Tag 43 Georgia - Separation from the transporter

So, today was the day. Before 07:00 a.m., I went on the transporter for its last ride, at least with me. The destination of the journey was a small village just before Tbilisi, where I can leave it with an acquaintance. He will then take care of all the organizational matters for me.

Well, only 10 minutes after the departure, it stalled on a slope and unlike the similar situation in Armenia, it didn't start again. Hmmh, it's difficult to fix on a hill, so I rolled back and parked at the edge after a small turn on the flat.

The cause was quickly found, the engine wasn't getting any diesel anymore. Great, and I had emptied everything tool, etc. yesterday. Fortunately, I remembered that I had kept a pair of pliers and a screwdriver to remove the license plates later. Indeed, the screw connection could be loosened with the combination pliers. Once again, dirt was stuck in the banjo bolt and the pipe at the filter inlet, something that feels like clay. Luckily, it could be pulled out with a piece of wire. Strange stuff, I packed it up, I want to take a closer look at it under the microscope at home.

After reassembly, it actually started running again, lucky me. It would have been annoying to need foreign help on the last day of the trip. Note: The old saying 'If you have a hammer, pliers, wire, you can make it to Leningrad.' still applies.

The rest of the journey went well, at some point on the highway, I felt like finding out how fast it can go. I had equipped the electronic speedometer with an annoying beeping threshold at 95 so as not to unnecessarily strain the engine. Well, it stopped at 129 according to GPS, but it also sounded a bit 'strained'. It's not necessary, 80/90 is more comfortable...

My acquaintance, his name is Zviad, picked me up at the agreed meeting point next to the highway exit, and we drove to the parking space in his village. Once we arrived, everything went very quickly: parking in the courtyard, removing the license plates, a brief explanation from me about the additional 'anti-theft systems', the car safe, other 'features', and some general details, removing the GPS speedometer and knick-knacks, and then we had lunch. In addition to juice, there was also plenty of homemade wine and 65% liquor, all homemade, all delicious. That's how it all becomes much easier...

After a long conversation on various topics, Zviad took me back to the highway entrance. There, he wanted to stop a marshrutka (usually old Mercedes Sprinter vans that provide a kind of regular transport service across the country) for me. I had brought along a cardboard sign saying 'Kutaisi', which I held up in parallel. After about 10 minutes, a Renault Megane Cabrio stopped. Nugo, the driver, said that Kutaisi is exactly his direction and he will drop me off directly at the hotel. I should give my cardboard sign to Zviad right away, I won't need it anymore. Well, it can't get much better soon.

It feels like Nugo has the only convertible in the whole of Georgia, after about 3.5 hours with the roof mostly open, in blazing sun, through long construction sites with extremely dusty tracks, and with some vehicles around us emitting nasty smoke, I can imagine why hardly anyone here drives a convertible or, if they do, only with the roof closed. The only discernible advantage was that now the right arm got a bit of a tan too, so far only the left arm saw the sun...

Nugo doesn't speak English, but he speaks fluent German. He worked in Austria for nine years and came back to Georgia because of his parents. Very pleasant guy, we had a good conversation.

However, his driving style was quite unusual. As a true Georgian, it seems that one only starts to overtake when there really is no chance of seeing anything regarding oncoming vehicles. Also, as a typical Georgian, one knows neither an engine brake nor the possibility of fuel-efficient and material-friendly driving. It was a good thing that before the return journey, out of pure politeness, I drank all the alcoholic drinks offered to me by Zviad, which made it much more bearable.

After returning to the hotel in Kutaisi in the late afternoon, I had gained a few near-death experiences.

In the evening, we went to eat at Papavero again, it was very enjoyable today as well. At the same time, I watched a 10-year-old boy juggling in front of the restaurant. He seems to be using it, just like others play instruments in the pedestrian zone, to earn some pocket money. Great respect for what he put on there with a lot of joy for a show, you really like to put something in the hat.

We spent the rest of the evening in the garden of our hosts Tamara and Georgi with delicious wine and pleasant conversations.

Today, there were another 197km with the transporter, probably the last ones for me. It's somehow strange to just leave it behind after such a long time and almost 8000 vacation kilometers.

Nevertheless, all in all, it was a nice, albeit exhausting day.