{"id":3484,"date":"2026-05-03T21:11:30","date_gmt":"2026-05-03T19:11:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cyclingeast.info\/?p=3484"},"modified":"2026-06-03T16:01:39","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T14:01:39","slug":"abschiede-grenzen-und-andere-zufaelligkeiten","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cyclingeast.info\/en\/2026\/05\/03\/abschiede-grenzen-und-andere-zufaelligkeiten\/","title":{"rendered":"Farewells, boundaries and other coincidences"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Tbilisi, I had to part ways with my travel group, who had truly grown on me. As is often the case on long journeys: everyone has their own plans, their own horizons, their own sense of time. Even though we rarely cycled together, there was that constant, reliable contact \u2013 and every now and then, an evening where stories, bread, and wine were shared. The farewell was genuinely a shame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After leaving Tbilisi, two truly beautiful cycling days followed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Snow-capped mountains loomed into the sky like painted promises, the air was warm, the scent of blossoms almost intrusively lovely. Scenically, it could have been the opening to a brochure. But within me floated a very banal, almost existential question: Will they let me in?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Background<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reason for this uncertainty is as prosaic as it is absurd. The land border between Georgia and Azerbaijan has been closed since March 2020 \u2013 a measure taken by Azerbaijan at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequently extended with remarkable persistence. Most recently until at least summer 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The resulting logic for anything that is not trade in goods is of peculiar clarity:<\/p>\n\n\n\n