Day 41 Georgia - Martvili Canyon and Kinchkha Waterfall

Today, after a leisurely breakfast, we drove to Martvili Canyon.

On the way, we saw many cattle, horses, and pigs on and beside the road, all running freely and without any fear of vehicles or people. It's a mystery to me how this works and how one eventually gets their livestock back. Or is it communal property here?

Martvili Canyon is very impressive. We went inside with a raft, the rocks, the water, the air, etc., simply amazing.

Afterward, we drove to Kinchkha Waterfall. The journey there was quite difficult. It was very steep, narrow, and winding, and the road itself was in very poor condition in some parts. Sometimes I wasn't sure if we would be able to climb the hill at least in first gear, as eventually the limits of the 50 hp and rear-wheel drive were reached. In addition, the signs were very sparse and eventually Maps didn't know where we were anymore. We just drove based on our instincts. Finally, when we arrived, the parking lot was quite empty and mostly occupied by four-wheel-drive vehicles; I think I know why.

The largest waterfall there is over 80m tall, very impressive. But the smaller waterfalls were also very beautiful.

On the parking lot itself, there was a T4 with a German license plate, of course, we also met the owners. Anja and Mathias come from Kehlheim, have been traveling for half a year already, and plan to be on the road for another year to Iran and Oman.

After a longer interesting conversation with them, we drove leisurely towards Kutaisi.

After returning to the hotel, Mathias called, saying he was having trouble with the gearbox. Of course, I couldn't say no to something like that, so we started an action on the street together that same evening. We were able to identify the problem, a lost gearshift ball, which of course no one had. When trying to dismantle the underbody panel, we found that the last workshop had tightened the screws with an impact wrench so tightly that one of them was unsolvable. So unfortunately, we couldn't remove the panel to see if the ball might still be inside. Mathias will have to visit a workshop then. However, the action still had an advantage. I noticed that a CV joint boot was broken. Mathias can change that too before the bearings underneath get damaged. They still have a long way to go.

Our action as mechanics had another advantage as well. The family was able to watch the England-Germany final on Mathias' phone, unfortunately with a stupid result, while we were working.

Finally, I gave Anja and Mathias my remaining balls, balloons, flashing lights, and bubble bottles. I suspect that on their further journey in distant countries, they will surely encounter some children who need to be made happy.

They can also certainly make good use of the large car fan and the remnants of the mega roll of paper from North Macedonia.

It was once again a beautiful day, we covered 146km today.