route". There is no doubt that Georgia is a wine country.
The sun shone when we rode into Gori and we had enjoyed the day.
Gori is a city in the Georgian province of Kartli with about 48,000 inhabitants. The city was founded by one of Georgia's greatest kings, David IV of Georgia (1089-1125). Gori is located at the mouth of Liakhvi watercourse in Mtkvari River.
General Secretary of the Soviet Union Communist Party from 1922 to 1953 Joseph Stalin was born in Gori in 1879.
It was the first thing we found out when we had googled what was going to see in Gori and at the same time we found out that there was a museum about Stalin. So we wanted to look into that the next day.
The museum has three sections, all located at the city's main square. It was officially opened in 1957. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union and Gerorgian freedom movement, the museum was closed in 1989, but has since been reopened and is a popular tourist attraction.
The wooden house, where Stalin was born in 1878 and spent his first four years, is preserved in the museum garden. Stalin's father, Vissarion Jughashvili, a local shoemaker, had rented himself into the barracks and had his workshop in the basement.
Stalin's personal train car is exhibited in the garden. The tow truck was manufactured in 1941, the armor brings the weight of the truck to 43 tonnes and includes kitchen, bathroom, sleeping couch and dining room. The tram was used in connection with the conferences in Yalta and Tehran.
We spent two hours walking through the museum, which was really interesting and weath it.
Another thing the town offered was the medieval castle Goris-tsikhe, which was elevated above the city with a beautiful view which we enjoyed on a frosty morning.
Later in the day we went for a walk around the many secondhand shops located in Gori, just to look. Here we saw a lot of clothes with Danish logos on. A funny experience.
The morning was frost clear when we rode off from Gori. The sun shone, but where the sun did not hit the road, it was completely covered with a fine white layer of frost and when we looked futher ahead it almost looked like snow covered the road. We continued to cycle through small villages, where we could see how men stood in small crowds and enjoyed the sun while they were discussing. An elderly man steered his chickens out of the house's enclosure and closed the door behind it so that they could only enter when he opened for them again. Cows walked around in the streets and turkeys plummeted. Dogs were a part of it, and some of them were barking at us.
We greeted people when we got through the villages. Somewhere we witnessed a fight between husband and wife, the neighbor man came running to solve peace between them.
The roads were narrow and twisted through the landscape overlooking the beautiful snow-capped mountains of Caucasus. It is here that Mt. Elbrus and Mt. Dykh-Tau is in more than 5000 meters in height. We had the whole way to ourselves. Maybe once a hour a car came, so we enjoyed this quiet route.
The villages looked poor, but everywhere we could see vineyards, orchards and harvested cornfields.
When we had to buy gasoline for our burner, there was a man at the gas station who sold different fruit and before we cycled on again he had given us a lot of sweet and succulent clementines.
When we stopped for lunch, it was in a junction under a tree where there was a table with benches around. There was even a toilet. The sun had got some power so we could sit and enjoy the rays and a temperature of about 10 degrees.
Suddenly 3 cyclists came cycling off the road we were going after lunch.
It turned out to be a German couple and a guy from Brazil. All three had been on their way for a long time, so we talked about different experiences and exchanged tips. The German couple had a passoin for diving and had all their diving equipment with them. So they were heavy loaded. After a good talk, they went on towards Gori and we ate our lunch.
As we rode on after lunch, we passed the Samtsevrisi Fort, which was overlooking the valley. Here we took some pictures and continued towards Khashuri.
Khashuri is a larger city with approx. 27,000 inhabitants and it lays 700 meter sabove sealevel. From here we would ride up to the Ritoti Tunnel, located at a height of 1000 meters.
As we rode out of Khashuri, the city was straight connected with the village of Surami and the road and valley narrowed, so there were mountain slopes on both sides of the road with buildings. The farther we moved upwards the more snow lay there and the lesser possibilities we had to find a place to put the tent. We could also figure out that we could not reach the tunnel and go through it before it had become dark, so what should we do ????
Our only option was an abandoned house that lay on the slope. While Heidi watched the bikes, I went up to see if it could become a "hotel" for the night. There were three rooms and I thought we could fit the tent into one of them, so now we pushed our fully loaded bikes up the steep hill and behind the house.
We had to take a bike at a time to help each other. The bikes we could put in what had been a hallway once and before we sat up the tent we had to scrape a large layer of soil and glass away from the floor. There was just room for the tent that we had to attach to some bricks to keep it upright. We could not knock the spikes into the concrete floor.
Of course, we were a little excited if someone had seen us and watched if anyone came. But when it had become dark and nobody had made notice of them, we were absolutely sure that nobody came now.
Another good thing was that it had started to freeze outside and we had it a little warmer inside the house than if we had camped somewhere in the wild.

The night in the abandoned house had been quite good and we had been lazy and slept in all our clothes and the teeth were also not brushed. When we looked outside, it was cloudy and no frost.
When we started to cycle, we could see that the abandoned house had been the right decision. At the 4 kilometers up to the tunnel there was no place where we could have pitched the tent and there was even more snow.
Before we rode through the 1.8 km tunnel, we put lights on the bikes. The tunnel was well lit and with large ventilation turbines and seemed brand new. When we got out on the other side, we could see downhill and we could let the bikes roll at a good speed and just enjoy the beautiful scenery.
In many places we saw trucks with snow rakes in front, yeah Georgia was ready for the winter.
The trip down from the tunnel led us past little resturants and in several places sovenirs were sold in the form of homemade tomato sauce, things cut into wood, honey and their delicious Churchkhela. Churchkhela is called "Georgia's snickers chocolate". In short, they are made of succulent walnuts or hazelnuts on a string, dipped in freshly squeezed grape and pomegranate juice thickened with wheat flour and corn starch. The sweetness comes from the kernel-free grapes and pomegranate. Can only say that we got quite adicted of Churchela, so we also stopped at a booth down the road and bought some so we had some nice snacks.
All the way down we followed a bigger river and before we realized we were down at 300m altitude and the snow was gone while the thermometer showed 15 degrees.
We rode through the industrial city of Zestafoni and saw some less beautiful mega big industry buildings. It is not always we look at beautiful things on our way.
But our camp place for the night was a nice place. We found a small road under a bridge next to a river. Here we pulled the bikes a good way into a field where we could hide behind some bushes. Here we had a view of the mountains and the river sound 100m from the tent.
When we had set up the tent, we could enjoy our coffee in the door opening of the tent and enjoy having 15 degrees on December 18, 2017.

Racism - Reunited and tax payer

Fredag d. 08. december 2017 - Torsdag d. 14. december 2017          (Update 18th feb. 2018)

Alle dage i Tblisi

Den næste uge blev en blandet oplevelse. Allerede næste morgen da vi stod op, blev vi noget overrasket.
Vi havde spurgt dagen før, om det nogensiden sneede i Tblisi og havde fået at vide det ikke skete så tit. Da vi gik ud for at hente mælk til vores morgenmad, var det første vi så - sne!! Vi må have lignet nogen der var faldet ned fra månen, for vi stod helt stille i midten af en sidegade og kiggede op på sneen som lå på skråningerne, kun få hundrede meter fra hvor vi stod. Tror vi tænkte - skal vi cykle i sne når vi cykler videre fra Tblisi???
Første dag lavede vi ikke andet end at slappe af og sidde og snakke med Bahman. 
Nej, det passer ikke helt. How var også på vej til Georgien og vi vidste han var nogle dage bagefter os. Vi havde haft kontakt med ham via messenger, så vi tænkte at han måske nåede at komme til Tblisi inden vi cyklede videre. Men hans krydsning af grænsen gik hen og blev en noget speget sag.
Imens vi sad og snakkede med Bahman, den første dag fik vi en besked fra How. Han var nået til grænsen til Georgien og han ville lige vide hvor lang tid det havde taget os at krydse grænsen, fordi han havde allerede ventet en time på at blive stemplet ud af Azerbaijan. Vi kunne sige at vi var bare cyklet direkte over på ti minutter, vel og mærke begge grænser.
How skrev, at dem ved AZ grænsen mente han skulle have visum for at komme ind i Georgien. Både How og os havde læst reglerne og vi vidste med 110 % sikkerhed at han ikke skulle have visum. How havde endda forsøgt at ansøge om visum online og der kom siden op og sagde at: Malaysien do not need visa for Georgien.
Altsammen havde han vist til dem ved Azabaijan grænsen, de skulle bare stemple ham ud af Azerbaijan og så ville han kunne komme ind i Georgien.
Vi havde endda kontakt til vores kolegaer i Billund Lufthavn og bedt dem om at undersøge visum reglerne for Malaysia.
Lige meget hvad How gjorde, ville den Azerbaijanske grænse ikke stemple ham ud af Azerbaijan og han sagde at de blev rigtig ubehagelige til sidst. Så det endte med at han gav op og tjekkede in på et hotel lige ved grænsen. Så ville han prøve næste dag og håbede på at det var nogle andre der var på job den dag.
Det var virkelig frustrende at sidde i Tblisi og følge med fra side linien. Vi snakkede om, udfaldet havde været anderledes hvis vi havde krydsset grænsen sammen alle tre???
How prøvede igen dagen efter, men med samme resultat. Herefter fulgte nogle dage med frustration og hvor han kontaktede Malaysisk embasade og Georgisk ambasade. Han tog en bus 200 kilometer tilbage til Ganja og fra Ganja tog han en bus til den nordlige grænse og håbede på at de ikke var så rasistiske som ved den anden grænse.
NU gik der nogel dage hvor vi ikke hørte fra How og vi snakked om han måske havde opgivet hans rejse og var fløjet tilbage til Malaysia.
Næste dag tog vi Funicular op til det flotte udsigtspunkt. En elevator ligende vogn kørte op af siden af bjerget og tog os op langt over Tblisi. Vi havde klart vejr og havde en flot udsigt og kunne se langt ud i horisonten.
Der var også en lille forlystelses park deroppe, som vi gik en tur rundt i. Efter Funicular gik vi til en gamle bydel og kiggede os omkring. Jeg ved ikke hvad vi havde forventet, men jeg blev lidt skuffede over den gamle bydel og Tblisi i det hele taget. Byen trænger til en kærlig hånd. Selvfølgelig skal alting ikke være nyt og flot, men byen er nogen steder i forfald.
Noget andet vi lod mærke til, var der var massevis af tiggere og fattige mennensker, det havde vi ikke set i meget lang tid.
Vi ville gå på posthuset om mandagen op af dagen, hvis ikke vi havde hørt fra told og skat.
Det blev mandag og da vi ikke havde hørt noget klokken et, tog vi bussen hen til posthuset. 
På posthuset kunne de ikke gøre andet end at sige vi skulle vente til vi fik den regning fra Told og Skat. Det måtte vi så gøre. 
Vi brugte også tiden på at gå i No 5 bathhouse på Abanotubani torvet, for at leje et af de mange termiske bade der er i Tblisi. Vi lejede et privat baderum med et stor kar, hvor der er varmt sulfervand man sidder i og slapper af. Når man har siddet lidt tager man et koldt brusebad for derefter at gentage det hele igen.
Vi havde eget toilet og omklædning og så havde vi bestilt te til at hydrere os efter ende behandling. Det var ren helse for vores ømme muskler.
På dag 417 af vores rejse fik vi en dejlig overraskelse. Om aftenen sad vi inden på vores værelse og kigge på Facebook og snakkede. Pludselig poppede et billede op af vores cykler, det var et billede How havde sent.
Han havde skrevet en tekst: Arrrr end up on good news but I stay in hostel and saw this!!! Så forstod vi, han var lige ude i receptionen og var kommet til Tblisi. Vi smed alt hvad vi havde i hænderne og løb ud for at give ham et ordenligt kram. 
Herefter gik snakken somom vi havde været adskildt i flere år. Hver især havde vi oplevet så mange ting og der blev joket og grinet resten af dagen.
How var kommet over grænsen helt oppe nordpå, men de havde kommet med en kommentar om at de kunne se han havde forsøgt at krydse grænsen længere sydpå. De havde sagt noget med: Se at komme afsted inden vi ombestemmer os.
Tirsdag var der stadig ikke sket noget med vores telt og nu var tålmodigheden sluppet op, så onsdag kørte vi hen til posthuset endnu engang og nu havde vi bestemt os for ikke at gå derfra inden vi havde teltet i vores varetægt.
Alt startede som alle de andre dage, men nu må jeg tilstå at min tålmodighed var sluppet op og jeg snakkede med ikke så pæne ord. Vi sagde at vi ikke forlod kontoret inden vi havde telte med os og nu ville vi også snakke med chefen for posthuset. Stadig ingenting skete.
Marianne bad om et telefon nummer til told og skat. Så kunne vi selv ringe og høre hvad i al verden var i vejen.
Nummeret virkede ikke, så det endte med jeg selv fandt et telefon nummer, som virkede og fik fat i en sød servicemedarbejder. Han kunne meddele os at vi skulle registrere os som skatte betaler på det nærmeste toldkontor og så ville vi få et skatte nummer og med dette nummer ville vi kunne få vores pakke udleveret.
Jeg var målløs. Det kunne pigerne på postkontoret vel også have fortalt os!!!
Nu gik jagten ind på det nærmeste skatte kontor. Vi gik ud for at tage en taxa og da taxa chuføren ikke talte ret meget engelsk, var vi nødt til at vise ham adressen på telefonen og hold nu fast. Skattekontoret lå 500 m fra postkontoret.
Vi gik til infoskranken og sagde vi skulle registrere os som skatte betalere. Ingen problem, vi blev henvist til en dame, som nu bad os om vores pas. FUC..... de lå på hostellet. Ingen pas ingen skatte nummer.
Ud og have fat i en taxa, som kørte os til vores hostel og samme tax kørte os tilbage til skatte kontoret.
At få skatte nummeret tog kun 5 minutter og kostede ingenting. Nu var vi meget spændte på om vi ville få pakken med nummeret.
På postkontoret tastede hun nummeret ind og så kom beskeden: Regningen er stadig ikke betalt. NU tabte jeg besindelsen og var lige ved at råbe højt. Men jeg ringede atter til servicekontoret og lige som jeg kom igennem, fik vi besked på at regningen var klar og vi kunne få teltet.
Det skal siges at jeg sagde undskyld til pigerne på postkontoret for min opførsel. Det var jo ikke deres skyld at deres land har sådanne regler. Men det hele kunne have været ordnet på få dage, hvis bare vi havde fået den rigtige information.
Vi forlod postkontoret med vores nye telt og en regning på skatten der skulle betales indenfor 30 dage. Nu kunne vores tur fortsætte og uden problemer kunne vi campere igen.
Vi var klar til at cykle afsted på en kølig morgen d. 14. december 2017 og udenfor overnatningsstedet tog vi atter afsked med How. Gad vide hvornår vi ville ses igen. En ting var sikker ses igen det skulle vi.

English

Friday, 08 December 2017 - Thursday, December 14, 2017                   (Updated 18th feb. 2018)

All days in Tblisi

The next week was a mixed experience. Already the next morning when we got up we became somewhat surprised.
We had asked the day before, if it ever snowed in Tblisi and had been told it did not happen so often. When we went out to pick up milk for our breakfast, the first thing we saw was - snow !! We must have looked like someone who had fallen from the moon, because we stood quite quiet in the middle of a side street and looked up at the snow that was on the slopes, just a few hundred meters from where we stood. Think we thought - should we ride in thick snow when we where going to ride on from Tblisi ???
The first day we did nothing but relax and sit and talk to Bahman.
No, it does not fit completely. How was also going to Georgia and we knew he was following us a few days after. We had had contact with him via messenger, so we thought he might come to Tblisi before we cycled on. But his crossing of the border went on and became a somewhat spoken matter.
While we were talking to Bahman on the first day, we received a message from How. He had reached the border To Georgia and he would just know how long it had taken us to cross the border because he had already waited an hour to be stamped out of Azerbaijan. We could say that we had just cycled directly across within ten minutes, well and notice both borders.
How did say that at the AZ border they thought he should have a visa to enter Georgia. Both How and us had read the rules and we knew with 110% certainty that he did not need a visa. How had even tried to apply for a visa online and the webpage came up saying that: Malaysia do not need visa for Georgia.
All in all, he had shown to them at the Azabaijan border, they just had to stamp him out of Azerbaijan and then he would be able to enter Georgia.
We even had contact with our co-workers at Billund Airport and asked them to investigate visa rules for Malaysia.
No matter what How did, the Azerbaijan border would not stamp him out of Azerbaijan and he said that they became very uncomfortable at the end. So he ended up giving up and checking into a hotel just at the border. Then he would try the next day and hoped that there were some others who were at work that day.
It was really frustrating to sit in Tblisi and follow and not beeing able to do anything. We talked about the outcome had been different if we had crossed the border together all three ???
How tried again the following day, but with the same result. Then followed a few days of frustration and where he contacted Malaysian embassy and the Georgian ambassy. He took a bus 200 kilometers back to Ganja and from Ganja he took a bus to the northern border and hoped they were not as racist as at the other border.
All this happend while we enjoyed Tblisi and took the Funicular to the great viewpoint. An elevator-like carriage drove up the side of the mountain and took us up far above Tblisi. We had clear weather and had a nice view and could look far on the horizon.
There was also a small amusement park up there where we went for a walk. After the Funicular we went to the old town and walked around. I do not know what we expected, but I was a bit disappointed with the Old Town and Tblisi at all. The city needs a loving hand. Of course everything should not be new and nice, but the city is in some places decadent.
Something else we noticed was there were a lot of beggars and poor people, we had not seen that for a very long time.
We did not hear anyting from How for some days and we talked about if he had given up his tour and flown back to Malaysia. We did not know.
Regarding our tent story, we would go to the post office on monday after midday if we had not heard from customs by then.
It became Monday and when we had not heard anything at one o'clock we took the bus to the post office.
At the post office they could not do nothing but say we should wait until we got that bill from Customs. So we did.
We also spent the time wisiting the No 5 bathhouse on the Abanotubani square, to rent one of the many thermal baths there in Tblisi. We rented a private bathroom with a big tub, which contains of hot sulfur water in which you sit and relax. After sitting a little, take a cold shower and then repeat it all over again.
We had our own toilet and changing room and then we had ordered tea to hydrate ourselves after the end of the treatment. It was pure health for our sore muscles.
On day 417 of our trip we got a nice surprise. In the evening we sat inside our room and looked at Facebook and talked. Suddenly a picture popped up on our pones of our bikes, it was a picture How was send.
He had written a text: Arrrr .... no good news but I stay in hostel and saw this !!! Then we realized he was just out at the front desk and had managed to come to Tblisi. We threw everything we had in our hands and ran out to give him a nice big hug.
Then the talk went as if we had been separate for several years. Each of us had experienced so many things and there was joking and laughing the rest of the day.
How had managed to cross the border up north, but they had said a comment that they could see that he had tried to cross the border further south. They had said something like: get on your way before we change our minds.
Tuesday there was still nothing happening with our tent and now our patience was use up, so Wednesday we drove to the post office once again and now we had decided not to leave before we had the tent in our care.
Everything started like all the other days, but now I have to confess that my patience was released and I spoke with not so nice words. We said we did not leave the office before we had the tent with us and now we would also talk to the post office manager. Still nothing happened.
Marianne asked for a phone number to the customs. Then we could call and hear what in the world was in the way.
The number did not work, so I ended up finding a phone number that worked and got a nice service employee on the phone. He could tell us that we should register as tax payers at the nearest customs office and then we would get a tax number and with this number we would be able to get our package handed out.
I was speechless. The girls at the post office could also have told us that I asumed!!!
Now we went on the hunt for the nearest tax office. We went out to take a taxi and when the taxi driver did not speak quite a lot of English, we had to show him the address on the phone and HOLD ON!!!. The tax office was 500 m from the post office.
We went to the info desk and said we would sign up as tax payers. No problem, we were referred to a lady who now asked us for our passport. FUC ..... they were at the hostel. No passport no tax number.
Out and grab a taxi that drove us to our hostel and the same taxi drove us back to the tax office.
Getting the tax number took only 5 minutes and cost nothing. Now we were very excited about whether we would get the package with the number.
At the post office, she entered the number in the system and then came the message: The bill is still not paid. Now I lost my mind and was just shouting loudly. But I called the service office once more and just as I came through, we were told that the bill was ready and we could get the tent.
It must be said that I said sorry to the girls at the post office for my behavior. It was not their fault that their country has such rules. But everything could have been arranged in a few days if only we had got the right information at first.
We left the postoffice with our tent and a bill that had to be payed within 30 days. What a relief. Now we could conrinue our journey and no worries with our new tent.
We were ready to ride off on a cool morning on December 14, 2017 and outside of the accommodation we said see you to How. Wondering when we would see each other again. One thing was sure we would meet again!!!

Georgia go go go

Onsdag d. 6. december 2017 - Torsdag d. 07. december 2017               (Update 18. feb. 2018)

Dzhelili - Keshalo 82 km
Keshalo - Tiblisi 49 km

Det var begyndt at regne et stykke tid inden vi nåede til grænsen mellem Azabaijan og Georgien. Vi havde taget vores regntøj på, men allerede da vi nåede til grænsen var vi godt våde. Nu var vi spændte på hvor lang tid det skulle tage at krydse grænsen. Det blev en af de letteste grænseovergange. Ved de fleste grænseovergange er vi blevet henvist til fodgænger sporet, men her blev vi vinket igennem bilsporet og på mindre end ti minutter var vi kommet igennem og befandt os i Georgien.
På maps. me havde vi set at der skulle være et hotel lige på den anden siden af grænsen og det var det vi havde bestemt os for at overnatte på, men inden vi havde set os om var vi cyklet for langt og var allerede på vej op af en længere bakke. Vi havde ikke set nogen skilte og huse var der ingen af, så vi forsatte og tænkte at der kommer nok en by længere fremme med et hotel.
Efter 3 kilometer kom vi forbi et stort truckstop, her lå en restaurant. Vi stoppede og gik ind for at få noget varmt og for at spørge om der var et sted i nærheden vi kunne overnatte.
Restauranten var fyldt med lastbilchaufføre og vi tror ikke de var vandt til at to piger iklædt vådt cykletøj, sådan lige komme ind for at spise. Kan rilogt sige at vi skabte opmærksomhed.
Stedet var godt tilrøget, så vi skulle bare hurtigt have noget at spise og så videre. Vi fik en lækker linsesuppe og friskbagt brød. Det var let at bestille, da den ene kok på stedet snakkede tysk. Ham spurgte vi også om et sted at sove. Først sagde han der lå noget 3 kilometer længere fremme, men han blev rette af en anden, der sagde at det altså var 30 kilometer længere fremme. Øv det var ikke lige det vi havde regnet med. Men vi skulle jo finde et sted at sove, så efter suppen cyklede vi videre og begyndte at kigge efter et sted vi kunne slå teltet op, da vi kunne ikke nå at cykle 30 kilometer inden det ville blive mørkt.
Vi nåede at cykle 15 kilometer mere inden tusmørket, har nåede vi til landsbyen Keshalo og her lå en stor restaurant på den ene side af vejen og lige overfor var der en anden restaurant der var lukket og udenfor den var der et stort halvtag.
Vi stoppede og tog et nærmere kig på stedet. Perfekt tænkte vi. I tørvejr og lidt gemt af vejen.
Så vi spurgte på restauranten på den anden side af vejen. Det var ikke noget problem. Vi kunne bare sætte teltet op.
Vi slog teltet op alt imens en mand var ved at snakke ørene af os. Vi forstod ikke en disse af hvad han sagde. Han ville også hjælpe os med at sætte telte op, somom vi ikke havde prøvet det 100 gange før.
Vi fik sat teltet op og derefter gik vi over på restauranten for at få varmen og for at spise suppe nummer tre denne dag.
Vi blev siddende i en times tid, inden vi gik over for at skifte til noget tørt tøj og kravle i soveposerne.
Natten blev noget urolig, da vejen var godt trafikeret med store lastbiler, som drønede igennem byen. Men stadig var vi glade for at have fundet et sted at sove.
Da vi kiggede ud fra teltet næste morgen, kunne vi se sne på bjergene et stykke væk. Vores tøj var næsten blevet tørt i løbet af natten, pånær vores sko.
Teltet skulle forhåbentlig pakkes for sidste gang, da vores nye telt ventede på os i Tblisi. Teltet som Friluftsland havde været så søde at sponsere os.
Turen gik videre fra Keshalo mod Tblisi og først skulle vi op over et højde drag, som betød vi skulle cykle opad de første 10 kilometer. Der var bløde bakker på hver side af vejen og vi så en hyrde der red på hans hest alt imens han gennede hans køer hen over markerne.
Vi rullede ned til byen Rustavi, en kæmpe industriby med store skorstene, hvilket ikke pyntede i de smukke bakker. 
Fra Rustavi, så det ud somom der kun var motorvej ind til Tblisi, men den var vi ikke sikker på vi måtte benytte, så vi satte os ind på en bistro, både for at spise frokost og for at finde en anden vej ind til byen.
Vi fandt en bagvej som viste at  vi havde 21 kilometer til Tblisi. Da vi kom udenfor igen, måtte vi sande at vi nok fik en kraftig hovedvind at kæmpe med. Heldogvis skulle vi cykle igenmem et område med bebyggelse, så vi fik lidt læ, men nogen gange kom der stykker uden nogen form for læ og her kunne vi næsten ikke cykle op imod vinden.
Vi nåede ind til byen og de sidste 8 kilometer skulle cykles igennem den hektiske trafik og det tog tid. Vi havde fået anbefalet et hostel som hed BHM hostel og fandt frem dertil med hjælp fra Maps.me.
Stedet var et lille sted, lavet i en gammel lejlighed, med 14 senge pladser. Vi valgte 4 sengs værelset og kunne endda sætte cyklerne indenfor også selvom der ikke var meget plads.
Manden der ejede stedet hed Bahman og var en hyggelig fætter. Han havde arbejdet flere forskellige steder i verden og han sagde at så længe man nyder det man laver, så er det vel det rigtige.
Bahman tog med os hen på posthuset for at hente vores pakke. Så han var sikker på vi fandt det rigtige sted.
Her fik vi at vide at pakken var ankommet, men vi skulle betale et gebyr (skat) og for at kunne det, skulle de bruge vores mail adresse, så kunne told og skat sende os en faktura, som vi skulle gå i banken og betale og derefter kunne vi få vores telt.
Fint tænkte vi. Vi ville alligevel holde pause nogledage i Tblisi, så det kom nok til at passe med udleveringen af pakken. Men det skulle vise sig at blive en noget længere sag.

English

Wednesday, December 6, 2017 - Thursday, December 7, 2017 (Update February 18, 2018)

Dzhelili - Keshalo 82 km
Keshalo - Tiblisi 49 km

It had begun to rain a while before reaching the border between Azabaijan and Georgia. We had taken our rainwear on, but when we reached the border we were well wet. Now we were excited about how long it would take to cross the border. It became one of the easiest border crossings. At most crossings we have been referred to the pedestrian track, but here we were waved through the car track and in less than ten minutes we had come through and found ourselves in Georgia.
On maps.me I had seen that there was a hotel right on the other side of the border and that was what we had decided to spend the night on, but before we had looked around we had cycled too far and were already on our way up a longer hill. We had not seen any signs and houses there were none of, so we continued and thought that there would be another city farther ahead with a hotel.
After 3 kilometers we passed a big truck stop, here was a restaurant. We stopped and went in to get something hot and to ask if there was a place nearby we could stay overnight.
The restaurant was packed with lorry drivers and we do not think they were used to see two girls wearing wet cycling clothes, just come in to eat. Can say we created attention.
The place was filled with smoke, so we just needed something to eat and then move on as we do not like the smell of smoke or smokers at all. We got a delicious lentil soup and freshly baked bread. It was easy to order, as one cook on the spot spoke German. He also asked him about a place to sleep. First he said that it was about 3 kilometers further ahead, but he was corrected by another who said that it was 30 kilometers further ahead. Honestly, it was not exactly what we had expected. But we should find a place to sleep, so after the soup we rode on and started looking for a place we could pitch our tent. As we could not reach 30 kilometer before it got dark.
We reached a distance of 15 kilometers before the dusk, we reached the village of Keshalo and there was a large restaurant on one side of the road and just opposite there was another restaurant that was closed and outside there was a big roof.
We stopped and took a closer look at the place. Perfect we thought. It was dry and a little hidden from the road.
So we asked at the restaurant on the other side of the road. That was no problem. We could pitch the tent.
We put up the tent while a man was talking our ears of. We did not understand one thing he said. He would also help us to set up the tent, as we had not tried it 100 times before.
After picthing the tent we went over to the restaurant to get warm and to eat soup number three this day.
We sat there for an hour before we went to the tent and got some dry clothes on and crawled in the sleeping bags.
The night became a little loud, as the road was well-trafficked by large trucks that thundered through the city. But still we were happy to have found a place to sleep.
As we looked out of the tent the next morning, we could see snow on the mountains a distance away. Our clothes had almost become dry during the night.
Hopefully the tent would be packed for the last time, when our new tent waited for us in Tblisi. The tent that Friluftsland had been so sweet to sponsor us.
The trip went on from Keshalo towards Tblisi and we had to climb above a height, which meant we would ride the first 10 kilometers uphill. There were soft hills on either side of the road and we saw a shepherd riding his horse while he guided his cows across the fields.
We rolled down to the city of Rustavi, a huge industrial city with large chimneys, which did not embellish the beautiful hills and suroundings.
From Rustavi, it seemed that there was only a motorway to Tblisi, but we were not sure we could use it so we sat in a bistro to eat lunch and to find another way into town .
We found a back road which showed that we had 21 kilometer left to Tblisi. When we came outside again, we notised we had a strong headwind to fight. Fortunately we had to cycle through an area with bulidings, so we got a little bit of shelter from the wind, but sometimes there were pieces without any shelter and we could hardly cycle.
We reached the city and the last 8 kilometers we had to cycled through the hectic traffic and it took time. We had been recommended a hostel called BHM hostel and found our way there with the help of Maps.me.
The place was a small place, made in an old apartment, with 14 beds. We chose the 4 bed room and could even put the bikes inside even though there was not much space.
The man who owned the place was called Bahman and was a nice guy. He had worked several places in the world and he said that as long as you enjoy what you are doing, that should make you happy.
Bahman took us to the post office to pick up our package. So he was sure we found the right place.
Here we were told that the package had arrived, but we had to pay a fee (tax) and in order to get it, Thay needed our mail address so customs and tax could send us an invoice that we would go to the bank and pay and then we could get our tent.
Nice we thought. Nevertheless, we would like to take a break in Tblisi, so it was OK to take care of the delivery of the package. But it would turn out to be a somewhat longer matter.