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took a casual short ride up to the foot of Ushbar to the café which has the monopoly on the market and a gorgeous swimming hole . Jaw dropping scenery in every direction .
Not really well rested after a pretty severe overnight thunderstorm which had most of us wake in fright from the deafening thunder , we hoped to make it to Ushguli . The Zegari Pass had only just opened after winter and the road report coming in was fair . So off we set leaving Mestia , we tracked higher into the mountains . It was so beautiful ; I really couldn ’ t get over the scenery . At times I found myself so distracted by the views I had to stop to let it all soak in .
This section crossing Zegari Pass was some of the hardest riding I have ever done in my life ! I had never ridden mud with road tyres , it was so difficult that I came off twice . Imagine riding a motorcycle on an ice rink that ’ s on a slope , that ’ s how it was for about ninety minutes . At one point , I walked my bike , as I just couldn ’ t stay upright on the descent in the mud . The second I touched the brakes , down she went . It was all worth it though , we were the first bikes up there for the 2024 season . Not a bad claim to make !
After riding in the snow , fog and rain we had the most delicious soup for lunch near Mele . The sun tried very hard to come out but was not successful . Winding our way through the mountains , in the weather we had , with road tyres was something else .
Descending back into Kutaisi we welcomed a very nice hotel . Entering the post foyer , all covered in mud , felt wrong , but the shower felt so right .
Leaving Kutaisi , we headed up over Zekari pass ( not to be confused with Zegari Pass from the previous days ) south to Vardzia following the Kura river . By no means was this as difficult as Zegari Pass . The snow had almost gone and the road surface was rock , which made for good riding . We enjoyed lunch in Akhaltsikhe before motoring along to the 12th century cave complex in
Vardzia . Our guesthouse was amazing , dinner some trout straight from the river . The landscape in the south of Georgia is so different to that in the central area . The rolling plains of naked hills , with grazing flocks of sheep and goats spread between the towns of traditional Armenian housing with the storks and their babies nested on top of the power poles was awesome . We were lucky to stop in one of the villages for a delicious BBQ . Georgians love their BBQ .
Slowly we meandered back towards Tbilisi , through the lakes district . The lakes are huge , and I was told they freeze in the winter and people skate on them .
Arriving back in Tbilisi twelve days later we have created , as a group , some amazing memories , not all disclosed here mind you . We have strengthened existing friendships , and we have created new ones ; just one of the many bonuses of taking a group tour . JR
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