After a special Egyptian omelette breakfast we got ready to leave our "last homely house". Danuta gave me one of her beautiful pink roses to liven up the bouquet on my bike. (By the way, it made it all the way to Baku)
DEAR DANUTA AND JAN, THANK YOU SO VERY VERY MUCH FOR THIS HOME AWAY FROM HOME YOU HAVE GIVEN US. YOUR GENEROSITY WILL ALWAYS BE AN INSPIRATION TO US AND THE WARMTH OF YOUR WELCOME SOMETHING WE WILL NEVER FORGET. THANK YOU AND ALL THE BEST TO YOU!
The road from Signaghi to the valley bottom was steep and bumpy. The view was great though. Wild pommegranate trees lined the road. Perfect for snacking.
From Tsnori we took the road across the wide valley to Lagodekhi near the Azerbaijan border. It was an interesting ride. At one point about 50 meters infront of us a tour bus' tire exploded sending a cloud of dust, rubber and tire wires in all directions. A universe of tire wires with endless opportunities for punctures has been created in this very moment!
A few kilometers later a large flock of turkeys was herded across the road blocking traffic for long enough to strain the impatient Georgian driver's nerves. It was hillarious listening to about a hundred agitated turkeys gobbling their way across the road.
Traffic was not too heavy but enough for us to regularly gasp and shake our heads in disbelief. As I mentioned previously, Georgian drivers have an insane obsession for overtaking. If there is a vehicle infront of them it has to be overtaken. We have observed it many times during rush hour how multiple cars would pull out of their lane and leap-frog their way up the line of vehicles. Often times there would also be oncoming traffic at the same time but those vehicles just move onto the shoulder with two wheels to avoid a collision with the overtaking vehicle. Just insane. The worst scenario is like the one above but with two cars overtaking in opposite directions. In other words there are the two lanes of normal traffic with two cars driving towards each other between them. With just seconds before a collision they slot back into their lane. In the bigger cities where there are multiple lanes going in the same direction, the white lines are really just mere suggestions because in reality the number of "lanes" is determined by the number of cars that fit next to each other. Throw a few cows in here and there with honking every few minutes and you have the perfect scenario. Thinking back now I wonder if we aren't a little bit insane too for riding our bicycles on these roads.
We have thanked God many times for keeping us safe. Many cyclists come through Georgia all the time but I still believe it is a miracle that we have made it through unscathed.
THANK YOU LORD FOR YOUR PROTECTION.
Aside from the crazy roado conditions, we have had a fantastic time here in this beautiful, hospitable country. Hope to be back and thanks again to all of you who have been so welcoming and kind to us.
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