Men with beer vs Women with knives #10/13

20 September

At 7:30am, I was the first one up in the hotel. I wandered into the kitchen to find some tea, and the owner of the hotel filled a cup for me, gave me a cookie, and sat me down in front of the television. Throughout the morning he kept bringing me little sweet breads, which graduated to glasses of wine. At 9am, a couple glasses in, I finally sat down to breakfast. When it was time to go, he sent me off with water bottles full to the brim of special mineral water that was so effervescent and sulphurous that every time I took a swig, all i could think about was fizzy farts.

My first stop of the day was the fortress at Ananuri, a 13th century castle that seems to have been a never ending battle site. The church inside the walls was built in 1689 and like all Georgian churches seems more like a museum than a place to gather. It used to be covered with frescos, but now just a whitewashed shell.

I continued on towards Telavi and was meet with 12 miles of non

stop hills and construction. I resorted to pushing my bike for two hours through gravel, sand, and dump trucks. When I finally hit pavement I could have kissed it. At the top of the climb there was a road side fountain, they pop up along the roads so often that I never have to carry extra water. Some are just pipes out of the hill side while others are full on shrines to loved ones. I've been drinking from them since the beginning of the trip without issue, but if I come home with giardia, you'll know why.

After covering far less mileage than I hoped, I found a place to camp in a beautiful area, wide open fields at the top of a mountain. As soon as I found a place, a car full of 3 Georgian men pulled up with a liter of beer. They insisted I join them and we sat toasting each other and getting frustrated with the language barrier. One of the men kept trying to have a conversation which turned into him repeating himself louder and louder while poking at my arm and trying to get my phone number. When the beer was gone, they said they were getting vodka and to wait there for them. As soon as they left I quickly moved my camp.

The next morning I braced myself for another rough day of biking. The road thankfully had a few flat parts, but was so full of rock I could have been biking on a river bed. I pushed, pulled, and sometimes rode my bike the 34km in four hours to Akmeta. 

I was feeling beat down by the bumpy roads so when a car passed and the man driving motioned for me to follow him off the road, of course I did! It was a couple bringing coffee to a group of people harvesting grapes and i arrived just at break time. Instantly I was surrounded by women who stuffed me full of every kind of grape they were picking, gave me a knife and had me cut grapes into a bucket, and served me delicious Turkish coffee. The women sat around me and patiently asked simple questions and erupted into laughter, and claps every time we were able to communicate.

 They sent me on my way with cheers and a bag bursting with grapes. I have never been so happy to be surrounded by a gaggle of women welding sharp knives.

The ride into Telavi went fast and all along the way I was passed by entire dump trucks loaded with grapes. In the city I was able to find a guest house that I liked. My standards have gotten pretty low, if the place has flower pots or a garden, I'm in. Fortunately this guest house was wonderful and after a much needed shower, I set off to explore.

The city is set atop a hill with a castle at it's apex. Standing at the wall you can look out over the valley and see the Caucasus mountains rising up. Behind the castle wall there were bags of bread tied up in the trees. In this part of Georgia (and maybe other parts as well) bread is considered sacred and cannot be wasted or thrown out. Often it is tied up in trees as a way to get rid of it. 

Tomorrow I continue south, I'm crossing my fingers for pavement, but i would take more grapes as an alternative.