Week 11 – Hibernation

Georgia (Tbilisi) – Armenia (Yerevan)

In Tbilisi I met someone I'd got to know through a German T3 group. This mechanic bought old T3s, restored them and sold them to Germany. I drove to his shop – or rather his workshop – which didn't look like a place for that kind of work. With the help of other people I'd met through the Georgian T3 community, I was able to explain my plans, as someone helped me by translating over the phone.

The extremely friendly mechanic said that, as long as I got hold of all the parts, my plans were no problem and could be done at a reasonable price …

Later it turned out that this mechanic isn't a respected member of the T3 community in Tbilisi and is actually frowned upon, because his work in the past hadn't been good.

In my view that suspicion was confirmed: I asked several former customers, and on closer inspection the work in his public posts looked like botched jobs.

So James, another T3 owner, helped me, and together we drove to a body shop that had already worked on these vehicles. There we met other bus owners. We swapped notes and they looked over my bus. My plans were no problem as long as I organised the parts – the same answer from the master. Through James it became clear to me that it's extremely difficult to get decent body panels. We'll see – maybe I'll find a solution, for example by buying a good bare body locally or shipping parts from Europe to Georgia.

I might even have the whole bus repainted in Georgia, since that would make sense with such a big job. We'll see – maybe I'll drop the whole idea and do it myself in Germany …

Later I met James again, because I wanted to see his bus – he was planning a similar fit-out to the one I'd already done. He happened to be looking for a working starter motor, and since I'd bought one as a back-up in Ankara, we agreed on a swap. My right headlight had had a crack ever since I bought the bus. James had that headlight in stock, and we swapped it for the starter motor, which seemed fair as the parts are worth almost the same. Since James has a holiday flat and the work on the bus would take a while, he invited me to stay there for free when I come back. In general, I found everyone in the T3 scene very warm and genuine – probably because the community in Georgia isn't that big and everyone benefits from each other's tips and experience.

In the Georgian capital I also bought a few things for Nepal and went climbing in the only climbing gym. It was varied and fun, although the routes and the gym weren't as well organised as I'm used to from German sports centres.

In the evening I met up with a German I'd got to know at the first border crossing into Armenia (week 7). We ate the delicious khachapuri (cheese bread filled with egg). He helped me with communication too, as he speaks fluent Georgian and studies in Tbilisi. He offered that I could send any parts I need to the capital and he'd collect them, since Georgia doesn't have a postal system like Germany's.

On Sunday I entered Armenia. Entering the country and clearing the bus through customs was as easy as before. This time I drove to the Armenian capital in two stages and checked into a holiday flat. Crossing the Lesser Caucasus on the way to Yerevan went without problems. Halfway, before nightfall, I stopped at a rest area in the mountains.

In Yerevan I cleaned and emptied the bus. Since from now on I'll only be travelling with a backpack, I packed the essentials for the highest country on earth. I also organised the necessary documents and a PCR test for entry.

I spent the rest of my time in the capital visiting museums, taking another really lovely free walking tour and visiting the memorial to the Armenian genocide carried out by the Ottoman Turks.

The genocide, which cost around 1.8 million Armenians their lives during the First World War, is still denied and not recognised by the Turkish government. Many European countries do recognise it. This disagreement is one of the reasons why there's no border crossing between Armenia and Turkey, even though the two countries share a border.

At the end of week eleven I took the bus to a campsite run by a Dutch couple. There I put it away for its enforced hibernation. The planned 10,000 km became 9,937 km – that goal was almost reached, but sadly not the geographical one.

So this week ends with a ride in a rattly Mercedes that took me to the capital. During the drive my thoughts drifted to Kathmandu. Looking forward to a completely different world and temperatures above zero, I spent my last night at the accommodation in Yerevan.

Journey from Germany to Nepal - LAST Week 11 - ArmeniaWatch the video on YouTube