North of Tbilisi lies Mtskheta, one of the oldest towns of Georgia. For nearly a millennium, the large fortified city was the economical and political centre of the Kingdom of Iberia. It is considered the birthplace and one of the most vibrant centres of Christianity in Georgia. We visited Mtskheta on a Sunday and all the churches …
Our first stop back in Georgia was at the Birtvisi Canyon, an incredible landscape with volcanic rocks. We started from the village of Tbisi, from where a hike leads up into the mountains and through a narrow gap in the rocks into a secluded valley where the natural obstacles of canyons and cliffs provided an ideal …
After our last night in Armenia, we got the chance to do a good deed, by helping fellow travellers out of a ditch. We had spent the night above the valley of the river Debed near Chochkan, just 15 km from the border. The evening before we had our PCR test done and we will …
We left our caravanserai, to drive down to the big Sewan lake and explore its western shore, where many traces of the Armenian history can be found. The weather had changed and we were not sure to believe the weather forecast: 5-10 cm of snow? South of Noratus, we noticed a tiny chapel at the …
From the main road we took the turn off into the Arpa valley to get to the Gndevaz Monastery. It was a 17 km bumpy ride. We considered ourselves lucky to get there and back without being hit by a landslide. Later we took a walk to a medieval bridge over the same river. After …
We were looking forward to glide over the valley in a gondola to reach the Tatev Monastry on the other side. What we didn’t know, the “Aerial Tramway” doesn’t run on a Monday. My guide book said, that there is a good road down into the valley to the Devils Bridge, but the steep way …
After a refill of the water tank, we drove past Goris, which also has an old cave town, to Khndzoresk, where a suspension bridge takes you over the valley and to the old settlement. Khndzoresk is famous for its canyon with picturesque rock formations and ancient cave settlement. The artificial caves, some of which are …
We had spent the night in Jermuk, in front of the Gladzor hotel, which we wanted to explore more. It was a sunny day, so we walked to the “giant deer” and took the “rope way” up the mountain. We had spotted the deer from the town, and as it reminded us of the giant …
As we check every day our tires in the morning, we recognised a loss of preasure on one of our rear tires. With the on board compressor we filled up, but we lost about 50% every day, so we decided to fix the problem. A “tubeless tire repair set” with rubber stoppers which we carry …
We made our way to Jermuk, where we went to explore the spa town which is known for its hot springs and mineral water which is also bottled in town under the brand Jermuk. Many hotels are waiting for tourists, others are not in use anymore, as we found some abandoned Soviet time buildings. We …
