Saburtalo

Entering Tbilisi had been quite a challenge for us as the traffic became just crazy with 6 lanes in one direction used by 8 cars, and us on our bikes far-right. But, with great self-confidence, we made our way and enjoyed to pass any jammed car.

Our first stop was the bicycle monument and we were wondering which sense it makes in Tbilisi because we didn't see any other cyclist and the only other people stopping by were tourists jumping off the sightseeing buses, taking pictures and jumping back on the bus. We also saw lots of new cycle racks nobody uses, but at least there is one bicycle lane in one of the streets. Beka later told us that Saakashvili, a former president of Georgia, is a cycling fan.

During our time in the city, we realized that almost everybody wants to drive a car, although modern buses and cable cars are going everywhere - the air quality says hello. On the other hand, we found the city to be remarkably clean and groomed, with nice green parks and gardens - despite there is a lot of construction work going on at the moment.

We stayed at Beka's place for 4 nights. He is a great host, a real sportsman and chances are not too bad that we meet up again in Iran, the destination for his next cycling trip.
Speaking of Iran, after two visits to the Iranian embassy in Tbilisi, we finally got our visas from the helpful staff! In the meantime we used our days in Tbilisi very well to explore the city by foot, bus and cable car and found it definitely worth to discover the surrounding hills and as the weather was pretty good from there we obtained beautiful views over the city. Back in the valley, the old town distributed a special flair while we were tripping over broken pathways, inhaling the smell of bed eggs near the historical sulphur baths and watching the bustle.

Cheers from Oguz in Azerbaijan! :-)
Silke & HaukeRead more