{"id":2303,"date":"2021-06-22T19:21:09","date_gmt":"2021-06-22T17:21:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kommt-zeit-kommt-rad.ch\/?p=2303"},"modified":"2025-08-03T19:32:21","modified_gmt":"2025-08-03T17:32:21","slug":"off-to-georgia-or-not-after-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kommt-zeit-kommt-rad.ch\/en\/off-to-georgia-or-not-after-all\/","title":{"rendered":"Off to Georgia \u26f4 – or not after all?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The “only” 190 km to Odessa, which we wanted to divide into 3 days, turned out to be the biggest challenge of our journey so far. On the first day, rain and sunshine alternated, meaning we had to put on and take off our rain gear every 30 minutes. In the end, we gave up and let the rain wash over us.On the second day, we looked forward to better weather and remote roads and villages. When planning the route, we noticed a small, 4 km long section that was marked as an unpaved road. We didn’t think much of it, as this is generally the rule, even if the road is marked as paved. So we made good progress at the beginning, enjoying the reasonably good roads and beautiful poppy fields. <\/p>\n\n

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What you can see when you have to wait out the rain in the tent<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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Most of the villagers sell everything that grows in their garden, for example you can get 1 kg of fresh cherries for \u20ac 1.50.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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Arriving at a small village, Volodymyrivka (just before the dirt road), a local resident pointed out to us with hand signals that the road further ahead would not be passable. We replied using the translator that we had already crossed several muddy roads and that this was no problem.When she saw us again five hours later, covered in mud, she just smiled. Now to our five-hour detour (during which we covered an incredible two kilometers \ud83d\ude02):For the first few meters, we were still able to push our bikes reasonably well through the clay-like mud that stuck to the entire bike. But soon the mud became deeper and deeper, the bikes heavy as lead, and both wheels kept getting completely stuck.When we couldn’t move forward or backward and were stuck in the mud up to our ankles, we had to make a decision. Either we push\/carry the bicycles for another 3 km or turn around and take a detour of at least 30 km. Since our forces were almost completely used up and Beni’s mudguard was blown away by the mud, we turned back. On the last meters of the way back it started to thunder heavily and we could just find shelter at a bus stop. Finally we had the opportunity to prepare our “lunch” at 4 pm and wait out the rain. While we were still eating, a man and his son came towards us and made it clear, again with hand signals, that we could spend the night with them. It was a unique opportunity to gain insight into simple village life. No running water, many power outages, no shower, outhouse in the garden and mainly self-sufficient life.<\/p>\n\n

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