Blogs from Northern Georgia, Georgia, Asia - page 2

Svaneti Our rendezvous point is outside the Rusraveli McDonalds at 7.45am. We're being picked up by 'Vanilla Sky' a small travel firm. They've recently established routes to the Carpathian Mountains with a 15 seater Servis Air LET410-UVP twin prop plane. The booking was quite difficult because their website didn't work well, so we hope that it's all going to work out well..... The blue Mercedes Sprinter didn't arrive until 7.55 and a dozen or so people, who must have been having the same thoughts, boarded the minibus hoping it to be the right one. We arrived at Natakhtari airfield half an hour later and waited for some time before our bags were checked in. Finally, 45 minutes late, after a border police helicopter departed from the front of the terminal, we were taken to the plane. ... read more

July 12, 2015 – I had to get up early to get to the pick-up point by 9:10. The subway connections went well and I got there early. The van was coming to get me in front of a Marriot, so I went in to use the bathroom. They were a little late getting there, but not bad. Sevi and Jeremy were there again, and there was another American, Matt, teaching in Germany. There was also a young Danish couple that I really liked, as well as assorted others. Another nice group. And the tour guide was cool too. Another young guy. It was my birthday. At first I decided not to tell anyone, and then later I thought, nah. I’ll mention it. J The tour was along the Georgia Military Highway. It was built to ... read more

We are truly very lucky. We had decided to come to Kazbegi in the Caucasus for two nights and the day we had here was quite the best one could expect at this time of year. We woke to find not a cloud in the sky and the towering Mt Kazbegi (5047m) in front of us. I was excited. The plan was to walk up to a shrine with views of a glacier coming off the mountain. We had an excellent breakfast served by Diana (Guest House Diana +995599570313). The Lonely Planet said she cooked excellent meals and they are right. Diana spoke a few words of English and her kids a few more. We had a large room with views of the mountain and shared a big modern bathroom. There were not many guests. We ... read more

6 May Last night wasn't as bad as the night before but I think everyone was glad to be leaving Turtle Park. We'd be back in Tbilisi in a few days to pick up our passports and stay in a hostel for a couple nights which sounded MUCH more appealing. Leaving the city and heading back out into the countryside, we climbed high into the mountains en route to Kazbegi. Crossing one of the many bridges, we came across the stunning Ananuri monastery which is the cover photo for Lonely Planet's Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. While I stopped to pat the dogs (whose ears have sadly been clipped and sometimes even tails docked), most made for the stall selling felt and fur hats. I took some photos from the bridge and then we walked down the ... read more

Spieramy się, czy Msheta to bardziej lokalny Kraków, czy Częstochowa - historyczne i religijne centrum kraju. Może Licheń? Ale stojaca tu wielka katedra, co wygląda jak nadmuchany mały kościółek jest przynajmniej odpowiednio stara. Wokół katedry też wrą prace remontowe. Za jakiś czas może tu być naprawdę ładnie. Dalej jedziemy do twierdzy Ananuri. Mijamy krajobrazy niczym z Nowej Anglii - liściaste żółto-karmazynowe lasy, znaczone zielonymi plamami sosen. Stopniowo podnosi się nasza przyjaciółka mgła, która dotąd niczym radziecka cenzura wyznaczała nam granice tego, co możemy zobaczyć. Wjeżdżamy na Kaukaz. Jednocześnie wyjeżdzamy z chmury, w której przebywaliśmy ostatnie dwa dni. Zatrzymujemy się, żeby robić zdjęcia - za każdym razem wydaje nam się, że to już widok ostatecznie piękny, a nasz kierowca uśmiecha się tylko pod nosem, ... read more