Traveling around the world on a bike is definitively a big deal. It sounds very interesting but I don’t know how many of us could actually resist so much time on two wheels, far away from home and on a budget.
So big kudos to our friend Lukas who is one of those great people who plan a crazy project and consequently execute it.
To quickly resume what happened so far, Lukas received some Nokia and Ovi sponsored gear to travel around the world on a bike and report his experiences back to you.
From Turku, Finland he started his journey in July and visited Germany, Switzerland, France, Czech Republic, Romania and Ukraine.
In his last blog post he was reaching Georgia and this week you can read about his fantastic adventures in this country. Fasten your belt!
-Pino (@haikus)
If I say Georgia, what comes into your mind? Hmmm… Not much? Well, to be honest I didn’t know anything about this place before I spent – unintentionally – two weeks in here.
My exploring of Georgia started from Batumi, a contradictory and vibrant summer capital at the Black Sea. The beach area made no big difference from Nice, as the rest of the city reminded me of some towns in Albania. Indeed Batumi was under a big reconstruction and in few years I’m sure it will be the next Varna with all foreign tourists and famous brands.
One day relax was enough for me, as I was eager to see more of this yet unknown Eurasian country. In ten hours I pedaled to Kutaisi, the second biggest city in Georgia, and due the strong head wind stayed there for two nights. Way enough to check out few historical buildings and to affect my Nokia N97 mini with a virus in the local net cafe.
From Kutaisi, with mysteriously lost folders, I continued my tour first to Gori, Stalin’s birthplace, and then through a beautiful valley by the Mtkvari river to the main metropolis of Georgia, Tbilisi. Here I was supposed to stay one or two nights, just to collect my tent from the post office and head onwards, but the parcel wasn’t arrived yet and also my mobile seemed to need some first aid.
So using Tbilisi as my base while waiting for my tent, I did unforgettable trip to Kazbegi mountain climbing up to 3500 meters (without my bike) and another trip to picturesque fortress town called Sighnaghi (ironically without my mobile camera).
While my expeditions inside and outside Tbilisi, when visiting spas, theater plays and eating delicious pastries got me lost in time, my new tent found its way to the post office and my lost folders to the cured mobile.
And I must add, that as I was without my mobile some time, I realized how essential it is to me on this trip. No mobile – no pictures, no music, no navigation, no applications, no WiFi, no fun.
From Tbilisi it was only one day biking to Armenia, another exciting place for exploring…
p.s. Thank you Nika for the help in the Nokia service center, now I know why Georgians are well known for their hospitality.
-Lukas
Source : http://blog.ovi.com/2010/10/13/ovi-presents-lukas-...