To the journey from Udabno to Sighnaghi I add the 28km AR to go to the David Gareja monastery the day before.

David Gareja monastery : I was expecting something bigger... but perhaps since Azerbaijan claimed half of it, some of the outbuildings are no longer visible. In any case, I tried to climb up to the top by the small paths and soon came across two Georgian soldiers who let me pass but didn’t seem too keen on laughing... and I didn’t try in the area marked on my map as "no further access".

On the way to Sighnaghi there was a ten kilometre "unpaved road with difficult access". I wasn’t too worried because the route was flat and it actually went quite well until the road was invaded by water, either from a river or from damaged irrigation... You have to choose your path carefully and get your feet a bit wet. Just before reaching the road there’s a lot of water under a bridge, so I don’t try to pass and end up on the future motorway under construction. At one point I tried to get back to the real road, but I had to put my feet in the mud for a while... But I had to get back to the village to top up my water. It was very hot and heavy, and I drank three and a half litres of water and a litre of orange juice !

I arrive in Sighnaghi, the village of lovers, because apparently you can get married here 24/7. It’s a very quiet village, and I pass several restaurants that are open but empty, where I don’t even see the waiters. Eventually I reached one where I’d seen a few people.