May 19th 2011
We departed Batumi at 9 am heading toward Tiblisi. The road we chose for this leg was a smaller road that runs along a narrow valley going through the villages of Khulo and Akhaltsikhe. The first 60 Km the road is in OK condition but the remaining 120Km were a nightmare. The driving condition, due to the fact that our bikes are quite heavy, was pretty challenging. The average speed was 25 Km/Hour. The road was climbing from sea level to 2025 meters above sea level to a Pass named Goderdzi. We found even snow at the top. On the way down the mud due to the melting snow was so challenging that I dropped my bike a couple of times. Today’s journey reminds us that arriving to Mongolia is not going to be an easy trip.
Finally at around 8 Pm we arrived to Akhaltsikhe exhausted. In the main Square of the town we met two Italian riders that are on their way back to Italy after spending two weeks between Armenia and Georgia. We found a cheap room to share among the four of us.