Vardzia

Frederique and Aleksandre for dinner and again for breakfast, thankfully no Chachka so early.

Short ride to one the most significant sites in medieval Georgian history. Vardzia is a complex of 600 rooms, 13 stories tall, hewn into a South facing hard rock wall, hidden at the end of a valley. Queen Tamara the most loved leader held court here. From the late 1100s to 1551 it was also a religious center. In 1283 an earthquake caused large chunks of the wall to break away. In 1551 the Persians sacked and looted the enormous treasures held here. Where are those now?

I met father and son motorcyclists from Switzerland. Then I climbed the many lacets to the plateau where my phone promptly went black. No reviving it, it's late, clouds on the horizon, a memory of the road ahead, no idea what the hotel is called but I do know in what city. The planned shortcuts are not possible in those conditions. I stuck to the main dusty road to find that the trucks had to go so slow to negotiate the car sized potholes that I was passing them 3 at a time.

I recharge a little at a shop, the final 16km should be fine, though into the wind and rain, but then serious calf cramps plague good progress. But I did get a palatial room, eat some ramen and pass out.Read more