http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Georgia/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , Georgia en-us Tue, 13 May 2008 21:12:49 BST Tue, 13 May 2008 21:12:49 BST I left off between countries a strange place indeed to be waiting around...Time zones languages climates cultures and dogs were are swirling together there in between Anatolia and the Caucasus Europe and Asia or perhaps Asia and Europe the former Ottoman Empire and the former Soviet Union the day and the night the Lira and the Lari and a bunch of relaxed guards who were almost as con http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Georgia/blog-271268.html Ah... Georgia sweet Georgia... You make me so drunk The last week and a half I have spent in Tbilisi the charming capital of this country and the mountains... In Tbilisi I met some great people at Irena's Home stay both travellers and the family and friends of the family. This lead to some good parties and lots of consummation of vodka Of course I also looked at some sites I strolled aroun http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Georgia/Tbilisi/blog-191543.html Like Jason and his Argonauts in times past I went to Georgia to seek out the Golden Fleece... Unlike Jason I wasn't successful but I did find a country full of very hospitable people who enjoy feasting and who will take very well care of their guests I also found the last Stalin fans in the world... He lives on in Gori his birthplace I entered Georgia at Batumi which is the country's main seasi http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Georgia/Tbilisi/blog-191523.html I got rave reviews as a tour guide from the guys I took to Georgia a few weeks ago so this weekend Cyrus wanted me to take him. I can't imagine why. If Seinfeld was the show about nothing then my tours are the tours about nothing. I sit on Nino's balcony and read. Sometimes I sit in a cafe usually the same ones. I don't go to old churches I don't go to cultural events and I don't go anywhere http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Georgia/Tbilisi/blog-179483.html I confidently wave goodbye to my hosts and step outside hoping to catch the 1oclock marshrutka it's 115 if I'm not too late. An overcast day in Sukhumi a few drops of rain. I've spent the morning at the museum then at the botanical gardens then buying stamps and other souvenirs to bribe the Abkhazialovers back home. Pretty full day so far. Now I need to catch a marshrutka to Gali http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Georgia/Abkhazia/blog-173210.html Day 5 Today I decided to go to Gori to check out the Stalin museum and the fortress. Gori is the town that Stalin was born and raised in and is located 1 and a bit hours east of Tbilisi. I had to take a Marshrukte minibus from Tbilisi's Didube bus station read giant car park. Which was an adventure in itself trying to find the right one as Georgian isn't written in Cyrilic i found it qu http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Georgia/blog-172819.html Day 3 So today was a pretty lazy day. All i did was lay on the beach and wait for my train at 11pm. I still managed to get a little sunburnt despite the fact the sun never peaked through the clouds all day After boarding the train in what can only be described as a tropical storm i tried to get some sleep but the aircon in 4 person cabin was broken so i couldnt sleep for hours. The train http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Georgia/Tbilisi/blog-171866.html Day 1 So I leave for Heathrow at ridiculous O'clock in the morning. After 3 and a half hours and sleeping through the inflight meal grrrrr i arrive at Istanbul airport and join the monster que visas. Eventuly i get to Trabzon and have my now broken bag grrr searched by customs. I find the place i want to stay. Which is a catholic guesthouse attached to a church. It's a very nice plac http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Georgia/blog-171075.html Sitting on Nino's balcony It's past midnight. I hear voices distant TVs. I see headlights race up the hill on the far side of the river. I read write contemplate. I'm reading The Moor's Last Sigh by Sir Rushdie. I copy passages that speak to me into my journal She drank her own bitterness and called it sweet walked in her own desert and called it lush ... If Nino were here there would be http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Georgia/Tbilisi/blog-170915.html RuKhaOg team in ACm programming Contest. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Georgia/Tbilisi/blog-165080.html Som vanlig er med nasjonaldager her omkring ble vi vitne til digre men relativt vennlige militrparader... http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Georgia/Tbilisi/blog-162693.html Dagen etter hviledagen i Kutaisi var det fremdeles meningslst kraftig motvind men vi kunne ikke bli der lenger og tok fatt p veien videre stover. Det gikk meningslst treigt treigt og vi var i tvil om vi i det hele tatt ville klare den planlagte etappen p ca 10 mil fr det ble mrkt. Det ville nok vrt mulig finne et krypinn i Zestaponi ca halvveis men byen virket lite fristende s vi http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Georgia/Kutaisi/blog-162691.html A place like Georgia makes one realize how much we take for granted. For instance the assumption that a country has one or maybe two names. This is Georgia Gurcistan Gruzya or Sakartvelos depending on which language you're speaking. It's also a common assumption that progress is linear forward. I was once talking with Janvier about how Europe could have plunged into the Dark Ages and com http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Georgia/blog-161343.html Her er en kort oppsummering av hva som har skjedd siden forrige blogging. Mer utfyllende blogger vil komme etterhvert... Torsdag 17. mai Sykkeldag fra Trabzon til Hopa. 177 mil p selveste syttendes mai Vi passet p f i oss respektable mengder iskrem denne dagen og nynnet Valdresmarsj mens vi syklet med Svartehavet p venstre side. Fredag18. mai Sykkeldag fra Hopa grensa til Georgia K http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Georgia/Kutaisi/blog-160629.html I made it to Tbilisi the capital of the Republic of Georgia. After leaving Hopa I entered Georgia not knowing what awaits me...and I was surprised. First by their alphabet which reminds me to Thai language...then by the plants and the forest around Batumi a city directly located at the Black Sea coast where you can find the only subtropical climate in the region. Also the hospitality of the G http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Georgia/Tbilisi/blog-156748.html Ruten saa langt Georgia viser seg aa vaere nok et land vi ikke oensker aa dra fra. Det forrige var Tyrkia baade fordi Tyrkia var trygt og litt kjent men ogsaa fordi Georgia fremstod som ganske roeft med rykter om fullstendig korrupt politi og grensevakter mye kriminalitet og et helt uforstaaelig alfabet. For tyrkerne er ogsaa Georgia et Stanland nemlig Gurjistan. Marerittet var et foerste m http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Georgia/Tbilisi/blog-156081.html We arrived at the Georgian border our car devastated by dirt and snow and breezed through the checkpoint without hassle. Americans donrsquot need visas to Georgia which I find a remarkable turn of events given the history of the region. A quick stamp and we were off. Others werenrsquot so lucky. I didnrsquot care. The dramatic mountains followed us north and while obviously pained eco http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Georgia/Tbilisi/blog-153174.html The old town of Sighnaghi is being torn apart at the moment apparently they are trying to beautify the city and all the fascade streets and buildings are being remodelled all at the same time it looks like a war torn village at the moment but it would be interesting to see how it looks like in a couple years from now. We met an American who lives here and shows us a bit of the town and the carp http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Georgia/blog-147832.html Arriving in Tbilisi early evening we were delighted to be given a suite room for the 3 of us and had a blast for at least one night before moving into a 2 bed room the GTM hotel all in all is not too bad except for the exorbitant price of laundry. So we did a walking half day trip of the city saw churches and more churches the old town etc before returning to the hotel to fill in and sign our A http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Georgia/Tbilisi/blog-147823.html I spent a week in Tibilisi at Irena's homestay and this was the highlight of my time in Georgia. The rest was a disappointment. The country is very much an exsoviet nation. The older people are still in a kind of shock. The younger generation and the old communists who managed to grab all they could lay their hands on are in transition to capitalism specifically the second hand Mercedes for t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Georgia/Tbilisi/blog-147067.html Driving through some mountain pass for hours we made it to lonely desolate Bakuriani apparently a very popular skiing area in Georgia but since winter season is just over hardly anybody is here and there is a feeling of desolation. We have a homestay for 2 nights and we have to entertain ourselves some people went skiing including Nigel for the first time it was dirt cheap cost them i think 5 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Georgia/blog-146825.html It took us total of about 2 hours to get through Turkish border at Sarpi eventually we made it to Georgia but the truck was stuck in traffic and perhaps bureaucracy so after hanging around on the Georgian side we were bussed to the hotel in Batumi and hoping Claire and Toni make it out soon Jess though taking a taxi with Claire to the border caught up with us so we are all complete again. The http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Georgia/blog-146770.html HOLA A TODOSAS Escribo estas lineas primero para informaros a los que aun no lo sepais que la segunda novela de Marc ya esta en el mercado Corte Ingles Fnac Casa del Libro etc....... asi que si no sabeis que libro regalar para sant Jordi pues aqui teneis un buen ejemplo Titulo Caucaso entre leyendas y Kalashnikov Editorial Flor del Viento All donde acaban las fronteras n http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Georgia/blog-145413.html Thursday March 22. I had a good nights sleep and this morning tried briefly to turn on my side. It was very painful so I took a tablet and got out of bed. The town has lots of gambling joints and groups of young men in black leather jackets hanging around occasionally jumping into or out of Mercedes cars. All around is terrible poverty especially among the old or the very young. This is capitalis http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Georgia/Tbilisi/blog-142386.html It only cost 2 to get from the Armenian border to the Georgian capital Tbilisi. Much like Yerevan Tbilisi is seriously lacking in cheap hotels that I could find anyway so I ended up in a strange place that was a small room above a restaurant for a staggering 40. thankfully it was heated and had hot water and lots of space for the rabbit.As I had no idea about Georgia no maps or no guide boo http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Georgia/blog-129640.html So much has happened that I feel a little overwhelmed by the task ahead ie trying to summarise all or at least most of what has happened in the last couple of weeks. And there has been a lot If you are following me on a map the list of places visited kind of goes like thisBaji very small village in Racha Region gt Ambrolauri gt Nikortsminda gt Sarkarsria small village near Khasuri http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Georgia/Tbilisi/blog-85384.html