We stopped at a large mall to spend the Ā£170 we had left over from the van repairs. J came away with jeans and a top.
We had our last Pide, not the best version but possibly the best of Turkish foodComing around Istanbul we crossed a long bridge. My bridge expert passenger was able to tell me combined cable stay and suspension cable construction.
Still with cash left we stopped at a seaside resort next to a C15 bridge built by Sinan the architect to carry Ottoman troops. He features in a book club read ā¦ The Architectās Apprentice.
Sinan the architect and his bridge to carry Ottoman troops. I ceased carry vehicles in 1970s.
Dinner a lot more expensive and very disappointing. I had Roquefort salad, but the cheese was flabby and tasteless. It certainly had never been to Europe, let alone France. Perhaps we should choose destinations by the food!
Fantastic Fanari
19/11/2025
Filled with diesel just before the border, as itās just under Ā£1/ltr. Paid cash. A quick two item purchase in a supermarket got rid of the rest of the cash.
At the border, James was allowed to stay in Jez rather than walk through as a pedestrian. Issue with the van reg ā¦ the vehicle had not been registered as entering Turkey from Georgia. We have had this issue at some motorway tolls. The 1 is a number not an i, said I. Aah, never seen that said he. I didnāt bother explaining about a private plate. Two cursory glances inside from the hab door. Didnāt even open the garages. We could have illegally imported the dog I had liked, as no one was interested in Corrie or wanted to see her passport. Took just over an hour.
Onward to Fanari where we stopped on the way to Tr. Two BG vans that later departed and a UK van. Weāve not seen a UK motorhome in 3.5 months. Mary and Tony joined us for a drink whilst we ate. And then for a nightcap in Jez. Lovely evening.
I WhatsApp called my father’s 89th birthday party.
Four generations
We had a great time in Turkey, but we decided the SE corner that we missed out on due to van repairs in Ankara, could stay missed. I had particularly wanted to see the stone heads at mount Nemrut, but just not worth the driving distance. We may re-visit Istanbul at some point by plane, but out of tourist season!
Georgia we would bolt back to anytime. Loved it. Amazing diverse scenery for such a small place. And fabulous food.
A loooong driving day. Over 11 hours with a shop stop, lunch and the border back into Turkey. Sim replenished and cash obtained. 560km, most of it in driving rain.
J, as passenger had to walk through the border. I nearly got arrested for smuggling. Stupidly I hadnāt checked the regs for importing wine from Georgia. Only 1ltr pp!!! After an hour, I was allowed to keep 10 bottles. 9 were confiscated. I hadnāt tried to conceal the other 4 boxes in the door well. But once I realised, theyād not been spotted, my fleece was flung over them. I also stashed another bottle in the fridge! I can collect the confiscated wines within 3 months, on re entry to Georgia š. I nearly suggested the border guards might drink it, but remembered this may be insulting to Muslims!
We finally parked up at a place we stayed at before. Itās so much easier going somewhere you know after a long day. A takeaway in the van so we could have a glass of the contraband!
Horrendous wet driving conditions. And some more mad overtaking / undertaking Wine confiscation receiptWeather clearing by Rize
And Repeat
14/11/2025
9 hr driving day. Another 590 km. Stopped for lunch and diesel/LPG. My neck and shoulders are suffering.
Ćorum our overnight stop, is modern with a lovely park, where we spent a super quiet night.m. With doing all this driving, Iām refusing to cook. And J canāt / wonāt cook. So supper was in a pretentious restaurant called The Suits š. Food good though.
Corim parking perfect for Corrie walking
Ankara: Ada Karavans
15/11/3025
Only 233km today to our lovely repair chaps. We went shopping and for some lunch. Sat inside whilst a man on the roof. Another in the shower. And the little one said Roll Over.
Drain hole replacedReally messy mastic removed and neat new sealant applied to the rooflight.
We spent a good hour with them trying to work out why the heating works on electric but not gas. Erfan phoned a friend. Eventually they said we would have to go to an Alde dealer in Istanbul. We didnāt really want to mess with Istanbul traffic. I put a post on wildcamping.co.uk. Woke in the night and checked for answers. One suggested a tick box under installed settings on the control panel. At 0400 I did this. By 0500 we were warm, too toasty! I can only think it had been fiddled with on the last service.
Airbag repair 1
16/11/3025
A wasted day really. I imparted the good news about the heating. We had to wait for the son to return to pay up. Ā£265 for new shower drain, resealed skylight, a window frame turned the correct way and gas investigation. Again, very happy to pay for quality workmanship at such a good price.
ADA Karavans had rung the airbag people so they were expecting us. After a few checks, it is a new problem. A relief that the airbag glue from our last visit held up. But he needed to order parts and to return tomorrow morning.
We looked on P4N, but the nearest was the lake campsite 65k north. So we returned to this peaceful sanctuary. Ducks, geese and a strange looking rabbit. Ā£13.34 with all services and free to use the washing machine. A needed relaxing afternoon.
Camping No. 9. Peace and nature
Airbag Repair 2
17/11/2025
Up early, walk around the lake and services done. The 65k back south to Ankara. We were 6 hours at the air suspension place. But they had to identify the problem and buy parts. Fortunately not the same air bag leaking. It was the inlet to the bellows (Google translate). We walked to the nearby shops. Had coffee. Walked Corrie around a park. Took out another wedge of cash not knowing what the bill would be. Paying 20% extra is a plastic card deterrent. I knitted and caught up on Strictly. J napped and read. It was a long 6 hours. We had thought we would need to go to Zampatas Brothers in Thessaloniki, as they are a Goldschmidt agent, but now we need not. The bill was only Ā£123. Weāve a lot of Turkish cash to spend in the next two days. Maddy, my daughter, suggested it has become free money!!!
We drove 2 hours to a lake side picnic area. Supper out was only Ā£10.67 for fried carp and koftes. Not made much of a dent in our wedge of cash.
Nothing wrong with the cooking, but uninspiring. Missing the tastes and choice of Georgian food.Lake side spot
We felt we couldnāt leave our parking at Alaverdi Church without visiting.
Much of it again under skaffolding and expansive grounds. They must own a lot more land as they produce and sell very expensive wine Strict dress code here, so even was J loaned trousers to cover his shorts
Shame no photos inside allowed as the height of the cupola was impressive.
Driving up to Gremi castle we encountered the usual animal traffic jamAnd passed various trucks and tractors with grapes. The harvest is nearly over. When we were in NE Turkey the trucks dropped tea leaves, these leak grape juice!
Gremi castle had a tower to climb (me not J) and good frescoes in the church. Busy with Sunday tourists and christening photo shoots.
ToiletGremi CastleWhilst J napped, I shelled and roasted windfall walnuts, collected at our lovely winery stay ā¦ the owners suggestion!
A short drive to Temi Community. A virtually self sufficient small holding and winery to support special needs people. A wine tasting and supper had been pre ordered. We stayed over night on their grounds.
Temi Tour, Davit Gareja & Azerbaijan border
12/11/2025
We had a tour of Temi Community this morning with Jonas, German, working here for a year. They have their own bakery, using largely home grown indigenous wheat. Poly tunnel for veggies. Fruit and nut trees. And, of course, vines. 3 varieties producing 3-4 wines. 4000 litre qvevri. Grapes have to stay in them for min 6 months to obtain qvevri label. Organic. No additives. No added yeast or sulphates. White is quite yellow. Distinctive.
Old bread ovenQvevriWith grapesSoil over fortified winesMarigolds for cooking drying
Drove south to the Davit Gareja monastery. The scenery changed again. For such a small country, it really has incredible and diverse scenery.
The Rainbow ValleyHalf of the Davit Gareja is in Azerbaijan. A disputed monastery origin: Georgian orthodox Christian or Albanian Muslim? At one point we were 50 m from the border and could see a guard tower.A bit touristy as in full of tourists, and no sign of the frescoes the guide book talked about
Then back a little to a Polish owned restaurant and field – Oasis Club in Ubadno. Supper was amazing. Chilled place.
I slept really badly due to the barking dogs in the car park. Consequently we were up late and aborted the short walk Iād planned. It was a slow 5 hour drive back down the Military Highway m, and we elected to drive around Tbilisi as the road surface would probably have been better than cutting across. This is more important now as the repaired air bag on the rear suspension has gone again. Enquiries are out for a repair in Georgia but I donāt hold out much hope ā¦ itās a country of 3.67 million. Itās looking likely that we will have to abort Armenia and limp back to Ankara.
Only two significant traffic jams!The landscape east of Tbilisi is much flatter and is the main wine growing region.
We parked up in the centre of Sighnaghi. Known as the city of love ā¦ apparently you can get married here 24/7. We didnāt ā¦ just went for supper.
Sighnaghi and Ibero Winery
09/10/2025
We wandered Sighnaghi and had a coffee. Itās on the must see list, but tbh we were underwhelmed. Possibly as I had another bad night, due to dogs barking, bins emptied, people. But it was touristy and all about wine tastings. I checked the web to see if we were missing something.
WW2 monument with names of deceased Coffee and cake with this view
A 45 min drive to Ibero winery. On P4N. They have built a services. Super clean shower, toilet, and kitchen. The outside tap even has a hose. Ā£12.50 for a tasting with a light supper, cold pork, salad, cheeses, dried fruit ā¦. The tasting was 4 white, 1 red, 2 port style, 3 chacha (grappa). All the wine is fermented in the clay pots (qvevri) with the skins. This supplies the tannins, so no need for oak barrels. It has relatively low acidity. Apparently Georgian wine should be drunk young. We bought some, each bottle was c, Ā£10. And the washing machine ā¦ free! Fantastic hospitality, especially as itās the harvest season. Our host was setting his alarm for every 3 hours to stir the mashed grapes, as the top parts must not dry out.
The qvevri here hold 2000 litres. The empty one was due to be filled tomorrow. Steel containers to store the wine.
Tsinandali Winery and Alaverdi Church
10/10/2025
We used the shower and hose pipe to fill up supplied by Ibero Winery. A good overnight wind dried the laundry. And we cleaned the inside of Jez. So peaceful, we didnāt want to leave.
View from Ibero
We stopped at Tsinandali Winery. Itās one of the big ones. So big, it has a Radisson Hotel on the estate. Having been redirected several times, we eventually found the ticket office. A museum in the house of Alexander Chavchavadze, a poet, a Prince and General in the Russian army. The rooms felt contrived, although I read that it was his furniture. The wine tasting was one glass of uninteresting 6 blended grapes made in the European Style. Not what you want to taste in Georgia! J managed to consume both glasses, as I was driving. We did see the first ever bottled Georgian wine dating back to 1841. All very soulless compared to our last nights family winery.
Radisson 5* hotelExtensive gardens – tunnel of love and the wishing treeAlexander Chavchavadze house, contains a few rooms, shop and wine barThe wine museum was just dusty bottles, so old Iām sure the wine must have gone off. And the first ever bottled Georgian wine
We had wanted to stop at Telavi, but couldnāt find parking, so came onto Alaverdi Church. Instead of visiting the church, we did our own wine tasting at the Badogoni Bar opposite!
We attempted to walk towards the glacier. Unfortunately Jās vertigo kicked in big time on the initial steep up hill. He returned to Jez and I walked on for half an hour. We donāt like to be apart too long any way, but especially when with only one phone and travelling.
A lot steeper than it lookedNot even from the top. Jez in the car parkKazbeg Peak. Called the Bride by locals as often wearing a veil of cloudThe onward route
After lunch we popped into Gergeti Church, which with Kasbeg mountain are used as a photo in Georgian tourism advertising. It was having some work done and was busy.
Gergeti church actually looks better from a distance as it is all about its locationSome attractions external features And insideStunning location with a trail of tourists: many Russian, as we are so close to the border, and Asians
Then had an easy afternoon. Good to have a non driving day.
Gveleti Waterfalls
07/10/2025
Up at 6.30 and z bending down the hill to avoid the mad Mitsubishi Delicia taxi drivers bombing guests up. I needed all the tarmac on some of the bends. Breakfast once parked at Gveleti, followed by a walk to two waterfalls. Stunning mountains again.
The autumn colours are lovely pops of colourMore Russian laid gas pipes up to two small chaletsNot sure how or why two railway carriages up here, but now used as a plastic depository š
We drove up as close as you can get to the Russian border, stopping at Dariali monastery.
A blog Iād read said the monks were known for their cheese, so we had to sample. One of us had wine!Looking across to the border checkpoint. The actual border is 1.6km further on, but through a tunnel
The military highway is still a major freight route. As well as Georgian and Russian trucks, there are many Armenian trucks and cars. Apparently a lot of Russians settled in Armenia after the invasion of the Ukraine.
Unable to drive any further up the Military Highway, we retraced our steps south. Parking is outside Stepantsminda / Stepantsminda or Kazbegi with the mad Delicia taxis. We walked into town
Between the church and belfry is a derelict cable car station. Russia had installed it up to Gergeti Church but none of the locals wanted it, so it was quickly dismantled.Lovely churchyard where most of the gravestones had the face of the deceased carvedView across to Gergeti Church and Kazbeg Mountain Early supper, first meal out since Tbilisi
Clune Gap Years 