It was a long bumpy day of marshrutka rides from just below the Russian border, across all of Georgia, to the small nation’s southernmost point. From the towering alpine range of the Caucasus I bounced on loose suspensions through fertile valley farm land, expansive dry cattle pasture, and eventually into the rocky, yellow lowlands of the south. I caught sunset over the Kura River and the beauty helped ease my aches and pains from a full day crammed in people movers.