Leo’s Mum didn’t disappoint us today either. The breakfast was excellent just like the previous two days and today we were going to cycle so we really needed all that energy.
It takes time to eat a big breakfast and then pack everything and load it to the bikes and we didn’t manage to leave until it was 11 AM.

I take care of most of the mechanical issues and navigation while Wej is in charge of the economy. Since we had stayed at Leo’s guesthouse longer than planned instead of camping Wej decided we needed more cash before leaving town.

The cycling went just fine and soon we found another touring cyclist who sat resting in the shade of a tree. He presented himself as Marko and he told us he had started in his hometown in Slovenia 40 days ago and was going east for 6 months. He was tired and needed to rest so we exchanged e-mail addresses and said we would try to meet once in Tbilisi.

Borjomi is a small provincial town and the road to it has not much traffic but after the Bojormi road joined the big main road leading from east to west through Georgia, the traffic immediately got a lot more intensive. We had to go back to our routine of Wej riding behind always looking in her mirror and blowing her whistle to warn me about incoming trucks. The road had a shoulder to ride on, but it wasn’t sealed so we often found ourselves riding on the uneven gravel beside. It wasn’t fun and it was difficult.

After a while Wej started to complain that her knee had started to hurt again. She had hit her knee when falling whilst crossing a creek on the mountain a couple of days ago. We had taken several rest days to let it cure, but now the feeling of uncomfort had returned. To have knees that don’t hurt is very important when cycling and we decided to stop as soon as possible and do the rest of the ride to Tbilisi tomorrow.

All of a sudden the bad road ended and was turned into a new 4-lane motorway with a wide shoulder to ride on and beside it some 7-8 km outside Gori we found a huge and very nice looking gas station with an adjacent restaurant and shop. We rode in, parked our bikes and found the best looking gas stations this far on the tour.

In the shop and restaurant section there was free wifi so we decided to have dinner there and discuss what to do next. As we sat there we felt very comfortable and wanted to stay on so we got back to our bikes and rolled over to the gas station part and were soon surrendered by the attendants. After a while of funny chat and jokes we played the trick we learned in Turkey which is asking if there is any camping site in town. The answer was immediately no, but one of the attendants pointed to the lawn between the gas station and the restaurant. Once again our resting place for the night would be at a gas station.

We parked the bikes and took our bag with the computer and went back to the restaurant to google on knee injuries. After a good nights sleep at the gas station we went back to have breakfast in the restaurant. Wej’s knee still ached and we didn’t know what to do so I wrote an e-mail describing the situation to friends back home who are doctor and physiotherapists. They soon replied that it possibly was some internal bleeding in the knee and that the best thing was to rest.

After spending the entire morning googling and writing e-mails it was time for lunch. Since we were already at a restaurant we didn’t need to go far. As we sat there eating, we saw another touring cyclist approaching the restaurant. He parked his bike and went in to order lunch and we moved over to his table to have a chat. The guy introduced himself as Simon from New Zealand and told us he was on an extended tour with his son, who had taken the train to Tbilisi.

Most other cyclist we meet are a lot younger than us, but Simon is a few years older and told us he had taken a sabbatical year from work life to go cycling across the Euroasian continent – something that sounds very much like our own situation.

Simon had to rush to meet his son so we exchanged e-mail addresses and said we would try to meet in Tbilisi. As we saw Simon leave we had still not made any decision what to do.

In the morning we saw Marko riding by, by lunch Simon came and left and we still hadn’t started to move. We had now traveled 4630 km from Sweden by our own muscle power but now we seemed to get stuck at a gas station just outside Stalin’s hometown. We still had 70 km to go on the nice highway to Tbilisi but Wej’s aching knee effectively put a stop to it and there was nothing else to do than limp into town and catch a train into Tbilisi.

The purpose of this trip has always been to explore what is between Thailand and Sweden and who the people living there are, but the longer we have cycled, at least I have got more and more attracted to the concept of the unbroken wheel track all the way to Bangkok. This seemed to be ruined now and while we have stayed in the guesthouse in Tbilisi the thought of getting on a train and go back to Gori to ride the 70 km here has struck me. But then again, we do this trip together and it wouldn’t feel good in the end if I have cycled from Göteborg to Bangkok while Wej only has cycled that distance minus the 70 km between Tbilisi and Gori.

We both like Georgia and filling the gap between Gori and Tbilisi is a very good reason to come back another time…. 🙂

In Tbilisi we checked in at the hostel which we knew Thom was staying at. Thom is one of the british cyclists we rode with for a few days in Turkey and it was a happy re-union when we knocked on the door to the hostel.

Georgia is a wine producing country and in our hostel wine and coffee is for free. Thom and the two of us spent the evening drinking wine and sharing experiences and ideas in the hostel’s little lounge area.

The following day we joined Thom and Nick to the Kazakh embassy to pick up their passports. Then the hunt for a decent bike shop started and we all ended up at Tbilisi’s Velodrome which definately has seen better days, but behind it there were some bike shops were skilled mechanics worked. On the floor in one of the shops we found an old and well used steel frame with the logo of ”USSR Race Team”. A retro bike built on that frame would definately be one of the coolest bikes ever to cruise the streets of western Europe.

The next evening we called in all the cyclist we knew were in town and went to have a couple of beers at a bar. Since we are all going the same way and are having the same troubles getting visas and ferry ticket to cross the Caspian, the topics for the discussions were obvious.

I have mentioned in previous posts that central asia is the world’s epicenter of bureacrazy regarding visas. These countries used to be part of the Soviet union, but while the Soviet union is long gone, its bureacratic legacy remains unchanged. I think the ”stan-countries” actually are happy to recieve visitors who spend their money in their countries, but that they at the same time have difficulties to shrug off the Soviet bureacratic tradition. Visas are expensive and applications are processed slowly. Where and when the application will be quickest, simplest and cheapest is the given topic of conversation among travelers going into the area.

If the central asian states want us to come, but can’t get rid of their soviet heritage, China is very much the opposite. China doesn’t care about foreign money and is not too happy having western visitors in its troubled western regions. China also prefer travelers to apply for visa in their home country which causes problems to us since the visa’s validity would have run out by the time we arrive to the chinese border.

Applying for chinese visas in central asia has become much more difficult the last few years and all travelers have different ways to get the precious chinese visas. Our solution was to apply for an extra passport and leave it at home. When it was time to apply we had to present bookings for flights and hotels and in order not to create any suspicions we made it look like we were going to the normal tourist destinations in the eastern part of the country.

Our chinese visas were granted a few days ago and this was a great relief to us. My mother has now sent the passports with DHL courier service to Baku where we will continue by applying for visas to Uzbekistan and Kazakstan. The Uzbek visa is a bit of a hassle though since it will be valid only for 30 days set in the visa and not for 30 days during a for example two month period.

The ferry across the Caspian Sea remains very unreliable and we expect to have to wait for a week until we can board it. When we have landed on Kazakh soil we will have 8 days of ride through the dessert before reaching the border of Uzbekistan. Since Uzbekistan is 2000 km long we want to enter on day one of our visas validity and all this will require a very careful analysis before we set the date we would like to enter the country.

It only took us two and a halft days to ride over the mountain pass and maybe it was a bit early for a rest day but we decided to stay one extra day in Akhaltsikhe to prepare our visa applications for the central asian states. Beside doing all administrative tasks we went out for a walk in the town and found the city library.

Wej couldn’t resist the temptation of visiting a Georgian library so we went in to have a look. It looked nice and there were quite a few visitors there.

Although being in a brand new library many of the books looked very old and worn and Wej said that that kind of books would have been replaced long ago in her library. The lack of resources is probably the reason for this but maybe some of the budget for the library building should have been allocated to the library’s content instead.

I would like to borrow a book about bicycle repair. Is this the right shelf??? 😉

The library has a staff of 8 people and we met a couple of them at a counter. One of them spoke very good English and Wej interviewed her about the library.

Many people ask as what kind of tools and spare parts we carry. My answer is only the things that are most necessary or hardest to find in remote places. We will always be able to find shops like this where we could get an extra tire or pedal if needed. Shops like this don’t sell high quality parts but we could probably get hold of stuff that will at least take us to the next shop selling parts with higher quality.

The following day we were going to cycle the 50 km from Akhaltsikhe to Bojormi. The road is of good quality, slightly downhill and going through a beautiful area so it was a quick ride.

Bojormi is an small town known for its mineral water and it has been a tourist attraction for almost a century. At the main street we ran into Leo who is the owner of one of the homestays recommended by the Lonely Planet guidebook. We followed Leo home and got a small little room in an apartment that had been turned into a guesthouse.

The following morning Leo’s mother cooked breakfast for us and we are lucky to be cycling since nobody who isn’t doing a lot of physical work during the days could eat that huge amount of food. Fried potatoes, huge pancakes, salad, fried eggplants, fried eggs, lots of bread, tea, coffee and some cake as dessert. That is the kind of breakfast a touring cyclist likes…. 🙂

As mentioned Borjomi is famous for its mineral water and in the city there is a park with wells where people can fill up their bottles for free. Empty bottles are conveniently sold almost everywhere.
When we went to the park I had to try the well with warm mineral water and I must say I didn’t really like the taste. It was too salty…..

Leo had recommended us to pay a visit to a local swimming pool with hot mineral water. It was a 3 km long walk along a trail into the forest behind the park. The pool was very simple and there were some other people there too. The water was not super hot and the pool was not well kept and being outside there were lots of leaves and algea in the water. The place was quiet and I enjoyed sitting in the shadow of a tree reading the only book I carry with me.

Wej fell and hurt her knee when passing a creek on the mountain a few days ago and since the pain hasn’t gone away completely we decided to stay one more day in Bojormi. We can’t enter Azerbadjan before June 6 which is the first day of our visa validity so by staying here for extra days we only cut our time in Tbilisi shorter.

We needed something to do during our extra day off the bikes and Leo offered to drive us to the ancient rock city of Vardzia some 120 km south east of Bojormi. We got company on the tour by Chuck who works with organic farming in Canada and who is in Georgia to hold seminars and training with local organic farmers. Chuck is also a touring cyclist and has done many tours in north america and we had plenty of topics to discuss.

Leo knows his part of the country very well and we stopped at many places along the way and he told the stories behind them.

Vardzia is located in a narrow valley that has seen invading mongol, persian and turk armies pass by and the local people built the rock city to hide in during times of unrest. The place ias absolutely amazing and there are hundreds of rooms and chambers carved into the rock and even a working monastery with residing monks.

Unfortunately it started to rain when we went up to the caves so we cut our visit short. Leo then insisted that we should go to the nearby pool with hot mineral water. This pool was also a very simple concrete pool but it was inside and a there was nothing around it. We were alone there and quickly changed into our swimsuits and slowly slowly went into the water that was extremely warm. We soaked in the water for a while and then started the long drive back to Bojormi.

Do you remember our toothpaste quiz?

On April 10 in Bukarest we opened a new toothpaste tube and raised the question where we would be when it gets empty. The closest guess will get a postcard from that place.

Here are the guesses:

Iain                    Samsun
Heiko                 Batumi
John                  Tbilisi
Elisabeth            Baku
Danne                Middle of Caspian Sea
Mum we             Aqtau
Kalle                   Beyneau
Micke                 Turtkul
Ryszard             Samarkand
Nutth                 Osh
Michael&Jodie   Lake Vakhsh
Cousin Marie     New Dehli or 15 June
Bootsabong       Uzbekistan or 77days which is on July 14.
Jesper&Emma  17 August
Hednoi              Thaiman….

On a map it will look like this. The guesses that are dates can’t be put on the map.

This is how our toothpaste tube looks right now and we are about 150 km from Georgias capital Tbilisi.

Iain and Heiko are already out of the game – should we let them have a second chance?

We ourselves are guessing too, but not where we will run out of toothpaste but who will be the winner and if there will be any postcard to buy at that place….

We are not able to update as frequently as before so this is a long post about three days:

Day 59 (Batumi – Keda)

We stayed in Batumi not only one but two days longer than planned and the reason was that we needed more time to take care of our bikes and to do administrative issues such as preparing visa applications for Uzbekistan and China. I have read blogs from other cyclists telling about these preparations taking a lot of time and I then had problems understanding why – now I do understand why….

The evening before we left a Polish cyclist arrived. He is on his way to Sydney and will take just the same route as we so we had a long conversation with him regarding routes, visa applications etc. He will wait a few days in Batumi for his brother who is hitch hiking there, but I think we will see Bartek again since he seem to ride quicker than we do.

When we finally left the gueshouse it was already 2 PM but since we only planned to ride 40 km to the village of Keda it didn’t really matter. We are waiting for an important e-mail and need to pay for our letter of invitation to Uzbekistan so we needed to find internet somewhere. The receptionist at our hostel said there are guesthouses at Keda so we planned to go stay at one of them and do all our internet business there.

Batumi isn’t big but we got lost on our way out. After asking a couple of people we finally found the road that leads up to the mountains. Georgia, and especially its hinterland, is cash country and to be on the safe side we stopped to get some more local currency at an ATM before leaving the last suburb.

Keda sits at 200 meters altitude and the road there was very good. It was never steep and there was not much traffic, but best of all was the surroundings that were wonderful. The road was in a valley with a little river in its midst and on both sides were farms growing wine. The steep hills on booth sides were covered with a lush forest with lots of oak trees and since there were so little traffic we could hear birds singing and bells from the cattle all the time.

Keda is straight to the east from Batumi and since we started late we had the sun in our backs and the during the late afternoon the sunshine made the valley look even more beautiful.

Right before Keda we stopped at a gas station. When we asked the staff where the guesthouses were they told us there weren’t any in Keda. That was bad news since we needed to find internet and for a while we considered to do the Turkish trick, i.e. to camp at the gas station but we decided to go on into the village center.

Keda was a small village, but big enough to have a roundabout in its center. We stopped there and I asked a police officer where the hotel was. He pointed at a pink house 50 meters away and we went there to ask at the restaurant on first floor. I tried to use my poor russian to ask if this was a hotel and the lady working there said ”no”….

The only reason we wanted to stay at a guesthouse was to get to an internet connection but since there seemed to be no hotel or guesthouse in town we decided to camp and went to a grocery store next to the roundabout to buy some supplies. A rule of thumb is to always doublecheck any information and the lady in the store also she pointed at the pink house. When I told her we had been there but got a negative answer, she sent someone over to ask again. The runner soon came back and told us it was closed for some reason I never understood.

The whole town seemed to be engaged in our struggle to find a guesthouse and when we had already given up a man came walking and told us we could stay at a private homestay for 10 GEL each (40 SEK, 4.5 €). Since we only needed to check our e-mail and make a payment we asked if the homestay had an internet connection and he said yes.

Deal….

We walked to the homestay with the guy and he introduced us to the family and then left. An older man showed us to our room and where the bathroom was. He then said that we needed to pay 2 GEL each for showering. I didn’t feel a shower was necessary and I thought it was a bit expensive so we tried to negotiate and got it down to 1 GEL each.

When we had settled in our room we asked how to connect to internet. The man then turned on the large TV….. Not really our definition of internet. When two 10 year old girls (probably grand daughters arrived) they also said there was no internet and the computer they were playing games on was also not connected.

So much fuss for nothing. But at least is was a cheap place to stay at and the view from the balcony was outstanding. We didn’t know if dinner was included so we fried the few eggs we had together with some salami at the balcony. Dogs are usually the biggest problem for cyclists, but cats can be a nuisance too. One cat bit off our computer cable and now the one in this house was feasting on our expensive salami that I left on a table in the room for a minute while cooking at the balcony.

Day 60 (Keda – camp at 1360 meters altitude)
Our breakfast consisted of coffe prepared at the balcony, youghurt and some sandwhiches with salami. The cat only ate a little part of it and we cut off a large chunk between where it had eaten before having what remained ourselves.

The family’s house was at about 220 meters altitude and the mountain pass some 75 km east is 2025 meters above the sea level. Our plan was to ride as high as possible during the day. We knew the road up to the last village would be good but from there everyone we talked to said it would be in bad connection.

The ride between Keda and Khulo was wonderful. In the beginning it was not steep at all – only slowly going upward. The scenery was breathtaking and we stopped many times to take photos and vide clips. The road was now no longer in the middle of the valley but on the side of the steep mountain surrounding it.

Somewhere between the two villages was a little chapel that had been restored and that nowadays is often used for weddings.

The large crucifix inside showed that our saviour had a very well developed 6-pack.

We don’t have a proper road map – we only use a simple one from the tourist information that we got second hand from someone at the hostel in Batumi. On our map Khulo is the last village before the pass and we decided to stay there to have lunch. Just as usual when we stop at the centre of a small village we were soon surrounded by curious men. One of them spoke very good German and he invited us to his restaurant.

After taking our order he sat down to talk to us and we got the reason why he spoke so good German. He used to be a professional Greco-Roman wrestler and had competed for Stuttgart for 6 years in the Bundesliga.

When we left Khulo the road immediately got a lot worse. It was unsealed, full of potholes, fist size rocks and sometimes it was crossed by small creeks. It was still as beautiful as before and the cycling was very fun. We like to ride on this kind of roads and slowly climb towards higher altitudes.

What was the last village on our map was not the last village in reality. It seemed to be one very long village with houses along that road where ever it was flat enough to build one. This meant it was hard for us to find a spot to pitch our tent but we finally found a good spot. In order to not draw any attention we hid our bikes and luggage behind some trees and took our food and cooking gear and climbed up a hill where we could enjoy the sunset in the valley while cooking and eating our dinner.

Day 61 Camp at 1360 meters – Akhaltshike
When we woke up there was already some traffic on the little road below us. Children walked to school in the village further down and people leading their cattle out to the nearby fields. They all waved and smiled and used sign language to ask if we were going up our down.

When we started to roll it took us another 5-6 km of slowly climbing the poor road until we left the last settlements behind us. We were now at about 1700 meters altitude and the road got a little bit better.

Water is important….

But sometimes it easier to find beer and vodka in places like this little stall…

Close to the pass we saw big constructions of a skiresort going on. Skilifts were already built and now they were building hotels and a better road. We wondered if it wouldn’t have been smarter to start by building a good road so that all material and equipment could be brought up much easier.

An old russian truck loaded with cows standing tight to each other overtook us slowly. 10 minutes later we overtook it when the driver had parked and were pooring water on the overheated engine. It then overtook us slowly again only to not long after see us overtake it again when the engine once again had gone too hot. This happened a few times and we felt we were racing to the top of the pass with this old truck and felt pity for the cows. It can’t be easy to stand up when the truck bumps into all those potholes.

The pass was above the tree line and as we got closer we found lots of snow that hadn’t yet melted.

At the top of the pass there were lots of activity going on. A group of men invited me to come and have vodka with them and I declined as politely as I could. There was also a little magazin (shop in russian) where we bought some eggs to make a lunch omelette. While we sat eating there 2-3 old drunk men kept coming to us and we think they asked for money. We are happy to make a contribution but not when it is obvious that the money quickly will be used to buy more vodka.

During more than a month in Turkey we only once saw someone who was obviously the local alcoholic and here in Georgia we a few everytime we stop in a village. Turkey is a secular society and people can drink if the wish to but maybe the religion has created a tradition of drinking less. If so, it is a good tradition because I think the number of people constantly unsober can’t be good for society.

It was now time to roll down the 20-25 km to the next larger village. The road was only slightly better on the other side and only for some parts. Normally riding down is easy but although we didn’t have to pedal it was hard work of constantly applying the breaks while balancing down the rocky road. After a while I started to get blisters in the fold between my thumb and index finger due to all the breaking.

Eventhough we like riding on poor roads we always it is always a nice feeling to get back to a smooth paved road again. The good road started at an altitude of about 1400 meters and from there we cycled the remaining 35 km to Akhaltshike in about 1.5 hours. Quite a different speed than we had got used to the last couple of days.

Access to internet is becoming increasingly scarce so you shouldn’t count on daily updates anymore. We will update as soon as we have a chance. Tomorrow (Sunday)) we will leave Batumi and cycle towards Batumi over the mountains which will take about five days.

Exit Turkey and entering Georgia – country number 8 on this trip
We were slightly behind schedule due to that we spent the previous afternoon after visiting Sümela to look for a bike shop and fix my spoke and shifter. With a steady tailwind and flat road we decided we wanted to go for Hopa almost 170 km away. Our friends in Zonguldak have relatives there who had promised to host us.

When we went down to the hotel’s garage to pick up our bikes we found that my tyre was flat again. I now know why – useless glueless patches – and I quickly changed to a new innertube and will repair the old one as soon as I have got hold on some proper old style patches.

By cycling along the turkish Black Sea coast we have learnt by using our own eyes what products come from what part of the country. We have passed the garlic capital in Tasköpru, the brick factories at Boyabat, the rice growing areas around Duragan, the hazelnut zone around Trabzon and as we went further east we entered an area where which supply most of Turkey with tea. The steep hills were covered by tea plants and trucks that overtook us were loaded with tea and on the road we could see tea leaves that had fallen off those trucks.

Bread is called ”ekmek” in Turkish and we have started to call it that when we speak to each other. ”Please pass me some ekmek” or ”do we need to buy any ekmek?” are phrases we use among ourselves. Ever since we left Istanbul we have passed bakeries with signs telling that they sell ”Trabzon Ekmek”. It must be something special and when we were in Trabzon we finally found out what it was. Trabzon bread is a huge round loaf of bread that is as big as at least 5 normal loaves. Since we couldn’t eat that much ourselves and thus never bought any. We were however told it has a slightly sour taste and stays fresh longer than normal bread. Maybe it’s made of sourdough…

The ride east from Trabzon was very smooth and we proceeded at high speed and when we found a bakery that sold small size Trabzon breads we immediately stopped to buy some. We couldn’t leave Trabzon without having tried the famous Trabzon Ekmek… 🙂

Whenever we stay at a hotel we stock up on those little jam, butter and hazelnut packages that are usually provided at the breakfast buffets. They are perfect for our needs since they are (1) free, (2) portion size, (3) hard to break and (4) if one breaks only a little jam is spread around in our luggage.

After having ridden for a few hours we decided it was time for lunch and stopped at a gas station. We sat down outside and started to eat our Trabzon bread with butter and jam from the hotel when the gas station attendant saw us and hurried to serve us some tea. This kind of generosity and hospitality is something we will always associate Turkey with.

Just like elsewhere in the world there are often exercise equipments placed in Turkish parks and public places. When riding east on the big Black Sea highway we bumped into this place. Not a park and only a two different training equipment, but with a nice view of the Black Sea.

In central Europe most gas stations had a open wifi network without password for visitors to use. In Turkey they also have wifi internet, but the staff at the gas stations rarely know the password. We wanted to get in touch with our friends in Zonguldak to arrange for our arrival to Hopa, but we had problems finding any internet connection. The sms text messages we sent didn’t seem to get through either so we decided to try to find a camping spot instead.

We went in to a gas station some 35 km short of Hopa in hope of finding a spot to pitch our tent. We were soon surrounded by staff and some hangarounds and a few minutes later we had a glass of tea each in our hands. One of the guys spoke very good english and he asked us where we were going and where we would stay tonight. We said we wanted to pitch our tent and asked if it was possible somewhere around the station. A few minutes later the manager came out and showed us where we could put it.

Most gas stations in Turkey have a room for prayer and so did this one, but here it was a rather unusual place. The station had brought in an more than 100 year old barn from the mountains that used to a corn storage.

The century old barn on pillars with beautiful details carved into the old wood had now been turned into a room for prayer and we were told to camp under it.

We were then asked if we had eaten any dinner yet and when we replied no, Hakan (the guy who spoke English) invited us to his home for dinner. We all jumped into his car and went to his house to have a wonderful dinner that his wife had prepared. Turkish hospitality again…… 🙂

The following morning we had the what was left of our Trabzon ekmek for breakfast and headed east. Since we couldn’t get in touch with our friends’ friend in Hopa we decided to continue towards Batumi in Georgia.

Turkish desserts are wonderful and when we saw a cafe we stopped to have a last taste of it before leaving Turkey. Next to the cafe was a bakery that was run by the same owner who invited us to come and take a look.

It was now time to leave Turkey which is a country we have started to like very much and that we certainly will return to both to visit friends and travel. We have liked the people, the hospitality we have received, the food and the interesting sights we have seen.

The border area to Georgia looked like an airport terminal and we stopped to buy some chocolate to finish our remaining turkish currency.

Normally when we pass a border we choose the lane the cars go rather than the lane for trucks. This time we were told to through the corridor where the bus passengers walk. There was hardly anybody there so we cycled through it. See the short video clip below.

Batumi was only 16 km from the border and it was a quick ride on a road that was a lot smaller and not as well maintained as the one we had been riding on in Turkey. Only a few kilometers after the border we passed Gonyo which is a millenium old Roman fortification. It looked very well preserved and resembled any any of the roman forts in the Asterix cartons. Unfortunately it was closed so we continued towards Batumi city.

We aimed straight for the Globus Hostel in the city center where we knew Sawang Thongdee who is another thai cyclist was staying. After checking in to a 20 bed dormitory we went out to have dinner with Sawang and it was very nice to meet someone from Thailand again.

Sawang is an experienced cyclist and has cycled the Karakhoram Highway, Iran, China, Pakistan, Centralasia, Turkey, Armenia and many more countries we dream about and now he was spending two months to dig deep into Georgia.

Sawang had already been in town for a couple of days after a side tour up to the great Caukasus mountains and he brought us to a nearby restaurant where we could have some interesting local Georgian food. For Wej it was great to sit down to talk to someone from her own home country and although I am not Thai, when meeting Sawang I got the feeling as when running into a countryman at a far away place overseas.

Pork is not eaten in Turkey, but in Georgia there is plenty of it and the georgians know how to cook it….

We have now entered the visa hassle zone. The number one discussion topic among fellow travelers is how and where to obtain visas. We haven’t needed any visas so far, but we we would need one for Azerbadjan which has tightened its visa policy during the last few years. However, the rumours said that getting a visa at the consulate in Batumi would be easy and the following morning we went to the consulate to try our luck.

The guy at the consulate was very laid back. He sat smoking and playing computer games in his little office when we arrived. When asked what documentation we needed he told us, 1 photo, 1 passport copy, the application form and 150 GEL (approx. 65 €). He told us to come back on Friday and we asked if we could get it on Thursday instead and then he replied ”sure”.

When picking up the visa he didn’t even look at our application forms. He asked what day we wanted to go, filled in the sticker and put it in our passports. Simple and no need of expensive and hard to get letters of invitation.

We have then spent two days relaxing and discovering Batumi which is filled of hotels and resorts. Now it is a bit empty, but when the summer season starts it will be very crowded. I don’t like swimming in cold water and when we stepped into the Black Sea in Sile a few weeks ago the water was definately too cold to swim in. Now it had got better and I went into the water of the Black Sea for the first time ever.

The beach in Batumi consists of small round stones. Many people prefer sand but I prefer these stones because you won’t get any sand between your toes or into your ears 🙂 They were however very hot to lay on during the mid day heat.

We were a group of five cyclists who had cycled together for two days but now it was time to split. Nick and Arthur had a tight schedule and needed to move on. Tom needed a rest and had decided to take a day off while we didn’t need any rest day, but since we wanted to pay a visit to the nearby Sümela Manastir we decided to stay a day too.

We woke up late and since we had good company we left later than planned and missed the bus to the monastery that clings to the rocks. Instead of visiting a site of major cultural importance we spent the day walking around in Trabzon city.
It is maybe a shame to say, but we went into a MacDonald’s restaurant. Not that we missed hamburgers and fries, but sometimes we want to re-live old memories.

When Wej and I lived in Bangkok in the mid 1990:s good coffee was scarce and the only coffee with acceptable taste and price was the coffee at MacDonald’s. Wej worked in a town two hours outside Bangkok and every Sunday when she would leave we went to MacDonald’s to have coffee, a strawberry sundae and a medium size french fries. This odd combination has stuck and we sometimes we go to a MacDonald’s to have our own special menu – this time it happened in Trabzon.

Outside the MacDonald’s there was a big event going on at the city square. We went to take a look and it seemed to be some sort of combination of cultural exhibition and travel fair and all neigbouring countries were represented. There were dance shows on stage and food stalls with food from those countries.

As we walked around the fair we spotted a thai flag and when we got closer we saw that Thailand was represented too. Wej told me she had got eye contact with the girl behind the counter and we waited until she was free to talk to us. She told us she and her fellow student friend had got a scholarship to come to study international relations at the university of Trabzon. Since she was busy we only had a short chat. After exchanging e-mail addresses and we continued to explore the city.

Trabzon is a busy city located on steep hillsides. Where ever we went it was either up or down. We had no real plans for what to see so we just went around to have a look of the city life. The main shopping street looked like anywhere else in the world.

In the market zone the lanes were narrow and just as anywhere else in Turkey there were people walking around and distributing tea to the shops – just like when I got my tea at the barber shop a week or so ago.

Just like in Thailand large crowds of people attracts food vendors. This guy sold steamed corn from a cart in the middle of the busy walking lane in the market. I am not so fond of steamed corn but Wej had some difficulties to decide if she wanted one or not.

Commerce is going on everywhere, even in the underground passes under the highway.

It was a hot afternoon and after having walked around town we needed to sit down and relax for a while. What could then be better than the cafe and bar at the roof top terrace on one of the hotels? We took the lift up to the 7th floor. I ordered a beer and Wej had some coffee while we enjoyed relaxing in some nice chairs enjoying the view of the sea and the busy city center below us.

After a long day in the city of Trabzon we took a minibus back to the suburb where our hotel was. I wanted to buy a beer for me and Tom who relaxed at the hotel so we dropped by a store selling alcohol. Everytime I have bought a beer I have got it wrapped in old newspaper and put in a black plastic bag. Other things we buy are usually put in white or transparant bags but not beer. I have no idea, but if the purpose is to make it difficult for others to see what you have in your bag, then it doesn’t work. You only need to look for who is carrying a black bag…..

It was a cheap hotel that certainly had seen its best days, but it was cheap and certainly good enough for us. The bathroom was in need of an urgent renovation though and it seems like they already had started by replacing the lids to the ventilation with these colorful things. I wonder if the rest of the bathroom will have the same color tone once it is renovated.

When we woke up the next morning we checked out early and hurried into town to buy bus tickets to Sümela Manastir. We were allowed to park the bikes in a room behind the ticket counter and off we went.

Sümela Manastir is a very old monastery that has been built on the cliffs and partly carved into it. It is a famous tourist attraction only some 45 minutes with a minibus from Trabzon.

When we arrived we discovered that the place was crammed with people. Today was a Saturday and Monday was a national holiday so it felt like half of Turkey’s population had chosen to visit Sümela this day. We blamed ourselves for not having understood that it would be like this and pushed ourselves to go yesterday as planned.

All visitors had to pass a narrow staircase down to the courtyard. We were in the middle of it when it started to rain. The monastery sits at about 1200 meters altitude and we later learned that it rains 300 days per year. If we had only known this we would have brought our rain jackets…. 😉

Sümela has huge mural paintings both inside and outside the main chapel. These murals were covered by names and dates carved into them with some sharp pointed tools. It looked like graffiti and I later learned that the culprits were bored soldiers from various armies and periods as well as some early tourists who seem to have no respect for a culturual treasure like this one.

The driver of the minibus had left us at convenient walking station and told us that the bus would leave 1.30 from the restaurant. We didn’t understand much and when it was time to go we saw some of the Turkish people who had come with the same bus and asked them where to go. They told us to follow them and we started to talk on the steep zig-zag walking track down to the restaurant. The woman introduced herself as Deniz. She works as a teacher in Samsun and had come to visit her brother Mehmet who is a medical student in Trabzon.

Just like at similar places everywhere there are expensive restaurants nearby. We had a nice köfte (meatballs) lunch with Deniz and Mehmet before going back to town. When I got my bike back I discovered I had got my 6th flat tyre. Instead of riding out of town we decided to stay one more night in Trabzon and fix all our technical problems which you can read about in the post ”Technical issues in Trabzon” below.

It is inevitable to get mechanical problems on a long tour. This post is about how we solved a few problems in Trabzon.

When we returned from our half day trip to the Sümela Monastery my rear wheel was flat again. We had left the bikes behind the bus ticket counter when we went to the monastery and there was no room to fix the tyre there so I simply took my bike and wheeled it 100 meters to the city square and started to work on it.

Turkey’s football association had an event on a stage at the square and we set up our little work shop beside it. Naturally we draw some attention and one of the organizers came to help me. He then gave us tea, drinks, souvenirs and had his photographer take a picture of him and us on stage with a trophy some turkish team had won in a tournament.

The tyre had gone flat while we were away and I suspected that my last patch had not glued properly which turned out to be the case. We use glueless pathces and it is crap. Of the 6 flats I have got so far 3 have been due to those glueless patches not sticking properly. They may be quick to work with and probably good on short tours around home, but they are useless on an extended tour like this. We will buy some proper old style patches as soon as possible.

A few days ago my bike fell on its left side when it was parked at a gas station. Unfortunately my barend shifter (Swe: växelhandtag) broke and I could no longer change my front gears. The ride for the coming days was flat and I managed to put the chain permanently on the big front chainring.

I also discovered that one of my spokes (Swe: eker) had been bent. I suspect it happened when the bellboy at the hotel in Samsun dragged our locked bikes the 200 meters from the garage to the reception.

Riding only on the highest gears is possible as long as it is flat, but after Batumi in Georgia we will have to climb some big mountains and then I need to be able to shift between highest and lowest gear so this issue needed to be addressed.

After we had returned from Sümela Monastery we spent the afternoon looking for a bike shop. It was not easy but finally we found one. The owner/mechanic didn’t speak any English but one of his visitors who appeared to know nothing about bikes spoke a bit of German. I am happy, and a bit proud, to announce that we managed to communicate about what needed to be done to my bike 🙂

The shop was not well stocked, but certainly good enough. The shifter that had broken is a rather unusual type and I replaced it with a one that is intended for simple MTB or city bikes. I am sure it will last long enough for me to find a proper replacement if not all the remaining way to Bangkok.

There was not enough space to place it correctly on my handlebar so we put it upside down. It is certainly not the ideal position but a simple choice when the alternative would be to ride up the mountains using the highest gear.

I also asked the mechanic if he could help me to replace my broken spoke. He misunderstood the question and said he probably didn’t have any spoke with the correct lenght. I then pulled out our spare spokes from the seat tube and then he got the message and immediately started to work.

With a new spoke and ability to use all my gears I feel ready for the mountains of Georgia.

To other touring cyclists with mechanical problems in Trabzon.

The shop’s contact details are:
Kuzey Bisiklet
GSM: 0532 377 96 41
Phone: 0462 321 5167

If you are on the K. Maras Cd street with the back to the main square you will have to turn left to the small street immediately before hotel Zorlu. You will find the shop inside the galleria that is opposite to a hamam. It isn’t a well stocked shop but basic things can be fixed.

Motivation, cycling vs traveling and nice company

It has not been possible to update the blog as frequently as before so this post is an update for the following days:

Day 53 Samsun -Ünye (74 km)
Day 54 Ünye – Giresun (143 km)
Day 55 Giresun – Akcaabat (110 km)

During the week we were fighting uphill in the heat I started to feel a bit unmotivated. Turkey is a large country and we have a map with the western part on the front and the eastern on the back. We struggled and struggled up those not very steep but long hills and despite very hard work we rarely came further than 70 km a day. When looking at the map at the end of a hard day in the saddle, it seemed that all our effort had brought us nowhere.

I started to get a feeling that everyday was the same. Wake up, eat, pack, cycle, cycle, cycle, find somewhere to stay, eat and sleep but without the sense of triumph it can be to see that we have made some progress on our map.

I was not tired of the cycling in itself. I was tired of packing and going to an unknown place that was too close to the the previously unknown place we left in the morning. There was no excitement of arriving to a new place each evening and I was not interested in getting in contact with other people. Instead of the positive expectations when arriving to a new town, I immediately started to think of unpacking and packing again in the next morning.
What I think I wanted was to be at the same place for a week, to be able to unpack everything and not only the essentials for the night. I wanted to set up a home even if it only would be for a few days.

To sometimes get a state of mind like this is normal for people who are on long journeys and I had expected it to happen sooner or later and it happened to me when cycling somewhere between Zonguldak and Samsun. I am sure it will happen again and it then it is good to be two people to help each other to make sure that the mood doesn’t drop too far.

A few years ago the two american cyclists Ross and Dane were on their way from Helsinki to Barcelona and came to stay with us for a few nights in Göteborg. I remember we had a long discussion about the concept of being a ”cyclist” or being a ”traveler”.

The Cyclists are those who do a long cycling tour because of the physical challenge – they want to prove that it is possible to ride from A to B in winter or under less than X months. The Travelers, on the other hand, are those who want to explore a certain area and for various reasons have picked bicycle as their means of transportation.
I remember reading Dane and Ross blog afterwards where they wrote that the discussion seemed redundant at first, but proved to be unexpectedly insightful when they, a few days later, wet, cold and stuck in a fierce headwind decided they were travelers and caught a train instead of fighting on in the miserable conditions.

So what are we, cyclists or travelers?

For me I am happy (mostly) to be on the way, meet new people and see fascinating cities and landscapes. I think that qualifies me as a traveler, but I am also attracted by the notion of an unbroken wheel track between Göteborg and Bangkok. Although I want to be a traveler I am also enough of a cyclist to not want to catch a bus when an expected period of low motivation hits me. During me period of low motivation the thought of wanting to catch a bus never struck me. I wouldn’t have hesitated to do it if it had been unusual circumstances or we had had major technical problems, but a temporary and exptected lack of motivation was not a big enough reason for me. Wej was happy all these days and still look forward to her first low motivation days… 😉

When we arrived in Samsun we got a lovely hotel room with a huge balcony. We immediately felt at home and I guess that made it even more difficult to leave. The rain that started to fall as soon as our bikes were packed did certainly not make it easier and my motivation got even lower. Wej has been happy all the time I have experienced this lack of motivation and she pushed me to go on.

As we exited Samsun we soon got onto a big highway with two lanes and wide shoulder. It was a bit muddy close to the city center due to road works and we got very dirty. The highway was completely flat and we had a light but steady tailwind and moved on at a much higher speed than we have done since we started this tour.

I do a lot of road cycling in Sweden and during the last 6 years I have trained with the team in Älmhult. Cruising in a well organized group at high speed when the kilometers seem to fly past you is a wonderful feeling.

Today on the straight highway with the help of the tailwind I got the same feeling. I got into the drops and pushed forward with Wej following closely behind. We were cycling with our fully loaded touring bikes at around 30 km/h. It was great fun and I felt just like if I was riding my road bike again.

When cruising at high speed along that wellkept road I started to ask myself if my period of low motivation was due to too much ”travel” and too little ”cycling”. Being able to get our average speed up to 25 km/h (very high when touring) soon got me into a better mood. Maybe going uphill in less than 10 km/h for several days had made me miss the cycling part of our journey.

After a few hours we found a little Bed & Breakfast by the Black Sea beach. The intention was to camp but when we saw the place we thought we could as well ask for the price and when we got the price, we did not want to camp anymore 😉

The Bed & Breakfast turned out to be a Bed & Dinner and no breakfast. It didn’t matter and we cycled the 7 km into the town of Ünye where we stopped infront of a Carrefour supermarket.

We have from time to time asked ourselves when we will meet the first other cycle tourist crossing the Euroasian continent. We met a local guy on a short tour once, but still we hadn’t met anyone on an extended tour.

When we had our breakfast in front of Carrefour in Ünye we spotted anothoer cyclist coming from the other direction.

Great 🙂

Finally we would be able to talk to someone who is on a similar mission as us and maybe we could get useful information.

The guy had a big beard and long red hair and introduced himself as ”Tom”. Even before we started to talk, two more guys with heavy loaded bikes came to the parking lot where we were, but not from the same direction as Tom. He soon explained that he had passed by and turned around to go shopping at Carrefour. The two other guys are Nick and Arthur.

We all got exited to see each other and Tom (blog) explained he was on the way to Rayong in Thailand while Nick was going to India (blog). Nick and Tom had met by coincidence in Zonguldak the previous week and cycled together since then. Arthur had flown in to cycle with Nick between Samsun and Tbilisi during his 11 day vacation and they had picked him up at the airport the previous day.

Nick explained that he had visited the 5-star gas station outside Zonguldak and then been told by the staff about us so they all knew we were ahead of them.

As mentioned, we have discussed when we will meet the first cyclists. These guys overtook us so we have yet to meet the first ones coming in the opposite direction 🙂

When running into someone who is on a similar trip an endless discussion immediately starts about roads, visa applications and technical issues. I think we all felt it was fun to meet and exchange ideas and experiences.

Since we were all going in the same direction we mostly rode together but split up sometimes. Nick and Arthur wanted to go across a mountain pass on the old coastal road while Tom, Wej and I thought we had had enough of climbing and opted for the shortcut through some tunnels. It was a gentle climb of 200 vertical meters up to the section of the roads where the tunnels were. Right in the middle of the 300 meter long open section between the first short tunnel and the following 2.8 km tunnel I got my 4th puncture. It doesn’t help to get irritated – it’s much better to get to work quickly. 5 minutes into the job of repairing it started to rain and that was irritating, especially since it started to rain last time I was fixing my flat tyre too.

A flat tyre and rain was bad, but it would have been much worse to get the puncture inside the 2 km tunnel that had its entrance 200 meters ahead of us. I rather fix a flat tyre outside in the rain than on a narrow walkway in a noisy and stinking tunnel.

During the late afternoon we all decided that we wanted to reach the city of Giresun and try to find somewhere to camp there, preferably at a gas station. When arrived in the city center Tom said he wanted to cook fish for dinner and we all went into town to try to find an open fish store.

With fresh fish, eggs, vegetables and 5 loaves of bread(!) and a few beers strapped to our bikes we started our search for somewhere to camp. Camping under a motorway flyover was rejected because it was too noisy and probably would attract the kind of people we don’t want to get in touch with.

We tried a few gas stations but being in the city they were all small and without any lawn. The local fire station had a lawn and we went there to ask. I guess we would have been allowed to stay if it hadn’t been for some big boss being present that evening. We then decided to leave town and try any of the bigger gas stations that usually are found at outskirts of each city.

We were very happy to finally find a gas station that accepted to have a group of 3 british, a swedish and a thai cyclist camping on its terrace overlooking the Black Sea.

After cooking and eating together we went to bed. When going to bed I was a bit worried about camping on a tiled floor – what about it starts to rain and there is a poor drainage.
I woke up at 6 AM by the sound of heavy rain. When I looked out from the tent I could see a lot of water. It didn’t seem to flow away and the water level raised.

We have two things that may not get wet – our down sleeping bags and our computer. The computer was safe in a watertight pannier, but there was a serious threat of our sleeping bags getting wet so we quickly packed them.

Nick and Arthur had not been as lucky – they had pitched their tent at the lowest part of the terrace about 15 cm from the drainage. They were completely wet, but seemed happy anyway.

The rain kept falling and we heated water on our multifuel stove in the ladeis restroom and had our morning coffee standing there.

About 15 minutes before we were ready to go it stopped raining and the cycling conditions seemed to be promising. Sunshine and tailwind.

It is difficult to ride in a group of five people who previously have never cycled together. We cycled together and sometimes split up but stopped to wait and have lunch together. The tailwind and lack of hills made us all move at unusual spped and in the afternoon we decided that we all wanted to stay indoor the coming night in order to be able to dry our wet clothes.

When arrived in Akcaabat some 10-15 km west of Trabzon we decided to try to find a cheap hotel. While we went around looking Wej got her first puncture. My lead was now reduced to 4-1 but it was quickly fixed on a busy pavement just next to an ATM machine.

Samsun is Turkey’s largest city on the Black Sea coast. It is situated on hills sloping into the sea and from city center I felt like being on the stage in an amfiteater surrounded by the built up hills as my audience.

It was hard for us to leave our very nice room at the hotel with this great view.

Apart from the huge balcony overviewing the harbour and some of the surrounding hills, it also had a jacuzzi bathtub. We didn’t use the jacuzzi as intended though – instead we emptied our panniers with dirty clothes and let them soak in the jacuzzi for some time before washing and leaving them to dry on the giant balcony.

Before I travel to a new country I usually like to read a bit of its history and current political situation. Unfortunately this has not been possible since we have visited so many countries during a short time.

In Turkey huge turkish flags are flown everywhere and a portrait of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk is never far away. When I have had time I have done a bit of reading on the internet to catch up on Turkey’s modern history and then I have understood that Samsun has played a part in the creation of modern Turkey.

As I understand it Atatürk was sent out by the Sultan from Istanbul to Samsun to oversee the disbanding of the remaining military forces after the Ottoman empire’s defeat in the first world war. He, as well as many others, didn’t like seeing their country being chopped up so instead of following the sultan’s order he started to organize the turkish national movement. His landing in Samsun on 19th of May 1919 marks the starting day of the Turkish war of independence that a few years later led to the creation of the Turkey we see today.

In the afternoon we went out to see the city. We started by walking to the seaside park and take a look at the monument of Atatürks landing in Samsun from SS Bandirma. I am not sure but I think the monument is made to to look like a famous photo of Atatürk stepping ashore. Unfortunately the information signs were only in Turkish.

After a walk in the park and a visit to a nearby bazaar it was time for a very late lunch and once again we ended up at a restaurant with a döner being grilled behind the counter. The difference with this restaurant was that they grilled the döner by using firewood instead of gas. The chef looked after the döner roll by turning it every few minutes and fed a piece of wood into it when needed. It looked very authentical but I can’t say if it tasted any better than the döner’s grilled by the usual gas heated grill.

Wej decided to order a ”pide” which is a long oval pizza looking dish with thin bread and toppings of choice. I decided to go for an Iskender which is döner meat cut in wider pieces on placed on top of shredded thin bread and then topped with tomato sauce and melted butter and with some youghurt at the side.

A fresh and very tasty salad is usually served with the lunch. Squeezing a lemon over the salad as well as some salt makes it taste heavenly…. 🙂 And the spicy chillies served to it make us who like spicy food not wanting to leave…..

The food in Turkey is very tasty and a good reason in itself to travel here. After having been here for more than a month we have only tasted one dish that we didn’t like and that was the toothpaste soup at the hotel in Istanbul.

Usually we like seafood and although being on the Black Sea coast we haven’t managed to try so much of it yet. Fish vendors are everywhere and one thing I have noticed is that fish doesn’t seem to be stored on ice like we do in Sweden.

The man in the store wanted to sell us this fish, but we were already full after having iskander and pide in the restaurant next door. Maybe next time….

What is even better is that in Turkey they are masters of making delicious sweets and desserts that also look very temtping. We like to enter the stores selling these delights just to have a look and smell…..

Everything looks so good and it is hard to choose. Should we by this one….?

Or maybe this….?

We wanted to try all of the pastries but we managed to agree on a few ones to bring back home and have on the balcony together with coffee made on our own little primus petrol stove. To conclude we can say that if we hadn’t come here using our own muscle power we would certainly have left Turkey a bit heavier than we came….

The view of the city was even better at night time when the lights were turned on in the houses on the surrounding hills.