I learned a lot of things on my scouting trip to China.  Here is a random assortment you may find helpful if you are joining us on our Silk Route Bike Tour.  These tips obviously apply to China. I'll share some tips for the other 6 countries we'll be riding through later on.

-Shanghai has two airports.  One is largely domestic, the other largely international (but not exclusively).  Be sure you know which one you fly into because they are 30 km apart.
 
-Most of our hotels in China do not have laundry service.  Local laundries require 24 hours to wash your clothes. 

-Don’t ever stop in middle of a road/bike path, unless you are fond of being run over by an electric scooter.

-Bring a bell or horn.  A really loud one. Also bring mirror and handlebar bag that has a map case.

-Wean yourself off of coffee before coming.  Get used to drinking tea. 



-Carry the name of each hotel we stay in written in Mandarin with you each day. Believe me, at some point this will save your ass.  Especially if you follow the advice at the end of this list.

-Internet in most of the hotels we stay in is cable only, no wifi, so iPad and Mac Air users are out of luck

-If you enter your hotel and the lights don’t work it is because you didn’t insert your key card into the automatic cut off switch at the door.
 
-Hotels charge for dirty towels and sheets.  A lot.  They will check your room thoroughly before you check out. So don't clean your bike with a towel and don't steal anything.



-SIM cards and phones are cheap in Shanghai, you should plan on getting one.

-Every time you take a cab take a picture of the cab’s ID and phone number, just in case you forget something.

-You will have to carry your bags upstairs at most hotels in China so pack accordingly.

-Always carry toilet paper. (this is a good rule for all our tours actually).

-If you don’t like noodles, I hope you like rice.



-Drink bottled water or boiled water.  A lot of the water is not safe to drink.

-Learn to use chopsticks. Long chopsticks were easier for me to use than short ones. Wooden ones were easier to use than plastic or metal. I've heard the reusable plastic chopsticks restaurants use are rarely cleaned well so its best to use the disposable ones or bring your own.

-Buy a filter mask for dust and smog (if you have allergies or asthma take extra precautions)

-No skinny tires.  All tires should be 28mm or wider.  You've been warned.

And Finally: Get lost! It’s fun and China is very safe and fun to explore.  Just get found again before I have to come looking for you!

Well there you go.  I told you they were assorted!  More coherent info about preparing for the Silk Route Bike Tour coming soon, including a food decoder and some awesome language tips. 

Been to China?  Have some tips of your own?  Love to hear them in the comments.

Paul


Images via Wikipedia


 

Silk Route Tour Leader Paul McManus took some nice photos while scouting the new route from Shanghai to Xi'an. Check them out here, here and here.

                           Silk worm cocoons

There are lots of things to get excited about on our Silk Route tour.  Obviously the cycling is a big reason for joining a 4 and a half month bike tour (I hope!), but there are a lot of reasons people choose to travel by bike.  

Reason like experiencing new cultures and learning new languages,  the local people you’ll meet, your fellow riders, the scenic beauty, the exotic foods and of course since this is a Tour d’Afrique Ltd adventure tour you can expect a few challenging surprises along the way. 

Bike tours are always better when you know a bit about the history, culture and language of the places they travel through.  So when I came across this blog post by science fiction writer Gene Lemmp I thought I’d share it with you.  What does a science fiction writer have to say about the history of the Silk Route?  Well a lot actually.  Gene uses history to inspire the plots and characters of his own stories.  And the silk route is rich with stories of human drama and exploit. 

It’s a worthwhile read and should spark your imagination as to what lies ahead for us as we start our own journey on the Silk Route Bicycle Tour starting in May 2012. 

I’ve included a abbreviated version of the full post below, please click though to read it in its entirety.  When I contacted Gene about using his story, he mentioned he will be working on similar stories about the silk route in the future.  I hope that’s true and I hope he shares them with us!  Thanks to Gene for the great words. 

--- Paul McManus, Silk Route 2012 Tour Leader


Designing from Bones – Ancient Silk RouteThe Silk Road consists of many land and sea routes



Trade grew from the need of civilizations to acquire goods and resources not available in their home regions. This trade was often driven by empires, conquerors and religious establishments.

The Chinese held one vital resource, silk, and readily traded it for a wide variety of required goods and treasure over the following 500 years. However, the Chinese silk monopoly ended in the 3rd century when two Christian monks discovered the secret of making silk and spies were sent to steal precious silk worm eggs. Not long after silk began to be produced in the Byzantine Empire and the Silk Route drifted out of use, giving way to Islamic-controlled routes.

Conquerors, Adventurers and Death

A new conqueror, this time Genghis Khan and his Mongol hoard, re-established the Silk Route from the early 1200′s until the mid to late 1300′s. During the interim the Islamic trade routes had held a stranglehold between Europe and Asia but they could not resist the power of the Mongols. Genghis breathed life back into the Silk Road and it thrived.

Two famous travelers moved along the Silk Route during this era. One a much lauded noble traveler and the other a far more insidious and ignoble traveler.

The first was Marco Polo, a Venetian explorer, although he was only 17 when he and his father and uncle, a successful merchant team and headed along the route for China. Marco would end up traveling both the land and sea segments of the Silk Route through China to modern day Burma and back. For 24 years, Marco and his companions adventured through foreign lands before returning loaded with a wealth of treasure and knowledge.

The second famous traveler of the Silk Route during this era was the Black Death (commonly known as the Bubonic plague although this connection is in dispute). Many studies feel that the Black Death moved along this famous trade route from China to Europe most likely carried by merchants or the rats that hitchhiked with every caravan of the era. The Black Death led to the deaths of approximately half of the European population and changed the course of Western history forever.

Cultural Exchanges

While the need for goods spawned the Silk Route it was humans that transported those goods. As such the route served as a primary exchange of culture between the West and the East with Central Asia acting as a centralized stew pot of ideas, art, technology and religion.

The route allowed Christianity to advance as far as China while Buddhism missionaries traveled from India with caravans reaching into China and Central Asia. Caliphates of Arabia introduced Islam along the Silk Route in the 7th century and at one time the three great religions brewed together in the melting pot of Central Asia.

Alongside of religion moved art, paper, architecture, music, sculpting, dance and theater. It is easy to see in some areas of what we now call the Middle East the wide variety of cultural influences that at one time blossomed here.

You can read the Gene’s post in it’s entirely on his blog.
 
Gene Lempp is a science fantasy and science fiction writer with interests in archaeology, history and astronomy.  In his spare moments of lucidity, Gene blogs about the uses of history and archeology in discovering story through his Designing from Bones series, reads every craft book he can find and roams worlds where science becomes magic and power evolves from the human spirit.

I’ve been fortunate enough to complete both full editions of the Silk Route that we have run, in 2007 and 2008.  There are some amazing stories from both of those trips and lots of adventure to say the least.  What most stands out is the respect for the people who cycled the whole Asian continent, and even more respect for the Silk Road traders of old who would have spent so many years of their lives on this geographically and culturally daunting route.

Of course during any Tour that TDA runs we ponder how we could improve the Tour, whether by finding different campsites in some spots, or using a side road we discover that has less traffic and is more scenic.  For the Silk Route, we wanted to do something bigger than this, and now we have…



First off we’ve changed the timing of the Tour.  Both full editions of the SR (2010 had us running a shortened edition from Istanbul to Samarqand) were run from late-July until mid-November.  This gave us hot weather at the start of the Tour but by the time we got into the last month we had many days of cold and even some snowy days.  There was certainly beauty in this as many participants’ photos from those years would show, but having freezing hands and wearing multiple layers of bike clothes adds to the fatigue.  By switching the Tour to run late-May till late-September we’ve pretty much eliminated any serious cold weather.  Now not to say there still won’t be some challenges in store climate wise, temperatures in parts of western China and then in Turkmenistan and Iran will be toasty!



Second we’ve changed the direction of the Tour from heading west to heading east.  I’d like to say that we discovered the wind always blows westwards so the Tour will only have tailwinds, however…  China is a very large country and we spend about 8 weeks of the Tour cycling across it.  By doing so at the beginning of the Tour we leave the quick cultural and geographical changes of Central Asia, Iran and Turkey for the latter half of the Tour.  Cycling China is fruitful; with historical, gastronomical, and scenic highlights on most days, but we’ve learned that towards the end of a 4 month cycling expedition it is important to have something new always around the bend to keep the mind focused.  Not to mention that Turkey is the most “western” country on the route and has more amenities to soothe our tired legs.



Thirdly, or I could say lastly.  We have changed the route.  We’re starting in Shanghai, not Beijing.  We want this to be a true trans-continental Tour and there is no better way to do this than by dipping your toes in the East China Sea and 4 months later in the fast moving water of the Bosphorus.  We have then altered our section through Central Asia to include the Pamir Highway in Tajikistan.  This is one of the most mountainous roads in the world and truly a hidden gem.  It adds a big physical challenge to the tour but the reward is the beauty of cycling by 7000-meter peaks and the chance to experience the distinct culture of this region.  The final route change is the decision to head through Iran instead of the Caucasus.  There is nothing wrong with cycling in Georgia or Azerbaijan but the chance to cycle through Iran as a group is too great to pass up.  I’ve been lucky enough to visit Iran a couple of times while scouting our route through the country and the people, despite the problematic leadership of the country, are the most hospitable I have ever come across.  This will be one of the most memorable experiences of the new Silk Route.  Not to mention on entering Turkey we ride by Mt. Ararat; which is startlingly beautiful.



So, after all that, my feeling is that this newly designed Silk Route Tour is going to be an experience not to miss out on.  Join the pioneers and ride this new tour the first year it heads out!

It’s important to also comment that the price of the tour is higher than both Tour d’Afrique and Vuelta Sudamericana.  Part of this is obviously that the new Silk Route is our longest tour. Also a good percentage of the accommodation on the Silk Route is in hotels. However the main reason is that the Silk Route is an extremely complex tour to organize and takes a large amount of time to do so.  There is no other commercial cycling tour company offering a tour in Asia such as ours and this is because it’s not an easy thing to pull off.  We have been able to succeed in this because of our hard earned expertise and knack for adversity.  Take notice though that we are offering a 1000€ early payment discount. This is to encourage participants to commit early so we can better gauge the group size we’ll have and plan for the tour accordingly.

Congratulations Silk Route 2010 Riders!

There's nothing quite like being sprayed with champagne to celebrate a grand finale. Okay, maybe this wasn't real champagne, but it was bubbly, cold, and came in a green bottle with that fun gold foil sleeve over the cork. Besides, after cycling and camping for nearly 4000 kilometres, a shower is always welcome.

Twelve riders made it to Samarkand this afternoon, crossing the finish line as a group one last time after nearly seven weeks together. Elation was in the air as the happy bunch clustered together for photos in champagne soaked jerseys thanks to Eric and Rustam, who have really good aim. With a temperature hovering around the mid 30s, it was practically jacket weather for this crew on their final 129km ride; they've cycled through punishing +50 degree heat in recent days!

Five riders succeeded in maintaining the illusive EFI status, making their way across every inch of the route. But make no mistake, this was a tough group of determined people who rode as much as their bodies and bikes would allow under what were often intense conditions.

Now in country five of five, we've all got our favourites. Memories from Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan will stay locked in our hearts, beckoning us to return. As the chef, I was fortunate to visit thriving markets with a local interpreter at my side, catching all too brief glimpses of extraordinary cultures unlike anything I've ever known compared to my life back in Canada. I will remember the fast friendships in Turkey and raw beauty of the Georgian countryside, the refreshing fizzy camel milk under the face-melting sun of Turkmentistan, and the puppets! Oh the wonderful puppets of Uzbekistan! But most of all, I will remember, without exception, the kindness and hospitality of the people I've met. I have been humbled and touched by them all.

Congratulations 2010 Silk Route riders, you made it!

Kow Ata Camp
The countries we travel though are great.  Many like Turkey and Georgia, have ancient histories and date back to the 4th and 5th centuries.  One of the pleasures of visiting the old parts of cities in places like Istanbul, Tblisi, and to some extent, Baku is the charm of the old buildings and narrow, often cobbled, streets.  I’m a big fan of city planning.  Smart streets.  Livable cities.  The old parts of these modern cities have many of these ‘liveable’ elements that today’s city planners are struggling to achieve.  Things like mixed use structures with apartments on the upper floors and retail stores at street level create neighborhoods that operate as independent communities.  You buy your groceries from your neighbor, his son helps you paint your house, you might see your doctor or your mechanic at the laundry or local pub.  Most things are within walking distance. The narrow streets make travel by vehicle more difficult than walking or public transport.

Of course the design is not perfect. These communities were built hundreds of years ago when population density was lower and public services were minimal.  So things like efficient waste disposal, parking, street cleaning, code enforcement etc… still need a lot of improvement.  Retrofitting old buildings to accommodate modern needs like electricity, HVAC and plumbing can prove difficult and often leads to some less than ideal compromises (it’s pretty hard to run pipes and electric wires through a 12 inch stone wall).  As economies grow there is a demand for larger stores and more people need to commute to work which can clog the streets with noisy, dirty traffic.  When you contrast the lifestyle of people in the old cites to their modern counterparts it makes you wonder whether we should focus our efforts on modernizing buildings or changing our own lifestyles to be less demanding.  Certainly both are needed.  

Ashgabat, in Turkmenistan, has no old city.  Not that I’ve seen. Not in the same way as other countries we’ve visited on the Silk Route. The city was rebuilt after the 1948 earthquake that killed over 100,000 and leveled the city but the most attractive feature of it’s reconstruction was apparently a giant topiary in the shape of an airplane.  Saparmurat Niyazov, the first President  of Turmenistan (also called Turkmenbashi – Father of Turkmen) created a grand plan to renovate Ashgabat when the country gained independence in 1991.  The old structures were torn down, even the historic site of the original Ashabat settlement, Gorka, was plowed under.

The city now is beautiful, but has a strange feel to it.  Sort of sterile.  By city ordinance all buildings must be covered in Marble tile that are 80 cms x 50 cms and 3 cms thick.  10 and twelve story white marble building line the center of the city along a great pedestrian mall.  At one end of the mall is a 75 meter monument dedicated to Turkmenbashi.  At the top of the monument is a 12 meter statue of President Niyazov that is made of gold and rotates to always face the sun.  Behind the monument is a memorial to the 1948 earthquake that depicts a giant bull (with surprisingly large testicles) with the world skewered on its horns.  Atop the world is a golden child statue, riding out the shaking of the earth and representing the future of Turkmen.  Surrounding the mall are many other grand buildings and monuments and of course, a few more golden statues of Turkmenbashi.   The city center of the city is surprisingly void of people and it is very clean. Smoking is banned in all public areas, ever since the president quit smoking a decade ago.

Our ride through Turkmenistan started from the port in Turkmenbashi (named after the President).  We were a day behind schedule because the ferry was late arriving so we rode 80 kms in the desert heat before putting everyone on a bus to drive 290 kms closer to Ashgabat so we could ride the last two days into the city.  On the way we stopped at a salt lake for cool dip. Initially we had problems with the police, who were very concerned for our safety and were not happy with our diversion from the route, but eventually we were allowed to swim and interact with the locals who had also shown up for a dip.  The next day we were very lucky.  The blazing summer sun was subdued by cloud cover and the wind was in our favor.  Most riders covered the 140 kms to camp 4 to 5 hours.  We camped at Kow Ata, an underground thermal lake and place of legend and myth for Turkmen.  Located at the bottom of a cave 175 meters down a steep stone staircase the green, sulfuric, thermal lake is said to have all kinds of healing properties.  Climbing back out of the cave and towards the light you feel like you are ascending back from the river Styx.  We’ve found the people of Turkmenistan to be very friendly and curious.  80’s music seems very popular here.  The restaurant where I had dinner last night played a loop of Bruce Springsteen videos on a big flat screen and the cab driver who took me to the large bazaar outside the city played hits from Rod Stewart, Huey Lewis and Depeche Mode.  The Tolkuchka bazzar was really interesting.  Held on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sunday it is a very different from the city itself.  You walk by camels and sheep being lead into trucks by their new owner as you weave your way thru the vegetable market and back into to the carpet area.  Nearby are men selling Turmen hats and cloaks and women selling old jewelry and wedding costumes.  It’s a lively place that really gives you a sense of the countries history.  Tomorrow we head out of the city towards Mary and eventually to the Turkmenbat and the border with Uzbekistan.  Only 8 riding days left on tour.

My heart sank a bit when I heard the ‘Ferry Overlord’ (I have no idea what his real title is) said there would be no ferry again today.  “100 percent no ferry?,.. no chance at all?” I pleaded.  “No ferry, maybe” was his cryptic reply.  Aydin, our local support and the bane of my existence at times flashed me an all to familiar look that at the same time expressed his disappointment but also managed to say ‘ this is not my fault’.  Aydin had actually been very helpful in Baku.  He knew the city well and was well connected.  I knew he was trying his best to organize the ferry crossing for us but it’s just not a process that lends itself to organization. 

First of all, no one seems to know exactly what building to go to get whichever set of papers you need to get your clients, or your van or the bikes on the ferry.  We walked around the compound a few times, asking in one office only to be sent to another office and eventually sent back to the original office.  Secondly, no one knows when the ferry will arrive in dock.  Our ferry was currently sitting a few miles off shore waiting for the train to arrive.  The ferries mostly carry train cars and trucks loaded with goods, or oil or coal or whatever…  If the train doesn’t arrive on time there is no point in the ferry docking because berthing fees are quite high and it’s free to float in the middle of the Caspian.  Thirdly, no one has any idea which ferry will arrive.  There are anywhere from 3 to 7 ferries between Turkmenbashy and Baku depending on who you ask.  For some reason that I could not seem to understand no one knows which one will arrive in port at any give time, until of course it actually arrives.  The prices for passengers and cargo are different for each ferry so you can’t buy a ticket until they know which one will dock.  The workers at the dock have a way of making you feel like you should somehow understand all this and act really bored when you ask questions that might possibly clarify how you are going to get across the Caspian Sea on one of their boats.  

The dock area has a sort of typical industrial look to it.  Pretty basic cement buildings and your smattering of portable buildings.  Strangely though there is a bar/restaurant right in the middle.  When we visited the docks at midnight to buy our tickets at midnight the place was alive with music and dancing.  Old, obviously wealthy men, sat in tight circles having private discussions.  The whole place had a gangster feel to it, like this was the group of people who actually ran the docks.  I wasn’t really in the party mood though.  Not having slept because at any moment the ferry overlord could call and tell me to come get my tickets now or risk missing the only ferry to arrive in 2 days.  We got the tickets from a nice lady in a well lit office who was polite and efficient.  Then we were sent down an alley and around the back of the compound to get the ticket for the Mercedes Van.  For a second I thought we had been sent down the wrong way ( I also had a strong feeling I was about to get mugged) but sure enough a few hundred yards down the alley was a dim light coming from an open door.  Inside were two men smoking cigarettes, drinking vodka and watching TV.  Everyone at the docks has their own TV in their office.  The ferry overlord always had his set to a music channel.  These guys were watching some kind of Turkish soap opera.  Aydin spoke to them and laughed with them and finally they wrote a ticket, I paid and they promised to call when the ferry was unloaded and ready to take passengers. 

At 5 am on the 19th we got the call to head to the docks.  At 7 am we cleared customs and climbed on to the ship where a large Russian women took our passports and tickets and gave us rooms.  ‘NYET NYET, I KEEP!”  She screamed at me when I politely asked if we could have our passports back.  I wasn’t going to argue.  The Ferry departed at 9 am on the 19th.  I SMS’d out local support in Turkmenistan the name of the ferry and the departure time so they hopefully would be able to meet us on the other side without too much hassle. 

The ferry itself was quite pleasant.  In contrast to the ferry from Aswan that we take on the Africa tour this ferry had almost no people on it.  The rooms were spacious and almost clean.  The restaurant served decent food ( although I’m not totally convinced that rabbit was actually rabbit, but the crew ate it as well so….) I spent most of my time up on deck in the sole lounge chair the boat had to offer, placed the shade of a bulkhead.  It was quiet, there was a cool breeze and I slept for a good 8 hrs. 

At 11:30 pm on the 19th we reached the gulf in Turkmenbashy.  I could see the lights of the city and still had hopes that maybe the tour would actually stay on schedule despite this crazy ferry.  Then I heard the anchor drop.  At 11 am on the 20th the anchor came back up and at 1 pm we docked.  At 5 pm on the 20th we had finally cleared customs and rode to the hotel.  Then the trip started to get surreal. 

We rode thru Turkmenbashy to a new area call Avazar.  Two years ago this place didn’t exist, it was nothing but desert.  Now there are dozens of kilometers of well lit streets snaking everywhere.  Some go nowhere, others are lined with 15 story hotels all lit with pastel flood lights like you’d see in Daytona beach.   There are discos and casinos and something called a Children’s Hotel, the Turkmeni version of summer camp.  Currently the Children’s Hotel was filled with 50 Hatians who had been rescued from the recent earthquakes there (really).  There is also a canal that takes water out of the Caspian only to return it back again 8 kms later.  You can take a boat trip on the canal for 3 manat ($1).  “To see the nice hotels and bridges” was the response I got when I asked why I would want to take a boat trip on the canal.  “ To see the bridges that were built so cars could drive over the canal?”  “Yes”. 

We are staying at the Kuwwat Hotel. It’s fabulous.  5 Star.  The showers are hot and powerful, the A/C is cold the beds are big and firm and the staff is really helpful.  We were supposed to stay the Hotel Hazar.  A 4 story soviet era hotel where the water is on for 2 hrs a day and the cockroaches help you clean up after dinner.  Our local support change the venue, at no cost to us, so that a TV crew could interview and film us riding our bikes in the new Avazar area.  Avazar is  kind of a pet project of the President to help bolster tourism on the Caspian.   The Caspian is beautiful here and the beaches are nice, the hotels that have been built are luxurious and ridiculously cheap for what they offer.  I guess the TV crew felt that if they filmed us riding near the Hazar and the President saw it he would be very upset that they had filmed tourists at a decrepit old building when he had just financed this beautiful new tourist area.  So we got a nice upgrade and they got a nice bit of propaganda.  Fair enough.  If the rest of Turkmenistan is as interesting as this I’m gonna love it.

Welcome to Azerbaijan, Good Luck.  That’s what the sign at the border said. I’m not kidding.  It made me chuckle as I passed under the sign on the way to immigration.  I had no idea how prescient that sign would turn out to be.  We’d been warned.  Our support staff in Azerbaijan would be difficult to communicate with and wouldn’t be good with details, I thought I was prepared.  I crossed the border first, to meet Aydin and Araz.  Immediately I could see that communication would be tough.  Aydin spoke very broken English and Araz none at all.  No big deal.  I’ve dealt with these situations before, just talk slowly, use hand signs, repeat yourself often.  I went over the route, three times.  I explained how our system of lunch and dinner and flagging works, how may riders we have, asked about where we were staying etc.. etc…  “NO PROBLEM, NO PROBLEM, I ARRANGE EVERYTHING was Aydin’s response (Aydin doesn’t speak as much as yell).  Well.  At the end of the day we had a 3 day transit paper for our vehicle (our trip thru Azerbaijan would take 5 days).  We missed a turn and took a route that was 20 kms longer than it should have been, and our hotel had been double booked.  Welcome to Azerbaijan, good luck. 

The good news is that Azerbaijan is a beautiful country, the riding was easy, the riders took everything in stride, and we all made it safely to the Karavanserai in Sheki (a beautiful and historic Silk Route hotel).  Over the next few days we would face similar frustrations but also have some really nice experiences.  I visited a village in the Caucus Mountains where for 4 generations they have made carpets, rugs and pillows by hand.  The men herd sheep and shear the wool.  The women dye the wool using plants and soil and weave it into intricate patterns. A small bath mat sized rug taking a month to make and larger ones up to 4 months.  We sat with them and had chai, homemade bread and cheese from sheep’s milk.  The view from the house was stunning and family was as welcoming as any I have met.  Experiences like that make all the frustration worthwhile, in fact the frustration make those experiences even better.  As I write this now I am in Baku.  The issue with the van has been sorted out, I’ve had a nap and shower and it seems that the upredictable ferry to Turkmentistan might actually leave on the 18^th as planned.

Aydin, our local guide, is obviously well connected in Baku.  As frustrating as it was to work with him on out route to the capital city once we arrived he helped to arrange visas, ferry tickets and to fix our problem with the van with efficiency and confidence.  He is an interesting character.  He studied tourism in school in the Soviet union (Azerbaijan was part of the Soviet union until 1991) and travelled all over the USSR as a tour guide.  He is affable, in a coarse way, generous at times and we had some fun moments together, in between yelling at each other.  Now that we are settled in Baku and will (hopefully) be on the ferry to Turkmenbashi the day after tomorrow I think the time spent with Aydin and Araz will be one of the better memories of the trip. 

“To our good memories and plans!”  That was the eighth or ninth toast of the night from our local guide Zaza.  We were at a local restaurant in Tblisi eating some of the most delicious food I’ve had in long time.  The meal consisted of six or seven courses starting with bread and salads then cheeses and moving on to dumplings, 3 kinds of Kebap, chicken, and finally homemade ice cream.  I was really hungry when we sat down so I began eating salad and bread voraciously when Zaza explained me I must go “slowly slowly” there was much more to come.  In addition to the many plates of food there were two kinds of local wine, local beer and of course, vodka on the table.  The Georgians have a tradition of toasting that is unparalleled in my experience.  Usually the oldest man at the table leads the toasts.  They progress in a particular order.  Starting with a toast to our ancestors, then our families, then our countries.  Then, after that warm feeling has thoroughly settle into your being the toast become more personal and more elaborate.  When it comes to enjoying food and drink the Georgians are true professionals.  

Our entry into Georgia was fairly easy.  The Georgian government is very pro-west (one of the reasons they fought a war with the Russians in 2008) so we didn’t even need visas.  Initially the roads from the border were very rough and it looked like it was going to be a long day.  But after only 15 or 20 kms the rough dirt turned o pavement and the rough, rocky, mountains of Turkey are transformed into the lush rolling green hills that characterize this part of Georgia.  The weather was warm, the breeze that was blowing was cool as we began to follow the Kura  river towards Tblisi.  

Georgia has been a wonderful surprise.  From the border we passed thru very rural areas where people live primarily as farmers and shepherds.  There is a large Armenian population in this part of the country and Russian is as common a language as Georgian.  Talking to one of our local support guides, Dato, who works as an archeologist at the national museum I learned so many fascinating things about the country.  Georgia was the setting of Jason and the Argonauts quest for the golden fleece, the oldest human remains found outside of Africa were discovered here (2.5 million BC), Christianity first came here in 400 AD, there are 27,000 rivers in Georgia…. The list was endless and made for great conversation on our drives to lunch every day.   Dato is obviously very proud of his county (as he should be) and continually in our conversations he would bring up the countries desire for peace and a stable democratic government.  The current president has apparently made great progress towards those ends by reforming the police, improving infrastructure and encouraging tourism.  But Georgia is a small country that shares a historical and cultural history with Iran, Russia, and Turkey and too often in its past the hunger for other nations to expand their boundaries have negatively impacted its progress and growth. 

Arriving in Tblisi we found a completely different Georgia.  Split into two parts, the old city and the new, Tblisi is pumping with energy.   Everywhere you look the city is being renovated.  From new pedestrian malls to cultural centers and the rehabilitation of 14^th century churches the city is improving at a rapid pace. It’s an attractive city (and not just because of Georgian women) and an easy city to walk around.  There are public art installations everywhere and dozens of cafes, art shops and stores lining the cobbled streets in the old city.  In the new city the vibe is very different.  From freedom square (so named in 2002 when Georgians held public demonstrations there to declare their independence) west the small locally owned shops gives way to Dolce and Gabana, Versace and large commercial banks.  There are quite a few beggars on the streets, an indication that while many in Georgia have found ways to make a decent living there are still many that have not. 

I’d love to have more time to explore Tblisi, the Caucus mountains in the northwest, the wine county in the east and the deserts in the south.  We spend only 5 days in country and certainly we only get a glimpse of what it has to offer.  But it’s a nice appetizer to be sure and someday I plan to come back and enjoy some more.

El camino que lleva a Yusufeli es uno de los mas lindos que hemos visto. Es apenas una senda estrecha en donde con suerte cabe uno auto y una persona al mismo tiempo. El sol brilla muy fuerte y su luz se refleja en todas partes. El río corre siempre a nuestro lado y algunos de sus brazos pequeños se nos atraviesan de vez en cuando. Hay que estar atentos porque las curvas son cerradas y de improviso se aparece por el otro lado un camión.

Este valle ha sido habitado desde tiempos inmemoriales, y uno lo nota en las casas de piedra y madera que vemos al pasar. Y en las fortalezas y castillos en ruinas que se encumbran en las colinas más altas. Hace un calor muy fuerte y el camino es casi siempre de tierra. Pasamos por entre medio de las casas y saludamos  a la gente mientras algunos trabajan y otros se sientan a las sombra o tomar el té. Como aman el té los turcos. Los colores de los pañuelos con los que se cubren las mujeres han cambiado y son más vivos. Y se los atan de otra forma. Mujeres y hombres muy ancianos caminan lentamente en medio de la ruta. Van apoyados en sus bastones y recogiendo ramas para hacer fuego. Van conversando con alguien y no se dan cuanta que alguien viene. 

Muy pronto llegaremos a la frontera de Georgia. Todo lo que viene allá es un completo misterio. Los ciclistas han empezado a mejorar mucho su resistencia. Al calor y a las empinadas subidas. Turquía es tierra escarpada y hay que ser fuerte  para echarse a rodar por sus caminos. Pero nos vamos acostumbrando. Por las mañanas nos despierta muy temprano el almuecín que, desde algún minarete cercano, llama a los fieles a orar.  Aunque tal vez sólo baste la salida del sol que a las cinco de la mañana ya tiene a todo el mundo en pie. Una vez en la ruta, la gente es generalmente muy amable y nos invita a su casas a tomar té y conocer a sus familias, y otras veces se detienen en medio del camino para darles un aventón a los ciclistas. Más de alguno llegó en camión al campamento o fue invitado a pasear por las calles de Safranbulo.
 
A la hora de la cena todo el mundo está impaciente por saber que va a cocinar Allison. Todas las tardes es algo delicioso y diferente. Y es doblemente agradable cuando estamos en un lugar lejano donde no siempre existen todas las comodidades. Esa es un poco la gracia de esta experiencia, la combinación del viaje el contacto con culturas diferente.

Haldún es nuestro hombre en Turquía y hace que las cosas sean mucho más fáciles. Y que no nos perdamos nada de los bueno, especialmente si es comida local. Y se come bien en Turquía si es que uno sabe cómo se piden las cosas. Pero el asunto no es nada fácil aunque podamos decir unas cuantas palabras en turco.

Atrás quedará el Raki y ahora viene el vodka, y las inmensas estepas de Eurasia. Mirando hacia el Este, en medio de las colinas, vemos la cumbre nevada de alguna montaña anónima. Es imposible no pensar en lo que hay más allá. Los Himalayas están ahí, sólo un poco más lejos, al otro lado del camino.



Ricardo Stuardo T.