Georgia

Good morning from Georgia ! Its been a few fun and frustrating weeks poking around Georgia and the Black Sea. I had no idea I would still be here a month ago, but here I am .. Batumi Georgia is the destination of choice to hang out while trying to get onward travel sorted out.. Iran changed some travel rules for Americans/ Brits/ Canadians & ?? AFTER I left home. In a nutshell I need a guide from the border of Turkey to the border of Pakistan.. Iran has a lot of guides, as well as a lot of other motorcycle guys touring the country... The issue is none of the guides want to be bothered doing a trip thru the country , they would rather take the easy peazzy trips... I have not given up, and hope the next blog post is to say I am on my way to Pakistan and NOT the airport !
An option was the Stans across the Caspian sea, but it involved a number of visas, a guide thru Turkmenistan and China, added to the confusion I needed to get into Pakistan before my visa expires on July 24th ...
My hopes remain good that eventually things will work out..
Tourists from Iran like to visit Georgia and Turkey, and all that I have met are very welcoming, with offers to contact them when I get there. Likewise Pakistan has some fascinating places to visit including their gun markets ( not like Sudan's camel markets ) where hand made duplicates of any weapon can be found to exacting details, While Turkey is great at duplicating cloths from the worlds top designers at a fraction of the cost westerners pay,
Also home to Pakistan is the : Karakorum Highway ! This is the highest paved road in the world ! its at an elevation exceeding 15000 feet ! ( Mt Rainier is 14,400 ) The region is home to 5 of the worlds 8 highest mountains. Not sure what to expect riding a motorcycle at the elevation, but its definitely an opportunity I will not miss. The road was built to connect China with Pakistan thru the Himalaya's ...
I have been healthy ( hmm...  the odd hang over ...  ) the motorcycle has a bad shock again , but I can deal with  it. The past few weeks have also been a little different as I ride with " Dan " from England ..we have met other riders along the way and enjoy beers while sorting out the usual travel details ...