Travel notes 2021

13.7 kms, Aug 28, 2012 Today he's going to do a day trip to experience another town or two up in the northeast hill country. "Sighnaghi" is a traditional town that he's been told is a must see. He doesn't want to just be visiting the “must see” touristy places in this country, but he figures he should go check it out since he's in the area. He heads down to what he thinks is the main van station (behind the train station) but, no... there are no vans to Sighnaghi from here. A helpful driver gives him a hand, taking him to the main highway, waving down the correct minibus that will take him to the correct station, and telling the driver where to drop him off. Taking urban transportation could be a bit challenging on your own, as everything is written in the Georgian script. But people continue to impress him with their friendliness and helpfulness here. Sure enough, soon he's at the correct station and they're off to Sighnaghi. Once again, it...

  17.1 kms, Aug 29, 2012 Crossing the border, you immediately feel the difference about this country. In Azerbaijan, the Traveler—even after obtaining an expensive visa—was interrogated like he was a criminal suspect. In Armenia, he had to wait outside a makeshift immigration stall while they attached a full page visa to his passport. But in Georgia, you enter a very modern steel and glass structure, are greeted by immigration officials that seem to have the same uniform as American immigration... who quickly scan through you passport, stamp it, and hand it back to you with a smile. “ Welcome to Georgia” Once inside, the Traveler finds a van waiting for passengers to take them to Tbilisi, the capital. But the Traveler, of course, is not even going to consider it. There's an immense feeling of satisfaction having finished a 52 day, 1,400 kilometer hike through Armenia, he is eager to explore another country.... completely on foot. There is no immediate distinction between Georgian...

  33.5 kms, July 15, 2021 Usually the big highlight of a hiking through a country is reaching its capital. In Armenia, that took more that three weeks. Here in Georgia, the Traveler hopes to reach the capital of Tbilisi in 2 days, and is really looking forward to that. But that doesn't mean there's nothing to look forward to after that. What really excites him is reaching the snow covered mountains up along the border with Russia. He hopes it will be an opportunity to experience Alps-style mountain grandeur on a much, much tighter budget. But let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. Right now it looks like there's still a lot more trudging along in withering heat. He determines he's not going to let this affect his morale. The highway climbs a gentle ridge north of Marneuli. Here is a large statue of a woman with two young boys in front, the boys holding a giant sheathed sword. The Traveler goes for a closer look. It doesn't quite have that brutalist Sovi...

  34.4 kms, July 16, 2021 The Traveler gets up the next morning with one goal in mind: find a better place to stay. A place which hopefully will make this city feel like “home” and for that he needs to be able to get a good night sleep and not be made to feel unwelcome in his own room. So he wanders up and down the side streets of Tbilisi. Many of the hostels marked on Google Maps either don't exist any more, or are completely unmarked. Here he discovers how the city streets often have a grand feel, often with baroque style facades... but go into the inner courtyards and there's often a very shabby, Charles Dickens feel, with multiple floors of glassed in run down wooden balconies and waterstained walls giving a very different view of life in the city. Here, the old, the new, and the very new are all squeezed in side by side. Historic buildings and futuristic structures. 19 th century grandeur... Soviet era drabness... and post-independence attempt to put Georgia on the ma...