Truck stories: Georgia in 48hours/ Histoires de camions: la Georgie en 48heures

We hitched a ride with a Turk truck driver to Tbilissi. A few ks before the border many drivers were waiting for better news to enter Georgia. As we got closer to the capital more and more army trucks and tanks were spread at the edges of the city. We quickly got stopped by the police which told us that a bomb had explosed further north and that the road was closed. Our driver, while on his way to Azerbaijan, 3 days earlier got stopped in Gori by some “Apaza”, a rebel group that robs anyone who comes on its way. The group was waiting for trucks and civilians with guns and he had to pay a laissez passer of US$600, still a cheap price in comparaison to the majority.

We spent our 1st night in Georgia in a carpark, among many drivers and their trucks, the majority of them being Turks. All these men had been waiting a few days for the situation in Gori to mellow down but things were getting worst and they were then fearing to take the central road and get robbed by the “Apaza” or bombed by the Russians. Visibly none of them were willing to make a moove and the only option we had was to cycle the southern road that was going through the mountains. “Problem, problem” was all that was coming out of the drivers’ mouths as the cigarettes were chain smoked. We woke up early the following day and we found our men: 4 Turkish drivers who’s slogan was “Problem Niet!” had decided to drive through the mountains. We dropped our bikes on board, a taxi showed us the way out of town and we started the long ride across the mountain. We drove non stop for 13hours on steep rocky roads. The strongest truck had to pull up one of the truck which had burned all the gum that was on its tyres at the first hill. The expedition took 18hours, when we finaly arrived in Batumi we slept at the back of the truck and Yusuf, our amazing driver, got on the booze to celebrate.

Georgia s got some stunning landscapes, probably the best so far. The Turkish truck drivers took us along on an unforgetable journey. Yusuf blew my mind; even if communication stays limited some people will stay in our minds and hearts for ever.  

---

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)

• Semi-Dangerous? Truckers group says texting while driving is safe, necessary