We soon found out that there aint a-lat in Alat! A one-horse town. The horse being Alat port. There’s nothing else there. An arid wasteland for miles around. We spoke to the port officials and were led to the customs officer. There were about a hundred articulated trucks (from all surrounding countries) parked up, waiting to board the next ferry we assumed. The custom officer warned us that once we purchased a ticket to travel, we could not leave the customs compound. We asked around to try and find out when the next ferry was likely to sail. No-one knew. Maybe this, maybe that. Maybe tonight. Maybe not. We mulled it over, and decided to go get some food supplies and the prepare for the enclosure of customs! What else could we do? If we weren’t there, ready to board, when departure was announced, there would be no silk road route for us. This was the only option (as Iran wouldn’t allow us to drive through their territory!)
We loaded up with food supplies and accepted our lot; new members of the central Asia “modern day caravan”: the truckers! 🙂
And we settled in quite well in the trucker yard. Smiles and nods of hello, we were very welcomed there. Lots of visits to see the van. They were all bespectacled by it. It transpired the accounts clerk at the port spoke some English; he told us the ferry probably wouldn’t leave that night due to strong gale winds. Our spirits were high, however, and we set about cooking up some lamb for dinner in the customs lot of Alat port. A knock on Seline came when we were frying up the lamb… we were leaving tonight afterall! We would travel in a convoy (our little Seline and a hundred odd giant artic lorries) back towards Baku, where we would board the boat. This didn’t make sense to us, but wahey! We were moving anyway!
Things happen slowly in customs and in cargo ship life (we were beginning to learn this!), and we finally set off on convoy at midnight. Wrecked and exhausted, we rolled into Baku port enclosure at about 2am. This was a long and trying journey. An opportunistic young port official asked us if we had beer in the van. We stupidly said yes (tiredness), and he confiscated it! We were so mad when we copped on to his antics. There’s no law against having beer in the van! We were just so tired. He knew what he was working with…little brat!
We parked in beside the police cabin (as instructed) and tried to get some more info about what was going on. We were told to go and sleep. Apparently we would leave tomorrow…fingers crossed. Spirited a bit dampened at this stage, and overwhelmed by exhaustion, we fell asleep.
23rd October
We woke late this morning. We’d been up until 3 the night before. We did the usual; hassle anyone we could for info! Our ferry would leave later that day, they said. A flame from our hope-candle still flickered 😉
To pass some time we walked around the port terminal. And then, out of nowhere, a huge ferry could be seen in the distance! Thank the lord! Freedom beckoned. We hurried back to the police cabin, passports in hand, eager for our exit stamp. After some commotion we were ushered out of the office. Not our boat!! Noooooo! What to do now? We rang Vika. Our helpful lifeline made some enquiries and then told us that this was not, in fact, the boat we would be sailing on. Our boat would dock later in the day. Well that was some consolation anyway! The hours rolled on and on and the boredom and sense of captivity grew stronger and stronger. Until finally, another boat arrived!
The rest of the day involved waiting, making tea, hassling officials, waiting, playing guitar, wandering around the terminal, waiting….and then at 2am, finally, boarding!! We were last one, after all the trucks. The ramp onto to boat was broken! Ten men bounced up and down on it while we crawled over it in Seline, to ensure the wheels didn’t get stuck….such a robust safety mechanism. Seb was horrified! Once onboard, we scoped out our cabin. A cute little room with bunks, a bathroom and a desk. Basic, but not so bad! We ventured up on deck to have a look, excited about the journey ahead! And then we retired to the cosy bunks, tired but glad to be finally on board.
24th October
A loud screeching, dragging sound woke us at 7 am. It was the sound of the anchor! We’d been moving for maybe two hours max. Why this anchor drop now? We got up to investigate. The small canteen was full of the truckers. Breakfast was about to be served up. We had set sail in the wee hours, and then travelled only as far as the headland north of Azerbajjan. Here we would stay anchored, until the winds on the Caspian Sea died down. We asked the obvious question, ‘how long will that take?’, and got the answer we had come so accustomed to; a shoulder shrug.
After breakfast we explored the boat. We had full access on the boat, to go where we wanted, so we ventured down to the engine rooms for a gawk. This was pretty cool! We wandered around in the hull and went to visit Seline. To our horror she was parked at the back of the cargo hold, with the back door of the hull fully open. If she slipped backward she’d fly off into the Caspian! No-one seemed to give a dam about this. In fact, later that day some of the Kazak drivers were sitting over the ledge of this open door, fishing into the powerful, thundering waves below! Nutters!
We ate lunch at 12. The boat provided 3 meals a day, at 8,12 and 7. The truckers would wait at the canteen door at least 10 minutes before they opened each time. Then they all rushed in and sat in their own groups. It was like school really! But the grub was decent, and Marian the cook looked after us well 🙂
We whiled away the rest of the day with walks around the boat and a bit of reading and researching for the trip. We had some Georgian wine with us and so dipped into that after dinner. The swaying boat rocked us soundly to sleep by 10 o clock.
25th October
To out utter disappointment, we awoke as we had went to sleep…anchored! The seas were still impassable. We decided to venture up to the Captain’s office to nosey about and suss out the situation for ourselves. The Captain was delighted to have visitors, and we were invited to have coffee and play around with the binoculars and steer the boat. The boat was built in 1986, and had some rather archaic systems in place. But it was cool to have a look around and check out the weather and radar systems, and of course, pretend to press the’ big red button’ 🙂 This worried them slightly, and I had to hand back the binoculars then 🙂 They reassured us the wind was still too high to cross into the open water of the Caspian. We should be prepared for another night anchored.
While in limbo, we took the opportunity to seek out Marcia, the very friendly lady in charge on the boat. Marcia looked after the rooms, the cleaning. And Marcia spoke some English. She was our lifeline on board. And all the truckers loved her! Taking selfies with her and winding her up. She very kindly let us use the washing machine on board to wash all our clothes (the washing pile had become huge).
That evening we read, chatted and debated how long more we might be stranded on this bloody boat. The novelty had faded by now. It was becoming more like prison than school. We cheered ourselves up with some tunes on the guitar. And I demolished Seb in game after game of checkers. We drank some more of the diminishing Georgian wine supply, and then hit the bunks early.
26th October
The screeching, dragging sound woke us again. Yes!! The anchor was finally lifted! We were heading into the open sea. Bound for Kazakstan! Wohoo! Another 30 hours to cross the sea now, but at least we we’re moving. We needed this! The food and the routine was getting old, the sense oppression was becoming a bit stifling, and we were running out of activities to entertain ourselves. Things got so bad, we turned the bathroom into a salon and gave each other hair cuts! Both being entirely inexperienced at this, I think we both made a decent crack of it 😉
We whiled away the day in the usual way, (meals at 8, 12 and 7) and willed sleep to come. Seb had started to feel a bit sea sick at this point and we were both keen to be on solid ground again
27th October
Arrival in Aktau. Thank the heavens!! We were never more glad to see a port! Finally, freedom beckoned! And freedom was eventually achieved, after 3 hours of crazy Kazak border and customs bureaucracy!
We put the key in Seline, revved her up, and sped out of that ferry port like a bat out of hell! We made our way for Aktau city, as it was getting late, and we were in no fit state for a long slog of a drive.
On entering Aktau, we found a pub called ‘Guns and Roses’. We were never so overjoyed to have a cold, draught beer in our hands. We tried to laugh and joked at the ordeal we had just been through. Ha ha ha! But we couldn’t really laugh whole heartedly. We were still a bit fragile and institutionalised by the whole thing!
Let this be a lesson to all who consider a winter Caspian sea crossing. We’ve since fully recovered, you’ll be happy to hear, and the PTSD therapy we had worked wonders 😉
It has to be said, however, that we did get and interesting insight into “trucker life”. Most of the drivers on board were in their fifties or sixties. Some were younger, but looked weathered by a hard life. They seemed to be having great banter with each other anyway- the boat was a great opportunity to socialise. All in Ruskie of course! They had a great laugh at our expense anyway- we stood out a mile. Heads turned when we came into the canteen for meals; quietness descended when we passed through the TV room (showing another Ruskie action film…)
They were very friendly to us though, getting info from us using sign language and they were very interested in the van. As time wore on, they became very interested in whether we had any booze or cigarettes in our possession! Their vodka supplies were running low as the days passed, and cigarettes were passed around preciously. Our near neighbour (an old Kazak man) invited into his cabin for a drink (we thought). When we went in and he invited us to sit, we saw he had a table laid out, with napkins, nuts and three empty glasses. It turned out he thought we were bringing the vodka! And was quite dismayed when he found us empty handed 🙂
We waved them off at the port in Aktau
Now, onwards and upwards with exciting adventures ahead!…
We rose early to keep our appointment at the Chinese embassy. After form filling we headed up to the embassy via the Metro. After a quick check of our paperwork we were sent on our way and, still bleary eyed, we decided to get some breakfast! I was craving proper coffee again so we found a nice café on Rustavelli (Tbilisi’s main drag) and settled in for some coffee and muffins 🙂
There is precious little information out there about visiting the Silk Road countries that we had now decided we were going to drive across. Sure, you could find information about what cities to visit etc. but we needed to know how cold it would be, if there would be snow, what the roads were like, could you get diesel, where would you stay etc. etc. etc. Whatever, we were sure enough that our summer clothes (which we were now freezing in, in Tbilisi) wouldn’t cut it as we went further east. So we decided it was time for a shopping spree! The shopping in town looked a bit glitzy so we decided to hit Tbilisi Mall which is a little way outside of town but promised to have all the shops we needed. The only challenge in our way was how to get there using the as-yet untried Tbilisi buses! We got directions in the café- two buses apparently, with a stop half way. How hard could it be??
We jumped on the no.14 and showed the conductor some paper with our destination written on it. There were no signs on the bus, no place names, no buttons to stop the bus. Maybe more challenging than we thought! We were reliant entirely on our friendly conductor, and so kept smiling at him to make sure he hadn’t forgotten us 😉 Half an hour passed, we asked how long it would be and received the international hand wave for ‘further on’. After an hour things began to feel ominous….we were the only people left on the bus! As it pulled through yet another run down tower block estate (in the suburb of bally-go-backwards), the conductor called last stop! We were set off in the middle of nowhere, with no idea how to get back. We showed the conductor our piece of paper again. After some sighs and gesticulations, it became clear that he hadn’t realised where we wanted to get off. He beckoned us to sit on another bus that was going the reverse route. He told the driver where we had to get off and made us sit right at the front like naughty school children. At this point we were totally demoralised by the idea of spending another hour stuck on the bus and decided we’d jump off and find a taxi. The new bus driver was having none of this! The lady conductor got involved too, blocking our exit and chastising us in Georgian. They weren’t letting us off that bus! Well meaning of course! So back we were led towards Tiblisi, without another mutter from us!
We finally made it to the location where we should have got off the first time. Cold, tired, wet and hungry we were in no mood for finding Tbilisi mall anymore. We decided to ask at the tourist information if there was a nearer shopping mall. Yes of course, came the reply, there’s a mall just off Rustavelli, literally about 50m from where we had had coffee in the morning! Sickener!
We went there and got our warm clothes sorted (spot the change of outfits in the photos J) and headed back to Seline to drop our purchases off and then went for another trip to the bath-house to round off the evening J
18th October
After a sleepy start, we set out to accomplish what we hadn’t achieved yesterday- a visit to Tbilisi mall. We needed some stuff for Seline and there was a huge Carrefour there that we needed to get to. This time, we researched the route ourselves and got the tube as far as we could and took a taxi the rest of the way. The speed, ease, and cheapness of this route (our taxi was 6GEL….a pound!) made us kick ourselves over the problems we’d had the previous day!
I had seen a beautiful pair of boots in Massimo Dutti the day before and decided they would be too expensive for travelling so didn’t even try them on. But their call was strong, and so after Carrefour we went back to Rustavelli so I could try them. Predictably they were just perfect and so I had to buy them J Early birthday present to me- you don’t turn 31 every year!
Finally we rounded off the day with a visit to Tbilisi’s Irish pub for a not-as-bad-as-expected Guinness and then went for some more tasty Georgian food in Tbilisi old town. All being well, we would leave Georgia in the morning for the last time, bound now for Azerbaijan. Some research was required! The more difficult parts of our trip were approaching fast and we spent the evening discussing our route along the Silk Road and the potential issues we might come across. And drinking yummy Georgian wine 😉
Another early start for the Chinese embassy to pick up our China Visas. We found the embassy okay, saw a parking spot, started reversing and then Wham!! I’d reversed straight into some irate Georgian’s BMW! 7000miles traveled and I’d crashed while parking! We had the usual arm waiving that goes with all car incidents (amazing how some things are universal) and then started to haggle over how much I would pay him to fix his car. I was pretty sure that the “damage” to his bumper was already there but with no way to prove it and with the prospect of police involvement in mind, I wanted a resolution! Eventually I agreed to give him 50GEL (he wanted $200…) and we continued on to the embassy. Not the worst outcome!
We changed our dollars into small bills at the bank (we were advised to have small bills in case of being stopped and “fined” by any of the more corrupt police) and set out for Azerbaijan. We were dreading this border crossing. It was the first country where we had needed both a “letter of invitation” (difficult to obtain, from an online travel company after lots of form filling) and a visa. Coupled with the reports we’d gotten about the corrupt Azeri Police and we were steeling ourselves for some fisticuffs 😉
In the end we needn’t had worried. Aside from the now de rigour bad roads to the border, it was one of the friendliest crossings we’ve had. All the border guards were really friendly (not like the massive daggers they wore on their uniform suggested!). They wanted to talk in English to us, discuss the Premier League and, in particular, a match between Northern Ireland and Azerbajjan, which was taking place that very day! Some smiling and gentle flirtation also helped…Seb is pro at that bit 😉
With the border navigated we needed accommodation for the night. We had already picked out Sekthi as a potential destination and we set out to cover the 200km journey to get there. There was fog for miles (which Aoife expertly navigated by nibbling the steering wheel) but we still made it in good time.
Apart from being a beautiful ancient palace that we wanted to visit, the big draw was to stay in a hotel named “Caravanserai” that, you guessed it, is in a restored caravanserai J It didn’t disappoint! this was a truly awesome place! Caravanserais are the lodgings where travellers and traders on the Silk Road used to stay. They are lodgings in a large, round structure with a central courtyard and are generally very beautiful buildings indeed. The “Caravan” was the group of traders (with their goods, animals, musical instruments etc) who journeyed along the Silk Road together in convoy… you may find that info handy in a pub quiz some day! We splashed out on a “lux” room for the night (very cheap) and enjoyed hot showers before dinner.
The caravanserai restaurant was really cute, cosy and traditional, with only a few tables. No English on the menu of course! They waiters were extremely animated, and took the ordering into their own hands! We ended up with Piti (the local speciality- a mutton soup/ stew that you mash up in the pot before pouring over bread in your bowl. Amazing!!), and also some chicken and lamb shashlik and salad. The waiter laughed when we ordered the salad and we got the joke about 5 minutes later. In Azerbaijan you don’t order extras like salad, the waiter turns up with a huge tray and starts loading out your table with them until you physically stop him. You pay for everything you take, however, so you have to have your wits about you! It’s not an easy game, this!
After our delicious meal, we tried to pay our bill with US$ assuming that would be fine…. Wrong! We needed Manat to pay our bill and we didn’t have a Manat-penny! An old guy drinking chai in the restaurant hopped up to give me a lift to the local cash machine to get some money. I (Aoife), was told to stay put at the table… like a human payment deposit!
He drove at breakneck speed through the town in a Lada at least 10 years older than me… in surprising comfort. We laugh at Ladas at home but over the course of our trip I was starting to respect them a lot: easy to fix, big chunky tires, good ground clearance, good suspension. In short, the perfect vehicles for the terrible roads in the former USSR. Anyway, a ride in a Lada was one thing crossed off Aoife’s bucket list. Shame she didn’t get to go! J I got back to the restaurant, paid the guys and we went to bed tired and happy.
20th October
An early start this morning, with Baku beckoning (Azerbajans capital city). We faced some hilly, hairpin, fog-filled roads and freezing temperatures, but finally arrived in the centre of Baku by dinnertime. We decided to aim for the old town. This was surrounded by a fortress wall and it sounded like the most interesting place to go and explore. We were stunned by the bling and glitz of the Baku skyline as we drove towards the city. Spectacular modern architecture to feast the eyes on. Akin to Dubai. And the most spectacular, the famed “Flaming Towers” on the hilltop looking over the city. Symbols of opulence abounded. Fancy cars, designer clobber, bright lights and extravagant hotels. Extravagant prices too, though not in our trusty van, where we would most definitely be overnighting! We decided to glitz it up a bit though, by parking in the 2pound per 24 hour carpark , next to the Rolls Royce showrooms. Oh yeah! We ventured into the old town for some traditional Azeri nosh. The old town was a delight, with cobbled streets and crumbly, beautiful old houses and street stalls. Full of colour and enticing smells and atmosphere. We found a quaint underground hub, serving delicious Azeri food and with a fantastic session in flow. We had the best Plov ever here! Plov is a dish which is very common across central Asia. It contains fried meat and vegetables and rice. Great stuff!
We awoke on a mission… to get to the Uzbek embassy to sort our visas out. We already had our hard-to-sort letter of invitation, so the rest should be straightforward we hoped. We were greeted by a rather ‘experienced’ embassy official, who indeed took his time around the whole process, in particular anything involving typing or the use of a computer. We eventually left, with instructions to get to a certain bank in town, pay into an account, and get back to him at a specified time to collect the visas. We would have to move fast!
We drove fast across the city and stopped where google maps told us to. We got out and went in search of this bank. It was 2 miles away, on this very long street it turned out. Good old google maps! We scurried hurriedly up the street and eventually got there, found the cashier, paid our amount and took off for Seline again. We were back in time. Then kept waiting outside for half an hour, until our official was ready. He issued us 15 day visas. We’d hoped for a month. This put the pressure on, as these visas began on a specific date, which we couldn’t alter. Uzbekistan is quite the ‘police state’, as we would come to realise!
Research had taught us we might be in for some snow in the stans, so the next stop we made was to the ‘car bazaar’, just outside Baku. This was something else! I’ve never seen so many men standing around doing nothing 😉 Not a woman in sight. Streams of car shops, full of tyres and parts and coffee drinking, pastry-eating men sitting around chatting and gawking. We were quite the entertainment when we pulled in! Everyone came out for a look. So i showcased the van (inside and out, the full tour) while Seb went to look for snow chains. They were very keen to help us and after trying a few sets, they found us chains suitable for the van tyres. We drove off happy, another thing sorted!
Back in Baku we had lunch in a cheap local tasty eatery, then ventured to a pub for wifi and a beer. Later that evening we had dinner in a restaurant in the old town, and then headed home to bed- unaware that this was in fact our last night of freedom for quite some time!!….
22nd of October
We awoke early with a task in mind. As part of our Silk Road Route we had decided that, after Azerbaijan , we would cross the Caspian sea and then drive east through the Stans, as the old silk road traders did in the past! Crossing the Caspian sea (on a cargo ship, the only option) posed some considerable challenges! It could not be booked in advance for example. And no-one knew when the boats would sail (all weather dependant). One company arranged the crossings, and no-one there spoke a word of English. We had one tip off though; Vika! Vika is an Azeri lady whom we have never met, but spoke on the phone to many times. We learned from researching travel blogs that this lady works for the ferry company and speaks English, and could provide some help. We called the mobile number we were given for her. She was very helpful, but unfortunately, she couldn’t get us tickets from Baku. She told us we would have to drive to a place called Alat, 80 km south on the coast of Azerbaijan. She advised us to go immediately, in case a ferry left that night. Reluctant to curtail our Baku sightseeing so soon, we belted up and hit the road for Alat.
We woke the next morning to sunshine which soon obliterated the blues of the night before. We raised the roof to air Seline out and made some porridge and strong Turkish coffee to get our own engines running. The Armenian landscape was like nothing we had seen before. Mile after mile of desolate and arid agricultural land, backdropped by hills with odd looking formations and high snow-capped mountains in the backdrop. All of this was interspersed by gigantic soviet era flat blocks rising out of nowhere, with no rhyme or reason for being there, except that someone far away had put a dot on a map and decided that would be a settlement point. There was hardly a sinner about. The devastation left over from an earthquake in the early nineties and the brutal Karobakh war with Azerbaijan was clear to see everywhere- much of the Soviet era infrastructure and housing was broken down and deserted. It was saddening, but we were, indeed, very glad we had come 🙂
The roads on the Armenia side of the border were just fine if a little bumpy and after a short stop off for coffee and buns, Yerevan (the capital city) arrived fairly quickly. We drove straight into the centre of town and found a parking spot just off a little park. The first night in a new place is always a bit nerve wracking because you don’t know what the “wild camping” rules are but we hadn’t had any problems with parking up for weeks; the further we’d come from Europe, the less interested the Police or anyone else had been in why or where we parked up (except in curiosity; we still get a constant stream of interested locals looking inside!). In Yerevan, the main fascination was the bicycle on a rack on the back of the van. The parking warden was so enamoured by this he forgot to take ask us for parking payment 🙂
Yerevan was a total revelation. Despite the rather brutal Stalinist architecture, this was a lovely leafy city full of cute quirky cafes and nice restaurants. The Armenians seemed like super friendly and helpful people; every shop we went into they couldn’t do enough for us. It was more organised and orderly than Tbilisi and you could almost imagine being back in a European city (except of course the huge price difference! This place was cheap!). After a few admin jobs we spent the rest of the morning sightseeing at Cafesjian Centre for the Arts which is a really awesome modern art museum. We followed this up with some tasty lunch in a café and then moved on to the History Museum of Armenia. Armenian history is so very complicated! We couldn’t hope to remember much of it except that this area of land has been fought over for centuries and consequently is a very rich and interesting ground for historians and archaeologists to study. The museum had a huge collection of Stone, Bronze and Iron age paraphernalia, like cookware, jewellery, clothes and weapons. This is an excellent history museum! The final part of the museum dealt with the more recent history: Armenian Genocide, Soviet Armenia and the Karabakh war. We left moved and with a bit more understanding of why this little country of friendly people seems to have so few friendly neighbours.
By pure luck, we happened to have arrived while the Yerevan Jazz Festival was in full swing! We scored tickets to an evening performance of Armenian Jazz to take place in the Opera House… At the bargain price of 8000 Drams each (16 Euro), we were seated near the front of the theatre. Before the gig we wandered over to the opera house bar to try and get a beer in the 10 minutes we had before the start time. Nothing doing- apparently booze is not sold at the Yerevan Opera House! However, just as we turned to leave, the barman gestured for us to hang around a bit and keep quiet. Sure enough, when the other punters had their backs turned, he poured out two enormous glasses of brandy for us. We gratefully accepted, drank them down, had a chat about London, and then made to pay, only to find our money refused! We humbly scuttled before the effects kicked in too hard! Turns out Armenians operate on Irish time….it was another forty minutes before the performance began! It started out lively, with a performance from an instrumental quartet but suddenly the music came to a halt and a compere came on stage. He started droning on in Armenian, people were invited to speak on the stage, awards were given out and suddenly we had the creeping suspicion that we’d bought tickets to an award ceremony rather than a concert… oh God!…But then, luckily, the awards trickled out and we were treated so some excellent music!
We finished our day with a fine meal of Armenian cuisine (which is very similar to Georgian and similarly delicious!) and settled into Seline for a well-earned rest!
16th October
We rose to more sunshine, grabbed some takeaway coffees (I’d had my fill of “Turkish” coffee and was craving one made with espresso and milk!) and hit the road bound for Tbilisi once more. We needed to be back in time to submit visa applications the following day and after our experience coming into Armenia we didn’t want to take any chances with how long it might take to get back out!
After about 2hrs we stopped at Lake Sevan to make some breakfast and go for a swim! Lake Sevan is an enormous high altitude lake and, with easy access to Yerevan, is something of a Summer resort. A seriously tacky resort, we found out (sorry Armenia!) Apparently, it has been in decline since Soviet times; the Soviets lowered the level of the lake by using the water for industry. Nowadays, most Armenians holiday on the Black Sea coast in Georgia. Anyway, when we arrived it was still sunny although bitterly cold. Aoife sensibly elected to stay in the van and make porridge, however I had decided I would swim and so I swam; Aoife abandoned breakfast making to film my painfully cold immersion 🙂
After the swim I felt invigorated for the drive, and we set off for the border. We had decided early on that a different route back would be best because the road in had been so, so horrifically bad. Unfortunately, this turned out to be a case of “better the devil you know”…. The main highway to the border was closed for reconstruction works! So we were diverted along a road which progressively turned from bad to worse to absolutely dire to ‘this can’t possibly be the way’; There were fields to cross, dirt tracks down through woods, narrow rickety bridges over rivers and other crazy, crazy stuff! We kept stopping to ask for directions because we were sure we must have gone wrong, but all the locals seemed to point the same way when we tried to ask directions. Not one person we passed had a word of English. We had only a place name to go on. One little Lada stopped for us in the middle of one of these ‘field roads’. We rolled down the window and smiled. They rolled down the window and about seven eager heads looked out! This was one wild, rural-looking bunch of men, with gregarious howls of laughter and about 5 teeth between them. We said the place name. One older man spoke up, ‘Can you speak English?’, he said. ‘Yes!’, we chorused, very excited by this prospect. Then he howled with laughter and started chatting away to the other boys in Armenian, and they all cackled hysterically. This was clearly the mans’ only learnt sentence of spoken English. But it gave us a great laugh anyway, as they drove off in hysterics, still waving back at us with great enthusiasm. This was typical of so many of our encounters; well meaning gestures-but not an ounce of comprehension from either side 🙂
After a painfully long 3-hour detour, we finally saw some real road! I almost got out of the van to kiss the potholed tarmac, flabbergasted that Seline had made it without getting another puncture (or several)! I made a promise there and then never to curse the UK roads again for as long as I live 😉
The rest of the journey passed easily apart from the usual stops for donkeys, cows and chickens. We amused ourselves by recording videos of these :). We made it back to the border just before nightfall. The guards informed us of an exit tax of $15! Of all countries we traversed, an exit tax was never asked for! A bit of a dent in the Armenia experience, but hey, we were on our way to Tbilisi again. We made it back to our parking spot in the old town and headed out to enjoy the last of the Tbilisi Autumn Festival which was going on in the city. There was a great party atmosphere about the place, with food, live music and fireworks to enjoy!
Hi again everyone. We’ve now entered lands far away and with diminished wifi opportunities so its taken a little while… but here goes the next chapter 🙂
5th October
We entered Georgia a little tired from our long drive, but with great anticipation of what we might find… and we most definitely weren’t disappointed! Firstly the difference between arid, almost desert-like central Turkey and Georgia was incredible. There were trees, bushes and Greenland galore. Apart from warm temperatures, it almost looked like home J I say almost because the other defining feature of Georgia is that there are animals….. EVERYWHERE! Cows, horses, sheep, goats, pigs, dogs, hens… .you name it! They ramble around the roads like they own them! The driving is also nothing like we’d experienced so far. Everyone drives wherever they want, paying no heed to signposts, road markings or pretty much anything else!
Anyway we made it the short drive to Batumi in one piece, parked up outside the Sheraton hotel (not to stay in though…ha ha!) and headed down to the beach. Our first dip (and decent wash…!) in a few days was heaven and we lay out in the sun, relishing the opportunity to relax for a few hours. After warming our bones, we headed into town to get some Georgian money and explore a bit. Batumi is clearly in the midst of a tourist boom and there are skyscraper hotels popping up everywhere. The old town, however was quaint and lovely, and we parked ourselves outside a wine shop to enjoy some of the local produce! A little merrier, we headed back to the beach, had a short nap, and then forced ourselves to get up and run the lovely, long promenade. Afterwards, famished, we headed out for some renowned Georgian food J
We were anything but disappointed by the culinary treats which lay in store! Fresh salads, roasted and grilled meats, delicious bread and cheap, yummy wine… Food Mecca! The waiter guided us around the menu and recommended a shot of ‘Chacha’ to start the meal. A ‘degustation’, he said. Spirits before food?! What the hell! When in Rome… After dinner we headed back to Seline for some well needed sleep, only to be woken in the middle of the night by a headache so bad that it felt like my skull (me, Seb) was about to split in two. I needed air, headed outside and, well, let’s just say that this exclusive corner of Batumi will never be the same again! My Carcassonne moment 😉
6th October
Having eventually slept we rose as late as we could but we had a schedule to keep! After another swim in the sea, a shower on the beach, a spicy beef sandwich and some good strong coffee we were ready to drive on to Svaneti!
Svaneti is a remote province sandwiched between Abkhazia and South Ossetia (which are the bits which Russia invaded a few years back) and is high in the Caucus Mountains. According to Lonely Planet, the road up to it has been greatly improved in recent years so we had high hopes of driving the 250km odd fairly quickly. Despite the usual hazards of potholes, animals everywhere, and crazy drivers, we made it to the last city, Zugdidi in a couple of hours with a 90km drive through the mountains awaiting us to get to Mestia, the usual base spot for exploring the mountains. Three hours later we eventually made it. The much improved road was insanely narrow, potholed and in places had been washed away and rebuilt with stone pulled off the mountain. How bad must it have been before we thought?! (And would find out later!).
We finally made it to Mestia in need of some R+R and found it in a cute, bustling little bar in the town square serving Svan cuisine. We settled in for the night and got relaxed over some delicious stews, a litre of homemade wine and traditional Georgian music and dancing, thinking of our plans ahead!
7th October
Having driven all the way up to Svaneti we had no desire to leave and so we decided to embark on a four-day hike through the mountains. This turned out to be an excellent decision as the mountains really are beautiful and, by chance, we had arrived just as all the leaves were turning from green to orange. We therefore parked Seline up outside the Police Station assuming she might be safe there, and we set off through the flame coloured landscape towards our first destination Zhabeshi. We were assured in the tourist office that it would take 8hrs to reach our destination so, having spent the morning breakfasting, packing and faffing, we set off at 1pm in the hope that we would still make it before nightfall. Sure enough, after 2 hours we had reached the peak of the walk, and the half way point. Relieved that we hadn’t lost all our fitness over the last two months we descended into Zhabeshi and set about finding some accommodation for the night. It turns out that there is no shortage of places to stay and for the princely sum of 50 GEL each (about 20 Euro) we were promised three meals, a hot shower and a warm bed in the house of a very friendly, welcoming and persuasive ex Russian pilot. After showers (an unusual luxury for us!) we were treated to a delicious dinner of chicken with cream and garlic, home-made chips, salad, khachapuri (this is the Georgian speciality bread. Think pizza bread with cheese in the middle) and another litre of home-made wine J After having some broken conversation with our host (and Aoife hearing all about his gout), we retired for the night ready for a good sleep. Alas, the RIDICULOUSLY itchy beds only allowed us some broken sleep; proper rest would have to wait for another night! We seemed to escaped any bed bug attack though. No visible bites in the morning…phew!
We rose bleary eyed at 8am and after a fine breakfast (with more scrumptious khachapuri) we were ready to conquer some more Svan mountains. Aoife was starting to see a pattern in the food here which I (as a cheese lover) was yet to notice: EVERYTHING has cheese either on or in it or both! Sure enough, when we stopped for lunch the packed lunches we’d been given had, you guessed it, yet more khachapuri! Luckily we still had some plain bread left from yesterday’s lunch to munch on too. We had reached the top of the climb in record time again, passing a few groups of Israeli tourists on the way up. It turns out that Israelis are a very important tourist group for Georgia and everyone in Svaneti spoke Hebrew. In fact we generally found that unless you were in a tourist establishment like an information office or a restaurant, very few people spoke English; it was more common to be understood with German.
Having climbed to the pass we came across Georgia’s first ski resort under construction which meant that the path we were following had been obliterated by Bulldozers. We happened upon two energetic walkers, Tomek and Kasha, a Polish couple who looked like they knew the way and it turned out they were also heading for Adishi (even to the same guest house our Russian pilot host had recommended). Result! We happily followed them all the way down the valley straight to ‘Gunter’s guesthouse’. We arrived at our destination to a warm welcome, dropped our bags off and headed out for a little supplementary walk up to a nearby Glacier for the afternoon with our new friends.
We returned back exhausted (an added 3 hours to our hike!), and after a quick trip to the local “supermarket” (someone’s house) to buy 2L of home made wine (Aoife wasn’t happy with just one litre…) we settled in for a delicious evening of dining, drinking and friend making! The second litre turned out vital, as the house filled up and visitors arrived. Guests of nearby homestays heard the commotion and came to join. Hours of fun and chat ensued and our hosts (Jamaica and Nana) even treated us to a great Svaneti traditional music session.
9th October
We rose, had breakfast, said our goodbyes to all the new people we’d met, tourists and locals alike, and then set off again for our third day of hiking. This time we were to walk along a valley and then climb 700m up to a pass from where we would descend into the next village. The only obstacle in our way was a river that needed fording and which we had given up on for fear of wet, freezing (glacier water!) feet the night before. Despite stern warnings that we needed horses to cross the river, we decided to do it British/ Irish style and take our shoes and socks off and wade! No problem- ‘we may not have big mountains on our islands but we do have plenty of rain and rivers’, we told them! Our feet were bloody freezing after the crossing. Took a while to get the blood flowing again! We marched on. After scaling the mountain, we arrived at the pass. What a spectacular view of the glacier and surrounds! At the top pf the pass, the map showed a further three peaks over 3000m which were just prime for climbing, plus the opportunity to get the first snow on our boots of the season was too much to pass on. These peaks were calling us and we had to answer! After another ascent of 400m we made it to the top and recorded another summit video for your pleasure! After a nice lunch, this time with potato filled bread (and also some bread and cheese) we started the descent. This turned out to be very arduous; the clearly marked path on the map was anything but in reality and we ended up descending 1000m of 45 degree slopes over bracken covered grass and through thick woodland. We gratefully made the bottom just before nightfall and walked into Iprali, hoping to find a taxi back to Mestia. This was not as easy as we thought it would be! Iprali was only a handful of houses, and a single hotel on a very bumpy potholed dirt road. We were assured by a friendly hotel owner that if we walked another 3km down the hill we would find someone to take us home. There was nothing for it but to urge our aching limbs on a bit further!
We eventually made the bottom of the valley and found someone to take us back to Mestia. The price quoted was ridiculous (we thought) for the 39km journey. We argued but the driver wouldn’t budge. In the end we swallowed our pride and took the taxi; and it turned out to be a reasonable cost for 2hrs 15minutes in a 4×4 over some of the worst roads I have ever been on anyway! Finally back in Mestia, we were reunited with Seline and then went to the same friendly pub on the square where we had passed our first evening. It was heaving with bodies and warmth and music. The hearty stews, soups and home-made wine were exactly what was needed. And a nice surprise was seeing our friends from Adishi again who had all made similar journeys that day. We passed the evening in good company and finally settled back into Seline for the night with our limbs suitably eased J
10th October
The promised rainfall arrived with a vengeance, and after a cosy lie in listening to the rain pattering on Seline’s roof, we packed up our things and headed down the mountain again. It was my turn to drive the mountain road and the rain had caused rock falls all along the road. Being a bit hungover didn’t really help the situation and we were very glad to make it out of the mountains at Zugdidi where we stopped for food (you guessed it… khachapuri and potato cakes….what else?!). The closer we got to Tblisi the crazier the driving got and by the time we entered the city we were on a highway with 4 or 5 “lanes” of cars but no road markings. Anyway, we eventually found a great little spot in the old town opposite a church for us to spend the night. This would become our home spot in Tbilisi for the next while J
Exhausted from our drive, we walked into the centre of town and were pulled into the first restaurant we came across. It turned out to be a great choice, with typical hearty Georgian food and traditional singing and dancing. We made plans for the morning, first of which was to visit the Kazakhstan embassy and begin the complicated job of getting our Silk Road visas sorted. (This was part of a loose plan which developed and took legs in the preceding few weeks. We still weren’t too sure what exactly we had in mind. But this added to the fun!)
We rose early and after a quick breakfast of coffee and porridge in the van, we decided to tackle the Tblisi metro. Very easy to use- you have to pay using an Oyster like card which you can buy without any form filling. It can be used by two people and every journey is 0.5GEL (about 20p). London take note! We found the Kazakhstan embassy easy enough and as a bonus, discovered the Chinese one on the way. What about China? An idea, perhaps! Thought we might suss it out anyway. Unfortunately, both of these embassies were only open on specific days at specific times (this, we learned, is an embassy phenomenon! 2-3 hours a day 3 days a week is typical opening hours). We would have to come back tomorrow to get anything done. We therefore walked down through the city, through the old town (via the Irish Pub) and then because the walk was so tiring, decided to take the cable car up over the old city, to the old fortress on the hillsJ . Stunning views of a splendid city! After all that sight-seeing we were pooped! Tbilisi is lucky enough to have a hot sulphur spring on which three public baths have been built. We decided that this presented too good an opportunity to miss, and we forked out the princely sum of 3GEL (about 1 euro) to visit the public baths. These are segregated…mens and womens. It took a while to figure out what on earth you were supposed to do there but eventually with some help from the locals (who didn’t speak a word of English…) I found the entrance, stripped naked (like everyone else) and paid an extra 10GEL to get vigorously scrubbed by one of the old guys that worked there. After 8 weeks on the road, getting exfoliated all over was simply heaven and after a scorching bath, a sauna and shower my hour was up all too soon. Vowing to come back for another visit before leaving Tbilisi I found Aoife outside who had had an interesting experience herself…
I, Aoife, also had not a clue what was going on and likewise, no English speakers on my side. I caught the gist eventually. Unfortunately, there was no sauna or bath on the womens side. There was a room with shower heads of steaming hot sulphur water pouring down and marble seating around the edge. Still glorious! The average age of the clientele was about 90! I elected for soap and massage. A big, burly Georgian woman came to find me in the shower room and got me to lie on marble tiles where she got to work. And I have to say, it was one of the finest massages I’ve had! No elbow grease spared! I dragged myself away from the showers eventually. In the small, rackety changing room, I got to work drying myself. A very, frail old lady was already in there, with a towel draped over her tiny shoulders. She scowled at me, and I turned in fright. She scowled again, spoke some sharp-sounding words to me (Georgian I think!) and gestured at the towel on her shoulders. She was butt naked apart from the towel of course! I gathered she wanted my assistance. I tried to take the towel off her shoulders. A shrill scream. She scowled a bit more, then gestured a rubbing action with the towel. Next thing I was awkwardly standing in the changing room, drying the old womans back, willing someone else to come in and save me! No-one came. Eventually, after an eternity I think, I was relieved of my duties as she ushered off away from me. I dried myself quickly and got out, before the next aged-assassin might arrive 😉
Happy, clean and bright we headed back into town for a delicious dinner of Kinkali (like Chinese dumplings), cheap homemade wine and chicken livers J
The problem with getting visas is that you have to give in your passport for days whilst they vet your application. In your home country, this isn’t too much of an issue but abroad it presents something of a logistical challenge! However, Georgia was a lovely country to while away a few days in and what better way to do this that to take in a tour of Kakheti, the famous wine region?! Having dropped Aoife’s passport into the Kazakh embassy we left for Schuchman winery which was the first stop on our little tour.
Georgian wineries produce two different types of wine. The first is the normal European style wine which we are all familiar with, produced with the same equipment used in Europe (steel tanks for fermentation, oak barrels for ageing). Wine produced in the traditional Georgian way is fermented in large underground clay tanks with the skins and stems for at least six months before being drained and aged in oak barrels. We saw both types being made at Schuchman and our tasting included trying the same wines made in the two different styles. For red wine it produces a deeper, richer wine (think Spain or Portugal). For white wine, the traditional style was like nothing we had tasted before. It is rich and powerful like a red wine but with the delicate taste of white. And it turned out, this delicious wine is what we had been drinking all along as “home made” wine in the bars and houses we had frequented.
The other great thing about wine tasting here was that they left the bottles on the table with us and we were allowed to drink our fill of each one. As you might imagine, we got our money’s worth out of this happy event, so much so that it became clear that we couldn’t leave the place without adding to the chaos of the Georgian roads. We therefore asked if we could have a parking space on the grounds for the night in exchange for buying dinner J No problem! So we settled in for the evening, sampled a delicious dinner with more excellent wine (we were particularly taken with a traditionally made red wine, created with the Saperavi grape). After our dinner we made our way back to Seline, but it seems the excitement of the trip to Kazakhstan had taken its toll on Aoife who decorated our quiet corner of the Schuchman estate in her own special way…
After the excitement of the previous evening, a lie-in was required. Fortunately, we were also able to partake in a delicious breakfast Chez Schuchman. After getting our money’s worth from the buffet we decided that it was necessary to achieve something with our day and set off to find the Chavchavadze Estate. Despite having our fill of estates and castles over the last few weeks we were genuinely charmed by this one. It was beautifully preserved and filled with gorgeous antiques that Chavchavadze had collected from France, Italy, Russia and Persia during his life. Apparently he brought civilisation to Georgia (not my words, this is what the tour guide said!) along with European methods of wine production. Having seen our fill we were feeling able enough for another round of wine tasting, this time visiting Shumi winery which happily was right next to the estate. This wine tasting was free and we sampled European and Traditional wines again along with some Chacha (local spirit produced with what’s left over after fermenting the grapes. Similar to Grappa) and Brandy. We were then allowed to wander the grape fields and sample the different grapes- delicious! Feeling lubricated we set out to then find Khareba winery.
Khareba is the largest of the wineries that we visited, although this didn’t help us to find where it was! After getting lost for about an hour, our hearts sank as we came across what looked like a very commercial operation with tour buses and thronging with people (something we had happily avoided so far). Fortunately, this first impression was obliterated with our best tour so far. Our tour guide Mariam was super friendly, very knowledgeable and despite only buying the basic package (a tour and two wines) we ended up being given six wines, a tour of the Chacha production area (and three shots of chacha each) and some freshly baked bread which was literally lifted out of the stone kiln and handed to us! We ended up staying over at Khareba and upon entering the restaurant it was clear that there was either a party or wedding going on. It turned out to be neither- company team building events are very fun in Georgia it seems! After dinner we were invited to join in with the revelry which included wine and dancing and when they left, we were given two jugs of their wine which was left over! Our experience from the previous night meant we couldn’t hope to drink it all and we decided to leave for Seline before another episode. But not before our waitress arrived with a complimentary bunch of grapes from the vineyard. I say bunch but really we could have opened our own winery with the amount- just check the pictures! We had to ask for a doggy bag and left with a bottle of wine, our bread and enough grapes to feed us for a week of breakfasts! Georgian hospitality is the bomb J
We rose early as we had a long day ahead. The plan was to collect Aoifes passport from Kazakhstan and head for Armenia. Google maps had given us a route which would take 4.5 hours from Tbilisi to Yerevan. Even with a border crossing in the way this seemed do-able and we had high hopes of dining in the Armenia capital that evening. How wrong we (And Google) were! It’s hard to describe in words, the roads leading up to the border crossing so we decided to take a video for you to see for yourselves… And the border crossing was our first taste of ex-soviet bureaucracy. Despite only us and two trucks being at the border it took fully 3 hours for the poor border guards to fill in all the forms they needed to do for us. First you had to do passport control where they entered your details and that of Seline into the computer. Next we went to customs where we had to pay road tax, insurance and a “broker fee” (all legit btw, we checked afterwards!). After this, they had to take all the paperwork and get it checked by the boss… Finally, just as we thought we were free to go, came the actual check of the van to see if we had any customable items in it. Luckily we were saved by a guy who turned up with what appeared to be a boot full of satsumas (literally a whole boot). We were waved on, exhausted from the experience and started looking for somewhere to sleep. We eventually found a deserted warehouse to park outside just off the main road in a depressing town. We cooked and drank and tried to shake of the feeling that we had just swapped Georgian heaven for Armenian hell…