From Mafia bosses and funny Russians

After the Diamond Bridge, we drive for 2 hours into the small Caucasus.

We want to hike to the Abuli Pass (2800 meters) and from there to the Abuli Fortress, a ruin.

Unfortunately, our plan doesn't work out; the condition of the mountain road to the pass is so bad that we have to leave our Gregor about halfway along the route.

Hardly any sooner do we start walking when suddenly a very fat, seemingly expensive Mercedes comes along the mountain road, stops by us, and 2 men greet us, asking if we are also heading to Abuli Pass and would like to ride with them. I say 'seemingly' because the gentlemen spoke almost no English, and we hadn't figured out Google Translate yet.

Of course, we get into a stranger's car in a godforsaken area somewhere in the middle of the small Caucasus! They introduce themselves as Damiel and Sanak or something like that, saying they are going to a family reunion.

Suddenly, 6 or 7 other big cars come towards us; Damiel, who also claims to be the “Count” of the entire area and that he owns everything, knows and greets them all. Time and again, he pushes his car to the limit, colliding with stones on the road a few times, and we have to maneuver complicatedly to get past the cars.

Eventually, we arrive at the pass, and up there is - nothing. We thank the two nice, dubious gentlemen, are very glad to be out of the car again, and simply cannot understand what kind of family meeting that was in absolute solitude. Probably some kind of drug or arms deal, we'll never find out, but it was certainly an adventure!

We couldn't hike all the way to the fortress because, unfortunately, a shepherd dog aggressively barked at us; they are not to be trifled with here.

In the end, we encountered a funny Russian tourist, Napoleon, who, armed only with a hat, umbrella, and selfie stick, was wandering in the wrong direction just before sunset.

We hope he made it back home!

What a day.