29/07/2024
Georgia 2024
This trip was planned quite spontaneously. I didn’t have anything specific on my mind and to be honest I was convinced I would end up in Albania rather than Georgia, but looking at the political situation with aggressive moves of Putin around Russia I thought I should visit Georgia again in case it would be impossible in few years.
So planned route basically following the most beautiful and remote places I saw 9 years ago, set new routes skipping all „tourist attractions” in form of monasteries, museums and other big cities’ „must visit places” and set off.
Due to war in Ukraine I had to make a longer drive. Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria, Turkey and finally Georgia. More than 3500km. Made it in 4 days. First day 1600km and first night just after entering Bulgaria, on Turkey border problem as they didn’t want to let me in due to my drone exceeding 350g and three cameras. They claimed one was allowed. Finally convinced them that I’m just passing through as my final destination was Georgia and was allowed to drive in.
Next night at Yenicaga Lake east of Bolu, then Uluburun (sort of camping, but more place at the see for day activities) and forth day entered Georgia at the boarder close to Batumi.
It was tough drive. Temperature outside was reaching 35-38 Celsius all four days. Gearbox was like a stove. Installed just under the thin plate of aluminum between the seats was heating the cabin up mercilessly. I have retro-fitted the aircon but it was not able to cool the cabin down. So basically driving 3k+ km sitting constantly in sauna 😅
Unfortunately 2k kms far from Warsaw I had first symptoms of poor service work made by the workshop with my lower gearbox I had issues with after last year’s trip to Turkey. They stated „there were no metal particles visible in the oil from the lower gearbox so it’s fine. We have just adjusted it”. Well - no guys. You should have open it and check. Had lot of stress during this trip thanks to you.
So 2k kms far from Warsaw, after hearing few bangs coming from the drive I started to wonder weather it was a good idea to continue but convinced myself to do so.
After entering Georgia I have landed in Batumi searching for a SIM card. There were some possibilities on the border itself where lot of kiosks had sign „SIM cards” but as soon as I was asking for they were providing some strange feedback like „ I need to call my friend, he has them”, they were not able to provide any information what network it would be, what coverage, how much data in the package, etc. So decided to go to Batumi and find local gsm shop. Which as turned out - wasn’t easy.
To make the long story short (I will give you more details in the video from that trip)- I found one on the bus station and bought a provider based on some internet blog claiming it was the best in Georgia. Well. It wasn’t 😬
Left Batumi after 6 p.m. As it was getting dark before 9 p.m started to look for a place for a night right after leaving the city. How crazy it was to drive in Batumi you will see in the video. The whole Georgia is just crazy to drive and definitely safety is the non-existing word in the vocabulary of Georgian drivers.
Found a spot around 40kms far from Batumi north at the sea side - between a sea and a like on the other side of the road. Set up my rig, went to bath in the sea (finally cold (ish) water!, prepared a meal, opened a beer and… Police arrived. They
ordered me to leave to the camping site nearby. Tried to understand why but the communication was difficult. They were using russian language only and I can understand some but their explanations were not clear to me. So had no choice. After Batumi craziness it was another disappointment first day of experiencing Georgia. I visited Georgia 9 years ago and had no issues with wild camping. None. Zero. And now this. They waited on the side of the road to see if I move.
I did. But didn’t find the camping they were taking about. It was even marked on the map, but physically I was not able to see it. So parked close to the beach again and spent night there 😅
Next day was the first I could finally follow the plan. The first attraction was Nokalakevi Fortress (well its remains) so it didn’t take long to see it and I set off towards Mestia. Had some issues with my OBA so stopped in few auto shops looking for a fuse but more on that in the video part, and followed the route I … didn’t expect.
Looked like 9 years was a lot. Backcountry road I remembered turned into concrete road quite heavily frequented. Another disappointment. I know it’s probably better for the local community as they can grow and life may be easier. But for overlanders as we are, this is not a direction we would like to see.
Resched Mestia in the evening had a local dinner and went to look for a spot close to the Chaaladi Iceberg. Again- something that was supposed to be remote location was pretty crowded with locals driving in their 4x4s with tourists back and forth. Fortunately - having a car such equipped I was able to drive off the beaten track and find secluded place close to a stream where I could set up my shower and finally wash my head!
Next photos (after the n**e one 😅) are photos from the Svaneti region. Visited Ushguli - one of the highest continuously inhabited settlements in Europe. You can reach it from the West side with a road that 9 years ago was only partially paved, but this time it was concrete almost on a full length. I even saw two buses - something impossible to see on that road almost a decade ago. However the most disappointing was the road from the east. Well - disappointing for me - 9 years ago - a forgotten backcountry beaten track, now - treated by heavy machinery is being changed into another two way paved road available for all. Good for locals, sad for people like we - looking for some pearls hidden in the hard to reach places…
Originally started as a build page of our Sandy - Overlander Defender, but slowly transforming to ou Our build diary and trips' stories
