Tbilisi - Ushguli, (7/X); 24th August
24th August
After packing up from the comfortable guesthouse, we left Ambralauri. There had been an incredible thunderstorm overnight, with lightening in the distance, and torrential rain where we were staying. The rain was so heavy that it sounded like grapes hitting the roof. I was glad to be inside that night and not in the tent.
In the first 25 km, a dog took a shining to us and followed us for about 10km. We tried to discourage him pretty early on, but he persisted and wouldn’t give up. We finally managed to shake him off after a descent where he couldn’t catch us — a sweet dog, but we weren’t doing him any favours by letting him follow us.
After one moderate climb, we stopped at the village of Orbeli where there was a water fountain and a bakery. The bakery was in an old looking ground floor building, with bread served from a hatch on the front wall. There was nothing to indicate it was a bakery other than the aroma emanating from it, and the people walking away with bread stacked under their arms.
An elderly couple were running the place, with the lady serving the bread and the man baking it. In front of the guy were rows of dough, plump from the fermentation and shaping. Behind him was the tandoor over, with rows of freshly baked bread placed on wooden shelves. It had the sort of atmosphere that upscale artisan bakeries in major cities would try to replicate. The bread was delicious — warm and soft on the outside, and crispy in the middle.
We arrived in the village of Tsageri and are staying at another comfortable B&B.
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When we were resting at the top, the guy who had invited us to stay with him in Uzbekistan video called us. He doesn't speak English, we don't speak Uzbek or Russian so we waved at each other and showed each other our surroundings.
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