Armenia 2016

Armenia, now looking back, the process of finding out the routes without GPS and with only a basic map is really crazy but we made it anyhow. It was not easy, and like I said in my earlier article, we were lost in and around tbilisi city trying to find out way to Georgian/Armenian border, and it took us many wrong routes, many stops in between asking for help and finally with our small map an google basic map, we found our way there to Yeravan, the capital city of Armenia. So by using the map, we first drove to Marneuli by using highway, then to Sadakhlo, then to the border, where we did out Visa on Arrival, then passing through the immigration, then we bought our local insurance at Armenian border (where they accept almost all international currencies, but no credit card is accepted here). Then the local staff in the insurance company draw a simple map for us to follow, I mean the route for us to use, drive about 7KM, then junction, then turn left (if you turn right, then you are driving towards Azerbaijan). Next will be Noyemberyan, Jujevan, Ijevan, Dilijan and finally lake Sevan. But as we approached Aremenian border, it was already quite late like close to 7PM, and with the road condition starting at the border which was not very good, and also it was slowing getting very dark and we were basically exhausted, hence we decide to stop I think a town around Novemberyan. It is a rest house that I did not record the name, but nevertheless, the good we had like fish and potato was delicious and the room rate was quite cheap, around USD 30 for two. After having our breakfast the following day, then we start our driving to lake Sevan, and it was raining along the way or very cloudy, but once we crossed the long tunnel, and once we emerge out of the tunnel, suddenly it became sunny and we saw a very beautiful lake Sevan. And stop by here for a while, having our breakfast, which was very good and relaxing and then went to a hill top old church before moving our way to the Yerevan city, the hotel Roma where we intend to stay for a nite.

Along the way, you do not see much residential areas or well developed cities and many small stalls selling like corns and local cafes along the way. Lake Sevan was one of the beautiful place.

Driving to Hotel Roma was a bit hard though we only need to use one highway all the way, except that the road signs or signboards were hard to comprehend as it was all mostly in Armenian language or not very friendly. Arrived to the hotel safely (though need the help from the hotel owner to bring us there) and hotel roma was very beautiful and cheap based not he price we paid. It is quite new hotel and cosy feel inside but location wise it was a bit far away. 

It was just a short trip here and not much time to explore the city. I think Yerevan city is quite beautiful and a lot of things to explore. We only manage to visit mount Garni and mount Ararat. Mount Garni we used a local driver as we were very tired and to drive out again with a lot of signboards with language we do not read will be a lot more taxing. Oh yeah, lunch at Hotel roma was very good, really delicious. And the following day, we drive to Mount Ararat, and seeing this mountain (if you are Christians, they should have an idea about Mount Ararat) and it is like amazing feeling to see the mountain view, even from far away. The driving was also quite fun, but this time around we found a better way to use the map and google basic route guide. Once everything was done, then we quickly rush back to Tbilisi and driving back is a lot easier. At the border, it is much simpler this time around, you just need to show the documents and passport to confirm that the car u take in is the car you are driving out and back to Georgia, as simple as that. Nothing much to highlight and we arrived to Tbilisi and manage to send the car to Avis car rental office at Freedom square safely and later for dinner at Europa Square which was quite relaxing this time around. And at nite time to a pub for a drink before going back to Citadel hotel for a rest. Next would be our travel to    Baku, Azerbaijan, the final leg of this traveling. 

A piece of art I bought at Lake Sevan, like this a lot.

   once we were out of the tunnel, the view we have is of Lake Selvan which is very refreshing.

The temple at Mount Garni.

A view around Mount Garni

Mount Ararat-Beautiful

Mount Ararat-Another view

A pot of flower- On the way driving back from Yerevan to Tbilisi,,,, a place we stopped for coffee and tea and already quite close to Gerogian-Armenian border. The drink is quite cheap, may be around RM 1 for one cup of tea.

The driving, once we entered to Armenia, and it is already quite dark.

The guest house we put a nite, somewhere near Novemberyan

The restaurant where we took our dinner, the baked potato was superb

Hotel Roma, Yerevan

Hotel Roma, Yerevan

A picture at Lake Sevan, background is an old cathederal

Actually this gate, we are suppose or able to see Mount Ararat if the weather is good and sky is clear

I like this picture

On the way back to Tbilisi, we stopped for a snack, and here we were buying corns

Hibiscus, but purple in color

A selfie at Mount Garni

Another temple, I forgot the name of the church for now haha

A kid cycling in a town near Mount Ararat

Driving and leaving Yerevan, and the road condition here is good and perfect.

Lake Sevan, another view

Some where in a village when we take picture of mount Ararat and the boy pluck this flower plant and gave it to me as a gift and I bought it back to Malaysia and still with me

This energy drink is everywhere and quite popular here

My favourite ceramic wear

Choong

6 Seeptember 2016

Sealing Heights (The day this article is written)

Georgia-July 2016

Georgia (out of 3 countries that I visited, the other two being Armenia and Azerbaijan), without much planning and out of a sudden invitation from an old traveling friend, Professor Ghaz from UM. Hence the booking of my air ticket in quite a rushing manner, and I was thinking of using Turkish airlines because I want to earn milage, and the other one being Emirates which is nearer in terms of distance. And to fly to a capital of Georgia, which i didn't even know how to pronounce initially, Tbilisi (T-B-Li-C). But to simplify this, I finally used Emirates and we arrive dot Tbilisi early in the morning. And I  cannot actually believe that was already in Georgia, the immigration is superbly fast and no question asked and once our luggage arrive, we had coffee in Tbilis airport as it was still very early. Coffee price seems be quite reasonable. Then taxi to the hotel, at about 30 Georgian currency, which seems to be quite reasonable (initially they want 60). 

The hotel, the Artists Residence looks quite normal from outside, but once inside I think it looks good and u will be attracted as it is really full of arts and the price is not really cheap but I would say reasonable. But what I like to highlight is on their meals served at the front entrance it tasted good and delicious but what makes them special is, their personal service and also when we came back after out trip to the black sea, they just allow us to use the hotel for one hour, provided free lunch... this is something beyond my imagination. But overall, I think they are very nice people in Georgia.

 Then a little night mare happens when we started driving. I mean the car rental company, Avis was quite good and accommodating ( car rental is quite reasonable but petrol is higher price compared to Malaysia) but driving there could be a challenge. I think Georgian (and may be Armenians and Azerbaijan) they drive a bit rough and crazy too. And condition was a quite bad, the worst was one stretch of road around 5KM, on the way to the black sea, Batumi. But once we reached Batumi, all efforts are well worth it. I remembered my friend, Ghaz the driver almost gave up because of this section of the road, which was very bad, and he thought we moved in the wrong direction and we almost had a big argument because of that. But finally, when the sunset, we arrived to Batumi and saw the infamous black sea. There are simply too many things to write, but I cannot write all here cause it will be too long. But at one section of the road, traffic was very bad, that slowed down our driving a lot. And one part of the place looks like Pattaya, something like that. And finally we reached the hotel, hotel is quite okay based on the rate offered by them, and it is a short walking distance from the seaside. And in the morning we went to the sea for a walk, and then quickly drove back to Tbilisi for the next agenda, that was to visit Armenia (or drive to Armenia,. that would be the second part of my story.

And after Armenia, we came back to Tbilisi for another final nite here  before moving to Baku, Azerbaijan, this will form the 3rd part and final part of my story.

Anyway, a bit on driving to Armenia. We made a few rounds in the city, lost throughout with the GPS, as it was not guiding us or we did not key in the right information and it made us very tensed throughout this 1-2 hours to find the way to exit the city and move towards Armenia. Form the map, it looks like very short distance. Wow, to make short, it was really hard to find the way with the road signs not being helpful., GPS not working and people we asked along the highways, all wanted money, nothing else. But luckily my friend has his iPhone google map (a simple version to help out) and by using the hard copy map we had in hand, we started to find one city at a time and that connects us from one city to another, and finally we were at the border of Georgia and Armenia. 

At this border, there are a few things happening. We drove through the immigration counter, and my friend told me we do not need visa but actually for Malaysians we need to apply for Visa on Arrival (VOA), hence we reached the immigration, they stopped us, and hold our passport. And immediately, we have to run to the Visa counter to apply but it is quite easy, we need to fill up the form, and then hand in the fees, and immediately we got the visa, it is like 30 Georgian currency. More story will be when I write about Armenia. But in short, we found the way to Armenian border, and it was a joyful celebration for us.

And on the final nite at Tbilisi, due to some personal issue taking place, I book a separate room, at Citadel, one of the 5 star hotels, with good city view in Tbilisi. It was a city hotel view, but the room was not very good, in my opinion. Only the breakfast matched its name and reputation, nothing else. And in my final day here, I walked through city, all throughout, first to the cathedral, then prescient palace, and then to the art market, before going back to the hotel for shower and moving to the train station to get to the border of Azerbaijan (another story to tell later on).

And one final point to mention before my story ends here, was that, we used the train from Tbilisi to Baku, but without doing a proper study. Visa on Arrival is required for Malaysians visiting Baku, but only applicable via Baku international airport, and not at the border of Georgia/Azerbaijan. Hence we were asked to go back to Tbilisi and either to apply to Azerbaijan embassy the next day or take a direct flight to Baku and have our visa applied at the airport. We opt for the latter and it was very smooth, and finally we made it to Azerbaijan (another story)

But Georgia is very nice, except the road conditions and the :crazy driving" but in general people are nice and helpful though u do see some people begging for money too. Georgian foods are nice and price is quite reasonable. cities are clean and I like Kazbegi the most.

Resting in one of the hotel, taking adverting of the window panel's color

one view near a church 

Tbilisi Europa Square

Butane Black Sea

Black sea -Secret photo

My favourite drink, peach fruits drink, a drank a lot

One of the beautiful view at Mount Kazbegi

I regret for not buying this piece of art, i really love it.....

Tbilisi Botanical garden

Along Kazbegi mountain range

The art market

Another church in Tbilisi, I forgot the name for now haha

Superb breakfast at Citadel Tbilisi

Nite view from Citadel hotel, Tbilisi

The road, 5KM stretch in order to teach to the main road connecting to Batumi, it is really hard to drive in this are, very challenging.

Part of Black sea after the sunset

Batumi train tation

Breakfast table at Artist residences 

Mount Kazbegi, very beautiful . And very lucky that the sun appears in the morning opposite the hotel we stay, and please make sure you look at this photo carefully, for the little church on top of the hill.

Choong

Written this only on 1September 2016.

Georgia-July 2016

Georgia (out of 3 countries that I visited, the other two being Armenia and Azerbaijan), without much planning and out of a sudden invitation from an old traveling friend, Professor Ghaz from UM. Hence the booking of my air ticket in quite a rushing manner, and I was thinking of using Turkish airlines because I want to earn milage, and the other one being Emirates which is nearer in terms of distance. And to fly to a capital of Georgia, which i didn't even know how to pronounce initially, Tbilisi (T-B-Li-C). But to simplify this, I finally used Emirates and we arrive dot Tbilisi early in the morning. And I  cannot actually believe that was already in Georgia, the immigration is superbly fast and no question asked and once our luggage arrive, we had coffee in Tbilis airport as it was still very early. Coffee price seems be quite reasonable. Then taxi to the hotel, at about 30 Georgian currency, which seems to be quite reasonable (initially they want 60). 

The hotel, the Artists Residence looks quite normal from outside, but once inside I think it looks good and u will be attracted as it is really full of arts and the price is not really cheap but I would say reasonable. But what I like to highlight is on their meals served at the front entrance it tasted good and delicious but what makes them special is, their personal service and also when we came back after out trip to the black sea, they just allow us to use the hotel for one hour, provided free lunch... this is something beyond my imagination. But overall, I think they are very nice people in Georgia.

 Then a little night mare happens when we started driving. I mean the car rental company, Avis was quite good and accommodating ( car rental is quite reasonable but petrol is higher price compared to Malaysia) but driving there could be a challenge. I think Georgian (and may be Armenians and Azerbaijan) they drive a bit rough and crazy too. And condition was a quite bad, the worst was one stretch of road around 5KM, on the way to the black sea, Batumi. But once we reached Batumi, all efforts are well worth it. I remembered my friend, Ghaz the driver almost gave up because of this section of the road, which was very bad, and he thought we moved in the wrong direction and we almost had a big argument because of that. But finally, when the sunset, we arrived to Batumi and saw the infamous black sea. There are simply too many things to write, but I cannot write all here cause it will be too long. But at one section of the road, traffic was very bad, that slowed down our driving a lot. And one part of the place looks like Pattaya, something like that. And finally we reached the hotel, hotel is quite okay based on the rate offered by them, and it is a short walking distance from the seaside. And in the morning we went to the sea for a walk, and then quickly drove back to Tbilisi for the next agenda, that was to visit Armenia (or drive to Armenia,. that would be the second part of my story.

And after Armenia, we came back to Tbilisi for another final nite here  before moving to Baku, Azerbaijan, this will form the 3rd part and final part of my story.

Anyway, a bit on driving to Armenia. We made a few rounds in the city, lost throughout with the GPS, as it was not guiding us or we did not key in the right information and it made us very tensed throughout this 1-2 hours to find the way to exit the city and move towards Armenia. Form the map, it looks like very short distance. Wow, to make short, it was really hard to find the way with the road signs not being helpful., GPS not working and people we asked along the highways, all wanted money, nothing else. But luckily my friend has his iPhone google map (a simple version to help out) and by using the hard copy map we had in hand, we started to find one city at a time and that connects us from one city to another, and finally we were at the border of Georgia and Armenia. 

At this border, there are a few things happening. We drove through the immigration counter, and my friend told me we do not need visa but actually for Malaysians we need to apply for Visa on Arrival (VOA), hence we reached the immigration, they stopped us, and hold our passport. And immediately, we have to run to the Visa counter to apply but it is quite easy, we need to fill up the form, and then hand in the fees, and immediately we got the visa, it is like 30 Georgian currency. More story will be when I write about Armenia. But in short, we found the way to Armenian border, and it was a joyful celebration for us.

And on the final nite at Tbilisi, due to some personal issue taking place, I book a separate room, at Citadel, one of the 5 star hotels, with good city view in Tbilisi. It was a city hotel view, but the room was not very good, in my opinion. Only the breakfast matched its name and reputation, nothing else. And in my final day here, I walked through city, all throughout, first to the cathedral, then prescient palace, and then to the art market, before going back to the hotel for shower and moving to the train station to get to the border of Azerbaijan (another story to tell later on).

And one final point to mention before my story ends here, was that, we used the train from Tbilisi to Baku, but without doing a proper study. Visa on Arrival is required for Malaysians visiting Baku, but only applicable via Baku international airport, and not at the border of Georgia/Azerbaijan. Hence we were asked to go back to Tbilisi and either to apply to Azerbaijan embassy the next day or take a direct flight to Baku and have our visa applied at the airport. We opt for the latter and it was very smooth, and finally we made it to Azerbaijan (another story)

But Georgia is very nice, except the road conditions and the :crazy driving" but in general people are nice and helpful though u do see some people begging for money too. Georgian foods are nice and price is quite reasonable. cities are clean and I like Kazbegi the most.

Resting in one of the hotel, taking adverting of the window panel's color

one view near a church 

Tbilisi Europa Square

Butane Black Sea

Black sea -Secret photo

My favourite drink, peach fruits drink, a drank a lot

One of the beautiful view at Mount Kazbegi

I regret for not buying this piece of art, i really love it.....

Tbilisi Botanical garden

Along Kazbegi mountain range

The art market

Another church in Tbilisi, I forgot the name for now haha

Superb breakfast at Citadel Tbilisi

Nite view from Citadel hotel, Tbilisi

The road, 5KM stretch in order to teach to the main road connecting to Batumi, it is really hard to drive in this are, very challenging.

Part of Black sea after the sunset

Batumi train tation

Breakfast table at Artist residences 

Mount Kazbegi, very beautiful . And very lucky that the sun appears in the morning opposite the hotel we stay, and please make sure you look at this photo carefully, for the little church on top of the hill.

Choong

Written this only on 1September 2016.