We have breakfast this morning at the caravanserai hotel, but first we need them to clear the table of the dishes from dinner. Guess we hung around too late last night, or maybe this is standard operating procedure. We load up the truck and then head off on foot to see some of the sights. First to the town museum. This is a bit of a waste of time - very Soviet style and every thing is in Russian so we cannot really figure out what we are looking at.
Then we go to see the exterior of the Khan's Palace built in 1761-62. The only problem is that it is in the process of being restored, so we can only get a glimpse of the garden and the exterior from one side. It has impressive decorations with dark blue, ochre and turquoise tiles, fine wood carvings and stained glass windows. We chat with some of the locals and then it is back to the hotel for a quick toilet stop and then into the truck for a short ride down to the village market for cook group shopping.
As it is not our turn to cook, we go in search of some items to spend our last manat on. As usual, everyone in the market is very friendly and is offering us samples to try. We sample some sweets, but they are literally too sweet so we pass on them. In the end we spend our last two and a bit dollars of local currency (we are big spenders) on half a kilo of dried apricots, half a kilo of nuts and a half liter bottle of stoli vodka
We drive for about an hour and then stop for lunch by the side of the road. Another hours drive after lunch and we arrive at the border with Georgia. This crossing starts off in a bad way. They are very particular and make us go one by one through a check point on foot. Then there is trouble about a form they are claiming that we are missing. There is a lot of discussion between the officials and the drivers, while we sit in the hot sun. This goes back and forth. At one point we hear that they want $10 to let us go through (if this is a shake down, they certainly do not ask for much). When they inspect the trucks, they seem very fascinated by the maps that we have pinned on the cork board. They are very interested in where we have been and where we are going.
It finishes off on a pleasant note when hot tea all of a sudden appears for us. On of the house keeping ladies shows up with a tray of glasses and some guys who look like intelligence agents give us a toast and wish us a pleasant journey. Then we are off and crossing over to the Georgia side. It takes about an hour to cross the Georgia side - lots of paper work and other formalities. But no real hassles - just lots of waiting around. Also waiting at the border to cross is a group of motorcyclists from the US that have been traveling around the region. They seem very laid back.
We have about two hours more to drive to get to our bush camp outside a small village in the hills. As we drive along we notice that everything is starting to get more European. As we approach the spot where we will camp, we first need to drive through this small village up into the hills. The lane is narrow and cobble stoned. Simple but nice farm houses line the street with lots of trees and bushes. Many locals are just hanging out, sitting along the side of the road and watch us pass. They wave when we wave.
We stop at one house where they were able to pick up wine last time they came through. We went along to see if we could get some more wine. The lady was kind enough to invite us into her home and then let us sample her wines. She showed us her cellar, which had containers of the stuff along with dried garlic and other vegetables hanging from the roof in long streamers.
We ended up getting five liters of the local finest red and paid $2 for it. She even lent us the container.
Then up through the rest of the town to a small clearing by the water storage tank where we stopped for the night. It was a small, but nice little spot. After setting up camp, we decide to get out some of our caviar. We have purchased some crackers, so we can serve it in style on the crackers with a shot of vodka. It goes down well. After dinner, while we are hanging around and relaxing, a car drives into the area and some people get out and start talking to our local guide.
It turns out that they have a son studying in Germany and they ask if there is anyone here from Germany. They want to invite all of us to come to their house this evening for a drink. In the end, we decide that it is getting late and we promise that we will stop by in the morning and visit them then.