World Trip

Cass and Mike's Year Long Adventure Read more

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World Trip
Kutaisi
September 21, 2023 in Georgia ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
After a 2am wake up and very early flight, we made it to our first stop in Georgia - Kutaisi! Despite being very sleep deprived, we managed to successfully hail down a marshrutka to take us from the airport to the city (much cheaper than a taxi). During our 30min ride to the city, we had not one, but two cattle crossings! After we checked into our guesthouse, we went to Fleur Cafe for brunch, where we had our first taste of Georgian cuisine - we each ordered a khachapuri (filled bread). When our food arrived, we learnt (and need to remember) that Georgian portions are MASSIVE. We had to take our leftovers home and we now have breakfast for the next two days sorted. We then wandered out for some sightseeing, visiting parks, fountains, and street art, as well as the Green Market. While we were out, we bumped into Dav (again!) - we had no idea he was still in Georgia and thought he'd already moved onto his next country. We had a good little catch up on the sidewalk before parting ways (again). We ended our day with an early dinner at Palaty, where we had our first taste of delicious Georgian red wine.

We spent the next day wandering up to Bagrati Cathedral and around the Jewish and French quarters. We picked up some fruit and local snacks (churchkhela (the candlestick looking things which are dried nuts covered in grape must (or, as Mike calls it, nut sausage)) and tklapi (basically fruit leathers)) from the Green Bazaar, and had our first khinkali (Georgian dumplings).Read more
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Tbilisi*
September 25, 2023 in Georgia ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C
We arrived in Tbilisi on Friday evening after a really average train ride from Kutaisi (hot, uncomfortable seats), and checked into our apartment for the next 3 weeks. Spent a few days doing laundry, cooking and catching up on exercise and life admin. We checked out Sports Fest (a 2 day sports festival), the Dry Bridge Flea Market and Cass tried out an aerial studio in the city.Read more
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Tbilisi
September 27, 2023 in Georgia ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
We arrived in Tbilisi on Friday evening after a really average train ride from Kutaisi (hot, uncomfortable seats), and checked into our apartment for the next 3 weeks. Spent a few days doing laundry, cooking and catching up on exercise and life admin. We checked out Sports Fest (a 2 day sports festival), the Dry Bridge Flea Market and Cass tried out an aerial studio in the city.

When we finally left the apartment to do some sightseeing, we visited the Holy Trinity Cathedral of Tbilisi which overlooks the city (relatively new, opened in 2004), Queen Darejan Palace for views over the old town and Meidan Bazaar. We also visited the Tbilisi Wine Museum, where we learnt about the importance of wine to Georgians (i.e. it is VERY important to them, their culture and identity) and how they still make wine using traditional methods and the qvevri.Read more
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Turtle Lake to Mtatsminda Park hike
September 30, 2023 in Georgia ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C
This morning we went up to Turtle Lake and hiked along the ridgeline to Mtatsminda Park, and back down to the city (about 8km). We stopped at Acharulebi Laghidzeze for some Adjarian Khachapuri and Lobiani for lunch before walking home.Read more
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Dog Organization Georgia and Lake Lisi
October 4, 2023 in Georgia ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C
We took a Yandex to Dog Organization Georgia (D.O.G), a no kill shelter located on the edge of Tbilisi City and near Lake Lisi. We visited the shelter (currently home to 47 dogs), met some of the old dogs who had spent their whole life at the shelter and took a puppy and an old dog out for a walk around Lake Lisi.Read more
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Tbilisi
October 8, 2023 in Georgia ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C
Our three weeks in our apartment are almost up and we have been spending our time reading/gaming/watching movies, cooking and wandering around Tbilisi. We have had a few good meals out, tried different types of Georgian wine and Cass has gone to silks a few times. In a few days, Jamie will join us and we will start doing touristy things again soon.Read more
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Sulfur Baths
October 9, 2023 in Georgia ⋅ 🌬 20 °C
Tbilisi was founded in the 5th century by King Vakhtang Gorgasali who discovered many hot springs while hunting in the area. He decreed that a new city should be built around the springs and their healing properties. The city was called Tbilisi, which means "warm place" in Old Georgian. A number of bathhouses (see domes in the photos) were established, and still exist in the Abanotubani District today. Yesterday, we visited the Chreli Abano bathhouse and spent an hour soaking in the 50°C sulfur water and getting body scrubs. It was a fun experience and we left very relaxed!Read more
TravelerYou must feel very clean now 😁
10/10/23Reply
TravelerVery clean! They scrubbed off so much dead skin 😬
10/10/23Reply
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World Trip
Tbilisi
October 14, 2023 in Georgia ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
Jamie arrived on Wednesday (which also happened to be his birthday), so we went to our favourite restaurant in Tbilisi for dinner (Veliaminov) and had some cake for dessert. We spent the next few days revisiting some sights in Tbilisi and exploring new ones (like Narikala Fortress), eating more Georgia food and burgers with gloves for the first time ever.Read more
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Day trip to Khakheti and Sighnaghi
October 15, 2023 in Georgia ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C
Today we went on a day trip to Khakheti and Sighnaghi (region to the east of Tbilisi known for its wine). Our first stops of the day were KTW Wines where we tried 5 types of wine and a cognac, and a local bakery where we made Georgian bread and had a morning tea of bread, cheese and wine. After we were full of wine and bread, we visited Bodbe and Sighnaghi and walked through the pretty old towns. It was a fun day out and a nice way to end our time in Tbilisi before we head up to the mountains tomorrow morning.Read more
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Stepantsminda
October 16, 2023 in Georgia ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C
We took a marshrutka from Tbilisi to Stepantsminda (also known as Kazbegi), arriving around midday. After a quick lunch and nap, we walked up to St Elias Church for views over the town, followed by dinner at a tiny local place called Kazbegi Good Food. The food and homemade red wine was delicious and so cheap.

The next day, we had a slow morning while we waited for the fog to burn off before we hiked up to Gergeti Trinity Church. We arrived at the church around 3pm to perfectly clear skies and views of the church and Caucasus mountains. After exploring the church for a while, we descended and went back to Kazbegi Good Food to warm up and for 2L of homemade red wine, khachapuri and khinkali.Read more
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Borjomi
October 19, 2023 in Georgia
We arrived in Borjomi yesterday after quite a long travel day (3.5hrs from Kazbegi to Tbilisi, and another 2hrs from Tbilisi to Borjomi). When we left Kazbegi in the morning, snow had started settling on the mountains and the Georgian Military Highway also was covered in snow which, together with the autumn colors, made for a scenic drive.

We spent out first full day in Borjomi hiking in Borjomi Nature Reserve (about 16km round trip).Read more
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Day trip to Vardzia and Akhaltsikhe
October 21, 2023 in Georgia ⋅ ☀️ 8 °C
We booked a private driver for the day to explore a bit more of Georgia. Our first stop was Vardzia - an ancient cave settlement and monastery on the slopes of the Erusheti mountains in Southern Gerogia. We spent a couple of hours wandering around the well preserved and restored cave rooms. Our second stop was the town of Akhaltsikhe and Rabati Castle. We ended our day back at Borjomi Central Park, where we tried the famous Borjomi mineral water (tasted like boiled eggs).Read more
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Istanbul
October 23, 2023 in Turkey ⋅ 🌙 20 °C
After a long 14 hour travel day yesterday (a marshrutka, taxi, plane ride, train and taxi), we finally met up with Lisa and arrived in Istanbul. We had a slow first day in Istanbul, eating fish sandwiches and exploring and shopping in the Karakoy and Kabatas neighborhoods.Read more
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Goreme
October 27, 2023 in Turkey
We took an overnight bus from Istanbul to Goreme. As usual, the bus was meant to be 10.5hrs, and ended up being 12hrs, including a stop at a police station when a truck cut us off and ended up scraping into our bus. We arrived in Goreme, very tired, but excited to be in the famous Cappadocia. We wandered around Goreme for the day and went to bed early.

We spent the next couple of days exploring Goreme on food, by ATV and car. We watched the sunset over Rose Valley, hot air balloons at sunrise from both our hotel rooftop and Lovers Hill, and spent a day visiting Derinkuyu Underground Cave City, Pigeon Valley, Uchisar and Love Valley.Read more
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Sunset ATV in Goreme*
October 28, 2023 in Turkey
After a big sleep, we walked over to the Goreme Open Air Museum (a number of restored churches in caves) and organized our sunset ATV tour for that evening. The ATV tour, although very slow, was fun, we got covered head to toe in dust and watched a spectacular sunset over Rose Valley. We ended our night watching the RWC final at Fat Boys.Read more
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Goreme*
October 29, 2023 in Turkey
Woke up early to watch the hot air balloons at sunrise from our hotel rooftop. We had a slow day of life/trip admin, followed by watching sunset over Goreme at Lovers Hill.
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Derinkuyu, Uchisar and Love Valley*
October 30, 2023 in Turkey
We woke up early (again) to watch the hot air balloons at sunrise, this time from the top of Lovers Hill, which was worth the climb to see more balloons and closer than from our hotel. After sunrise, we picked up our rental car for the day for our DIY tour where we visited the Derinkuyu Underground Cave City, Pigeon Valley, Uchisar and Love Valley.Read more
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Jordan
November 2, 2023 in Jordan ⋅ 🌙 15 °C
We made it to Jordan! We flew from Kayseri to Antalya, then Antalya to Amman where we picked up our rental car and drove to our airport hotel for a nap and shower. Around midday, we headed south from Amman towards Wadi Musa, stopping for lunch and to stretch our legs at Kerak Castle. Tomorrow, we head to Petra!Read more
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Petra - Day 1*
November 3, 2023 in Jordan ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
We woke up really early because today we went to Petra! After picking up our tickets, we spent almost 7 hours walking through Petra. We walked through the Siq to the Treasury, and then onwards along the Al Khubta and Wadi Al Ferasa trails - about 25,000 steps and 18.5km of walking.Read more
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Petra
November 4, 2023 in Jordan ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
We woke up really early because today we went to Petra! After picking up our tickets, we spent almost 7 hours walking through Petra. We walked through the Siq to the Treasury, and then onwards along the Al Khubta and Wadi Al Ferasa trails - about 25,000 steps and 18.5km of walking.

The next day, we also woke up really early to head to Petra before the crowds. We headed straight to the Monastery, the second most famous site in Petra, covering about 15km (return) and 800 steps. On the way up to the Monastery, we were invited into a shop for tea with a Bedouin lady. We had a nice break at the Monastery, before heading back to the car and stopping off for falafel sandwiches for lunch. We finished off our day with a beautiful sunset from our hotel and a massive home cooked meal of chicken mansaf.Read more
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Wadi Rum Desert
November 5, 2023 in Jordan ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C
Drove from Wadi Musa to Wadi Rum Village to start our desert jeep tour. We were picked up around 2pm and spent 4 hours 4x4ing through Wadi Rum desert. We spotted ancient carvings (over 1500 years old), cool rock formations and people completing an ultra marathon. Our tour ended with tea and a nice sunset over the desert before we headed to our camp for the night. Our camp was located at the base of a mountain, and so was sheltered from the wind. We had a traditional bedouin bbq for dinner (cooked in the ground like a hangi), did some dancing and limbo and ended with tea around a campfire. The next morning, we woke up to camels walking around our camp before we had breakfast and drove back to our car.Read more
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Dead Sea
November 6, 2023 in Jordan ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C
On our drive back to Amman, we spotted Israel (from over the Red Sea) and stopped at the Dead Sea for a float.
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Amman
November 7, 2023 in Jordan ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C
Explored Amman today, including Amman Citadel, downtown and Rainbow Street.
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Egypt*
November 9, 2023 in Egypt ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C
Flew from Amman to Cairo. We arrived late in Cairo, waited forever for our bags on the baggage carousel and took a taxi to our hotel in Giza.
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Cairo
November 9, 2023 in Egypt ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
We woke up early to head to the pyramids of Giza before all the crowds settled in. The pyramids were very cool - way bigger than expected and an incredible feat of engineering. We spent around 4 hours walking around the pyramids, and then had lunch on the rooftop of the famous Pizza Hut overlooking the sphinx and pyramids. After the pyramids, we went back to our hotel for a couple of hours to freshen up before our 11.30pm night bus. We ended up at a restaurant called Cafe Riche, which has been open since 1908, for about 6 hours while we waited for our night bus.Read more
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