Not more than 2 hours we have been in Tbilisi this time, after coming back from Chaukhi. As we planned to go to Abchasia and we didn't know how the boarder will be, we did not even plan to go there with Emma. Thats why we decided to leave her again at the MB truck service and took off with the Black Flash.

But starting from the beginning – we decided to meet Nesly and Oli, two friends of us, in Svaneti. Together we had planned to go to Abchasia with our tents, using public transport. We all together applied for the requested Visa and then met together in Nakra, 5 days before entering to Abchasia, to go hiking. The next day we started to a hidden place recommended by some people of the village. They said, it would be possible to drive the most part of the road with our car and the rest would be an easy walk to a small lake. Unfortunately, the road was so bad, that we parked our car after one kilometer, and in our opinion even a G-wagon or a Landrover would have had no chance. After a long walk with heavy backpacks, we were not any more in the mood for more walking. But we wanted to get there, so we passed signs, came out of the forest, walked through a valley and along streams... and just before the sun went down, we were there. The lake was totally idyllic and lonesome. After a nice dinner with beer, we had absolutely no problem to fall asleep. The following day was unspectacular, back to the car, filling up our stock and moving to a nice place next to a big river. Here we relaxed for two days just enjoying the fresh air and a nice barbecue  with three local fishermen.

Unfortunately, we saw something pretty unpleasant at this place. A few days before we arrived there, the Svaneti Festival took place, which is showing the problems of the region (new dams for hydropower), but as well the culture and history of Svaneti. It was part of the foreign organizer to work together with the locals. But they forgot the waste. When we arrived, the area was covered with rubbish and some locals cleaned everything by throwing it into the river. Thats how it gets done here...

So, after two days we left the region and stopped in Zugdidi, for getting fresh vegetables and fruit. As we did not want to stay there and we had no clue, what to do, a message from Maryam came. She planned together with some friends to spend some time on the beach between Batumi and Zugdidi. Together we decided to join them and wait for our Abchasian visa. We drove further south but unfortunately into a front of bad weather. It was raining the whole night and everything was full with sand – so the dinner was short, some salad in the tent. The following day Nesly and Oli decided to go back to the mountains, we wanted to go with the others towards Batumi and spent another night in Kobuleti – and it was raining again. Nevertheless we had a bath in the Black Sea. After the night, we decided to look for an apartment in Batumi, but as we only wanted to stay for one night, we were not able to find something. In the end we could stay in the yard of Maryams grandparents and we were very happy about the solution, as it was perfect for exploring Batumi. The grandmother made always very delicious breakfast for us and with the grandfather we were having good conversations about the past and the present and how it is and was in Germany and in Georgia. We really loved staying there and want to thank again Maryams grandparents. On the third day, our group split up. Four went to a national park on the Black Sea coast and Elena and Sean, who are living in Cambodia, went back to Tbilisi. As we now were sure, not to get the Abchasian Visa, as they answered us after asking them, that they didn't get our documents, we decided to go to the mountains. We said good bye to all of them, knowing that we would meet most of them in Tbilisi again.

Now we were traveling by our own – driving through the small Caucasus back to Tbilisi was our plan. The first stop was in Chulo, where we went again to the small restaurant, where we had been last winter. Although we only ordered some coffee, they brought us again some delicious food, which we finished all. With full stomachs we kept on driving to the pass of Goderzi. Just a few turns below the pass, we found a place for our tent next to a beekeeper. We talked a bit to him and then went early to bed. The next morning we drove to the top of the pass and from there turned to the left, following the road for around 8 km to the Green Lake. A small mountain lake on around 2300 m above sea level, which lays idyllic between trees. It was perfect, we could put up our tent in the shade and from there had a good view over the lake. We were cooking on the fire and even baked pizza and bread. It was just the perfect spot to relax. We were not alone on the lake, it seemed that it was a well known place for families making barbecue and having some drinks, so some of them ended up sleeping there, as in Georgia the limit for driving with alcohol is 0,0 ‰. Several times we heard men singing traditional Georgian songs – the acoustic was perfect and it was all mystical. So finally we ended up staying there for three nights.

After that we felt like going back to Tbilisi, to handle some things. On the way, we stopped on two cozy places, visited like real tourist the well restored castle of Akhalziche, which was a part of the silk road and met a nice fishermen on a lake close to Ninotsminda. It was a nice time we spent in the tent and together with our friends. We enjoyed meeting people from all over the world and got to know Georgia as well a bit better. It was a nice mix being together with other travelers and locals or just us two. Not only doing the touristic things, as well getting to know other cultures and experience it. We had a wonderful time and now we are ready for new adventures...