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As my wife and I wandered through Liberty Square in the heart of Tbilisi we noticed a peculiar quirk; a rather large number of the cars we missing their front and/or rear bumpers. Ordinarily, this is something that would have probably ended up in the back of our minds as a quirky anecdote for future travel stories shared over a pint. However, we were due to pick up our hire car the next day and head out on a 3-week road trip across Georgia and Armenia. The worryingly large number of bumper-less cars was very much at the forefront of my mind as I navigated Tbilisi’s chaotic traffic en route to our first stop, Kazbegi in Northern Georgia. Traffic signs, lane markings and the use of mirrors and signaling seemed to be optional extra’s that were to be used sparingly at best. After dodging old Russian Ladas who insisted on entering the highway from lay-bys without so much as a signal or a quick glance in the rearview mirror, we neared the Russian border. It was here we encountered a cue of trucks waiting for their time to cross the Russian border. Only one side of the road could be used each day so some had to wait up to a week to cross the Greater Caucasus and enter Russia. From here we shared twisting mountain roads with huge trucks. Fortunately, their spatial awareness was exemplary as they guided their trucks through 180-degree switchbacks along the Georgian Military Highway. The cars desperately trying to get past them, not so much. After feeling like I had grasped the rules of the road, my confidence and illusions were shattered when we encountered the first of the many roads that were of rather questionable quality. Many of these dirt tracks were more appropriate for a 4x4 as opposed to the ford focus we had rented. To add to the fun and games these dirt tracks were often marked as major roads on both online and offline maps. It certainly added a sense of the unknown with almost every journey we took. We had spent one day exploring a cave monastery called David Gareja which is situated along the Azerbaijan border. From here we planned to drive to the old Soviet town of Rustavi. We had two options; double back way we came before joining another highway, or take the more direct route. Being that the latter was approximately 150 kilometers shorter, it seemed like the obvious choice. However, the paved road soon disappeared and was replaced by a dirt track across rolling grasslands. According to our maps, there was a road here, however across the open grasslands, our only guidance was the tire tracks of those who had driven before us. As we carefully negotiated potholes and ditches, we kept our fingers crossed that the paved road would return. In the distance, we spotted a signpost. Thinking we were close reaching civilization we breathed a sigh of relief. However, as we got closer it turned out to be a red triangle with the word ‘ARMY’ below its Georgian translation, with what I can only assume were bullet holes puncturing it. At this point, we were driving across a Georgian military base with a couple of hundred soldiers jogging towards us. When they realized we were two tourists who had obviously taken a wrong turn somewhere, they broke into hysterics and wished us on our way. After passing through the military base we finally found the paved road we had been craving and headed on to Rustavi and further into the unknown.