2014(e)ko urriaren 21(a), asteartea

Georgia EUSKARAZ

Turkiako Trabzon hirian astebete itxaron da gero Irango bisadoa lortu eta martxan jarri nintzen Fernando eta Veronikarekin batera ( elkarrekin oso ondo moldatzen gara eta batera jarraitzeko asmoa daukagu) Itsaso beltzeko kostari jarraituz egun pare batean Georgiara iritsi ginen.

Iritsi ta aldaketarik nabarmenenak erlijioa (Georgia ortodoxoak izanik Mezkitak eta errezoatarako eguneko 5 deiak desagertu ziren) eta Turkiako Te eskaintzak Vodka eta ardoa eskaintza bihurtu ziren. Georgia izan zen munduko lehengo herrialdea ardoa egiten beraz ez da harritzekoa edateko afizio hau  izatea. Beste bitxikeria bat Georgiarraren eta Euskararen arteko lotura da, nahiz eta hizkuntzak entzunda erabat ezberdinak iruditu bertakoiei euskalduna naizela esan dietenean asko poztu dira eta anaiak garela esaten didate.

Halaere georgian gehien gustatu zaidana, kaukasoko mendietan kokatuta dagoen Svaneti lurraldea izan da, Pamir mendikatea alde batean utzi behar izanak sortutako tristurak erabat kendu dizkit. Iparraldean Errusia, ekialdean Osetia eta mendebaldean Abkhaziaz inguratuta, mendi artean galdutako herrixka txikiak eta ia kotxerik gabeko errepideak aurkitu daitezke 5000m-tik gorako tontorrez inguratuta. Eguraldia lagun izanik udazkeneko kolore ederrak miresteko aukera paregabea izan genuen. Bertako familia baten egoteko aukera ere izan genuen eta Veronikaren errusiarrari esker (hemen ingelesa ez da oso erabilgarria) bertako istoria eta kulturari hobeto ezagutzeko aukera izan genuen.

Mendiak atzean utzita beheko bailareta jeitsi ginen, Gori izeneko herritik pasaz, bertan bidaikako 9000km tara iritsi nintzen,  herri hau ezaguna da sobiet batasuneko buru izan zen Joseph Stalin-en jaioterria delako. Bertako biztanlek berarerenganako mirespena erakusten dute oraindik eta bere omenezko museoa eta bidaiatzen zuen tren bagoia bixitatu daitezke. Eta hemendik ia zuzenean Tbilisi-raino,  etorri gara, bertan bloga eguneratu eta deskansu txiki bat hartzeko tartea hartuz, hurrena Armenia!

Bideoa:


Georgia EUSKARAZ from lander on Vimeo.

Georgia ENGLISH

It a week of waiting in trabzon before we could get hold of our Iranian visas, once all was sorted we continued along the black sea until we crossed the border into Georgia.

The mosques were replaced by orthodox churches and vodka and wine were offered instead of "chai". Georgia was the first country in producing wine and the Georgians are proud of it, whenever you are invited into a house you pretty much are expected to get drunk, I sometimes had to decline the drinking offers using cycling as an excuse... they all got dissapointed!

It was also interesting to see their reaction when I told them that I was from the basque country, (there is a theory that relates Basque laguage to Georgian which all of them seem to know about) they would smile and call me brother in most cases. Despite basque being my mother tongue I have to say that Georgian sounds completely different.

However my favourite part of the country has been a region called Svaneti, located on the caucasus mountains bordering Abkhazia, Russia and  South Ossetia. The stunning mountains have made up exceedingly for the loss of the Pamir route, also the weather has been really warm for this time of the year and we've been able to enjoy  the beautiful autumn colours surrounded by +5000m  snow clad peaks. We also have been invited to some georgian homes where Veronikas russian has been very useful, without her communication would have been very limited as English is not widely spoken.

Once we left the mountains we returned to the valleys where busy roads filled with dangerous drivers awaited for us, my speedo clocked 9000km in Gori, a town famous for being Joseph Stalin's birthplace. The locals still admire him despite the atrocities that were carried out under his mandate.

Now we are in Tbilisi taking rest and updating our blogs, I'm getting on really well with fernando and veronica and for now we'll continue together towards Armenia, they have a blog in spanish which they update more frequently than I do and with more detailed info about the trip: http://viajarenmtb.es/

Video:

Georgia ENGLISH from lander on Vimeo.