Holiday in the Caucasus (11): Sighnaghi, Georgia
July 17th, 2023 by Roger Darlington
It was a slower day with less travelling but still quite a long day. Again the weather was milder with a maximum of 28C. We left Tbilisi and spent the day in the eastern region of Kakheti which is Georgia’s premier wine-growing area.
First, we visited the Tsminda Nino Monastery where the female Saint Nino is buried but no photographs are allowed Then we spent all afternoon in Sighnaghi which many regard as the most attractive town in the country. I went there in 2017 and I was very happy to return.
The town is perched on a hilltop overlooking the vast Alazni valley with some glorious views. Much of the town’s architecture is 18th and 19th century with many attractive balconies. We had a multi-course lunch with wine at a place called “Pinch Of Salt” before visiting a small winery called Mtevani which involved more consumption of local wine.
Since the town is located in the far east of Georgia, quite close to Azerbaijan, getting there and back with toilet stops and having a several hours there meant that we were not back at the hotel until 6.20 pm.
These days, one of the challenges of travelling abroad is the charging of one’s electronic and electrical apparatus. I travel with an iPhone, an iPad, an Apple watch plus electrical shaver and toothbrush and sometimes it is a struggle to keep everything fully charged.
Today, for some reason, I could not charge my iPhone in my room and had to seek the help of the young female receptionists. But this meant that I made two new Georgian friends: Tako and Mariam. They charged my mobile while I taught them some English phrases and palindromes. We will now keep in touch via Facebook and my Thought For The Week.
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Holiday in the Caucasus (10): Gori, Georgia
July 16th, 2023 by Roger Darlington
Next day was a long one with a lot of travel, but the weather was milder. We set off at 9 am and travelled south on the same winding road that had brought us to this part of the country yesterday. At first, the mountain tops were capped with white clouds and the hillsides were bright green but, as we descended further south, the terrain became flatter and browner.
Our guide Nick continued his mini lectures about different aspects of Georgia with microphone sessions on education, welfare and politics. It was noticeable how sympathetic he was to the Georgian leader Mikheil Saakashvili who served as president from 2004-2013. Our destination was the city of Gori which we reached at 1.20 pm. Time for a much-desired lunch.
Gori’s claim to infamy is that it was the birthplace of Communist revolutionary and Soviet leader Stalin. In the war of 2008 between Russia and Georgia over the territory of South Ossetia, the Russians actually occupied Gori for nine days.
The city houses the Stalin Museum which was built in 1957 and I went to it in 2017. This time, we had a museum guide who spoke very fast in very accented English who, like the museum itself, had little to say about the atrocities committed by Stalin. In fact now, as in 2017, only two small rooms tucked away from the main displays mentioned the purges and gulags. Outside this bizarre celebration of 20th century dictatorship is Stalin’s childhood home and his wartime train.
Just to the east of Gori is Uplistsikhe which, between the 6th century BC and 1st century AD, was an enormous cave city that, at its peak, housed 20,000. Not everyone in the group could manage the steep and uneven climb to the top where our guide regaled us with lots of ancient history. The trouble with history is that it’s one damn thing after another!
After a night away from Tbilisi, we were back for two more nights in the same hotel (the Mercure) which we only reached at 7.40 pm – almost 10 hours after we left our previous accommodation.
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Holiday in the Caucasus (9): Georgian churches
July 15th, 2023 by Roger Darlington
After two nights in Tblisi, we were out of the capital for a night (we will return to Tbilisi for another two nights). It was very much a church day as we visited no less than four such locations.
First, we travelled north to the town of Mtskheta where two rivers join for a scenic location. The town has been known as the spiritual heart of Georgia since Christianity came to the country about 327. On the hill above the town, there is the 6th century Jvari Church. In the town itself, there is the 11th century Svetitskhoveli Cathedral where King Erekle II is buried.
Then we drove further north to Ananuri where we had time in the 17th century Church of the Annunciation which overlooks the Zhinvali Reservoir. After some lunch nearby, we ploughed on northwards on the Georgian Military Highway, over the Jvari Pass, and down into the Tergi Valley. At our highest, we were 2,400 metres (which is almost 8,000 feet).
When we reached the town of Stepantsminda (formerly called Kazbegi), we had to transfer to four-wheel drive vehicles to reach the 14th century Tsminda Sameba Church which is located at a height of 2,200 metres (over 7,000 feet). Unfortunately the site was blanketed by black clouds and there was a splattering of rain. Furthermore one is not allowed to take photographs inside the church.
So the visit was literally something of a washout. But we were told that there will be thunderstorms in the next two days which will make the road to Stepantsminda unusable, so I guess we were lucky.
The day was not quite over and it was something of a relief that we did not have another church on the programme. Instead, down in Stepantsminda, we called into a private home to receive instruction in how to make (and eat) Georgian dumplings called khinkali and consume a Georgian spirit called pirali.
Our accommodation for the night was a resort hotel situated somewhere between nowhere and anywhere close to the border with the North Ossetia region of Russia.
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Holiday in Caucasus (8): Tbilisi, Georgia
July 14th, 2023 by Roger Darlington
The capital of Georgia is Tblisi – the name means ‘the place of warm springs’ – which has a population of about 1.5 million that is 40% of the country’s entire population. The city lines the banks of the Mtkvari River. Since the main VJV group was recovering from an overnight flight, I spent two and a half hours on a sunny morning wandering round the south side of the river, exploring mainly the Old City. It is utterly unlike the clean and modern Baku: the Old City is a rambling mixture of charm and mess with lots of graffiti and a great deal of renovation still to be done.
At 2 pm, all the group members – now 14 – convened in the hotel lobby for a quick briefing by our guide Nick before we drove in a coach to the National History Museum. I was here in 2017 and now, as then, I concentrated on the section covering the Soviet occupation of 1920-1991. The total number of victims is claimed to be approximately 400,000 killed in the Second World War, 400,000 deported (most of whom were eventually shot), and around 80,000 who were summarily shot.
After almost an hour and a half at the museum, we spent another near two and a half hours walking around looking at sights and stopping for refreshments which was the first chance for all of us to talk to one another.
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Holiday in the Caucasus (7): into Georgia
July 13th, 2023 by Roger Darlington
It was a second consecutive travelling day because our holiday moved from Azerbaijan to Georgia. Leaving our hotel in Sheki at 8 am, it was a two hour drive to the border crossing at Postbina. We had to carry our luggage up a long passageway to the Azerbaijan crossing and then down a similar length passage to the Georgian crossing, but it was quickly done and we were in a new country.
Georgia is a bit smaller than Scotland. The population is only 3.7M which is a little larger than that of Wales and a third of them live in the capital. The people are overwhelmingly Christian. But ethnically Georgia is more diverse than the other two countries in the region: some 11% are Armenians or Azerbaijanis. The currency is the Lari which is a bit over three to the pound.
One of Georgia’s greatest claims to fame is that it has been growing wine for 8,000 years, so the country insists that it is the birthplace of the drink. Georgia has a particularly interesting modern history since, from 1918-1921, it had a popular and successful social democrat government. This experience is well-described in “The Experiment” written by my good friend Eric Lee.
Following its new occasion of independence, Soviet-era Eduardo Shevardnadze was overthrown in a peaceful Rose Revolution of 2003. The new President Mikheil Saakashvili was initially popular but fell from favour with his disastrous attempt to retake South Ossetia in 2008. The Saakashvili era came to an end with the victory of the rival Georgian Dream coalition in the elections of 2012 and 2013. However, the government has increased control over the media and the judiciary and it is positioning itself as closer to Russia.
Once in Georgia, we met our guide Nick Mazanishvili and we were immediately off visiting cultural sites. First was the nearby Nekresi Monastery. This is set on a hill which can only be mounted comfortably by a special bus. The location and the interiors are really atmospheric. Then we drove the short distance to the Gremi Fortress. Inside this citadel is the Church of the Archangels which was built in 1655.
It was now 31C and we were ready for refreshment. Lunch was in the town of Tevali where we sat outside at a restaurant called “Kapiloni”. The afternoon journey to the capital Tbilisi should have taken two hours, but the shorter and more scenic route was closed during the day for repairs and the longer and less scenic route took a full three hours.
The Voyages Jules Verne group for the main tour was not due in Tbilisi until the early hours of next morning, so we three now had the evening and following morning free.
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Holiday in the Caucasus (6): on to Sheki, Azerbaijan
July 12th, 2023 by Roger Darlington
Our fifth day in Azerbaijan was largely a travelling day, positioning us to enter Georgia tomorrow. So we travelled north-east from Baku to Sheki, a journey of 300 km (almost 200 miles) in pleasant weather. There was one major and two minor stops during a day of green countryside and our first view of the Caucasus.
The main halt was at Shamakhy to see the Juma Mosque. The location dates back to 743, but it was seriously damaged in the earthquakes of 1859 and 1902. Then, in 1918, Armenians set the place on fire. It was extensively restored between 2010-2013. A distinguishing feature is an unusually large mihrab (the niche facing Mecca).
Later we had a couple of refreshments stops: one at a winery called “Abqora” for coffee and the other in a wooded district called Vandam for an open air lunch of a local savoury pancake.
Sheki is a very historic town that was once the royal capital and, at its peak, it housed five caravanserai. The Soviets destroyed the khanate’s Winter Place, but the gorgeously ornate Summer Palace of 1762 survives and indeed today is a UNESCO World Heritage site. This palace was the most beautiful place that we visited in our time in Azerbaijan, but annoyingly and inexplicably photographs of the interior are prohibited. Afterwards we viewed the remaining caravanserai which is now largely a hotel.
We reached our hotel in Sheki, the Macara, eight hours after we left our hotel in Baku but, after just half an hour to unwind, we went out for dinner at a popular place called “Calabi Xan” where it was still warm enough to eat outside.
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Holiday in the Caucasus (5): more out of and in Baku, Azerbaijan
July 11th, 2023 by Roger Darlington
Our fourth day in Azerbaijan was a mixture of out of Baku locations and a couple of Baku museums. Again the temperature was not excessive (28C) with a cooling wind.
First, we drove due south to Gobustan. This is the site of a wonderful collection of petroglyphs which has received UNESCO World Heritage status. Before viewing the petroglyphs, though, we visited an excellent museum which provides a good deal of useful content. Walking round the petroglyphs themselves was much aided by having our guide with us because he knew exactly what each scene represented and could point out the figures and animals with his laser.
I have seen petroglyphs before on a recent visit to Namibia, but these were better presented.
A short drive away was Dasgil Hill where we were treated to the sight of so-called mud volcanoes. This is not quite as dramatic as it sounds: there are around ten hillocks with tops about the size of a bicycle wheel that gurgle gas through cold, thick mud. Since there has been no rain for months, activity was undramatic, but the whole setting has a weird, other-planet type feeling.
It reminded me a little of the geysers that I saw in New Zealand and Iceland.
We returned to Baku to see the site of the world’s first industrially drilled oil well (1846) and to have a quick lunch at a place called “”Turco Burrito”.
Then we went to see the Historical Museum that we had been unable to visit on Sunday morning. This is located in the former home of a man unknown to most foreigners but revered by Azerbaijanis as ‘the Father of the Nation’: Haji Zeynalabdin Taghiyev. He was an incredibly rich oil baron and philanthropist who lived from 1838-1924 and lived in this building from 1895-1920.
In fact, the only part of this building currently open to the public is the section where Taghiyev himself lived which is splendidly ornate.
The tour for the day was now over, but the three of us decided that we would like to see the Carpet Museum which, since 2014, has been housed in a striking building shaped like a rolled up carpet. We walked back to the hotel, a half-hour stroll past an area known as Little Venice and along the pleasant promenade.
So far on this holiday, only breakfasts have been included in the package but, for our final evening in Baku, we were taken to a huge establishment called “Sirvansah Muzey-Restoran” which was once a 19th century bathhouse and is now almost as much an ethnographic museum as a restaurant serving classic Azerbaijani food and offering traditional Azerbaijani music and dancing.
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Holiday in the Caucasus (4): Absheron Peninsula, Azerbaijan
July 10th, 2023 by Roger Darlington
After two days in Baku, we spent a day in the Absheron Peninsula which stretches north and east from Baku. The name means ‘salty water’. As a change from the city, we visited three very different locations.
First, we went to the village of Mardakan, a name which translates as ‘place of brave people’. Here there is a 24 x 20 metres quadrangular-plan courtyard with a central tower rising to 22 metres. It is believed that the structure was built in 1187-1188, but it has had two 20th century restorations. Recent neglect means that it is unsafe to climb the inside, but we were able to take external steps to the top of the tower. The village has a small 14th century mosque. This is no longer in use for worship but could have a look inside.
Second, we drove to a place called Suraxani which is the location of the 18th century Atashgah fire temple. Apparently, this is one of only three such structures – the others are in Iran and India – which commemorate the ancient religion of Zoroastrianism that flourished from 15th-6th century BC. In Soviet times, the complex was a kerosene factory but, at the time of our visit, there were masses of school children noisily thronging the place as our guide Elvin tried to explain to us the finer points of Zoroastrian beliefs and practices.
Third, we called on a phenomenon called Yanar Dag which translates as ‘fire mountain’. This is certainly an unusual location where methane gas emerges from the earth where it is continuously on fire. But it is rather oversold: there is no mountain but simply a 10-metre long strip of rocks in a raised gully. Some say that the flames have gone unquenched for millennia and our guide was certain that they have been burning for centuries.
Once again, the British trio concluded the day with a late lunch in Baku’s Fountain Square, this time in an establishment called “Cafe City”. We were back at our hotel having been out over seven hours, but it had been an easier day because the temperature was lower (29C) and there was a breeze.
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Holiday in Caucasus (3): more Baku, Azerbaijan
July 9th, 2023 by Roger Darlington
Our second day in Baku involved a further walking tour with a prolonged visit to a museum. Among the sites we saw were the building which housed the brief democratic government of 1918-1920 and the large statue of Nizami who was a revered 12th century Muslim poet. Our museum visit was supposed be to the Historical Museum but it was closed because of a visit by a foreign dignitary.
Instead we went to the Heydar Aliyev Centre, named after the former president who is revered by many in the country – including our guide Elvin – for his leadership of the nation after its post-Soviet independence but criticised by many outside the country for his undermining of human rights and creation of a dynasty.
A significant part of the museum sets out details of his life and achievements. The rest of the museum is an eclectic collection of archaeological items, musical instruments, models of city buildings, magnificent carpets, brilliantly designed dolls, and various sculptures and works of art.
The building itself is stunning in its innovative design of white swirling shapes. It was designed by Iraqi-British Zaha Hamid and built between 2007-2012. On its slopes, there is an ‘I love Baku’ sign which makes for a souvenir photo.
As yesterday, following the tour, we returned to the Fountain Square area for lunch. This time, we ate at a place called “Firuza” before strolling back to the hotel. It was an even hotter day: 36C. It had been an even longer day: we had been out over eight hours. But again we had the evening free to relax and recuperate.
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Holiday in Caucasus (2): Baku, Azerbaijan
July 8th, 2023 by Roger Darlington
The basic Jules Verne trip to the Caucasus covers simply Georgia and Armenia, but three of us have signed up for the Azerbaijan extension. This starts with a two hour flight from London to Warsaw followed by a flight of approaching four hours from Warsaw to Baku. Since we left Heathrow in early evening and both flights were late and the Caucasus are three hours ahead of the UK, we landed at Baku at 5.30 am and checked into the Radisson Hotel towards 7 am.
There was little time for rest because our guide for Azerbaijan started his city tour of Baku at 10.30 am, the temperature was 34C, and we were not back at the hotel until 5 pm. Our guide is Elvin Alimuradov who has never left his own country, but has an excellent command of English as well as a prodigious knowledge of his country. His older brother was a commander in the Azerbaijan army who died in the 2020 war with Armenia.
On our first day in the country, already we learned so much and saw so much.
Azerbaijan is the largest of the three countries making up the Caucasus, but it is still only a little larger than Scotland. It is also the most populous nation in the region with a population of 10.4M which is around three times that of Armenia or Georgia. There is an exclave called Nakhchivan with half a million living there. The people are overwhelmingly but nominally Muslim. The currency is the Manat which is roughly two to the pound.
The presence of natural gas and volcanoes gives Azerbaijan the name ‘Land of Fire’, while the country derives its wealth from oil.The ruling New Azerbaijan Party has been in power since 1993. It has been accused of an authoritarian approach under the leadership of both Heydar Aliyev and his son Ilham Aliyev and the country has a deteriorating human rights record, including increasing restrictions on civil liberties, particularly on press freedom and political repression.
The capital of Azerbaijan is Baku. The name is Persian and means ‘house of wind’. It is the only metropolis in the country and Baku proper has about 2 million inhabitants, while a quarter of the nation’s population lives in the wider Baku area. The city is 28 metres (92 feet) below sea level, making it the lowest-lying capital in the world (the highest capital city is La Paz in Bolivia which I have visited).
The city is located on western coast of the Caspian Sea and is a mixture of the ancient (the Old City is a UNESCO World Heritage site) and the ultra-modern (oil money has fuelled the creation of some spectacular new buildings).
Our walking tour started with a view of the three iconic Flame Towers which were completed in 2012 and rise between 28 and 33 storeys. Then we strolled through an area known as Martyrs Alley which commemorates the dead Turks who defended the country against Armenians in 1918, the Azerbaijanis who died in 1990 protests for independence from Russia, and all those who were killed in the recent wars with Armenia. From the Highland Park, we had excellent views of the city hugging the Caspian Sea.
Next we went down to the Old City where we spent time in the Museum of Miniature Books, the Palace of the Shirvanshahs (the ruling dynasty for almost a millennium in the Middle Ages), and the Maiden’s Tower (we climbed the 125 stone steps), as well as observing the cobbled streets, old architecture and new shops, before finally stopping for lunch in a place called “Fisincan” in Fountain Square.
It was a wonderful introduction to a city which surprised us but it was unseasonably hot at 34C. In the evening, I walked down to the promenade to see the illumination of the Flame Towers in three sequences, one of which is actually representation of flames.
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