My Caucasus Adventure

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Around the World with Jan My Caucasus Adventure
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- Aug 7, 2022
- ⛅ 32 °C
- Altitude: 1,003 m
- Armenia Yerevan P’arajanov S.Kond 40.1817, 44.509940°10’54” N 44°30’36” E
Day 2
The Pink City
August 7, 2022 in Armenia ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C
I’d almost forgotten the joys of the long-haul flight. The lack of sleep (including a screaming baby), trying to find the gate for your connecting flight and then worrying about your bag arriving. I got no sleep but I did catch my connection and I actually saw my bag being put onto the plane – all good.

Yerevan, the ‘Pink City’. Many of the buildings here are faced with pink stone because they don’t make bricks in Armenia. The architecture is quite varied, much of it on a grand scale. Republic Square is surrounded by spectacular buildings with a huge fountain in the centre. More on that later.

English isn’t widely spoken so visiting a supermarket or eating in a restaurant is interesting. Menus and museums seem to have English translations because I have no chance of even guessing the words! The rest you just make up as you go along.

Instead of denominations of 1, 5, 10 and 20 it’s 1000, 5000, 10000 and 20000. Try doing that calculation in your head. I never was good at maths. You have to be careful that you don’t give someone a 10000 dram note instead of 1000 especially when you’ve had no sleep. By our standards things are reasonably priced but I don’t know what people earn here. Eating out is certainly cheaper than Sydney.

The city is full of museums, art galleries and music venues – you could easily spend a week just visiting those. There are lots of people here – it’s summer and they are all on holidays. Oh, and it’s stinking hot – by early evening it’s 34o. I’ve been told that it’s been like this for last 2 or 3 years. I know the rest of Europe is sweltering too.

The city is fabulous to walk around – street art, big trees, wide avenues. A must see is the evening light show in the fountain in Republic Square. Huge crowds wait for the clock in the tower to chime 9 and then it starts running for about half an hour. Definitely worth taking a look.Read more
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Around the World with Jan My Caucasus Adventure
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- Aug 13, 2022, 6:44am
- ☀️ 21 °C
- Altitude: 1,043 m
- Armenia Tavush Hort’ategh 40.73393, 45.01446940°44’2” N 45°0’52” E
Day 8
On the Trail
August 13, 2022 in Armenia ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
We’ve now been out on the trail a couple of days. The walking is a lot of going up 300 to 500 metres so in parts it’s quite steep.

We started out in cloudy weather which was easier to walk in but obscured the views with fog and cloud until we got up pretty high. Now it’s sunny, humid and hot. Fortunately there is a lot of forest walking which is beautiful.

There are wildflowers everywhere, bees and butterflies galore so lots of stops to take photos. The views are now clear and we can see just how beautiful the mountains are.

The places we are staying in are quite small villages but the accommodation is clean and comfortable and the food is incredible – lots of fresh vegetables, much of it organic. Hopefully we’ll work off all that food while we’re walking.

A few more days and we’ll be crossing the border into Georgia.Read more
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Around the World with Jan My Caucasus Adventure
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- Aug 16, 2022
- ☀️ 35 °C
- Altitude: 644 m
- Georgia K'alak'i T'bilisi Vazisubani 41.7163, 44.838741°42’59” N 44°50’19” E
Day 11
Tbilisi
August 16, 2022 in Georgia ⋅ ☀️ 35 °C
Passing from one country to another was relatively painless and quick. What struck me straight away is how dry the countryside was as we headed into the inferno that is Tbilisi.

It’s hot – especially in the afternoons and early evening. I wasn’t prepared for it to be in the high 30’s here. Thank goodness over the next few days we head towards the mountains and much cooler temperatures.

Our hotel is a small modern boutique one placed in the old town so we’re surrounded by history and this amazing mix of Georgian and Russian architecture with a bit of Baroque and Rococo thrown in. It means wooden balconies, pastel colours and cobblestones, a contrast to the Soviet mega buildings scattered throughout the city.

The traffic is constant, it’s a noisy, and busy city, full of tourists.

There’s lots to see here. When I get back at the end of the hiking I'll have a couple of days to explore more of the city before I come home.

Georgia feels very different to Armenia so I’m looking forward to getting out seeing more of it.Read more
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Around the World with Jan My Caucasus Adventure
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- Aug 21, 2022
- ⛅ 33 °C
- Altitude: 332 m
- Georgia Samegrelo and Zemo Svaneti Chkvaleri 42.709863, 42.08404542°42’36” N 42°5’3” E
Day 16
Iprari, Caucasus Mountains
August 21, 2022 in Georgia ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C
We’re well and truly in the mountains now. Everywhere you look there’s this amazing vista of jagged peaks, snow capped mountains and glaciers. We’re really only a short distance from the Russian border up here.

The walking is steep at times and the track stony and dusty. It’s very dry and can still be hot during the day.

The wildflowers are all in bloom and they make an amazing foreground for pictures. There are butterflies everywhere and bees of course, they make a lot of honey in the Caucausus mountains.

The local wine takes a bit of getting used to, not least because it comes in a plastic bottle. A lot of it is home brewed and it’s designed to be drunk immediately. A glass is about all I can manage.

The accommodation is more basic but warm and comfortable and there’s a hot shower which is a bonus after a day of what’s reasonably hard walking.

We’ve just done our hardest day – 22km and it was hot and dusty but the views were to die for. It doesn’t get much better than this.

A few more days then we’re back to the city and a few final days of culture and history after the trip finishes before I come home.Read more
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Around the World with Jan My Caucasus Adventure
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- Aug 26, 2022
- ☀️ 32 °C
- Altitude: 485 m
- Georgia K'alak'i T'bilisi Tbilisi 41.6959, 44.83241°41’45” N 44°49’55” E
Day 21
Back in the city
August 26, 2022 in Georgia ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C
Well the hiking is over and I’m back in Tbilisi making the most of a nice hotel and enjoying the sights of the city. It’s a busy crazy place full of tourists but it isn’t quite as hot as it was before we headed into the mountains.

Georgia really has a rich and interesting history but also one of invasion and occupation. There are some amazing artefacts in the museum dating from the 4th and 3rd centuries B.C. onwards – beautiful pieces of jewellery in silver and gold set with semi-precious stones.

There are churches on almost every corner, cobbled streets in the old town and strange modern buildings that look a little out of place. And the traffic, crazy, noisy and constant. There are multiple tunnels under the road to allow pedestrians to cross –there are very few lights and you can’t always guarantee that the cars will stop at a pedestrian crossing without them.

The old town is much quieter – some streets are very narrow so not so much traffic just lots of people. There are restaurants and bars everywhere and also galleries and tourist shops. Georgian food and wine is inexpensive and if you can’t find something to eat here you aren’t trying.

I’ve enjoyed my time in Armenia and Georgia – I’m glad I got to come here because Georgia in particular faces an uncertain future and the young people are worried about what comes next. It’s definitely worth coming to this part of Europe, it’s quite unique, interesting and beautiful.Read more
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The Pink City

On the Trail

Tbilisi

Iprari, Caucasus Mountains

Back in the city