hey Stef, some lovely mountain passes and valleys there aren't there?
so whats the story behind the horse taxi, did you or your traveling buddy break another bone?
oh, and the box of stuff for sale, the fellow with the hat near the fingers--upstanding fellow, lovely bloke, I'm sure George Orwell had one of these fridge magnets up on his fridge in admiration of him. (interesting mix of old stuff isnt it, good photo that touches on the whole issue of trying to make some much needed cash from old stuff, and also possibly touches on how Mr S is perhaps still viewed kindly by some folks--again, interesting shot.)
I know some Eastern European people who have lived here in Canada for eons, yet still confide to me that they think a good, strong totalitarian govt is a good thing.....so go figure eh?
The whole "strong man is good" attitude.....
the man is selling Stalin stuff outside the Stalin museum in Gori, the whole thing is surreal .... like some kind of Stalin admiration temple.
the horse bike trip was from Girevi to Shatili, crossing from Tusheti to
Khevsureti. its a walking path aprox 40km long over Atsunta Pass (3430m), all along the Chechenya border. Absolutely breathtaking nature all the way. The path is extreme up and down walking, 3days, aprox 2000m climbing, sleeping in tent ..... from the 40km one can do maybe 10-max15km on the bike, the rest would be caring a loaded bike over steep up and down ramps. so I rented the guy with the two horses 
it was a great experience.