Hotel Diplomat Tbilisi

... entry. we passed them over expecting the worst. "Twenty dollars please" said the official. Here we go again, we all thought. $20 was passed over. Beaming smile from the Customs man, dollars into pocket and all paperwork dropped into the waste bin. "Off you go!" says the Customs man, beaming smiles all round and we were out of Azerbaijan. Result!

On to the Georgian side of the border and what a relief, friendly ...

... up). The village and famous mountain (Mt. Kazbeg) are named for a Georgian author/intellectual. The mountain is one of the highest in the Caucusus. I'm sure it would have been lovely, if only we could have seen it through the rain... The village is on a mountain, and is surrounded by even higher mountains. The fresh air, the beautiful scenery, the sheeps skins drying on the line...ah, heavenly. The electricity wasn't working when we were ...

... Tamar quickly flagged down a marshrutka to Didube, which is the main station for non-east bound domestic intercity marshrutkas. Well, term "station" is quite euphemistic since in fact it's a order-lacking set of dirty squares filled up with street vendors and marshrutkas. Note that in general marshrutkas times are conveniently scheduled for local people and not tourists. From Didube, it's a 30min ride to Mtskheta, a home of two nice churches. The wall-surrounded Svetitskhoveli ...

... baku itself was good, though expensive. There were really decent shops for the first time and i went shopping for a couple of tops and a skirt - can't resist the sales - ignored Karen Miller and Gorgio Armani and went for Mexx instead. Also my big treat was a McDonalds. First since China or was it Pakistan, can't remember. But a Big Mac has never tasted so good, though I really don't want another one for some time. 5/. Bushcamped at some mud volcanos which were ...

... so try an underpass, but it has a vehicle parked in it, and an apparent dead end. Up to street level, no obvious way out, then follow a man back into it. Find it's not a dead end, but leads onto a lower pedestrian gallery on the bridge. MP is amazed at the deterioration of the structure. Takes photos up through access panels at holes in the structure. We decide to head for the funicular, walking through the narrow back streets ...

... of Mtskheta is seen from there. It took us a second to be impressed from the view, but we watched it for a long time. We could see far away until the mountains in the west, and of course the whole town. Mtskheta was once a big and important city with first and foremost significance in Georgia and its surroundings - but in the last half-century it's a small average town, fallen from grace. However, the beauty seen from up there is uncontestible, and we cannot take it from ...

... as no public transport reached it: "Seventy lari," one said (about forty-two dollars; the trip was about 60 kilometers). "No, no, ten lari. Not far," I laughed in reply. Another driver laughed at that and took out a pen and wrote fifty lari: "petrol, mountains," he waved his hands as if the mountains were big. "No, they're small," I replied in Russian and with my hands, asking for twenty lari. Finally, we agreed on 35 lari, all laughing at a good bargaining ...

... nneks võtta" ja toppisid ta Zigulli tagaistmele. Edasi võib ta saatust ettekujutada vaid vardas. Kuna kesvamärjuke sai varsti otsa, siis tekkis idee minna õlle järgi, sooja oli ca 24C. Rääkinud ära kohalikud autoomanikud sealtsamast põllu kõrvalt, läks sõit nende autoga (05) lähima linna poole (nime ei mäleta). Seadsime ülesandeks, et vajame 2 kasti külma õlut. Esimene lafka ei teadnud midagi rohkem, kui viiest külmast õllest. Sõitsime edasi hulgibaasi. Loomulikult puudus neil külm õlu ...

... the beauty was being a highly desired guest without being the main attraction. Wadzi not in the limelight was wonderful (I really must be 40 because a few days ago I could not have borne this). I sat in a corner and got almost thoroughly sloshed. Almost because Muni chose a rather unfortunate moment to faint, low blood sugar, brought on by having drunk every single soda/fizzy drink within ...

... our next move, given that we were effectively in the middle of nowhere and had to somehow get back to Yerevan so that we could get up to the main border. The trouble was that minibuses in the Caucasus very rarely go anywhere after 3 o'clock and we had no Armenian money. Stuck in no man's land and with the rain starting to pour we started the long trudge back into Armenia, only to be apprehended by the over zealous Armenia ...