From Hopa/Turkey, at the coast of the Black Sea, we drove inland along reservoirs and through valleys, until we traversed a pass at 2,600 metres, before we reached a high plain where Ani, the Medieval capital of the Armenia Kingdom, lies directly at the border to Armenia. The city, which experienced its golden age during …
We tried the border to Turkey south of Akhaltsikhe, asking nicely if we might cross it, but no – closed except trucks. The only open border to Turkey was therefore the one near Batumi. To get there, we had two options: a longer route with good roads, or a shorter one over the Goderdzi pass …
Borjomi is famous for its hot sulphuric mineral water but also for the national park surrounding it, where you can take a lot of different hikes. We had decided on a hike to the bath of the Tsar which included a ride with the old cable car! Already the Russian Tsars valued the healing qualities …
From the plateau at 2000 metres we were driving down a valley doted with the remains of castles, until we reached the cave town of Vardzia, one of the major sights in Georgia. We had visited the cave town of Uplistsikhe, which is much older, and the cave town of Khndzoresk in the South of …
Near Tsalka, at the 2000 meter high volcanic plateau, the Dashbashi Canyon is cut deep into the landscape. The “weeping wall” of small waterfalls at the bottom of the canyon sounded enticing. When we reached the area, we were in the middle of a nearly finished giant tourism enhancing project. A suspension bridge with a …
We were now in the South of Georgia, at a 2000 meter high volcanic plateau with lakes and rivers surrounded by treeless steppe and subalpine grassland. We wanted to visit one of the sights in this area, the Tejisi Menhir, a huge megalith. In the Middle Ages a cross was carved into the stone and …
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 …
