Again, it had been too long since my last trip. This time I went to Georgia and Armenia: two small countries on the Caucasus. I started and ended the trip in Tbilisi. Upon arrival at the airport I met a Turkish-Iranian guy, who went to Tbilisi on a day trip without a clear plan. Since I knew what I wanted to see in the city, he was happy to spend the day with me and visit all the sights together in one day. It was fun to share memories together, such as ordering two meals per person because they were so cheap that we thought they must be small, but in fact they were super filling and we really struggled to finish everything (and failed miserably).
After one day I moved on to Yerevan in Armenia to meet my friend Maddie. I had to go so soon, because we made a deal to watch Eurovision together. We also explored the country. Below you can find the highlights.
Unreliable Armenians and a bumpy ride into Georgia
My initial plan was to go to the Georgian town of Akhaltsikhe after Armenia. According to Wikitravel there should be one minibus going there, but I couldn't find it. That would be the start of a memorable story. The night before I had made a reservation for the direct minibus to Batumi. However, when i arrived at the place there was first a misunderstanding about the price and then the bus was suddenly full. I showed the (unreliable looking) man my reservation and then he said the only English words I would hear him say all day: "5 minutes, Mercedes car". So I waited there for 40 minutes and finally the Mercedes car showed up. The man took the money I was supposed to pay to get to Batumi. I asked him if this car was going to Batumi and he seemed to say yes. But as expected, the car was only going to Tbilisi and from there I had to find my own way. A not-super-friendly and no-English-speaking other passenger showed me where to find the minibus to Batumi. After 40 minutes of waiting for it to fill up the minibus left at 3pm for the 6-hour ride to "Bhathumi", as the driver called it with his distinct Turkish accent.
The ride was bumpy. Partly due to the poor condition of Georgian roads, but also due to te fact that we got a flat tyre. That has happened to me before, but this time it was not so easy to replace the wheel: we just couldn't remove the old wheel. Our driver stopped other minibuses to try with their equipment, but nothing helped. In the end we got help from a local farmer who was passing by on his tractor. He suggested to pump up the tyre with his pump and drive to the nearest garage to get the wheel replaced. So there I was, at a garage in a small village close to the (unofficial) border with South Ossetia (Doghlauri, to be precise), waiting for some unshaved old local mechanics to fix our minibus. My way of traveling certainly takes me to extraordinary places.
Batumi: the perfect city
At 22:30 we finally arrived in Batumi. Actually it was quite good to arrive in Batumi so late, because the city is the casino city of the country and certainly has a vibrant nightlife. Which I couldn't try out unfortunately, because for some reason there were only older people staying in my hostel. But I certainly enjoyed this seaside city with its long boulevard. Batumi really is a perfect city with its coast and its nightlife.
Up next was Kutaisi, where within the hour I met several nice young people in the hostel with whom I agreed to hire a taxi the next day to visit all the highlights in the region. Much cheaper than booking a daytour! We visited two canyons, a cave and a huge abandoned hotel in a nearby village. The owner of the hostel told us that in the Soviet times workers would earn vouchers for holidays, but could not decide themselves where they wanted to go. The government decided everything and since for some reason they wanted everybody to go on holiday to this village they built 24 hotels there. After the Soviet Union collapsed, nobody wanted to go here any more and most of the hotels closed and were abandoned. As you may know, I love to explore abandoned buildings and it’s even more interesting to hear the story about why these buildings were abandoned.
The mole is active!
One of the most popular tv shows in the Netherlands is called “Wie is de mol?” (Who is the mole?), in which 10 (semi-) famous people have to complete missions to earn money for the team. However, one of them is trying to sabotage everything and it’s up to the others to find out who this is. This show always takes place in an exotic country and this year it took place in Georgia, so I could visit some of the places in which a mission took place. One of the missions was for example to re-paint the White Bridge of Kutaisi within one hour, with the help of local people who were passing by. The mission was completed and it was fun for me to see that even now on the floor of the bridge you could still see the paint drops and even a white spot where clearly a jar of paint fell over. After Kutaisi I also visited Rabati fortress in Akhaltsikhe. I wasn’t aware of this in advance, but when I was there I recognized places from tv and it turned out that this actually was the location of the final of Wie is de mol?. And as any traveler may know: it’s always nice if you visit places you have seen before on tv.
Two final day trips
After Akhaltsikhe I took the minibus back to Tbilisi. From there I had planned two daytrips: to the old towns of Mtskheta and Sighnaghi. Usually I stick to my plan, but since many people who I met in hostels and also some friends who have been to Georgia recommended me to visit Kazbegi mountain, I changed my plan for the final day and made a daytrip to Kazbegi. Even though it was a bit of a cloudy day, it was indeed a beautiful place.
Overall, it was a good trip. Let's see where I will travel next! :D
After one day I moved on to Yerevan in Armenia to meet my friend Maddie. I had to go so soon, because we made a deal to watch Eurovision together. We also explored the country. Below you can find the highlights.
Unreliable Armenians and a bumpy ride into Georgia
My initial plan was to go to the Georgian town of Akhaltsikhe after Armenia. According to Wikitravel there should be one minibus going there, but I couldn't find it. That would be the start of a memorable story. The night before I had made a reservation for the direct minibus to Batumi. However, when i arrived at the place there was first a misunderstanding about the price and then the bus was suddenly full. I showed the (unreliable looking) man my reservation and then he said the only English words I would hear him say all day: "5 minutes, Mercedes car". So I waited there for 40 minutes and finally the Mercedes car showed up. The man took the money I was supposed to pay to get to Batumi. I asked him if this car was going to Batumi and he seemed to say yes. But as expected, the car was only going to Tbilisi and from there I had to find my own way. A not-super-friendly and no-English-speaking other passenger showed me where to find the minibus to Batumi. After 40 minutes of waiting for it to fill up the minibus left at 3pm for the 6-hour ride to "Bhathumi", as the driver called it with his distinct Turkish accent.
The ride was bumpy. Partly due to the poor condition of Georgian roads, but also due to te fact that we got a flat tyre. That has happened to me before, but this time it was not so easy to replace the wheel: we just couldn't remove the old wheel. Our driver stopped other minibuses to try with their equipment, but nothing helped. In the end we got help from a local farmer who was passing by on his tractor. He suggested to pump up the tyre with his pump and drive to the nearest garage to get the wheel replaced. So there I was, at a garage in a small village close to the (unofficial) border with South Ossetia (Doghlauri, to be precise), waiting for some unshaved old local mechanics to fix our minibus. My way of traveling certainly takes me to extraordinary places.
Batumi: the perfect city
At 22:30 we finally arrived in Batumi. Actually it was quite good to arrive in Batumi so late, because the city is the casino city of the country and certainly has a vibrant nightlife. Which I couldn't try out unfortunately, because for some reason there were only older people staying in my hostel. But I certainly enjoyed this seaside city with its long boulevard. Batumi really is a perfect city with its coast and its nightlife.
Up next was Kutaisi, where within the hour I met several nice young people in the hostel with whom I agreed to hire a taxi the next day to visit all the highlights in the region. Much cheaper than booking a daytour! We visited two canyons, a cave and a huge abandoned hotel in a nearby village. The owner of the hostel told us that in the Soviet times workers would earn vouchers for holidays, but could not decide themselves where they wanted to go. The government decided everything and since for some reason they wanted everybody to go on holiday to this village they built 24 hotels there. After the Soviet Union collapsed, nobody wanted to go here any more and most of the hotels closed and were abandoned. As you may know, I love to explore abandoned buildings and it’s even more interesting to hear the story about why these buildings were abandoned.
The mole is active!
One of the most popular tv shows in the Netherlands is called “Wie is de mol?” (Who is the mole?), in which 10 (semi-) famous people have to complete missions to earn money for the team. However, one of them is trying to sabotage everything and it’s up to the others to find out who this is. This show always takes place in an exotic country and this year it took place in Georgia, so I could visit some of the places in which a mission took place. One of the missions was for example to re-paint the White Bridge of Kutaisi within one hour, with the help of local people who were passing by. The mission was completed and it was fun for me to see that even now on the floor of the bridge you could still see the paint drops and even a white spot where clearly a jar of paint fell over. After Kutaisi I also visited Rabati fortress in Akhaltsikhe. I wasn’t aware of this in advance, but when I was there I recognized places from tv and it turned out that this actually was the location of the final of Wie is de mol?. And as any traveler may know: it’s always nice if you visit places you have seen before on tv.
Two final day trips
After Akhaltsikhe I took the minibus back to Tbilisi. From there I had planned two daytrips: to the old towns of Mtskheta and Sighnaghi. Usually I stick to my plan, but since many people who I met in hostels and also some friends who have been to Georgia recommended me to visit Kazbegi mountain, I changed my plan for the final day and made a daytrip to Kazbegi. Even though it was a bit of a cloudy day, it was indeed a beautiful place.
Overall, it was a good trip. Let's see where I will travel next! :D
