We set off from Nest Hostel that day – two vehicles, a bunch of backpackers and a rough idea where we were going – to go visit the stunning Davit Gareji Monastery in Rustavi, Georgia. We ended up seeing much more than just that, even though the mind-blowing beauty of the monastery would have been enough of an adventure on its own.
The first event of note is seen above. After an already interesting and bumpy journey away from the urban safety of Tbilisi, our caravan suddenly hurtled into the Azerbaijan border control crossing, something we had not even expected to be anywhere near (from afar, we thought we had already arrived at the monastery, having overestimated the travel time.) As you might imagine we were promptly instructed to turn our vehicles around, which we obediently (and gladly) did.
Afterwards, however, we didn’t go back whence we came to reroute and start again but instead turned a quick right (not far after that stop sign on the left, this shot was taken as we turned) down a steep hill into what appeared to be the border itself. More guards, signs, and military vehicles awaited us below but somehow we just waved to the surprisingly nonplussed faces and drove on through. We would feel as though we were driving along the border somewhat illegally for pretty much the rest of that leg of the trip…
NotManhattan 