Georgia – the Green Country
Georgian nature can hardly be described, it must be experienced. High snowy mountains, deep gorges and everything is green. When you reach the peaks, there are grassy plains like the Carpathian Mountains. It is just to get off the road and finding a place to camp. It’s free to camp wherever you want, just like in Norway.
The route we planned. Dartlo was left out because of rain and danger of landslides.
The road quality varies between medium, bad and extremely bad. We are very pleased that we have a car with good ground clearance and four wheel drive. But we met regular passenger cars, even trailers in places that can not be characterized as roads. To meet a large truck on a narrow gravel road with a cliff on the side can also give a little Adrenalin rush. Yet we are only in the Little Caucasus.
Second day in Georgia we went to Vardzia, a cave monastery in a scenic valley. We spent the night in the green, climbing the caves and driving on. Originally, we had thought about the Caucasus first, but a lot of rain has been reported so we reversed the route and went to Armenia first. It is mid June and cool in the mountains. In the lowlands it’s easily 40 degrees in July-August, so it’s a good idea to go here first.
Tbilisi
Tbilisi has a completely different atmosphere than Yerevan. Not only because it has an exciting old town, but also because it seems more relaxed. A great city to just stroll around in. The traffic here is quite aggressive, but not as bad as Yerevan.
In both Georgia and Armenia, it’s a very offensive driving style with cars that change the lane instantly. There are cars that forces their way in front of you, both right and left, without turn signals. Driving style is similar of North Africa, if not as extreme as it is there. I have a more defensive Norwegian driving style and it seems to annoy other drivers. Openings must only be closed. Immediately! Strange enough, we have not seen many accidents.
Hospitable and proud Caucasian people
When Elin lived in Moscow thirty years ago, she had a lot of contact with an Armenian family. That’s why it’s fine to finally come to the Caucasus. We find that some young people speak English, while the adults do not speak English or German. Most people speak Russian, so we are very helpful in most situations. Elin’s vocabulary is, of course, not the best when it comes to technical terminology, for example at the car repair shop when we are going to change the fan belt and repair the AC, so it is to gesticulate and point.
Heaven for food and wine lovers
People we meet say it is hard to live here after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Salaries are low, prices higher and unemployment has increased. But, all in all, we are met with friendliness of a helpful and hospitable people, who are proud of local food specialties and wines. The food is exquisite and the wine is the same and we both enjoyed ourselves. They have amazingly many good cheeses and a rich selection of vegetables. An cheese-like calorie bomb of a pizza, Katchapuri, is one of the specialties served anywhere.
When we free-camp we bunk up for a few days and cook the food ourselves. At the back of the car we have a 20 liter water tank with electrical pump, and we just fill in water along the road. We cook on an old gas stove and Otto has designed and built a kitchen solution that works fine. We are very pleased with the compressor refrigerator we bought in Warzawa.. It’s always nice to see what smart solutions others have in their cars and we share willingly useful tips with each other.
Lively Tblisi
We stopped for a few days in Tblisi and took in a nice little hotel for USD 35 per night. Good wifi, air conditioning, central location, restaurant and safe parking is the most important thing for us when we look for a hotel. Tblisi is an incredibly charming city to stroll around in, and the cable car ride up to the mountain with panoramic views from the roof terrace is recommended. We also got local folk dance at a restaurant in the old town and were impressed by the dancers fabulous, hovering footwork. Unfortunately, the orchestra was a little too keen and played nonstop Russian evergreens at high volume so it was impossible to talk. But value for money it was. The old town is very nice to visit and has a wide variety of restaurants and cafes. We were fascinated of observing other tourists. Here are many wealthy Russian female tourists with face full of Botox that just fingers with their mobiles and barely lift their eyes. The Russian tourists are loud. Chinese and Japanese tourists go on line and row behind the flag guide, stopping everywhere and taking their selfies.
Price level
Georgian prices are about half of typical Northern European prices. Ukrainian maybe a quart. Armenia is somewhat less expensive than Georgia.
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