And we are off………..

Let me go back 2 days to Tuesday which is when Colin and Baz were due to arrive in Baku. I got a call from Martin who whilst shaking his head told me that Colin was having problems getting from Malaga to Baku. It turned out that the airline, who will remain anonymous, (it was AZAL) had changed their flight times and not told Colin who had booked his flight about 30 mins after we had agreed we would do the drive which was months ago. Anyway after a lot of messing around we got him an alternative flight with Turkish Airlines. This all happened with hours to spare! When Colin got to the airport they asked why he did not have a return leg flight booked and when he told them he was driving back they said that was a problem and they would need to contact Baku airport and give them special instructions which would not be easy. Colin’s solution was to tell them that this was a very high profile trip and that the Azeri news teams and other media companies which was indeed a bit of a stretch of the truth. He then proceeded to embellish his story and tell the airport official that as a team we were also meeting the president of Azerbaijan. Colin has never been one to let the truth get in the way of a god story. The result however was positive and Colin got here earlier than he would have if he got the original flight he booked!

Day 1

So Martin and I picked Colin and Baz up from the airport and we got back to my house at 1am, bed for 1.30 and up at 5.30 to get an early start. We got out of Baku by 7am which was not bad considering there were hellos to be said to Angie and Sophie by the guys and a few prezzies. The plan for today is to get from Baku, Azerbaijan to Tbilisi, Georgia which we estimated as being one of the hardest legs of the journey due to a mix of the lack of sleep, the distance at 570km ish and the quality of the roads.

Off down Salyan Highway which is the main road south to Iran and we were all in high spirits and looking forward to the adventure ahead. Within 1 hour Martin had been pulled over by the local police at the first checkpoint we passed. Turned out he did not actually want anything other than a look at his car! If this is a sign of things to come it could take us a while to roll into Aberdeen. We charged on (within speed limits obviously) and at the second police checkpoint I get pulled over. This is a relatively young officer of the law and obviously not even remotely interested in card. He salutes, shakes our hands and proceeds to tell us that our tyres are illegal as the protrude further out than the wheel arches to which I try to show him my MOT window sticker but to do that I have to remove Baz’s padington bear (do not ask) from the dashboard and the police officer thinks I am trying to bribe him with a stuffed toy. The look on his face is priceless. After a bit more conversation and haggling he toddles off with a mutually satisfactory folded persuasion in his pocket. There was nothing wrong with the car at all but it is often easier to play the game, especially if you want your documents back!

The drive was not too bad although the road conditions in places were hilarious. Fair enough they are doing a lot of upgrade work but come on – this is the main road from Azerbaijan to the west. At first we were a bit surprised at the lack of trucks and lorries but once we saw the road conditions in places it made sense that the roads were relatively quiet. We took full advantage of my cars adjustable shock absorbers and ran at the softest setting most of the time. I spoke to someone who did the drive a week ago and he and his mate suffered back pain due to the road conditions but surprisingly we were all fine. These cars really are designed for these roads. I am not sure I will be saying that on the autobahn in Germany?

Azerbaijan is a desert country around the Baku area. I have been up north a few times and a two hour drive takes you into incredibly green lush fruit growing country. It is the same if you go south and AZ is still a sizeable fruit exporter. I guess based on this we assumed that it would be the same heading west but even after 6 hours of driving towards Georgia it is still very dry, flat and barren. Suddenly up from the plains rises the Caucuses Mountains far ahead. It is a real contrast in the shape of the earth and it makes you feel very small and insignificant.

The AZ/Georgia border crossing was not what I expected. As we approached all we could see was a mass of trucks and busses. We had been told beforehand about this and we just rolled past the lot of them to the newish part which lets cars through separately. It consisted of a couple of old shacks and some very old rickety gates. We got through that bit quite quickly with a few of the normal “Ah Scotland, William Wallace” comments from the friendly guards. It was really hot at that point and relief was offered by a small waterfall (or was it just a leak in the wall) which was thrown over head and face. Bliss.

Once we had then got through no mans land we were faced with a completely different scenario. This was Georgia now. A much more European country and it showed straight away. We pulled up at the electric barrier guarded by a well dressed efficient guard with an automatic machine gun and asked in very good english to wait a few minutes. We were wondering at that time what would happen if you did not take his advice and just drove on. Would he lift up his weapon and open fire? From the feeling you got from this guy I think there was little doubt that you did not want to find out. At the passport and customs point again out came a well dressed and professional team of guards came over and had a look in the cars which are stacked to the gunnels with bags of clothes camping gear and the likes. First question is “are you carrying and automatic weapons?” Luckily the answer was no. Martin’s car was in front of ours and the second question they ask is “are you carting any alcohol or ciggies?” Martin says “no” whilst at the same time a guard is lifting a bottle of Ruskie Standard vodka from his holdall. “Ah” says Martin. But all credit to the guard – he did not take it for himself – he just smiled and put it back. Thank god the vodka is safe!

Before setting off Martin and I had been winding each other up about break downs and what constituted a break down. We are still not in total agreement but I can tell you that Martin has had a break down of sorts already. Before we left he started his car and the fuel filter started leaking all over the drive much to my delight as I was 1-0 up already but Martin does not acknowledge that. Once we got going his speedo gave up which makes it 2-0 me but again he does not acknowledge it. Half way across AZ and I am starting to get a bit concerned about my gearbox. I knew before we left that if anything was going to break it would be the clutch or gearbox so I have taken a spare clutch. I do not have a gearbox however and really want to get to Turkey before anything drastic happens as it will be much easier to get a replacement there. As I type this we have lost 5th completely and 3rd is a bit of a fight to engage. I will however concede this as a form of breakdown which makes it 2-1. C’mon me…….

We arrived at the Sheraton in Tbilisi at 5.30, quick very cold beer which was a god send, a wee swim, out to a fantastic local Georgian restaurant and off to bed for a much needed sleep. What will tomorrow hold……