Danisp’arauli

Our first thought when leaving shimmering Batumi: 'Let the adventure begin!' We encountered cows, pigs and horses in the city and on the roads, black exhaust clouds, overstuffed crammed vans passing by, tobacco, vine and khaki fruits in the trees, kids racing against us with their bike and lots of warm smiles!

We came to the Dandalo medieval bridge, set up our tent and joined a campfire with two Georgian and two Saudi Arabian guys, enjoying Arabic coffee, Caj, Tamr (dates from Saudi Arabia) and a pile of lamb meat - thanks for the invitation Nasser, hopefully you enjoyed the snow and the mountains!

Climbing on, we came to Khulo where we were received by an old man on the road, hugging us, talking, screaming, laughing and following us into a café - apparently not even the locals understood what he was saying. But did this crazy man have a presentment?

After that, a Belgian guy who plans to open a hostel in Khulo told us the road would become worse - and what happened not even 3km further? A big bang from Haukes rear wheel and not only the inner tube but also the tyre bursted. We fixed it and continued, as the road continued to become worse and steeper. Time to set up our tent! We decided to start early the next day to master the last 25km to the pass (1300m in height to go, >5% average climb) to have an extended lunch break in the sun with stunning views from the top. However, the road conditions became a nightmare and it took us more than six hours to get to the top, completely exhausted but super proud!

Everything in Goderdzi seemed closed down because the hiking season is over and the skiing season would start in December, but luckily, a little hotel was open and we could get any room we wanted. When we entered the restaurant it still felt like the hotel was just open for us but an hour later, Julia, Pierre and Michelle from Russia and France came in and it started to fill up with Georgians drinking and singing their songs - what a great atmosphere on the summit, surrounded by clouds.Read more