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Another cold start with less than -10 degrees celcius in the morning. I think I will get used to it though. Met a cool dog. She ran along beside me for about 4km before giving up…

The plan was to find a place to stay in Akhaltsikhe Town for a couple of days before heading to Batuumi - the last main town in Georgia on the Black Sea coast, near the Turkey border. This changed somewhat in Akhatsikhe when I asked Nugzar, a local university student, where an internet cafe was…

Nugzar and his friend took it upon themselves to show me to the internet cafes. Being close to the new year, cafe after cafe was closed. As we walked to the third internet cafe, Nugzar explained that he had to catch a bus to his home town, Ude Town, at 5pm.

“Roberts, you come to Ude?” he asked out of the blue.

I was feeling fairly tired from the five days of cycling in snow and on busy highways, and would have been just as keen just to crash in a hotel room for a few days. But I spoke before thinking.

“Yeah, why not?” I replied.

Nugzar assured me that it would be no problem to put my bike, luggage and all, onto the bus for the half hour bus ride to Ude Town.

Indeed it was no problem, and at 6pm we arrived in Ude, a sleepy little town on the side of a mountain.

Originally, Nugzar and I had discussed that I would catch a bus back to Akhaltsikhe the next day (30th Dec), however his family were adamant that I would stay until at least the 2nd or 3rd of January. I mentally prepared myself for some major cultural experiencing.

Basically, the three days I spent at the Khuljanishvili family’s home was spent eating copious amounts of food, politely refusing to skull thier wine (there is no such thing as sipping wine in Georgia, it seems), and wandering around the town.

Being in Ude gave me the opportunity to go to an Orthodox Christian church service. Lots of chanting and melodic harmony…

Now I had heard of the Georgian’s amazing hospitality, and thanks to Uajar Khuljanishvili and his family, I managed to experience it first hand. Thank you so very much!

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The day started off with a chilly -13 degrees celcius in the morning with a strong wind that made the cold feel like a sharp razor blade on any exposed skin. I accidentally broke a tent peg that had become brittle in the cold ground. The river next to which I was camped had frozen considerably since last night…

In contrast to the last few days where all my concentration wasa absorbed by the need to stay alive on the busy highway, today was a quiet and enjoyable ride, albiet on an icy road…

Soon after I had hit the road, one of the many white BC Pipeline Toyota Landcruisers stopped ahead of me, and out jumped an Aussie named Todd. He kindly gave me some water (all mine was frozen). I was quietly envious of the warm looking vehicle…

Another highlight of the day was the restored Green Monastery. Hidden away up a narrow valley, it was silently nestled in a snow covered forest.

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そのM1国道にはもう走れませんでした。2回も大型トラックに引かれそうになって、自転車から降りて道の横に2時間近く押して進みました。

ハ シュリ町に着いたら、車の少ない国道M8に走ることにしました。現地の人に聞いたら、バトゥウミ市につながる峠は雪で通行止めになっているらしい。確かに 周りには雪が多くて、道路はここからだんだん標高高くなっていきます。バトゥウミ市に行く峠が閉まっていても、途中のアハルツイケ町経由でトルコに入るこ とができる。

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日本語要約：お〜雪！朝11時から午後2時まで降りつづけて、しばらくガススタンドに引っ込みました。雪がやんだらルシ村へ。 In the morning I had a feeling that the skies would unleash a fury on me, and indeed they did just before Gori Town. The heavy snow continued from 11am until 2pm.During this time I sheltered in a petrol station office, where the staff kindly allowed me to eat my lunch and warm up by their electric heater.

I had seriously considered staying a night in Gori, but as the weather eased in the afernoon, I headed out of Gori and over a small pass to just past a small village called Rusi.

The small farm road I used to get to my campspot for the night was covered in knee deep snow - a real challenge when you have low panniers on the bike.

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グルジアの一番主な国道に走っています。最悪です。最 初の20kmはよかったです。幅の広くて、新しい道路でした。が、そのあとは狭くて古い道路になって、一日道路の横の砂利に走っていました。しかも、地盤 の凍り溶けの繰り返しで、砂利がやわらかくて非常に走りにくかったです。その上、車とトラックが・・・とにかく多いんです。道路自体に走るのは危なくて不 可能です。明日もこのような状態が続くだろうか・・・

テントを張ったのは道路から100mはなれた畑です。車とトラックの音がうるさい。

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はい。ヨーロッパに到着しました。というような感じです。ティビリシの町並みはとてもヨーロッパぽい。

しかし明日からティビリシを後にし、黒海へ向かいます。

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日本語要約：犬に噛まれた。自転車が。カバンに穴をあけた。Crazy dog.Last night’s campsite was a good one. Overlooking T’Bilisi’s satellite city, Rust’Avi. A shepherd tending his flock of 400 (?!) sheep and goats wandered over and had a chat. Luckily he spoke Russian. I am finding that less and less people speak Russian here in Georgia. Especially the younger folk but also some of the older generation also.

On the way into T’Bilisi I met this cyclist going the other way. Passionate cylists are great. He is wearing a tank helmet and a visor.

Got my first dog bite today. Well, my panniers did. That’s a hole in the rear right pannier. I suppose it’s better than a hole in my leg.

It did get me a little riled however, since the dog belonged to the petrol station that I was cycling past, and the attendants didn’t even bat an eyelid. The dog was jolly ferocious, and they did nothing. Maybe they get off on seeing their dog attack cyclists…

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今朝寒かったよ〜。午前9時にまだマイナス9度でした〜。アゼルバイジャンの出国手続きはスムーズにいきました。そしてグルジアの入国手続きは中央アジアと比べたらひときわ先進国の様子があって、安心しました。グルジアのボーダーでは、賄賂警備員がいて、もし入国者が賄賂を税関員などに金をあげようとしたら、その警備員が入国者を逮捕する権利があるらしいです。

最初の日ですからよくわかりあせんが、グルジア人の第一印象として、アゼルバイジャンの人に比べて、ものの値段で旅をしている人をだます様子は比較的に少ないようです。

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日本語要約：アゼルバイジャンに野生犬が多すぎています。犬の泣き声で、あまり寝れませんでした。Azerbaijan has a ferral dog issue. In no other country have I been kept awake in the middle of nowhere at night in my tent by howling and scrapping dogs.

Today took me through hibernating vineyards, and in one particular town I got the biggest crowd of spectators yet when I stopped to get some food from a shop.

More of the same narrow busy roads. However as usual, the closer you get to a border, the scarcer traffic gets. Towards the end of the day it was nice quiet country roads once again.

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ガンジャー市にアルミの工場があります。