Video & Photo Story: Crossing Tusheti - A Bikepacking Adventure ...
Team Khinkali.
42° 39' 28'' N | 44° 38' 26'' E
Into thin Air.
42° 33' 20'' N | 44° 49' 1'' E
Chacha & Kerosene.
42° 32' 38'' N | 44° 53' 47'' E
Sowjet Trucks & Sheepdogs.
42° 31' 26'' N | 45° 03' 23'' E
The engine roared and black smoke clouds puffed out of the exhausting pipe as the truck reached the top of the pass. The brand new electric cars, buzzing streets, and shiny office buildings of Tbilisi seemed like a distant memory when we immersed ourselves in the present and took a break at the top of the pass, admiring the vast views over the mighty Georgian mountains. In the distance, we also saw the Chaukhi pass that we had crossed the day before.
19.351 Steps.
42° 31' 42'' N | 45° 16' 25'' E
"Freshly baked Khachapuri and Khinkalis or dry food?” Henna asked as we approached Shatili, the next small village and decided whether we should camp outside of the town or on the lawn of the guesthouse. The answer was instant: “Khachapuri and Khinkali." Khachapuri is a kind of bread filled with cheese in the center, while Khinkali are traditional, extremely tasty dumplings filled with cheese, vegetables, or meat. Warned by the lack of services along the route, we had filled our bike bags with dry food just to find out that there are guesthouses at every village offering the most delicious Georgian food.
By the time we started the big push up to Atsunto pass, our bodies had started to get into the rhythm of knowing when to push the bike, when to carry it, and when to have a break. As we were sitting down having a break, two passing hikers shared the best news of the day: “They sell Coca-cola and Fanta next to the border station.” However, none of us was in a hurry to move; we all just sat there, taking in the panorama and grinning from ear to ear. "I believe I'd rather be nowhere else right now, in my sweaty clothes," Sabine said, smiling. The others nodded in agreement. We all seemed to share a similar idea of "fun," even if it might seem absurd to other people.
We signed all the paperwork, left the border station behind us, debated how far we could still make it before the sun set and decided we could make it all the way to the next stream. As the sun was already touching the mountain tops, we could see our camp spot, but the trail just kept on going. “We've just pushed our bikes uphill for a good 2,000 meters, without riding basically a single meter,” Sabine mumbled as we zoned out and focused only on covering ground. As we finally got closer to the camp spot at 3,000 meters, the sun laid the last warm rays on the mountains and colored the sky in pastel colors. Tiredness was replaced by gratitude and disbelief. We had actually managed to get all the way here with our bikes and had only 500 more elevation meters to go tomorrow to get over the last big mountain pass on our route. We had actually made our unsure plan work.
As we carried our bikes up towards the top of the Atsunta pass, the nervousness rose - would the trail be rideable this time, or do we need to carry our bikes down as well? “We don’t have any switchbacks in the Finnish forest trails,” Henna had shouted on the second day of the trip after she had cleared her first ever high alpine trail with loose rocks and saw the 50 switchback turns laid in front of her. Nervous from the experience four days ago, she hoped the trail down from Atsunta Pass would actually be rideable this time.
The watch read 3,539 meters once we reached the top of the Atsunta Pass, and the panoramic view was hard to beat in any direction. The snow-covered peak of Mt. Kazbek glistened in the distance, and after a long search, we even found the Chaukhi Pass. “No switchbacks,” Henna sighed in relief. We finally got a prize we had been working toward for so long - a trail that wound through a vast rock field in wide curves at first, tricky in places but always rideable. We stopped after the first part, everyone smiling from ear to ear. “ This trail is actually fun to ride,” Sabine said, clearly relieved. We let the heavily loaded horse convoy pass us before continuing. ”I would be terrified to sit on a horse here," Moritz said, and we nodded in agreement, the first time being truly happy with our choice of equipment.
All Downhill from here.
42° 31' 19'' N | 45° 26' 16'' E
Back to paved roads.
42° 22' 30'' N | 45° 37' 56'' E
After an otherworldly food experience, we rolled out of the guesthouse table, reluctant to keep on riding quite yet. We found a few garden chairs and enjoyed the last look over the valley leading to Atsunta Pass. We had actually made it in one piece, a few bruises but many unforgettable memories richer. As the food settled in our bellies, we finally got ourselves up and started the ride towards Omalo, accompanied by 10 horses galloping free on the gravel road. It’s not every day you get to ride among the horses. It’s also not every day you get to ride in the Caucasus mountains, but when you do, you will remember it forever.
The Gear.
41° 41' 36'' N | 44° 48' 5'' E
