Well since our last post we have escaped Ankara and are now in Tiblisi in Georgia. We have spent the last couple of days travelling along the Black Sea Coast - literally just a bypass along the sea for the most part and not really a holiday destination sadly, although some German tourists do visit apparently. I'm sorry but I'll keep this update fairly short as the internet connection here is quite slow and Georgia is prone to frequent power cuts.

Highlights of the past couple of days include Rich getting a speeding ticket in Turkey (was travelling at 104kph in a 90 kph zone and being fined 75 turkish lira which is the equiv to about 30 pounds), visiting the Sumela monastery (a fantastic 6th century remote monastary built into the side of a mountain and barely accessible by road), having to give way to about 500 sheep at the top of a mountain pass (Rich has a great photo of the sheep parting around the car which we'll try and add soon) and finally simply getting through the Turkish border at Sarp ! (taking a mere 4 hours - and we think we got special treatment!).

Our first impressions of Georgia are that its very beautiful amd bizarely full of imported German Mercedes, but at the same time there are lots of smelly dirty trucks polluting the road and much poverty. Main road hazards include a collection of craters in dirt tracks which they call roads (?) where cows, pigs and geese have priority and a lack of road signs or where they do exist they are written in either Georgian or Russian cyrillic - one of the many reminders of the Soviet era.

We spent our first night in luxury at a very smart hotel in Batumi and had our first taste of Georgian beer - we approve. Sadly Tiblisi has a lack of mid range hotels and accomodation seems to range from homestays or 4 star hotel complexes charging an average of 160$ per night - sadly beyond our budget. Thankfully we eventually found a very central small hotel for 40$ per night and guraded car parking is provided at a cost of 2 lar a day which is the equivalent of about 60 pence a day.

Last night we went out for traditional Georgian fayre and naturally had a bottle of Georgian wine (Very good). At the restaurant there was only us and a group of young Georgians celebrating a 22nd Birthday. Very kindly they invited us to join them, introduced us to homemade wine (white wine produced using the skins), and much dancing and toasting was enjoyed. Sadly only one of the group could speak much english so we either kept smiling and saying "super" a lot or speaking to one of the guys brothers on the phone who spoke limited english.

Today we went to the Azeri embassy and have started the visa process, Rich was right in that they do not require a letter of support, simply two phots and 40$. Its also much quicker here - we pick them up on Monday (so we'll be in Georgia until Tuesday).

Sadly we've not been sleeping too well over the past couple of days (i've had a cold and Rich has had a bad back) and coupled with a 2 hour time difference between Turkey and Georgia we've been pretty tired today so other than going to lunch with a nice French traveller called Eva we've not done much more today than catch up on sleep. surprisingly though we've just bumped into the Georgian border officer who sorted out the car paperwork for us at the border (some 400k away!) here in Tiblisi.

Off now to get some dinner and probably some more wine !!! (champagne is also very cheap and apparently very good here - ummmm might give some a try too!!!). Hope you are all well - if its any consolation its bitterly cold here........