Distance: 290km (by car)
My host had already laid out a small breakfast in the kitchen hut by the time I got up. The guest house was a cluster of huts around a courtyard.
During the night there had been heavy thunderstorms. Very loud. I slept in a little because of that. By nine o’clock I was on the road, heading back to Tbilisi.
This time I took a different route, as suggested by my motorcyclist contact Michael. It started well. A four-lane highway — spectacular. That lasted for about 80 kilometres. Then it turned into the road conditions I had already come to know from Armenia and Georgia. Potholes. Patches torn away by landslides. Some sections were simply underwater and had to be crossed. After 180 kilometres I reached the border. The crossing took less than 15 minutes. I was the only person there. No queue, no fuss. There was also no infrastructure on that stretch — no petrol stations — but somehow that was not a problem either.
The road to Tbilisi stayed challenging all the way in. After a while you get used to it. You learn to read the surface ahead. But you cannot relax. Not for a second. You always have to be ready to brake hard and drop speed in an instant.
After seven hours I arrived in Tbilisi and went straight to the bicycle shop where Dima had been working on Rosinante. He had found a deformation on the front rim and the beginning of a crack on the rear.
The same problems I had experienced with standard rims on the North Cape tour in 2021. The rims would hold until Aktau. But I would need a proper solution before the next stage.
Anyways, if you ever need a bike mechanic in Tiblisi, Dima from VeloPlus is your guy.
I asked Dima to box up Rosinante and ordered an XL taxi while parking the rental car at his place. We loaded the box into the taxi and brought it to the hotel.
I checked in, then ordered another taxi back to pick up the rental car. I drove it to the rental car station, which was only a short walk from the hotel.
At the very last moment — literally ten metres before I reached the station — I was pulled over by the police. An illegal left turn. Frankly, it was far from the worst traffic violation I had committed over the previous days, simply following the example of Georgian and Armenian drivers around me.
The fine was 50 Lari, which is about €16. I could pay it at one of the digital terminals distributed around the city or at any Bank of Georgia branch. The process was smooth. The officers were friendly. As I handed back the car key at EuroCar, they informed me that there was a second fine — another lane violation, also 50 Lari. I was more impressed by the efficiency of Georgia’s digital fine system than I was annoyed by the penalties.
While I was giving back my car, I spotted a Tesla Cybertruck parking there. What a monstrosity of a car!
Back at the hotel, I carried everything up to my room, washed clothes, showered and checked in for my flight to Baku the next morning. Then I went out for dinner. I found a good place, sat outside, and ordered a steak with salad and a beer. I watched people pass by.
About 30 metres away I spotted a face I recognised. A tall man. Grey hair. I could not immediately place him, but I was certain I knew him. I am 99% sure it was Knut — part of the couple, Knut and Doris, whom I had met at the campsite in Göreme with their camper van. They turned in the other direction. We did not speak. It would have been good to say hello.
I paid and walked back to the hotel. Early to bed. Early start the next day. I couldn’t wait now to continue with my tour.
Learnings of the day:
Getting pulled over ten metres from the finish line is its own kind of Georgian road experience. The fine was fair. Actually I got lucky. The officers were polite. The digital payment was very effective. If more bureaucracy worked like this, nobody would mind paying for their mistakes.