It’s been almost a week since we got back from Caucasus. A week in Warsaw, full of nice meetings, riding a bike in heat and the car in traffic and pouring rain, full of work and catching up, full of Maks being happy that he got his toys, cars, jigsaw puzzles, playgrounds and little fun companions back. He missed them the most while we were in Caucasus.
It’s about time to wrap it up and synthesise these two weeks we spent in Georgia and Armenia! A few words about what we love Caucasus for, why we fell in love with Georgia and why we lately cannot answer the question: “Armenia or Georgia?: which one do you suggest?”. We absolutely love both places! It’s an entry for those who are about to go, those who are still not sure about buying cheap plane tickets to Kutaisi, and those who never thought that Georgia and Armenia could be an interesting travel destination.
7 REASONS to go to Caucasus countries:
1) LANDSCAPES THAT YOU JUST HAVE TO TAKE A PICTURE OF… OR A MILLION OF PICTURES!
Sanahin monastery in Northern Armenia – looks like scenery from a fairytale
Lake Sevan and Sevanavank monastery – Armenia
What can I say? It’s beautiful here! In the Georgian mountains (Mestia, Kazbegi!), in desert areas around David Gareja, in Kakheti vineyards, in Tbilisi, but mostly on curvy Armenian roads, in places such as Sanahin monastery that seems hidden from the world or Lake Sevan with its blue water. A camera, a smartphone and a fully charged battery are essential! Because of the views it’s worth travelling by car instead of a marshrutka since then you can stop every “Oh my God, it’s so beautiful here!” and take some pictures, even if it means stopping every 50 metres!
2) FLAVOURS THAT YOU WILL REMEMBER FOR MONTHS
one of my biggest Georgian loves: aubergines stuffed with walnut paste
Hot Khachapuri with melted cheese, soft aubergine (how to make one? Help!) with walnut paste, khinkali – pouch-like dumplings with strong broth to drink and a herb-spiced stuffing inside. Amazing bread, that tastes great at night on a train from Yerevan to Tbilisi. Crayfish for those who like food that comes from water. Various types of meat and simple yet delicious salads (tomato, cucumber, herbs). Sweet baklava with vanilla ice cream and churchele made from nuts and fruit jelly that will appeal to everybody, even those who don’t like sweets. I know one personally!
Łukasz’ absolute number 1 when it comes to Georgian cuisine – pouch khinkali dumplings
3) LOW PRICES
When it comes to low prices, people usually think about South-East Asia. Pad thai for PLN? Easy in Thailand! Armenia is a serious competition for Cambodia or Vietnam on this matter! Lahmacum with meat for PLN 1.5? Yep! A lunch for 3 (ok, for 2.5!) for PLN 28? Can do! Free entry to monasteries and other monuments, cheap gas and accommodation (worse in Tbilisi than in Yerevan), only renting a car costs more than the rest (approx. PLN 180 for a day in Armenia).
4) LIVELY YEREVAN AT NIGHT
Republic Square – at night it looks even more amazing
Surprising, lively, looking like a Spanish city, with crowds on the streets and children raging by the fountains at 11 pm and the littlest ones laughing in their prams! And nobody considers it something wrong to have a walk with a child at 11 pm! I like that! Yerevan is a trendy city, full of restaurants, fancy cars and people dressed like in fashion magazines (or blogs ;)). And the Armenian women! They’re beautiful – don’t send your man there alone!
5) PEOPLE – HELPFUL, FRIENDLY, THEY LOVE POLES AND… LECH KACZYŃSKI!
a bit of folklore by Lake Sevan
They really like us in Caucasus. Georgians instantly become friendly when they hear “Poles”, they instantly start talking about Kaczyński, what he’s done for Georgia and about his street in Tbilisi. Armenians are surprised when they hear that we came here from Poland. “You came to Yerevan from Warsaw and you like it?”. After knowing that we like the city, they seem to treat their capital better! You can also speak Polish with some of the natives. This one had a Polish grandmother from the Sobolewski line, that one had family near Kalisz, still has it and plans to go to Poland. And if they don’t speak Polish, try Russian. They will be surprised that you “gawarit pa ruski” and will try to help you with a combination of languages, show you where to go, answer your questions and sometimes even turn back from their route and lead you to a destination that you can’t find yourself!
6) UNFORGETTABLE VIBE OF THE NIGHT TRAINS
ready for passport control and a conversation with Georgian customs officers at 4 am? Maks is!
I know that it’s more comfy in a bed, that you have to struggle with your luggage, that you can’t have a bath since there’s no water in the bathroom and you’re not exactly fresh on the next day (but the kid is!). But still, I wouldn’t have changed the night train from Tbilisi to Yerevan to anything else. Adventure, the impression, the memories. The best thing you can get on a trip.
7) A LAND OF WINE
Caucasus seen from Schuchmann Chateau Georgian vineyard
Wine, wine and more wine. Amazing Georgian Saperavi from Kakheti wine land, picturesque vineyards, and similarly delicious red wine in Armenia. Enotourism in Caucasus? Why not!
WELL, IT’S NOT THAT PERFECT. THERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT MAY IRRITATE YOU IN GEORGIA AND ARMENIA…
1) MARSHRUTKAS THAT WILL MAKE YOU SICK
I know that some people will probably say that it’s just how it is there, that they have their own vibe like the night train has for me. But for me, a person with motion sickness, marshrutkas are the biggest nightmare. The roads are bad, the drivers are crazy, it’s shaky as hell. I won’t ever try it without my medicine since it won’t end well! I tried that already! 20 minutes after we left Kutaisi for Tbilisi, I thought I was going to die and prayed for the pill to start working soon enough. What’s more, marshrutkas turned out to be a problem for Maks too, who already drove thousands of kilometres in a car in Poland, Europe, Thailand or Mexico. Last week, he felt bad for the second time in his life (I won’t get into the details, but the bus had it from him). Second time in Georgia.
2) SMARTASSES
They appear everywhere, where tourists go and Caucasus is no exception here. Elevated prices of churchele (a real outrage!), the need to bargain, and what’s very important, to check your receipts and bills! I guess that in some cases the Georgians and Armenians think that a) it’s so cheap for a foreigner hat he won’t notice a few extra things on his bill, b) nobody reads the bill anyway because of their curvy lettering. But we managed to spot something extra on a few occasions in restaurants or shops, or a tip that was worth 50% of the whole amount! Be careful!
3) BAD ROADS IN ARMENIA
We complain about Polish roads, holes and bumps in them. And we’re right. But the number of holes and bumps in Armenia is 5-10 times bigger! It was the first country where we drove and seen people slaloming on an empty road, switching from one lane the another. We did the same which does not make it any better for my stomach…
around Goshavank monastery
Visiting Armenia wasn’t the only “first time” on our trip to Caucasus. It was also the first time we had a sponsor, a partner – VARTA. How did the products we got from the brand work? It was an easy guess that we will fall in love with portable energy bank called Powerpack. A little box that runs on 3 alkaline batteries can charge your phone wherever you like – on a train, in a marshrutka, on a plane, in a restaurant or in a rented car. It works with most of the popular smartphones like iPhone, Samsung, BlackBerry, LG, HTC etc. There are 3 different adaptors included and you can plug in your own wire like we did with iPhone 5. The lights on the device show, how much power is left (not much, as you can see in the picture :)) . It’s an ideal solution for people like us, who have to be constantly online. The blog, own enterprises, extensive travels, during which we have to maintain contact with Warsaw make it a perfect companion. It will surely be a frequent guest in our suitcase!
charging the phone while waiting for lunch
How did he other products work? Indestructible flashlight turned out to be Maks’ best friend. We could not separate him from it! And yes, it turned out to be indestructible, even when a crazy 3-year old took control over it.
STANLEY padlock also came in handy. We always lock our registered plane luggage. Weird things happen, luggage gets lost, you better be prepared. Sometime we also lock the hand luggage when we leave it in some kind of a repository, in a hostel or anywhere else where it might not be safe with our laptops, camera and iPad in it. The material value of these things is one thing. The contents are even more valuable (you can’t even imagine what I went through when my hard disk died!!!). STANLEY padlock works with a 3-digit code which was a great solution since I always get nervous when I have padlocks with a key – I tend to check a million times if I really have the key on me. I know that it’s stupid, but I also check if I locked the doors 5 times and ask Łukasz if I didn’t forget to do it :). With this padlock, I locked it and stopped thinking about it all ;).
ready to fly
bye, bye Georgia – at the Kutaisi airport
Well, Caucasus worked great for us – it was beautiful, tasty, safe and problem less… If you still have any doubts, tell us! We will surely make them go away. Somebody wrote on our Facebook profile that “when you fall in love with Caucasus, you will surely get back!” It’s just a matter of time 🙂
*the entry was written in cooperation with:
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