Abano-Omalo Pass
Time for Challenges
23rd July - 25th July | 2023
The next morning, after fuelling and stocking up on some food, it was time to hit the Abano-Omalo pass. About 10km into the track, we bumped into a Polish guy on his BMW GS with a flat tire. As I got the repair kit for tubeless, we could help him out. Shortly after that, it started to become more of a single track. It was some hard work for me, as I had to get back into offroad ;-) Not very helpful were some drivers that think they are on a Rally!! We slowly winded our way up. Only on the first switchbacks, still, at the bottom, I lost my momentum, and James had to get my bike as the cars behind me got impatient. Actually, they still managed to squeeze their Mitsubishi Delicas around the tight stony switchback!!!
The whole pass up we took our time, ok my time ;-) as so much traffic up and down. Unfortunately 50%of the drivers were, excuse my language, dickheads and twats!! Bear in mind you always have a sheer drop on one side of you!! At the first water crossing I nearly nailed it but stalled the bike driving out, so James had to rescue it as he got the longer legs. We were so lucky with the weather, that we nearly stopped every kilometre to take pictures, mainly in the higher altitude where there were no trees.
Halfway, at 2850m altitude, was a tiny cafe shop. We met Ollie from Finland (YouTube: ollietuomas6), being on his RTW trip towards the East! Enjoy it Ollie and Good luck!!
I also started talking to a lovely German couple as we kept overtaking each other on our way up. After we finished our cafes it was time to get down and over to Omalo. That meant now, switchbacks downhill, my favourite!! I finally got a better result sitting down!! Unfortunately with the last, and only, water crossing on that side of the pass, I lost my courage and waded through…, so boots full of water for me today!!
At about 18h30 we finally arrived at Upper Omalo, where we managed to get a room at Shenas Guesthouse (www.shina.ge), which had been recommended by the Norwegian boys, and also by Chris&Gaby from the camping. Not the cheapest though, but their homemade food is just delicious!! The night we slept like logs.
The next morning it was about making a decision: staying or leaving as we were not 100% sure about the weather forecast due to rain. In the end, we trusted the weather apps and packed our bikes. The last thing we wanted was to be up in the mountains in bad weather and then do that Abano-Omalo pass!! That would have been in sections the recipe for disaster!
Again we took it easy and about 2 hours later we had our cafes and the homemade delicious cakes in our hands!! By that time it started to get darker and cloudier, so the right decision was taken!! It took us about another 2 hours down, but this time I had my sitting-down technique in the switchbacks mastered! Just that one switchback, James had to rescue me yesterday, I had to take my time paddling around;-). So for the records: 1 bike drop and 1 Joker card only - on 140km most dangerous road in the world!! I am super proud of myself, but without James, I would have given up latest at the first water crossing.
Once back down in the valley, we stopped in Akhmeta to get some fuel and to make a plan for the night. We found a wild camping spot on the way to the Shatili Valley, right next to a river. It was a nice drive through a very different landscape. In the night we had some rain and thunder, but in the morning blue sky again. After the tent was dried and all packed away we went up to Shatili. Going up, the road was in parts in a really good shape, like a motorway, compared to the Abano-Omalo pass. Up on the top, at 2650m altitude, was no nice cafe or cake shop :-( Then it was time to get down to Shatili, and again in most parts, it was more like a motorway. Just closer to Shatili it had suffered a lot of landslides, so you had to be careful with the sharp-edged slade stones on the track.
Shatili was a tiny little town. We were lucky to find a place that still served food, but the portions were more snack size! After consulting the internet for hotel or camping and weather, we booked a guesthouse just back in Korsha for the night, as the weather forecast was not good at all. That was a very wise decision as it started to rain as soon as we were about 5km out of Shatili. When we arrived at the more technical sections, switchbacks and old landslides, it even started to hail. Lovely, finally our gear gets a wash ;-) The whole way back down to the other side, to Korsha, it was just raining, thundering and occasionally hailing! We arrived at the guesthouse looking like drowned cats!
Unfortunately, I got hit by a major migraine attack, so I couldn't enjoy the lovely homemade dinner. Poor James had to eat even my portion tonight ;-) but the medication kicked in at midnight, which was good! So the next morning I was feeling 100% again and could enjoy the lovely homemade breakfast. Enjoy a Turkish cafe for breakfast and wait for the next blog when we go up the Georgian Military Highway.
Places | Cities:
Omalo, Shatili, Korsha.
Driven km | Trip:
Total | Steffi: 14385 km
Information Border Crossings (in July 2023):
./.
Maintenance | Breakdown:
./.
Health issues:
Steffi suffering a migraine attack.
Special thanks to:
Abano-Omalo Pass to be so stunning and for the best homemade cake on the highest point (IG: itsdaj1).