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Georgia On My Mind

PHOTOS: If you want to see the photo’s full-size, click the photo, it isolates to a new page and click it once again.  Use browser’s “back” to return to blog.
CURRENT LOCATION:  Upper right corner is my Delorme inReach Explorer satellite tracks provided by SPOTwalla.  When activated, it provides a real time track of my travels.  The tab “All-Star Motorcycle Circus & E” opens for more options.  “Adjustments” enables the viewer to select more days of the tracks.

The tracks are archived back to my arrival in Heidelberg, April 16.

Use the zoom slider on the left to open up the map to see our entire route. The two tabs in the upper right “Map/Satellite” switches the map illustration with satellite photos.

GlobeRiders has their own BLOG “Silk Road Adventure 2015 LiveJournal!”  There is a complete description of the excursion, rider bios, ans updates of the ride.
Day 08, Sun, May 10, 2015

Start Location:  Cappadocia, Turkey

End Location:   Amasya, Turkey

Distance:          397 km (247 miles)

Hotel/Pension:   TasHan Hotel, Dere Mah, Ozkan Yalcin, Cad. No. 11 05100, Amasya, Turkey

Money Conversion:

Turkey Lira: $1 USD = Lira 2.6668 or Lira 1 = $0.37482 USD

Rode by myself today.  Just to enjoy the solitude and beauty of the Central Anatolian Plateau.
A BMW GSA’s took a dirt nap today.
We stopped to visit the ruins of Hattusha, the ancient capital City of Hittites, dating back to 1,800 BC.

This was one of the ancient gates to the city. The stone was a tall arch.

I'm at the beginning of the tunnel underneath the main gate and stone wall. Yes, that is the light at the end of the tunnel!

More detail of the stone tunnel.

Another entrance to the city. Note the VStom in the center on the other side of the gate.

Once again we spend the night in a rebuilt Caravanserai.  The old stone building is historic and unique BUT it leaves a lot to be desired as a lodging facility.  Our room was so small … we got in and out of bed from the edge!  There was no room for bags, helmets, jackets, boots, etc.  The bathroom was down a rickety set of stairs and the shower only had a hint of warm water.  The stone door was 5’-7” tall and several of the tall riders crashed their heads into the stone.
Day 09, Mon, May 11, 2015

Start Location:  Amasya, Turkey

End Location:   Trabzon, Turkey

Distance:          616 km (383 miles)

Hotel/Pension/?:     Novotel, Cumhuriyet Mah, Kasustu Beldesi Yomra, Trabzon, Turkey

Money Conversion:

Turkey Lira: $1 USD = Lira 2.6668 or Lira 1 = $0.37482 USD

Longest day.  And in the end, very wet!
95% of day was cool and blue skies.  5% foggy, cold & wet.

Rode with Chris and Bob.

Out of 19 riders … 6-7 speeding tickets!  Not for excessive autobahn speeds, but for over 90 kph (56 mph!).  I guessing that at least 12 bikes including the side care rig got pulled over.  I was pulled over with a group of 6 but I was not issued a ticket and waved on.  So far no tickets.  But I have talked to several policemen for various moto indiscretions.

Sumela Monastery was visited at end-of-day.

It was very foggy at the top of the mountain where this monastery was. The walk was 300 m up a stone stairway.

Inside the stone chapel.

The paintings color was rich and bright!

Day 10, Tue, April 12, 2015

Start Location:  Trabzon, Turkey

End Location:   Batumi, Georgia

Distance:          192 km (119 miles)

Hotel/Pension/?:     Radisson Blu Hotel, 1 Ninoshvili Street, Batumi 6000, Georgia

Money Conversion:

Georgia: $1 USD = G Lari 2.3579 or G Lari 1 = $0.42411 USD

Gas/Fuel: 1.99/l or $3.16 USD/gal!

Good road along the Black Sea.  Rain all day.

Bike Mix:  There is one Suzuki V-Strom DL1000, one KTM990, and the other 17 BMWs.  One F650, four F800 and the rest are 1200’s.  The side-car rig is a highly modified GS.
Border Crossing
19 bikes and a chase vehicle created a mess at the Turkey/Georgia border. Confusion ran amok!  The riders who rode their motorcycles into Turkey when right through the Turkey customs exit.  The bikes that came by container did not get their license plate entered into the Turkey custom system.  So when we got to the border, their vehicles were not in the customs system.  It stopped the entire border crossing for 20-minutes or more while this was discussed.  Kaz straightened everything out and across we went.  Entering Georgia was a 5-minute 2 window stop for immigration and bike customs.

Also this is where we say goodby to Kaz (our Turkey guide) and hello to Inga (our Georgia guide).

What a transition from Turkey to Georgia.  Gone are the minarets and calls for prayer over the cities PA systems.  Rarely are burkas seen any more.  Georgia is 60% Christian.
Gas in Georgia is half the price ~$3.16 USD/Gal!

Georgia Lari 1.99/l = $3.16 USD/Gal!

Georgia is in a building design change away from Soviet Union look to a modern look.

The ornate cross is a symbol of Georgian christianity.

While the University building in the back was unique, it ended up being non-functional.

The building on the left was supposed to be a restaurant but it never opened. The building on the right was suppose to be Batumi’s University BUT after being built, the government decided a University should not be ocean front so the building remains empty.

Day 11, Wed, April 13, 2015

Start Location:  Batumi, Georgia

End Location:   T’isibli, Georgia

Distance:          372 km (231 miles)

Hotel/Pension:   Hotel Vere Palace, 22-24 Kuchishvili Street, T’bilisi 0179, Georgia

Money Conversion:

Georgia: $1 USD = G Lari 2.3579 or G Lari 1 = $0.42411 USD

Gas/Fuel: ?/l or $? USD/gal!

RAIN!  RAIN!  RAIN!

There is nothing I dislike more than loading my bike in the rain.  Woke up and it was drizzling.  Departed Batumi in the rain.  Rode by myself again but crossed paths with half-dozen riders.  We are mostly on 2 lane roads heavy with trucks.  So passing skills and varying risk-levels tend to separate riders.
In Georgia the police run with lights on all the time.  Opposite from other countries where they light up when you do something wrong.
Another thing different in Georgia, when you enter a traffic circle, the vehicle entering (outside ring) has the right of way.  Inside the ring vehicles must yield to entering vehicles.  This created some couscous  moments!
If on a two-lane road and the west bound traffic is backed up behind a slow truck, west bound vehicles at the back of the line will come into your south bound lane (head on collision) attempting to pass once they see I’m a motorcycle.  They will forces motorcycles in oncoming traffic off to the shoulder attempting to pass!  In the rain this gets pretty crazy!
Stopped at the Stalin Museum in Gori, Georgia.  Stalin was born here.  While it was an interesting museum with much detail about Stalin, very little was said of the millions he killed by executions and slave laborers.

Stalin's early revolutionary days.

We had an english speaking tour guide.

I think she said this was the last photo of Stalin.

Arrived in T’bilisi in the mid-afternoon.  Traffic was heavy.   Stop-N-go traffic causes the engine to heat up and the engine stalls.  GPS brought me directly to the hotel.
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