From dry and unforgettable Turkey I soon entered a completely deferent story. Green wetlands of Georgia.
From Georgia to Russia
From Greece to Turkey
June 11, 2020
Connecting generations
July 30, 2020PART 3
Journey to the unknown
Unpaved and bumpy routes took me days before I reached the northwestern Georgia along the southern slopes of Greater Caucasus mountains.
My butt hurt while driving all day long for a relatively short mileage, but I was very pleased to see what my 4×4 is capable of.
The region of Svaneti with it’s stone villages, churches serving as family shrines, tower houses, lush green valleys,
snow-covered mountains, blooming flowers and rivers where you could easily set the campground,
made me feel I have arrived to the lands of Shire, only the hobbits were missing.
(Shire: The lord of the rings- J. R. R. Tolkien)
Come to think about it… Were they really?
The scenery was simply spectacular.
I spent quite some time in the capital city Tbilisi. Nights were similar compering to Istanbul aldo nothing unusual.
All the cities are similar when you sleep in the car. Disturbing and loud.
To avoid the heavy duty night life I have decided to rather drive 20km north of Tbilisi and spent a few nights in a former capital city Mtskheta.
Mtskheta is home to the Chamber of Wine or Gvinis Palata and is placed under UNESCO protection.
Nights in this small city were much more suitable for my lifestyle. It felt as the time would ran backwards.
Tastefull khinkali and a glass of wine… Life is perfect.
*Khinkali: Basically Georgian Meat & Pork soup Dumplings
I had to stay close to Tbilisi city because I have decided to make a Russian visa here. A story and a half my friends aldo I wouldn’t recommend this adventure to anyone. Try to make your visas in you home country would be my best advice.
French embassy was easy to find but searching for a Russian was a chapter of it’s one. It was so clearly pointed on the map but nowhere to be found. I did found it eventually in the next few days and it looked nothing like an embassy.
Behind the endless line of people there they were standing… trailers from the 60is- so called Russian embassy.
I wonted to take a photo so badly but off course as elsewhere a policeman stoped me.
“Then I realized that to be more alive, I had to be less afraid. So I did it. I lost my fear and gained my whole life.”
If my memory serves me well I think I did snap a few shots with GoPro I am always carefully hiding in my right pocket but I am not sure If I succeeded. Yeah, one day I need to check on those.
To add more fuel to this bizarre event, inside of the trailer was even better scenario.
A lady agent equipped with kilos of gold from three generations back sitting in a ‘shelter’ that looked like it’s gonna collapse any minute, made my day.
Everything was doable for 210€. So, I ordered a visa with double entrance but wasn’t really sure this trailers will still exist a week later when I needed to pick it up.
To release the stress from the city noise I have decided to check the coast of Batumi. Yeah, I made a right decision. The weather was perfect so I set the campground on the beach next to the black sea.
It was time to do some laundry and all the necessary before I started a new chapter and hit the road towards Russia.
When I came back to Tbilisi the trailers surprisingly still exited and thankfully I got my visa. I was ready and prepared for some new adventures.
Since Armenia wasn’t reachable from the Turkish side because of the political conflicts and I was already in Georgia, I have decided to took a week trip and see how the life looks like in the other former Soviet republic. How exacting!
Driving through Armenian border cost me quite a lot of time and some money as well. In the end I think nobody knew what we were signing nor what are we paying for, but as always it all ended well. Welcome to Armenia.
Armenia is one of the countries stamped as an earliest Christian civilizations
and has the largest freshwater high-altitude (1900m above sea level) lake in the world. The lake known by its beaches, Lake Sevan.
By now you’ve probably figured it out to which direction my compass was pointing.
One stop in the capital city Yerevan and of to Lake Sevan.
“Some beautiful paths can’t be discovered without getting lost.”
This massive lake is much more than the large body of water and invites locals from all over the country.
Camping, barbecuing and tasting Armenian brandy with locals was unique and unforgettable experience. Sleeping under the sound of the waives was even better.
To enter the Russian Republic I had to return to Georgia and drive through Caucasus mountains. Well that my friends again is something worth visiting.
I couldn’t resist but to stop every 15 minutes simply for photography reasons.
The weather conditions were changing instantly and the landscape was absolutely stunning.
It took me a long time before I finally reached the border, or at least an endless line of trucks waiting to cross it. When I finally did, there was a tons of paper work waiting if I wanted to enter the Republic of Russia with the mobile home.
Officers were very friendly, helpful and joyful when they’ve seen Slovenian passport. They were mentioning my country as a brotherhood.
Are we in Russia all ready? Here my friends is where I need to end this chapter and It’s time for a new one. The Great Republic of Russia.
Infotech:
I started the journey from Slovenia in the beginning of May and arrived to Russia in July.
Equipment: Canon, GoPro, Fuji instax, portable printer, Macintosh;
Mercedesbenz 👉Graz- Austria, Dream team car 👉Martigues- France, ORC 👉Stuttgart- Germany, Mixi caravaning👉Šentjur- Slovenia, 4×4 servis 👉Maribor- Slovenia
How did you enjoy the journey so far? Are you up for some more?
Next stop: Russia
Destination: Mongolia
(For Slovenian readers – Indija Koromandija)