Batumi to Kudaisi We left Batumi after sponging some McDonald’s wifi to download today’s maps. We were doing an easy 150km to a small town called Kutaisi, in central Georgia. The roads are better than expected here, but the heat is crazy. Our method of opening the windows for the breeze almost doesn’t work anymore, because the air is just so warm and dry. The one thing that does keep us on our toes though,…
Pictures are not uploading anymore, posting seems to be having issues over the WiFi here. Working on it. We woke up at 10 today after a sleeping like kings. We then realised we might miss our included breakfast and rushed downstairs to find the buffet still laid out (winning). Not long after, we set off for the Georgian border. As we passed more and more lorries, we realised we were approaching. One thing we have…
It was a sweaty and muggy night, probably around 25° in the tents. We’re sort of used to it now though, the climate is becoming the norm. At about 11 Berkay arrived and he set us up on the cable skiing, which was a laugh. And for the inexpensive £3 it cost it was great fun. Afterwards, we sadly said goodbye to Berkay and he signed Tina proudly. A little later, we found ourselves in…
We finally had a cool 14°C sleep, which was a blessing after such muggy temperatures in Istanbul. Without realising we had risen nearly 5000 feet into the Turkish mountains, hence the more British atmospheric conditions. We waited for our friend from last night to show us around, however it was a no-show. It was a shame but we settled to explore alone, and we took Tina even higher up into the hills. Before long we…
Istanbul day 1 We woke up to a cockerel yet again this morning. I almost feel like one has decided to become a stow-away in the taxi, intent on waking us every day. If it has, there’s only so long before it becomes dinner. Today’s mission was Istanbul, capital of Turkey. We hadnt heard much about it, but from the little we had heard the town was epic and the driving was horrific. This was…
The unmistakable squawk of a cockerel pierced through my content slumber. It turns out Stan had about 4 cockerels and they all enjoyed a morning sing-song. We did not share their pleasure and tried to go back to sleep. A few hours later, after they had been beating at it all morning, we decided it was time to get up. I greeted Stan and he said we should sit down at the table. He then…
Click. Another cigarette rolled out of Dan’s machine as we slept. He had awoken at various points in the night to smoke. It didn’t agitate me though, the more I thought about it the more I sympathized and ultimately admired the man. He had gone on to tell us how he works 16 hour days in a construction site for £20 a day. Having been through what he’s been through, I’d be proud to only…
What a day. The morning started jovially and we slept in beyond the usual. After everyone enjoyed a good hot shower (and we all respectively enjoyed the fact everyone had showered) we set off, Romania bound. Somewhere along the motorway we skimmed past the border of Serbia, and if we had taken the exit it would have been a nice little country addition to the list. However, even though we were only about 5 miles…
Our water supplies were low so we had to make do with river-coffees and river-teas in the morning. Following a discussion about the shelf life of UHT milk, we realised that the carton from the UK which we had opened early on and left in the 40° boot for a few days probably wasn’t consumable. That discussion having been had, we added it to our beverages anyway in an attempt to prove we have strong…
The mosquitos feasted well last night, and we woke up lumpy with bites. Sleeping wasn’t particularly glorious either, with 27° surrounding the tent and a desire to keep the mozzies out, we ended up baking away in the oven-like tents. I think we are getting used to the amount of driving we need to do and the fact that it dominates the majority of every day. Following the advice from the guys who drove an…