GEORGIA

ROAD:
vale akhaltsikhe aspindza akhalkalaki
road condition: REALLY BAD, sometimes ok. close to armenian border: lots of snow. had to push the bike for 30 km
Akhaltsikhe exchange 1lira for 1.25 lari (possible better i had, no idea of the rate)

ROUTE:
sadakhlo - marneuli - tbilisi - kazbegi - zhinvali - akmeta - telavi - lagodekhi - bakrotsikhe - sagarejo - tbilisi - krasny - most

BORDER:
second entry no pb, really friendly soldier, some english

HOTEL:
tbilisi nasi guest house (marianisvili rive dte en face antenne tele sortie metro) 10 dolars ( i bargain for 8) shower 1 dollars, not really a nice place nasi is nice but thiff
to leave this place: metro and bus 0.2 lari (bus you re not oblige to pay!!)

FOOD:
less than 2 lari for good lunch in the streat ( pizza ice cream hamburger not at mac do!)

VISAS:
azeri visa: bus 55 ou 61 from rustavali direction vake get out when you pass a big bronze statue with a guy with a big barbe (FW) st kipshidze n 2 (25 35 25, 25 35 27) then behind this statue
in istambul the consul told me the visa start on the day you enter the country in lagodekhi they decide not so my visa was over past and no way to bargain back to tbilisi!!!

ROAD CONDITIONS:
from armenian border to tbilisi great and down
tbilisi traffic so so not horrible but not nice cycling too
from tbilisi to godauri (millitary high way 160 km) good road nice cycling way up not terrible
after till kazbeki the pass (5 km from godauri, 2440) then the way down is in really bad condition with tunnel quite dangerous
zhinvali akmeta forget about it if it rain or if the weather is not dry was terrible off road pushing the bike in 20 cm mud sometime!!! can t recommand it!!
akmeta telavi lagodekhi good
retour tbilisi ok
tbilisi azerbadgiant ( krasni most) good not too much traffic

MONEY:
tbilisi is the last for money before longue time if you don t go to baku and go to iran!!!
ATM give money in dollard the best is in mariot hotel in rustavali were you can get 250 dollars in one tiem ( the other are often no more than 100 per transaction)

INTERNET:
free british french and german council, other wise from 1 lari to 1.5 lari down rustavali open 24 hours (on the right in a court yard when you go down from the metro)

BIKE:
tbilisi arround stadium you can find a place to work on your bike but forget about spare part
i heard than arroun velodrome (FW) close to marianishvili there is some bike shop (no expect too much from according to me)

ATTEMPT KAZBECK:
had really bad weather on the way up went down at 3500m can t say a lot about it exept tahn was not to much snow for mid march and than seems a longue walk more than a climb, vano have some maps quite good, according to me it s possible in a long day i started at 20h00 and was at 3500 at 1h00 in the morning but the way not easy to find in the night specialy if it start snowing!!!

HOTELS:
kazbeghi vano's guest house great 10 lari full board (great)
telavi tushishvili guest house 20 lari avec petit dej ( correct but not as exeptionnel as the lonely planet say) by the way lonely planet for armenia georgia and azerbadgiant not usefull exept if you re only interesting by churches!

retour