Georgia 1 – 6/2014
Only cows were our companions in this meadow next to the river.
Georgia!! New country. New language. New alphabet. New customs. Crossing the border from Turkey was a breeze, no visas required, but we had been warned that Georgian drivers made those in Istanbul seem tame. It is really hard to describe them. Crazy, idiotic, suicidal and moronic are terms that fall short. In addition, a large percentage of the vehicles (30-40%) are high-powered luxury BMWs, Range Rovers, Mercedes, Audis and Peugeots that seem to be practicing for the Daytona 500. Many are right-hand drive, making us wonder if they were stolen in Japan or Great Britain and sold on the black market. If a luxury car goes missing in Switzerland, the running joke is you’ll find it in Georgia.
A local guy named Thoma waded across the stream with homemade bread, cheese and wine. We may need to stay here another day.
To complicate matters, whether drivers are in beat-up Lada Nivas, delivery vans, BMWs or semi 18-wheelers, most drivers seem to be suffering from acute “rectalclaxonitis”. “Rectal” coming from that part of their body where their brains are located and “Claxon” from the Mexican word for horn. Any time there is a slight tightening of the anal sphincter, the horn sounds.
Thoma’s dog adopted Monika immediately even though Thoma insisted he was crazy.
The roads vary from sorta OK to narrow two-lane pocked with potholes and a “suicide lane” in the middle. To be realistic, the painted lines are just for decoration and have no relation to direction of traffic. There is always a “passing lane” in the middle regardless of road width or oncoming traffic. Approaching vehicles flash their lights to tell you that yes, they see you, and yes, they know there is no room to pass, and yes, they are going to pass anyway.
All this is made more exciting by the fact that the right-hand drive vehicles must pull out into oncoming traffic to see if there is any oncoming traffic. We kept a safe distance and a constant watch for the next idiot coming up behind us.
These kids were very curious about us and The Turtle V but very polite and rather shy.
We were adjusting, and getting used to reading paper maps again. Despite having two of the most sophisticated GPS units available, the Navigattor and the Garmin neither of them had detailed information on Georgia. Road signs were interesting and we were relieved that most of them were also written in our alphabet.
After a few heart-thump incidences on our second day in Georgia, we came around a bend and Monika spotted a meadow by a river below which turned out to be a pleasant camp. We had no sooner unpacked our chairs and fired up the BBQ that a man named Thoma living above in the village waded across the stream with wine, cheese and bread. Maybe this was the hospitality Georgians are known for?
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- Goodbye Turkey! We will come back again to this friendly country.
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- Hello Georgia. The jury is still out.
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- This is a four-lane highway on the outskirts of a town. You may notice that none of the vehicles in the right lane have drivers.
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- Georgian men are totally fascinated by our truck. Everywhere we stop, the cell phone cameras are clicking.
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- This little village square was a great place for a lunch stop. The government building seemed to be abandoned.
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- During our lunch stop at a quiet village square, we were joined by goats seeking a shady spot.
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- This house was rather typical for the area and like many, the iron fences were often built out of old metal landing strips just like the ones we use as sand ladders.
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- A short reprieve from the trucks crawling along the cliff in the distance, this peaceful camp by the river was a welcome relieve from the crazy drivers.
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- Nothing like a bowl of popcorn, a glass of wine and some BBQed chicken to end a day on Georgian highways.
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- Our compact Weber Go-Anywhere BBQ fits on a table on the side of the bumper and hooks up to our propane tank via a quick disconnect.
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- After Thoma arrived, these two girls and the brother of one of them showed up. Curiosity got the better of them.
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- Children are always fun to encounter. The girl on the right was learning English in school.
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- A Kodak moment. The kids insisted on having their photo taken with us.
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- We think we’re going to Tbilisii but our Garmin GPS does not cover Georgia and our Navigattor GPS has road information but does not navigate as it did in Turkey.
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- Neither the Garmin nor the Navigattor have detailed information on Georgia and road signs are interesting to read.
