Day 119 Zarzma - Akhalcikhe

Today was much less exiting than extraordinary yesterday. I got up very early after a nearly cold night - I had 5°C in the tent, just as low as my sleeping bag can handle without problems. I spent the first hour screwing. The front carrier screw that broke yesterday was a bit too long - which was very fortunate as I had a chance to screw out the rest of it from the back using my leatherman. However it was not an easy task and it took me quite some time until I had that damn little thing out of the screwhole and I could reinstall the front carrier. My tent was still very wet but I did not see any chance that it would dry soon. I just packed it as it was and started my ride down the still bumpy and very muddy road. A non existing road on openstreetmap made me miss the famous monastery of Zarzma. Maybe I was not in the right condition for divinity anyways - stinky, dirty and muddy. After an hour or so the road suddenly turned from mud and stones to proper asphalt, aaaaaah, how nice. The rest of the ride was easy. In Akhalcikhe I found a hotel - everything soviet style: the huge hallway, the rundown rooms, the very strict lady at administration,...  The big room with balcony was perfect for drying my tent, my shoes, my clothes, my self.
After some rest I had a look at the impressive castle towering over the town. On the way up I met seasoned traveller Ivan from Australia who turned out to reside in the same hotel. In the castle a lot of construction was going on - really a lot, they seemed to reconstruct the whole structure. Georgia is clearly trying to get ready for tourism.
In the evening I met again with Ivan and decided to prolong my stay in Georgia and join him tomorrow on a trip to an underground city, a monastery and more.