After our first two days in Tbilisi, we get back on our bikes and head out to Asureti. The small village was founded about 200 years ago by Caucasian Germans and is located about 40 km driving distance from Tbilisi. A stone’s throw away, we thought. To avoid the main road, we decide to take an alternative route through the hills. Right at the outskirts of Tbilisi the climb begins and we torture ourselves for two hours up a mountain with the best view of the big city. Finally we leave the city behind us and realize that our navigation sends us over dirt roads from now on. Turning back is already out of the question and the dirt road is drivable, so we follow the path into the bushy no man’s land. Our progress on the map is devastating and the cold immediately creeps under our clothes every time we stop to move. The views are impressive and the trail is getting worse. A mountain bike would be nice here… Still 24 kilometers away we are from this Asureti. The clouds are gathering and it smells like snow.
The scenery is really pretty or even impressive; scary path through low coniferous woods on the hilltop with views of stately snow mountains. In the distance, we spot the gray main road swinging through the landscape in wide curves. That’s where we have to go! But at a medieval watchtower it’s the end of the road: the steep, barely rideable path turns into a long, even steeper scrambling passage. Impossible to get down there with our heavily loaded bikes. A consultation of the map results however: Either we come down there, or we must accept such a long detour that we spend the night somewhere with minus temperatures in the tent. Meanwhile, the first flakes fall and we make a plan: Louie leads / lifts / heaves the wheels individually down the slope, I thread our lock chain through the frame and brake what the stuff holds. So we slide down the rocky slope panting and sweating with one bike each. Everything and everyone remains whole and relatively little later we find ourselves on the main road again. In the semi-darkness the trucks roar dangerously close to us and we are glad when we can finally turn off onto a side road. Unbelievable seven hours after departure we arrive tired, hungry and cold at the Gypsy-camp. This is a bit outside the village in a small valley and we are incredibly looking forward to a warm dinner.
We find the access road despite the darkness and jolt down a last steep road. The dogs are barking at us and we are excited to see what kind of people we will meet here. We plan to stay a few weeks and let the winter pass by a bit.
Already half an hour later we are not so sure if we will really stay here for several weeks…
After the cool and disinterested reception by Artur, a young Russian, we are led into the “playroom”. Radiant heaters, drafts, table, sofas and dim light. Here we have dinner and lunch. Fortunately, there are actually some pans with delicious food. Artur leads us around the building and knocks on a door. A Kyrgyz woman with headphones opens and we spy a large room with four beds. Two of them are pushed together as a double bed – our new home. Perim from Turkey is sitting on another bed. She and Aidan are also here as workaways.
Back in the common room we are thankful for the good food and the heaters. Two more young Russians are sitting at the table, both with head wiring and screens in front of their faces. We ask some questions, but quickly fail because of the language barrier and the restrained interest in conversation. Well, not everyone can be interested all the time, we think to ourselves. We are exhausted from our adventure drive and anxious for the next day we fall into bed.
The next days are quickly told: Sunday is sleep day. Before 11 o’clock we see no one on the pretty, spacious area. We play with the dogs, take a walk with Perim and Aidan in the surroundings and heat up the sauna towards evening. We find out that the three Russians are permanently employed here and are mainly building benches at the moment. Apparently there is a boss who shows up from time to time. But nobody is really the boss here. The work orders for us Work Awayers arrive via Telegram chat. Monday comes and our task is: “Varnish benches, cook food”. It is freezing cold and the motivation is… restrained. There would be so much to do here; unfinished work lies around in every corner. The place has potential but the lifeblood is nowhere to be found. The freezing cold days pass by with ridiculously little work, good food and pleasant sauna sessions. Tahir from Kazakhstan shows up and we make an effort to draw the closed people here out a bit. We play card games, sit around a campfire and plan our escape from this slightly depressing place.
Since our bicycles deserve a proper service after the 7000 kilometers we have ridden, we set off again on Thursday in the direction of Tbilisi. This time on the main road. Thanks to tailwind and altitude meters we roll into the capital again after a ridiculous two and a half hours and look forward to the open people in the Tbilisi commune.
On Monday we set off for Telavi in the Kacheti region. The small town attracts us with another Work Away offer: “Help us start our permaculture garden and help with small work on the house”, is written on the profile of Julie and Jean-Michele.
In Telavi, we spend three weeks in the stately home of Julie and Jean-Michele. We are fed splendidly-the two are professional cooks from Malaysia and France, respectively-and work less in the garden and much more in the house. Louie expertly builds and mends, I occupy myself with less fulfilling tasks like scraping glue and cement from window frames, painting, siliconizing (already a bit more exciting) and filling cracks. Corona conditioned we do not leave the house at the beginning and enjoy the fabulous view of the great Caucasus from the still dusty garden.
The days pass and we become more fidgety. When will we finally go on? The days are already noticeably longer and in the morning we hear the birds chirping. We never thought that it would be so difficult for us to take a longer break. But we are not only waiting for spring. Our visa for Iran has been applied for a long time and we are waiting for the positive decision. Finally – after two long weeks we get the news: Our visa is ready to be picked up at the embassy in Tbilisi!
What a relief! Louie finishes the last rack, I screw the freshly painted outside bench together and joyfully we pack our seven things on our bikes. On we go!