One sea to another

So we arrived in Baku, and once we finally cleared customs we left Simon, still waiting for the customs officer with the authority to let the truck stay put and delay completing the paperwork and headed for our hotel in taxis the reason being that Azerbaijan has this funny rule that vehicles can only stay in the country for 3 days so all plans hinged on the customs officers decision. After some time the issue was sorted and having managed to arrive ahead of schedule the decision was made to spend an extra night in the beautiful city of Baku.

Our time in Baku was spent exploring the old town and its museums and some indulged in a spot of retail therapy. Baku is perfect to just wonder along the promenade watching its elegant well-dressed residents go about their daily life.

Baku by night

Baku old town

Maiden's Tower

New town Baku

Old town Baku

Our time in Baku came to an end thankfully before our money did and we had a short hop down the coast of the Caspian to Gobustan to our bush camp near the mud volcanoes as it had rained for most of the day before awaking to sunshine was a relief however Simon wasn’t certain of being able to make camp by the volcanoes so in true overland style off we went to check it out and see what the conditions would be like. As we left the tarmac and pulled onto the dirt we could see the track twist up the hill in the distance and apart from the odd puddle here and there on the stretch before the hill it looked dry enough so off we went thankfully the decision paid off and we were repaid with an excellent bush camp and some very strange bubbling mud volcanoes.

Mud volcanoes

After a night of praying it didn’t rain and make the trip back out to the tarmac even more exciting we broke camp to a dry road and headed to the town of Sheki this is a beautiful old town nestled in amongst the tree covered hills where we spend the night in a carvansarai like many merchants traveling the silk road in times past would have done (only now the carvansarai has Wi Fi). Next morning we stopped by the Khan's summer palace to admire the beautiful art work and stunning stained glass windows after which some of us popped into a work shop which made stained glass panels using the same methods they had for 4 generations, while others soaked up the atmosphere.

Halva in Sheki

Hotel in Sheki

Ken inspecting the workmanship in Sheki

Sheki hotel

Sheki stained glass panel

Sheki stained glass workshop

Sheki stained glass

Khan's summer palace

Now our time in Azerbaijan was almost over so we headed to the border without delay. After our previous border experiences we were all prepared for a lot of unloading and re-loading of bags and lots of waiting around however this was not the case, no bags were unloaded and we sped through in about an hour. We met Zaza our local guide for the next few weeks and headed off to make camp in the Lagodekhi Nature Reserve. Zaza produced a five litre container of red wine for us all which, along with Keith’s fire, meant the drizzle could not dampen our spirits.

Next morning was damp and misty but it soon brightened up on our drive to Signaghi however an hour or so after setting out it became obvious Simon was struggling finding all the gears so we pulled over to the side of the road and Simon lifted the cab to do something oily, however shortly afterwards the cab was down, the problem solved, and we were on our way once more. Signaghi is a beautiful little hillside town which has a wall but strangely not around the town but just enclosing a large area which in the past served as a safe haven for surrounding villages in the event of being attacked they would all hold up inside until the danger had past. This has resulted in people settling near the wall and the town we see today.

One man and his horse

The Georgian horse walker

They're in there somewhere!

Next day was a packed itinerary, our first stop was Gremi which was the capital of the Kingdom of Kakheti in the 16^th century it now stands upon a hill and all that is left is the wall, church and the palace all of which have been restored but in a patched up sort of way, rather than to be made to look like new, something we had seen a lot of in previous countries. We had a guide take us around the museum and the church who pointed out the secret tunnel which was used to collect water when the citadel was under siege. From here we headed off to our first wine tasting and lunch where we found people harvesting grapes to be made into wine however unlike in France where they grow nice neat vertical rows of vines these were covering a trellis affair so the grapes hung below being protected from the sun. Before eating we were shown first a vine which was over 100 years old and had lovely big bunches of the best grapes we have tasted. After this we ducked around the back of the house to where the magic happens, the traditional way to make wine here is a bit different from what you may be familiar with. The whole grape is used stalks and all first crushed before being put into qveries which are big clay pots (the kind of thing Ali Baba hid inside) buried under ground when fermentation starts all the skins float to the top and need to be pushed down several times a day. The process of fermentation is complete when the skins sink to the bottom then the wine is simply pumped out into another qverie. We also saw the home made still which is used to make cha cha from the left over grape skins which is similar to grappa. Now Zaza claims that 99% of Georgians make wine, not a true fact we think but he explains that this is the reason that wine tastings are more wine drinking as he pours everyone a glass and Simon has to protest that he isn’t having a glass due to driving. We were treated to a delightful spread of food as well as a glass of red and a glass of white (which is sort of yellow from the tannins contained in the stems) and a healthy sized shot of cha cha. After we finished we decided that a walk would be good, seeing as the stately home of one of the first people to produce wine in the European style was just down the road. It was a rare chance to see a stately home with lots of original items still. The tour was finished off with a (bit more) wine tasting for those that wanted.

Bovine barricade

Fermenting grapes

Gremi

Home-made still

Keith has a qverie

Mmm, honey!

Oh bee hive!

Pushing down the grape skins

Simon and the 100 year old vine

Simon's take away honey vodka

After spending the night in a beautiful homestay in Telavi we were heading towards the border with Armenia but not before we took a detour to visit Davit Gareja monastery which is sat up on the semi desert and carved out of the sandstone. This beautiful monastery has had a turbulent history recently in the Soviet era it was located on a Russian live firing range and as recent as the 1980’s a huge chunk of the monastery collapsed after being bombed by a fighter jet. We also discovered some more joyful and recent history as Zaza it turns out got married here and baptised both his sons as well as working on sum of the restoration. Zaza is also an archeologist and apparently his group are going to soon do another small dig in the grounds. From here we made our way towards the border and spent the night in a beautiful valley.

Davit Gareja

View from Davit Goreja

Next day we arrived at the border nice and early and we sped our way through the formalities in under an hour. The drive to Yerevan was stunning, winding through a gorge but sadly it was raining meaning we only got a hint of what beauty the gorge held. Thankfully by the afternoon it had brightened up and shortly before Yerevan we stopped at a monument to the Armenian language where we learnt that the Armenian language is from the same language group as Basque from Spain and although Zaza could not read or speak Armenian the Soviet era meant that both countries spoke Russian but the difference is that Armenia has closer links with Russia so it is still taught in schools. The next day we were off on a city tour our guide took us around the various sights such as the lovers church, the Ararat distillery, freedom square and it was a breath of fresh air to have a guide that could speak freely about the good and bad of her country like the fact that there are 7 million Armenians abroad and only 3 million in the county and 1.5 million of those live in Yerevan. The next day we had time to wander the town at our leisure. Some of us chose to go on a brandy tasting tour while others visited the genocide memorial although sadly a large chunk of the museum was closed for renovation / preparation for the 100^th anniversary of the genocide when Turkey was trying to wipe Armenia off the map and 1.5 million people perished, which is why the statue of mother Armenia has her sword pointing at Turkey.

Ararat distillery

Armenian alphabet

Barry showing us how to drink tea the Turkish way (through a sugar cube)

Feast in Yerevan

I spot a kiwi! (Diane)

Keith likes brandy

Modern art museum - Yerevan

Yerevan city tour guide

Yerevans birth certifcate - a copy of an ancient stone in Arameic which dates Yerevan as one of the oldest cities in the world

Our time in Yerevan over we headed once more in the direction of Georgia stopping at Lake Sevan on route to visit the Sevanavank monastery which dates back to the 9^th century. All that remains of the old monastic complex are the churches as the rest was destroyed by the Russians during their occupation, they saved the churches as the held touristic value. From here we headed towards Haghpat monastery which sits close to the border, and spent the night on an old collective farm which has reverted back to small scale farmsteads, we were greeted by a lovely old local man who spent much of the evening trying to talk with us and talking to Zaza about the old days before he left he told us that he was 85 and wished us all half as much again he also let us into the secret of his good health - 2 vodkas for breakfast and 3 before bed. The next morning brought excitement we could have done without, Penelope was struggling for grip on the damp grass despite Simon's best efforts the sand mats just weren’t producing the necessary traction so after a while Emma and Zaza went off to seek a tow and found our friend from the night before who soon was organising help with a tow from a local Gaz 66 (Russian truck) and a change of route back to the road it didn’t take too long before we were back on our way to Georgia and our next stop: Tbilisi.

Grave stones at Sevanavank

Sevanavank Monastery - Pauline & Zaza

Lunch in Dilijan - Armenia

Haghpat monastery

Haghpat bush camp

Haghpat campfire

Simon working hard to unstick Penelope

3, 2, 1 pull!

On our first night some of headed out to a restaurant serving traditional food with the added bonus of displays of traditional dance, the place was packed with locals celebrating birthdays and everyone in the restaurant was having a great time. Next day Zaza took us on a walking tour of the old part of his home town which meant we saw some of what he referred to as 'real life' which here meant higgledy piggledy houses in much need of repair. Much of the old town has already been restored but it was nice to see the contrast. The citadel looks beautiful at night from below and offered great views of the city and its newer constructions, the concert hall that is still under construction being very prominent. Our morning tour with Zaza over we spread to all points of the compass, some of us to visit the flea market by the river others to visit the various museums and galleries but all agree that Tbilisi is a beautiful city witch would make a nice city break, but thankfully for now it has yet to be discovered buy hordes of tourists.

Citadel by night

Clock tower in Tbilisi (Pauline, Diane, Sarah & Barry)

Fountains in Baku

Gas man's nightmare!

Georgian dance monument

Georgian dance

Helen & Diane

Keith & Pauline at the Tbilisi dance night

Mother Georgia

Natural hot sulphur bath houses

Old town Tbilisi

Ringing the bell for mass

Royal bath house, Tbilisi

Soviet stairs

Stained glass in old town Tbilisi

Tbilisi by night

Tbilisi gorge

Tbilisi parade

Tbilisi

The church inside the citadel

Tbilisi city tour

Three roses, but no thorns - Diane, Helen & Pauline

Our next stop was Gori and the home of Joseph Stalin we arrived just after lunch at the museum and only had a short wait to meet our guide. Now most of us know of at least some of the bad things he did however to some he is a hero and the museum gives an indication of the support he had gained from the everyday people. One example of his support of the poor is that, before his revolutionary days, he masterminded a bank robbery in which several people were killed and distributed the money amongst the poor. The museum is a timeline of his life but has little in its exhibits telling of the suffering people of the USSR went through but was fascinating to be hearing names that we have grown up hearing such as Lenin and Churchill.

Stalin Museum guide

Stalin's train carriage

Young Stalin

From here we had a short hop down the road to Uplistsicke and the patch of ground we called home for the night. Uplistsicke is a fascinating set of ancient ruins and some of us took a walk around with a guide for a closer look, the name means ‘The Lord’s Fortress’ and the town was literally hewn out of the rock in the 6th century BC. After another great meal from Emma and cook group we sat around the camp fire enjoying the mild evening.

Georgian transport

Uplistsicke - Helen, Diane & Pauline

Next morning we broke camp and headed to Kutaisi but before heading to our homestay for the night we visited the Prometheus caves which are a stunning set of caves full of stalactites and stalagmites and have only been open to tourists for a few years but are well worth a visit if you are ever in the area.

Boat trip through the caves - rather trippy!

Rock feature called "Organ Pipes"

We spent the night in a comfy home stay in Telavi who put on a great evening meal. Next day we headed to Batumi which sits right on the edge of the Black Sea and was a welcome sight after crossing the Caspian, this sea we could enjoy and not have to cross! Batumi has a seaside resort feel about it and is very much up and coming with lots of new buildings being constructed and a nice new promenade stretching the length of town. Time here was spent wondering the streets of old town, hiring a "Boris-style" bike to ride up and down the promenade or simply relaxing in a café watching the world go buy. Our final night in Georgia was also Pauline's birthday and what better town to celebrate in! We helped celebrate first with wine and nibbles on the balcony watching the sun set then we went out to a Ukrainian restaurant close by witch gave us the chance to finally see the birthday jacket Keith brought her in Samarkand. The restaurant served up a feast fit for the occasion, perhaps the pre-dinner nibbles weren't really needed but with views out over the dancing fountains and live music it was a fantastic evening.