Tbilisi is a nice place to rest if you crash at the right spot and we definitely did.
I found the Green House hostel by pure chance, while I was looking for a totally different place. I was a bit lost in the traffic and saw a graffiti-style sign on a metal fence that read 'HOSTEL ->'. I gave it a try and we ended up at this nice little hostel owned by Nana, a very attentive and welcoming Georgian lady.To my surprise, the hostel was full of bikers at that time... pure chance again. There was a Georgian motorbike mechanic and friend of Nana, a German couple who were riding trail bikes from Germany, an English couple on a Tenere and two Kiwis who had flown to the UK, bought bikes there and started travelling east. At some point, there were six bikes and one thousand apricots in the courtyard... the ripe fruits coming from the tree right in front of the house.

The capital of Georgia has a cute old town, although it is rather small and touristy. In general, the city looks more like a mix of churches, decrepit buildings, ultramodern complexes and lots of driveways. Way too many for my taste, since it seems that the city is not planned for pedestrians, just for cars. Every time we had to go downtown from the hostel, we had to cross one bridge and we never found the perfect way to do it... there was an underground passage but it smelled terrible and felt about to collapse at any time (apart from being extremely dodgy at night). Crossing over the bridge meant risking your life against the heavy traffic on both sides, without proper traffic lights or pedestrian crossings. In short, not the kind of city I like since I highly value being able to walk freely in town.

This is a typical image of Tbilisi, a designer structure with lots of glass and metal together with a Georgian church. Most of the times, the mix is not as fitting as in the picture but that is probably a matter of taste.

Let's stop talking about the city of Tbilisi and switch to a day trip we really liked, which was the monastery complex of Davit Gareja. The site is a couple of hours drive east from Tbilisi, right at the border with Azerbaijan. The last part of the road is not paved and that is why it takes longer, since the distance is less than 100km. This is a view of the main monastery courtyard, with one cross reminding us on which side of the border we are...

The main attraction in Davit Gareja is the series of monk cells, churches and other structures that are carved in the rocks along the border. The painted walls are very well preserved due to the dry climate and one can spend a long time exploring them and trying to interpret what is represented in the paintings, usually scenes from the Bible.

After a couple of hours exploring this remote mountain range and its caves, we headed back to where I had parked my bike. The scenery was impressive, very dry, rocky and virtually uninhabited... the perfect place for a monk's retreat. Natalia walked ahead of me down the hill as the sun was approaching the horizon.

After Tbilisi, I was going south and Natalia was going north. My next country was Armenia and hers was Russia. I welcome this opportunity to thank her for a great time spent together, she was a fantastic person to travel with and became a very good friend along the road.
Natalia, muchas gracias por todo y suerte en tu viaje!
Un abrazo!