Day 22 – 17 September 2017 – Tbilisi to Balakan (Azerbaijan)
The rugged streets of Tbilisi
Three fair ladies in waitingThat is a mighty fine beardNot the finest architecture we’ve seen
Tbilisi St. Trinity Cathedral
Love the symmetry?
Georgian flag flying high over TbilisiSting look-alike and his highly made-up wife making fresh juice for all on a stinky hot morningTake your pick of some beautifully vibrant fruitMmmmm, refreshing!Another hot morning loading the bikes – how we had this much energy this morning after getting to bed at 5am we’ll never know!!Some more meat for lunch in rural GeorgiaLocal transportation techniquesGood luck? They’re either trying to be really nice or there’s some serious stuff going down in Azerbaijan……as it turns out they’re just nice people!!
Day 23 – 18 September 2017 – Balakan to Gebele (Azerbaijan)
Running some errands in Balakan, while Amand rests up on the edge of town, not feeling wellThriving metropolis of Balakan
We spend a large part of the day navigating our way through roadworks – Sam fish-tailing all the way
Vusal took the challenge of attacking Amand’s mop – it was so hot that we figured removing some insulation might help him feel better
Steve took a tidy up while we we there as well, and they refused to take our money, just happy that we’d stopped in their little barber’s shop in Qakh.As we arrived in Gebele, the sun was setting and it was stunning over the south side of the Caucasians.Another petrol station where we stood out like a sore thumb, all the attendants here came over for a good sticky beak and chatGreat effort from Amand to get any kms under the belt today, but certainly feeling it now!
Day 24 – 19 September 2017 – Gebele to Baku (Azerbaijan)
Amand woke up feeling a bunch better and quite happy about it tooAmazing colours of fruit juice and fruit leather in the bright sunshineAmazing interest in us everywhere we wentThe landscape was pretty harsh……and got drier……and drier……and then we spotted the Caspian Sea. An amazing moment and sense of achievement in seeing the goal of the trip. We had made it…to halfway!!We had to stop for a moment of celebration……and then Sam and Steve saw something that looked like it should be scaled by a bike!It was sandy, dry and super dusty……but they made it to the top with huge grins on their facesA fun ride back down as wellMeanwhile Nadia and Amand took a rest!Sadly we didn’t get a Baku arrival photo, but we had made it!! We were all rappedWe headed to Suzuki Avtomobil, had some lunch and got into the half-way serviceSome of us enjoy getting grease under our fingernails more than othersThe girls looked like they’d had a tough ride, and they had with about 6000km under our belts……so perfect time for a bubble bath
The boys at Suzuki Avtomobil all wanted a ride, some were keen to buy our bikes as well!!
The girls came out looking sparkly and ready…for another 6000km!!
After a tiki tour to find our hotel within the Baku old city walls we headed out for a little look around
Baku is a beautiful city, especially by night
And humming, so we found a beer and burger and watched the world go by
