Return to Ankara for Repairs

Posted on October 18, 2025 by Clunegapyears

Will I be Arrested???

13/11/2025

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 hadn’t 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 hadn’t tried to conceal the other 4 boxes in the door well. But once I realised, they’d 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 😂. 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. It’s 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*

And Repeat

14/11/2025

9 hr driving day. Another 590 km. Stopped for lunch and diesel/LPG. My neck and shoulders are suffering.

Çorum our overnight stop, is modern with a lovely park, where we spent a super quiet night.m. With doing all this driving, I’m refusing to cook. And J can’t / won’t cook. So supper was in a pretentious restaurant called The Suits 😂. 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.

*Really 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 didn’t 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. £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. £13.34 with all services and free to use the washing machine. A needed relaxing afternoon.

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 £123. We’ve 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 £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.*

Gremi, Temi & South

Posted on October 15, 2025 by Clunegapyears

11/11/2025

We felt we couldn’t 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 jam*

*And 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.

*Whilst J napped, I shelled and roasted windfall walnuts, collected at our lovely winery stay … 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.

Drove south to the Davit Gareja monastery. The scenery changed again. For such a small country, it really has incredible and diverse scenery.

*Half 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.

Kakheti Wine Region

Posted on October 10, 2025 by Clunegapyears

Drive to Sighnaghi

08/10/2025

I slept really badly due to the barking dogs in the car park. Consequently we were up late and aborted the short walk I’d 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 don’t hold out much hope … it’s a country of 3.67 million. It’s looking likely that we will have to abort Armenia and limp back to Ankara.

*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 … apparently you can get married here 24/7. We didn’t … just went for supper.

Sighnaghi and Ibero Winery

09/10/2025

We wandered Sighnaghi and had a coffee. It’s 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.

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. £12.50 for a tasting with a light supper, cold pork, salad, cheeses, dried fruit …. 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, £10. And the washing machine … free! Fantastic hospitality, especially as it’s 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 didn’t want to leave.

We stopped at Tsinandali Winery. It’s 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.

*Extensive gardens – tunnel of love and the wishing tree*

*Alexander Chavchavadze house, contains a few rooms, shop and wine bar*

*The wine museum was just dusty bottles, so old I’m sure the wine must have gone off. And the first ever bottled Georgian wine*

We had wanted to stop at Telavi, but couldn’t find parking, so came onto Alaverdi Church. Instead of visiting the church, we did our own wine tasting at the Badogoni Bar opposite!

Gergeti, Waterfalls and the Russian Border

Posted on October 7, 2025 by Clunegapyears

Gergeti Church

06/10/2025

We attempted to walk towards the glacier. Unfortunately J’s vertigo kicked in big time on the initial steep up hill. He returned to Jez and I walked on for half an hour. We don’t like to be apart too long any way, but especially when with only one phone and travelling.

*Not even from the top. Jez in the car park*

*Kazbeg Peak. Called the Bride by locals as often wearing a veil of cloud*

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 location*

*Stunning 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 colour*

*More Russian laid gas pipes up to two small chalets*

*Not sure how or why two railway carriages up here, but now used as a plastic depository* 😔

We drove up as close as you can get to the Russian border, stopping at Dariali monastery.

*A blog I’d 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 carved*

*View across to Gergeti Church and Kazbeg Mountain*

*Early supper, first meal out since Tbilisi*

Akhaltsikhe Valley Walk

Posted on October 6, 2025 by Clunegapyears

05/10/2025

An easy walk with no tourists. But we did not get as far as planned. Destination was an abandoned village, but we turned back when crossing the river would have meant a drenching.

An interesting drive up to Gergeti Trinity Church. Lorries turning right to a truck stop (insurance, showers etc before the Russian border) causing a very slow line of traffic. Cars overtaking both sides of me – along the sloping verge and into oncoming traffic. Oh and trucks at it too.

Our nerves were further frayed getting up here. I didn’t check the sat nav so we came up hill through a small village. We’ve done much worse, but it is still stressful. Once on the main road, there were a number of tight V bends. But the views are amazing.

We are at 2168m. Ben Nevis is 1355m. That’s for you Edward! The snow doesn’t look that far away.

Clune Gap Years

A journal and reflections of our motorhome travels

Category Archives: Georgia