GEORGIA

Pazar, Turkey – Batumi, Georgia – 72 kilometres

D-day arrived and, in great anticipation, Ernest and I biked to the Turkey-Georgia
border. The weather was in our favour as the day became sunny and clear.
However, two obstacles awaited: getting out of Turkey with our expired visas, and
hoping it would be possible to purchase a Georgian visa at the border.

We nervously slinked into the Turkish immigration and were offered a seat and tea
as our dilemma was discussed. The helpful border officials pointed out that we had
overstayed our visa by 23 days and we were given two options. A fine of 300 lire
allowed the offender to return to Turkey after three months, and a penalty of

lire banned you for five years. Pondering our finances, we opted for the latter. The
whole process was significantly more straightforward than envisioned, and I will
always love the Turkish for that.

Relieved, we set off to the Georgian immigration, where we were delighted to find
one could indeed purchase a visa on arrival. Phew!

Not believing our luck, we were all smiles biking the 15 kilometres into Batumi,
our first town in Georgia, via a highly scenic stretch of the Black Sea. Reaching
Batumi, I drew a few Georgian lari and celebrated by taking a room in Batumi.

By evening, we found ourselves in the Caucasus, a region I knew nothing about
and was excited to investigate. The Caucus region is situated along the border
between Europe and Asia. It’s home to the Caucasus Mountains which contains
Europe’s highest mountain, Mount Elbrus. The area includes Georgia, Azerbaijan,
Armenia, and part of Russia. Still, we only planned to cycle Georgia and Azerbaijan
as my travel partner seemed to be in a race around the world.