On Sunday I took another road trip. I was the passenger in a Japanese, steering wheel on the right, Mitsubishi 4X4. So I was the one facing traffic. The pass other vehicles the driver pulled out into the oncoming lane so he could see if there was any oncoming traffic, and if needed quickly duck back in to avoid the head on. I, of course, being in the “driver’s seat” saw it all coming — head on. On broad curves to the right the driver pulled to the right to look around the truck in front. If he didn’t see anything he would shoot across to the left to pass. Once I yelled out NO before he could see the oncoming truck. We got back into our line on time.
We drove east over the 5400 foot Gombori pass, which has a more winding road but gentler looking mountains than the higher Jvari pass I crossed last week. This is through a branch of the North Caucasus that runs into Azerbaijan. The west slope was open and sunny with low brush; the east slope was wooded and shady. As we entered the valley we saw dump trucks full of grapes heading for wineries.
