RollingRocco

Our time with Avto was coming to the end so we decided to chill at the river on the last day. Found a great spot where Franco tried fishing ( no luck but some georgian guys gave us coregone fish as a gift 🙂).  We also picked up some blackberries and made marmalade 😋. Avto convinced us to continue to ABUDELAURI LAKES. He unfortunately had to go back home on Friday but would meet us in place on Saturday because he had a tourist group booked for trekking there. So we could just follow the group. Wow 😲!!! This is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to.  It's not so popular as other spots maybe because of a difficult road but so worth the journey!!! At the evening we had a whole place to ourselves as not every camper can get here, you will need a 4x4. I have noticed that we had a bit of the sleeping problems because of the high altitude but I was overjoyed to sleep with a duvet and open windows😀! We were curious to s...

Next day after a hearty breakfast Avto took us to visit Juta valley. The mountains here are often called Georgian Dolomites.  The trail was a bit harder(not for the Chinese lady though doing it in flip-flops 😂😂). We were struggling a bit but mostly because of the  hot weather. Yeas we are at more than 2000m a.s.l but the sun here is mercifulless. I was already tanned but still got a bit of the sun burn! So after 2 days  we were ready for a real badass trail. Mount Kazbegi known as a queen of the valley welcomed us with a clear view on her peak so we could admire her majesty🙂.  It was really hard going  800 m up and than 800m down but we did it!!!For Avto it seemed effortless 🤣🤣. Where we camped in the night we had an amazing view on one of the most picturesque churches - Gergeti Trinity Church.  Sadly instead of a place for reflection it became a mass tourism destination to make selfies and ph...

Before starting the journey to KAZBEGI we stopped at Rustavi to pick up our own personal guide and friend Avto 🙂. As it sometimes work out in the world, we have a friend who has a Georgian friend and the friend of the friend has a brother that lives in Georgia. No, actually Avto funny enough normally lives in Poland but in the summer comes back home to work as a  guide.  The Kekua family has welcomed us with open heart and we felt immediately at home. Thank you Maja for the delicious food and Pablo for the homemade wine and the painting😘. So after the lovely evening, the next morning we were ready to escape the heat of the city. Kazbegi National Park probably is the most visited park because it's easy accessible from Tbilisi ( the capital). The road is extremely picturesque but also very busy as it finishes at the only open border crossing to Russia.You get a majority of chinese, russian and israelian tourists with a minor dose of Europeans. The road is trafficke...

The road to Racha region kind of reminded us of Val d'aveto road back at home apart from the hairpin turns at the beginning.  We stopped by the road to fill the water bottles and meet Temuri, who started to chat with us in English and than turned out speaks several languages including some Polish. He totally caught us of guard offering us red local wine that he just went to get from the winery and than also gave us a bottle of homemade cha cha ( grappa).We weren't prepared for so much hospitality 🙂👍. Thank you Temu for being so kind to us! There are several wineries close to Ambrolauri but it was late and we just wanted to get to our final destination. We still have time to discover Georgian wine. Finally we arrived at Shaori lake situated at 1300 m. It is known for it's trout but looking at all the fisherman camping at the river bank with at least 3 fishing rods per person we weren't that convinced to give it a try.  So instead we went cycling...

I first heard of Svaneti Region and Usghuli village in a documentary on geo( Italian programme on national tv). Ushguli is one of the highest continuously inhabited settlements in Europe ( 2,100 altitude).  Because of it's unique, medieval defensive tower houses called Svan towers -Ushguli, Mestia, and the surrounding area was recognized as the Upper Svaneti UNESCO World Heritage Site.  What I thought to find was a secluded place ( during the winter they get cut off because of the snow), waiting to explode with tourism. Well we got here a bit late🤣🤣. Not mass tourism yet but a good dose of international tourism. With the road that practically takes you under Shkara glacier.  The views are incredible! You feel crushed by the sheer size of the mountains here! The village preserved it's rural character with cow poop all over, guesthouses and improvised cafés😄.There are two roads to get here and all of them are accessible by 2 wheel d...

Georgia!  No not the one in America but Caucasus Georgia 🙂. We crossed the border between Turkey and Georgia in the north part , on the Black Sea coast. The Turkish border crossing was extremely unorganised and confusing. Franco and I got split, I had to proceed on foot and we met again already on the Georgian side. Georgian custom officers were very friendly and smiley 😁. The border crossing at Sarpi Is extremely chaotic.Please don't try to buy SIM card, exchange money or buy the compulsory car insurance there cause they will literally rip you off!With prices higher more than the 10€ on average.From Sarpi you get to the most known cosmopolitan resort city in Georgia - Batumi. Batumi is an entertainment centre for this side of the world with skyscrapers, casinos and seaside resorts. It was very busy but we really liked it- there is a good balance between new and old architecture. Driving in Georgia can be challenging, on the busy and rural roads you will ...

Indovinate dove siamo ancora? Si in Bulgaria. Quest' volta non per il nostro volere. Stiamo aspettando un pezzo che deve arrivare dal Italia al officina camper qui a Burgas, la città grossa sul Mare Nero. Ma ricapitolando. Dopo Plovdiv siamo stati a Rodophi Mountains che sono le montagne più basse di Pirin con un max altitudine di 2000 m.  Era bello ma c'erano tanti posti abbandonati e le mega strutture neanche finite e lasciate a marcire.Va bene per fare le passeggiate poco impegnative, sicuramente migliore durante l' inverno con il centro sciisticio a Pamporovo.Abbiamo fatto la nostra ultima grigliata sul piazzale della partenza di una seggiovia fuori uso preparandoci per la Turchia( in Turchia non si può portare la carne e prodotti latticini). Noi invece pieni di arrosticini e sàlamelle come morti di fame🤣. Dalle montagne al Mar Nero dove siamo ancora adesso. Cosa dire sulla riviera Balcanica? C'è casino! Si le spiagge sono bellis...