“If there was wisdom in beards, all goats would be prophets.” – an Armenian proverb. And even though we have visited about 20 churches already, Yuri is still no prophet. Neither am I. But yeah, 14 days in Armenia and already 20 churches! Oh my. We don’t visited churches because of religion, never lit a candle, nor do we ever make the sign of a cross. Or walk out backwards. We are not religious and do not believe in the constitution of the church. So why do we visit religious buildings? Cause it is telling a story, it shows part of the past. That, we truly love. Imagining how monks have lived hundreds and sometimes thousands of years ago.
YereVAN fixing
In Yerevan we didn’t visit a church though. We visited the genocide museum, watched a private screening of the movie ’45 days – the fight for a nation’ and tried as many restaurants as possible. We walked the streets up and down, eating here and there, drinking lots of milkshakes and hiked the 550 steps of stairs to have a look over the city. Unfortunately Mount Ararat didn’t show itself too clear. It didn’t matter, the delicious food was all we needed. And oh my is that a blessing!
We ate and drank our way through the city. The most surprising was the Pizza with apple, cinnamon and raisins. Soooo delicious!!
We stayed a bit longer in Yerevan, first because we needed to fix the van. Again. In Georgia we had problems with our battery, we apparently cooked the battery over and over again. When the third battery cooked in Armenia we understood it was time to fix things. You know when you cook a battery when you smell something like overdue eggs and when you put your ear next to the battery you can actually hear it cooking.
So, we went to the garage of a friend of a friend; Agop. Little did we know that the three guys working there were all named Agop. So Agop 1, 2 and 3 worked on our van. They are Armenians born in Syria and that meant; they know what they are doing. In Syria there are (or were) many Volkswagen vans on the road, just like in Iran. After checking the battery and explaining our problem we found out that again it was the alternator causing the problem. We took it out and found out the alternator itself had been cooked. Luckily, someone knew someone who found an alternator. Not a Bosch alternator, unfortunately, but not a Chinese one either. This one is from the USA, alright, we take it.
Alternator changed, but now Alexine had some starting issues. Thus we took the carburettor out and opened it. Lot of dirt in it and the gasket was thorn to pieces. So, Agop 1 cut new gasket, Agop 3 cleaned the carburettor and Agop 2 installed it.
Starting the van after such a big operation always feels scary but this time, BAM! She was onnnn… And on fire. She hasn’t sound so good since ages! Hopefully this time she’ll be running a little bit longer than last time.
We happily, and a little more broke left the scene, on to another appointment.
Getting vaccinated in Armenia
We read that many Iranians flocked to Yerevan to get themselves vaccinated because in Iran it’s going too slow. Politics and corruption are getting in the way there. So, we figured, if Iranians can get a vaccination here we might as well try. Thus, we went to the mobile vaccination unit on Northern Avenue. “Sorry, the line is so long we are not sure if we can vaccinate you today” she said. But, after a kind conversation she put us on the list anyway. In the meantime we got ourselves another milkshake, oh my these things are good, walked around for a bit and returned. Still 20 people in front of us, so we walked again a bit. The same streets, same buildings, same people. We did find out that most of Yerevan is newly built, almost nothing is left of the old city, which is a pity.
And did you know that the architect of the city had a vision about all buildings being smaller than the Opera house? That would’ve been great and for a long time it was like that. Until a new government came, destroyed the old beautiful buildings and replaced them with buildings without a soul. Luckily the people of Yerevan bring that soul because my oh my is this a great city! We absolutely love the parks with their many restaurants and pubs.
At 20.00 the mobile vaccination clinic would close and it was 19:45 when it was our turn. Pfew. We got the Astra Zeneca vaccination. Within 10 minutes we were both vaccinated. Hurray! Thus, we went to celebrate it with a beer. Little did we know that people shouldn’t drink for two days after the vaccination. We only drank one beer so felt it should be okay. In Armenia they also say you shouldn’t shower for two days after the vaccination. Don’t know what the reason behind that is but to us it seems a bit too much on the safe side.
The next day we woke up with a horrible hangover. Our bodies were turning hot, then cold. Couldn’t hold my head straight. So we booked another night at the hotel and did absolutely nothing that day. Just sleeping, watching movies and sleeping.
We woke up and all was over, we were fine, felt absolutely normal and were ready to hit the road again. Which we did.
Exactly 82 years ago Adolf Hilter said “…who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?” Let’s proof Adolf Hilter wrong and talk about it.
The definition of genocide
To understand what happened in Armenia it’s good to know the definition of ‘genocide’. A genocide is the deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group.
Eastern Anatolia
For centuries Eastern Anatolia (now East Turkey) was inhabited primarily by Christian Armenians who share the area with Muslim Kurds. The area was ruled by a succession of Armenian dynasties, although it often faced incursions by outside powers. The Armenian independence was largely brought to an end by a wave of invasions and migrations by Turkic-speaking people at the beginning of the 11th century. In the 15th and 16th centuries the region was secured by the Ottoman Turks and integrated into the vast Ottoman Empire.
Armenians in Anatolia
There were about 2.5 million Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire at the beginning of the 20th century. They were mostly concentrated in the six provinces of Eastern Anatolia and weren’t a majority in any of the regions in which they lived.
Life for Armenians in the Ottoman Empire was difficult and unpredictable, and they often received harsh treatment from the dominant Kurdish nomads.
The Ottoman Empire
In the Ottoman Empire Muslim Turks enjoyed the status of the ruling ethnic group and non-Muslims had certain religious, linguistic and culture rights, but were considered subordinate dhimmis. The rights of Armenians were frequently violated, they were constantly discriminated.
They had no right to serve in the army or wear arms, they were not allowed to testify against Muslims in a court of law, nor to wear fine clothes, they had no right to ride horses and their houses had to be lower than those of Muslims. Armenians were taxed at a much higher rate. Because most courts and judges favoured Muslims, Armenians were often victims to violence and when land, livestock or property was taken from them they couldn’t do anything.
Armenians were poor but some found success as a merchant and artisan. Thus, due to international trade Armenians established settlements in Istanbul and even India and Europe during the 17th and 18th century. A small number of Armenian families were able to work at a bank, and even in the government.
The success being the downfall
However, the influence and prominence of well-educated Armenians had a drawback. It is said that this became the source of resentment and suspicion amongst Muslims. Sounds familiar right?
The people within the Ottoman Empire thought the Armenians would eventually betray it to form their own independent state.
Activists, many from Russian Caucasia, wanted to protect their fellow Armenians and did that by agitating for an independent state. Two revolutionary parties were formed: Henchak and Dashnaktsutyun. However, many Armenians kept believing sympathisers in Christian Europe would pressure the Ottoman Empire to protect the Armenians. The activities of the two parties stoke fear and anxiety among the Muslims.
A lot of mass violence against Armenians erupted in the late 19th and early 20th century. In 1894 Armenians in the Sasun region refused to pay an oppressive tax, Ottoman troops and Kurdish tribesman killed thousands of Armenians in the region. The mass killings began. In the fall of 1895 Ottoman authorities tried to suppress an Armenian demonstration in Istanbul, it became a massacre.
In between 1894 and 1896 hundreds of thousands of Armenians were killed in massacres, known as the Hamidian massacres. Up to 300.000 Armenians fell victim to the massacres, hundreds of thousands either emigrated or were Islamized. About 2.500 settlements, 570 churches, 75 monasteries were looted and ruined. More than 300 churches were converted into mosques.
The Young Turks
In 1909 a group of Ottoman revolutionaries an organisation within the broader ‘Young Turks’ came to power. Armenians welcomed the Young Turks and with them the restoration of the Ottoman constitution. However, the Young Turks became more militant, less tolerant for non-Turks and increasingly suspicious of their Armenian subjects. In 1913 the most militant members of the Young Turks, Enver Pasa and Talat Pasa, came to power in a coup d’état.
Whenever the Ottoman Empire suffered a humiliating defeat, like in the first Balkan War (1912 – 1913), it was blamed on treachery of the Christians. The conflicts also send thousands of Muslim refugees to the Ottoman lands, intensifying conflict between Muslims and Christians over land.
The Armenian genocide
In January 1915 the battle of Sarikamis took place. Enver Pasa attempted to push back the Russians but suffered the worst Ottoman defeat of the war. Of course the Young Turk government blamed it on the Armenians. Armenian soldiers were demobilized and disarmed. They were then systematically murdered by Ottoman troups. The first victims of the Armenian genocide.
Soon, Armenians were deported to Syria, send to death camps. Throughout the summer and autumn of 1915 Armenians were removed from their homes. They marched to desert concentration camps. The deportation was accompanied by a systematic campaign of mass murder. Survivors who reached Syria lived in concentration camps, often starved to death. About 600.000 to 1 million of Armenians were slaughtered or died on the marches.
During the deportation thousands of Armenian children were kidnapped by the Kurds, Turks and Arabs. Sometimes they offered the parents some food and other times parents gave their children to Muslim families by their own will, hoping that the children would escape deportation and be safe.
Armenian children were given Turkish names immediately upon entering the orphanages. They were also assigned numbers instead of surnames. They were forbidden to speak Armenian or pray. Instead they were taught the Quran and Islamic prayers.
During the genocide Armenian women were subjected to inhuman treatment. Most of them became victims of sexual abuse and violence. Rape was deemed an important function for the humiliation of the target group by the perpetrators of the genocide. Since women and girls constituted the reproductive asset of the victim nation. Incidents of mass rape, public humiliation of women and children before their kin’s eyes terrorized and demoralized not only the immediate victims, but their families and the community at large.
On the deportation route many mothers threw themselves with their children from cliffs and bridges preferring death rather than lasting tortures and disgrace. Women were also abducted on the deportation routes, forcedly Islamized and taken to Muslim harems. After conversion they were turned into sex slaves and often sold at slave markets. During military conflicts and genocide rape and sexual assault constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity and element of genocide crimes.
Alma Johansson – Swedisih missionary – an eye witness said:
“The rest, about a hundred people, were either buruied alive in huge pits outside the city or driven into houses and burnt. All the inmates of our orphanage were amongst the latter. All I wished in those days was for a merciful bullet to hit me. Sometimes I found myself sitting on the floor holding my head in my hands, terrified that I was losing my mind.”
“…Everywhere there were Turks bragging of their feats of the last few days. One gendarme boasted that he had been one of those who burned our children. He said they’d “had fun” shooting at the roof windows of the burning house. Naturally the poor soulds inside screamed with terror! No one paid too much attention to my testimony: the world was busy with “more important things” than the massacres of a small nation of three million people”
Genocide or no genocide?
Armenians charge that the campaign was a deliberate attempt to destroy the Armenian people and, thus, an act of genocide. The Turkish government has resisted calls to recognize it as such, contending that, although atrocities took place, there was no official policy of extermination implemented against the Armenian people as a group.
Turkey has steadily refused to recognise that the events of 1915–16 constitute a genocide, even though most historians have concluded that the deportations and massacres do fit the definition of genocide—the intentional killing of an ethnic or religious group. While the Turkish government and allied scholars have admitted that deportations took place, they maintain that the Armenians were a rebellious element that had to be pacified during a national security crisis. They acknowledge that some killing took place, but they contend that it was not initiated or directed by the government. Major countries—including Israel and Great Britain—have also declined to call the events a genocide, in order to avoid harming their relations with Turkey. In 2014 government officials in Turkey offered condolences to the Armenian victims, but Armenians remained committed to having the killings during World War I recognized as a genocide. – Britannica
To this date Armenia and Turkey are debating whether this was a genocide or not. 33 countries recognized the Armenian genocide. Many still do not because of their relations with Turkey. When France formally passed a genocide resolution in 2011, Turkey temporarily recalled its ambassador; it did the same thing to Austria in 2016 and to The Netherlands in 2018.
Turkey refers to the Armenian massacre as the “Events of 1915.” Ankara puts the number of Armenian deaths at 500,000 and points out that hundreds of thousands of Muslims died from combat, starvation, cold and disease in eastern Anatolia during the war. The official line is that ethnic Armenians represented a fifth column backed by Russia during World War I, and that the mass deportation and accompanying Armenian deaths were neither premeditated nor intentional — a key requirement in the legal definition of genocide.
Of course there is a lot more to write about the Armenian genocide and the history of this country. But, we are no historians, we are travellers with an interest in the history of the countries we travel through. But, if there is anything unclear, if there is anything you’d like to know more about, if something of the above is incorrect. Please let us know in the comment. And of course anything you’d like to share about this subject. We are very interested in your opinion. Did you know about the Armenian genocide? What is new? How does it make you feel?
Love, Milene & Yuri
Source: Britannica, Armenian-Genocide, Armenian Genocide Museum.
For the past days we’ve been residing in North Armenia. After five weeks of Georgia it was time to leave.
Border crossing
It wasn’t the easiest to cross the border. First, car drivers and passengers cannot get through together. Instead passengers have to stand in a long long line to get through while the drivers get through rather quickly.
Not us though. To enter Georgia one needs to have to do a PCR test before entering and three days after. We didn’t do the second PCR test which resulted in a fine. Not that they mentioned doing this PCR test at the border so how would we know? Internet of course.
Well, not a big problem but it took them a long time to decide what to do with us. Even though we did do PCR tests which were both negative.
Entering Armenia was a hell lot easier. Again, passengers and drivers have to go through separate controls but that was about it. Checking where we’ve been, looking through our passports and giving a stamp. That was it.
Well, we had to buy a Customs declaration and of course a car insurance. Which also was quite the hassle as the first guy tried to rip us off. 50 Euro’s for 30 day car insurance, whereas the second guy we checked gave us a car insurance of 30 days for 10 Euro’s.
Alaverdi & sleeping on bees
Our plan was not to travel too far today, so after about an hour we stopped at Alaverdi. We headed up to the Arm Bee Farm where they had a nice hut for us, right on top of bee hives! We have never heard of sleeping on top of bees but apparently it’s very healthy.
Not long after we arrived two other people arrived, having booked the other hut. They are Armenians but living in the USA, born in Iran though. We got to talk about the great things to do in Armenia, the war in Nagorno-Karabach and ourselves of course. We had so much fun that we soon drank Georgian wine and decided to have diner together.
We both learned a lot about the history of Armenia during diner which was absolutely great.
Hiking from monastery to monastery
The first day in Armenia was great, the second day proofed to be even better. We headed towards our first Armenian monastery with Araz and Romik. Haghpat monastery proofed to be a gem! The monastery was also used as an educational building so there was an amazing library which they later used as winery. The area was so big and still so well preserved. Amazing! Lot’s of crosses, old writings and stone carvings.
Afterwards we hiked to Sanahin monastery. While on the way we had to hike a steep cliff, checked out a fire pit from where they warned the villagers when enemies were on their way and had to shelter for the rain. We also arrived in a village where they celebrated the opening of a new church. There are more than 4.000 churches in Armenia already but apparently that’s not enough. We continued our route through the beautiful village, picked some berries to eat and finally, after about 3 hours we arrived at the Sanahin monastery.
This monastery was a lot less beautiful, though more crowded, than the first one. But, this is the older of the two. Actually Sanahin in Armenian means “this one is older than the other”. A bit strange, being built earlier and named later but alright.
So, we didn’t stay for too long but did has a brief visit to the Anastas and Artyom Mikoyan brothers who are born in this village. Anastas was in charge of administering food in the USSR and survived 60 years in the politburo, outlasting even Staling. Artyom was the one of the designers of the USSR’s first jet fighter in WWII, the MiG. We hadn’t heard from them so it was nice to get to know their stories.
Beekeeping at Arm Bee Farm
The next morning it was time for a beekeeping workshop. Eventhough I, Milene, know most of bees and beekeeping its always good to listen to others and learn from them. As a beekeeper you keep learning. I remember Tony, my teacher, telling me “if you don’t learn anything anymore you’re doing something wrong”. Thus, we got to learn about the worker bees, queen bees and drones. While in England we collect honey every other week here in Armenia they only do it once. It’s the big difference between ecological beekeeping and commercialised beekeeping. Of course we got to see some bees in action as well.
We decided to stay another night whereas Araz and Romik moved on to their next spot. Doing a little work, relaxing and enjoying the bees.
Meeting strangers while traveling seems a lot easier than meeting strangers in our hometown. Or well maybe meeting them is not the difficult part but becoming friends with strangers is. Not here in Georgia though.
Meeting a stranger on the road
After a couple of days working we drove towards Tbilisi. We are loving Georgia but after five weeks it’s time to move on. Thus, the idea was to drive slowly to Georgia, do some work, get a PCR test done and drive to Armenia on Wednesday. Our plans always change and so did this one.
While on the road a big blue Raptor stopped next to us, kids waving to us and that went on for a couple of minutes. Then he asked us where we were going (we were in a traffic jam) and he took us to a shorter detour cause it was busy. Then he told us his daughter want to invite us for a cup of coffee. Of course we were doubting a bit cause we’ve always learned to not go with strangers, but the kids looked very innocent. 45 minutes later and we are sitting in a cafe on the side of the road with a table full of food. Georgian coffee is never just a coffee.
Levan and his kids happened to be such kind and hospitable people. They invited us to check out their village. Which we did the next day.
Food, quads & a bridge
The next day we arrived in Garigula. Immediately we got food, drank wine and got to meet part of the family. What a big family! So, the family is huge – about 150 people. Not all of them living in this village anymore (many moved abroad as well) but every summer they come back to the village and be together. We met many uncles, aunts and the boss of the family. Grandmother showed us around and told us stories from a long time ago. Apparently this family is descendent from a nobleman, they call him King, but we are not sure. Lost in translation sometimes.
After a while we got onto some quads and got a trip to an old bridge; the King Queen Tamar bridge. A beautiful bridge that we’ve also seen in parts of the Balkan. On the quad we had to cross rivers and had the most beautiful views. Although we couldn’t really watch the view too much cause the road wasn’t made for relaxation.
We got back, had dinner (and wine), met more family members and in the end slept way past our bedtime. But it was super fun! We got invited to Nikolas (the son) birthday on Wednesday, so we’ll get to see how Georgians celebrate birthdays.
Back to Tbilisi
For not being our favorite city on earth we do spend a lot of time here. This time we needed to get back to Tbilisi to get a PCR test done. It’s so hot here that we stayed inside the hotel most of the time. Which isn’t that bad cause we paid for it anyway. So we did just that; relaxing, watching movies, working, figuring out our next steps, doing research, editing photos, writing blogs, relaxing, eating and waiting for the test results of our PCR test, which we get later today.
Let’s hope its negative cause if it’s not we have to go in quarantine and cannot cross the border into Armenia for the next two weeks. We do feel very healthy though and have no symptoms so it should be fine. Still, we have some time to kill which we are doing in the coolness of the hotel, then we’ll buy a present for the birthday boy and get ourselves ready for a Georgian birthday party with a lot of people. We’re sure that after today we will be hiding in the woods again to get some peace and quiet and maybe no internet for a few days.
We are planning on crossing into Armenia on Friday! So probably the next blog will be from there.
And again we left the mountains behind. This time not to travel directly to Tbilisi but to travel back to Tskaltubo. Well, we also tried to get into Abkhazia but that seemed more difficult than we thought.
Abkhazia
A Georgian region but not really. Even though most countries recognize this state as part of Georgia, it isn’t really. Abkhazians themselves view this region as an autonomous republic and being occupied by the Russians one needs special authority to travel there. And also a PCR test. So we couldn’t visit, which really is a bummer because even though most Georgians tell you it isn’t a safe place, it is a beautiful place. We also really wanted to visit because we will meet some Abkhazian Georgians the coming days in Tskaltubo.
Working in Tskaltubo
But, when the border police – who are very very nice btw – say you can’t enter, you cannot. Thus, we continued our trip to Tskaltubo, where we will stay for a couple of days and work with Niniko.
Ok, before Tskaltubo we actually stayed at a wonderful place in the middle of grass land for cows, sheep, horses and us. Also many mosquitos because it was near a river. It felt for a second like we were in The Netherlands: flat lands, cattle and water. But then with 35 degrees Celsius, which in The Netherlands doesn’t often happen.
The next morning we left early before all the sweat would drain our bodies, but not before a cute farmer could give us some tomatoes and cucumbers. So kind, so sweet. We couldn’t understand each other at all but who needs languages when you have arms and legs, right?
Back to working in Tskaltubo. We met Niniko, our translator for the coming two days, and got to work immediately. The plan is to meet the displaced people who live in the old Sanatoriums here, listen to their stories and photograph them.
The waters of immortality
Tskaltubo is a spa resort in Western Georgia. It is known for its radon-carbonate mineral springs, whose natural temperature of 33–35 °C (91–95 °F) enables the water to be used without preliminary heating. Tskaltubo was especially popular in the Soviet era, attracting around 125,000 visitors a year.
In 1950-1951, architects I.Zaalishvili and V.Kedia prepared a project plan for the town where sanatoriums form a circle around a park, recreation and balneology facilities. Tskaltubo was divided into the following zones: balneological, sanitarian and living.
Visitor numbers to Tsqaltubo dwindled after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and currently the spa town only receives approximately 700 visitors a year. Since 1993 many of the sanatorium complexes have been devoted to housing some 9000 refugees, primarily women and children, displaced from their homes by the conflict in nearby Abkhazia.
The conflict in Abkhazia
In 1992 a war broke out between Georgia and Russia or Georgian Abkhazians and Abkhazians. The Abkhazians did not want to be part of Georgia, they wanted to be independent and have their own Republic.
The Abkhaz–Georgian conflict involves ethnic conflict between Georgians and the Abkhazpeople in Abkhazia, a de facto independent, partially recognized republic. In a broader sense, one can view the Georgian–Abkhaz conflict as part of a geopolitical conflict in the Caucasus region, intensified at the end of the 20th century with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
The conflict, one of the bloodiest in the post-Soviet era, remains unresolved. The Georgian government has offered substantial autonomy to Abkhazia several times. However, both the Abkhaz government and the opposition in Abkhazia refuse any form of union with Georgia. Abkhaz regard their independence as the result of a war of liberation from Georgia, while Georgians believe that historically Abkhazia has always formed part of Georgia.
During the war the Abkhaz separatist side carried out an ethnic cleansing campaign which resulted in the expulsion of up to 250,000 and in the killing of more than 5,000 ethnic Georgians. The conflict lasted for 13 months beginning in August, 1992.
Displaced people from Abkhazia
The people who fled the war in Abkhazia were given temporarily residents at the sanatoriums in Tskaltubo. It’s now 29 years later and most (not all) still live in these sanatoriums. We’ve been to the sanatoriums last time we were here, but this time we have a translator with us so we can actually talk with the people living here.
As a documentary photographer focusing on social issues and human migration this is a very interesting story. Especially knowing that these sanatoriums where the people live in aren’t really livable. The story goes that the Georgian government does want to relocate the people. Not really because of the horrific conditions the people live in but mainly because they want to revive the town.
We met such nice people here who shared their stories with us. Which won’t be shared on this blog but keep an eye out for the stories on my professional Instagram account.
We weren’t planning a lot of things in Georgia. From several car break downs to driving the most dangerous road and the most car killing road. But visiting Svaneti was actually one of those things we planned for a second visit to the country.
I, Milene, really want to go hiking here with my little brother (Morrits, that’s a deal!) so I didn’t want to visit. But as we had some spare time here we decided to explore the area so we would know where to go the next time we will be here. So, we headed to Mestia.
Mestia the capital of Svaneti
Mestia is where all the tourists and hikes get together. It’s a hotspot for tourists and so every house is made into a guesthouse and many new hotels are being built. Which means, we did some grocery shopping and left. We stayed close by at a wonderful spot right on the middle of nature. The only living things we saw were crickets, birds and cows.
We continued our road to probably the most touristy place of Svaneti; Ushguli.
Upper Svaneti
Though very touristy it is a cute place to visit. Yes, all the houses are made guest houses or cafes, but there are still the famous Svan towers to be seen and with the highest mountain of Georgia as a back drop it can’t be skipped when visiting the area. We didn’t need any guesthouse as our van is our home but we did have some local food. This is where we tasted the famous Kubdar.
Kubdari or Kubed is a Georgian filled bread dish which is particularly a national dish of the Svans. The bread is leavened and allowed to rise. The filling contains chunks of meat, which can be lamb, kid or pork, Georgian spices and onions.
We hiked to the glacier nearby. The hike is easy but nice. The glacier not so much. It’s a bit ugly and seems dirty. Anyway, it was a wonderful hike, took about 5 hours going there and back. The view on the mountains was amazing! And all the flowers and little water streams we had to cross were wonderful. Only at the end we came across a lot of other people. Many actually go by car to a campsite and walk from there to the glacier. We did the whole way which was a lot more fun.
Back in Ushguli we relaxed a bit, met a very beautiful Svan lady and made friends with dogs, what else?!
Mazeri & Mount Ushba
The next day we left again to explore some other mountenous parts of the area and we ended in Mazeri. From here we had a wonderful view on the most famous mountain of Svaneti: Ushba. And wow what a view!
We hiked to a waterfall which many call the highest of Georgia. Well, no one knows how high it actually is. Which we don’t really understand cause it’s not that difficult to find out. But, we continue living with the mystery of this waterfall and the believe that this is the highest one.
The best part of this hike was actually not the waterfall itself – which is great! – but the hike to it. We absolutely love to hike through the forest. Often our hikes take us to beautiful places but most of the hikes are out in the open, not in the forest. There is a lot of deforestation going on in Georgia which really is a pity. So hiking here was amazing. Though we weren’t alone.
Many many other hikers followed us, or we followed them… Well, we went a bit further up the mountain to see the waterfall from up close. There where most people don’t go and it was great. Such a breathtaking view, on the waterfall but also on the valley behind us.
We weren’t done with Svaneti at all. But as I wrote in the beginning of this post, that’s for next time. So, this would be our last hike in the area and our last night. It’s time to get back and maybe cross another border?
While I look at the stars with my back warming up from the campfire we just made I feel small. I feel like an ant discovering the world, small but strong. Small because the world is just a tiny planet in this huge universe. Strong because most of those stars are unliveable and we made it work on this planet.
We feel so much alive during this trip. Camping in the wildest of places – well, as wild as our van can go. We cook on campfires, wash ourselves in tiny streams, rivers or lakes and use a secret spot behind the bush to do our business.
It’s funny that city life never made us feel this much alive, even though we absolutely love the buzz of cities. Nature is where we humans belong, we feel that. Nowadays we feel strange in cities, as if we don’t belong in these concrete jungles anymore. They are too crowded to our taste. Everything is just too much, the traffic, the people, the sounds, the smells, the colours.
We are happiest while camping where we hear nothing but the wind through the trees, the birds tweeting and a river crashing into some rocks. We feel at home with grass below our feet, stars above our heads and surrounded by trees and mountains.
That’s why we are only in Tbilisi if we have to. And Alexine – loving the good roads of the city – makes us return there more often than we like. But then we return to nature as soon as we can. Finding the most wonderful spots, often only sharing it with some dogs. Sometimes with locals having a bbq.
Maybe it’s the never ending sound of humanity that make us crave for the sound of birds so much. Maybe it’s the flats of the city that make us need forests in our lives. Maybe it’s the screens we so often stare at that make us want to see mountains again. Maybe it’s the city we know so well that we feel so free in nature.
Roadtrip
Cities are good to meet people and make friends though. And so we did. With these friends, owning Volkswagen T3’s we had a short but amazing Roadtrip. The planet is so diverse yet so similar. We drove through the mist finding ourselves in what’s known as the Lake District of Georgia. The weather, the views, the roads – it did feel like we found ourselves back into Western Europe. We visited the Georgian birthplace of Christianity, the chocolate making nuns and one of the oldest castles of Georgia. We drove through the mist into the sun, were almost blown from a cliff and were blinded by a big rainstorm. We had a van breakdown, were helped by locals and visited an old slave market.
In the end we had diner in a very luxuries restaurant, got ourselves a doggie bag and slept at the foot of the famous Cave city Vardzia.
The next morning we climbed the stairs of this cave city, explored the secret tunnels and had a sound check in one of the dark rooms. We left for Borjomi, where we drank a glass of ‘smelly’ water that made Stalin deranged. True story.
And after two days, 300 kilometers and countless enjoyable moments we said goodbye to our friends and headed into the wild again.
Into the concrete wild
While heading North to Svaneti, we made a quick stop in Skaltubo. It’s a small town but very interesting. It once was a vibrant spa resort city, but since the fall of the Soviet Union it became an urbex jungle. If cities are called concrete jungle, I’m sure this is called the concrete wild. A city where, just like Chernobyl, nature has taken over. Or back I guess. The baths where once thousands of Russians came to relax are now home to bushes and dogs. The sanatoriums where the Russians came to regenerate and get better are now in decay. Stairs without steps, windows without glass, walls without roof. For explorers like us this is a feast.
The displaced people from Abkhazia
Even more so because we found out that there are actual people living here. It’s definitely not suitable for living but the people living here have no choice. They are internally displaced people, also; Abkhazians, forced to flee from their home due to the civil war between Abkhazians wanting to be part of Georgia and Abkhazians wanting to be part of Russia. The war started on the 14th of August 1992 and ended 16 months later. The people were given a temporarily home. Thirty years later they are still living there.
So while we venture through this lost city like some urbex explorers, these people actually live in these buildings ready for demolition.
More hot springs
We continued our trip to the hot springs cause we needed a hot shower. Well Yuri needed it. Ok, a hot waterfall, who can resist?
The next day we moved our butt to the mountains of Svaneti. We felt like Bilbo in Lord of the Rings, happy to see mountains again. And that, people, is the end of this story. We are exploring the mountains and our climbing altitude limits the coming days in this most famous area of Georgia. Now, luckily, with a lot less tourists!
Love, Milene & Yuri
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Sorry! We’ve been a little absent lately. It has good reasons though. We weren’t quiet because it was too hot to type, or too wild to share but our adventures were mainly about fixing the van.
Maybe Alexine had her own version of the Pandemic flue. So from having to change her alternator we went to having to fix the carb. Then while we were driving in these beautiful mountainous area we had to change the spark plugs and after driving to Tusheti we found out the starting engine failed. So we asked our friends from VW Airhouse to send us a big package full with beautiful extra parts.
Impatiently we waited for the package to arrive in Tbilisi. We booked an apartment and had some work done. But the days passed while we heard nothing about our package. After a week in Tbilisi we were craving for nature. So we headed into he parks around Tbilisi. We already made some new friends in Georgia. Some of who own a T3!
Anyway, a couple of days we were surrounded by nothing but nature. Alright and some huge pensioned shepherd dogs! So many dogs here, that we decided to buy dog food to be able to feed them, cause they are very very skinny!
We had the most amazing overnight locations and were able to cook on a campfire which feels very “into the wild”.
After a week in nature we headed back to Tbilisi to work on the van a bit and meet with our friends. The package was still nowhere to be found so we couldn’t really work on the van. Meaning: new plans. We left the city behind and headed towards Signagi and Vashlovani National Park. The lather is a semi desert on the border with Azerbeidzjan. A tiny part of the park is impressive to be honest. The rest is just farmland. And the part that is amazing isn’t made for 2×2. Even though Alexine can handle most roads, this one wasn’t hers to handle.
Thus we stranded in front of a steep hill. Not because it was too steep for her but because the engine felt it didn’t get enough gasoline. Too much dust in the engine?
We got a tow from fellow travellers who got us out of the mess of Vashlovani. We drove back to Tbilisi but not before visiting Lamara, the last silk weaver of Georgia.
She showed us around and we got to see the silkworm! Pretty great. In Venice we bought a silk book, here we bought a silk face mask.
Our package arrived and when in Tbilisi we immediately started fixing Alexine.
So we checked the valves, changed the battery (which we cooked in Vashlovani), had the window fixed, cleaned the carb, cleaned the spark plugs, changed the VC joints, bought new good oil, changed starting engine, changed the oil sensor, installed a new filter, took care of rusty bits due to annoying stones and checked her timing. Two days and we are finally on the road again.
That brings me to today. We take Alexine for a spin. Hopefully tomorrow we will be having a small road trip with the other T3 guys which will be fun. Up to now she feels fine but to be honest, we have some trust issues now. Every strange sound we hear makes us scared. Especially me, Milene, because I adjusted the valves, which is a very critical thing. Too tight is a disaster, too wide is a disaster and I’m not the one for the perfect timing. Perfection has never been in my vocabulary, i just hope I’ve got the valves to nearly perfect.
Georgia is a great country, but full with Soviet cars, not Germans. So any problem on our van and we are kinda screwed.
Locals say it isn’t possible, they call us crazy, look at us with doubt. Call us crazy but we have believe in the power of Alexine. We have no doubt whatsoever that she can manage to climb up a pass, located at 2900 mtrs, also known as one of the most dangerous roads of Georgia. Or the world for that matter.
Still, all this didn’t scare us. Sometimes we feel fearless, and so does the van. Because we had to skip one of the most beautiful parts of Georgia (Svaneti) we thought this would be a good second.
Late, was the hour on which we arrived at the bottom of the pass. We decided to drive up for a while and find a nice camping place. Little did we know that we just passed the last possible camping spot before the pass. And so, steady, slowly but strongly we drove up.
Little sharp stones everywhere, hairpin corners all around and steep steep climbs. We have no 4×4, but we have the engine in the back and that helps a lot. The beginning of the pass is a lovely, rocky, ride next to the river through a beautiful forest.
Something to note; this pass is open only 4 months a year and in these 4 months it happens often that people die driving the road. The locals call it ‘inexperienced driving’, but however experienced you are this is a pass you shouldn’t mess with.
Once we’re out of the forest and leave the treeline behind us the road gets less rocky but more dangerous. There are bumps in the road so deep a mini would fit in it entirely. Other than that one has to drive through many water streams coming from falls of which some are quite deep. On the one side there are the steep rocks of which some have rollen off and located themselves in the middle of the road. On the other side is the deep ascend. When I write deep, I mean deeeeeeep. Some corners are quite narrow and incredibly steep. Alexine manages, but just.
At 8PM we arrived at the top of the pass, it took us about two hours to get here. That’s two hours for 25km’s. You can imagine how quick it goes. But, we made it to the top, at last. Because we moved quite late in the day we didn’t have a lot of oncoming traffic. There are some places to pass but there is not too much space, so we are happy we didn’t have to pass a truck or anything else big enough to make us drive backwards.
We slept at the top of the pass. A lot of wind and rain at night, but other than that a good relaxing stay. The next morning we were welcomed by a shepherd, who looked astonished. Not at us but at the van.
Today we would go down a bit, feeling quite confident we hit the road early and managed without too much difficulty. Alexine is quite high on her wheels which is definitely helpful at some of the deep holes in the road. We pass some motorbikers, some hikers but most we pass tourists in 4×4 minivans, all have the same astonishing look on their faces as the shepherd. The people in the villages here mostly live from tourism, they all have minivans with which they pick up tourists on the other side of the pass and bring them here to one of their guesthouses. Some tourists rent a car themselves but most go by minivan and have a great hike in the valley.
We will tell more about Tusheti National Park in another post. This post is all about the incredible road to and out of this somewhat remote area of Georgia.
Cause, we were in Tusheti now. Very nice, but will we get out? And more important: will we get out without any damage?
Fast forward; the way back!
We slept at the rangers station right before the pass to go back. At 9 in the morning we decided to hit the road. Not much of a road, more like a path, a rocky pathway through the mountains. The way up from the Tusheti side is a lot shorter, also a lot steeper? We would find out. Going down is of course very different from going up.
Some of the corners on this side were so steep and were covered with big stones in the middle of the road that one time Alexine couldn’t make it and we needed to back up a little. Luckily at some of the corners they made space to back up and try it again. But that was about it. She did well and it almost looked easy. From far away. From the drone, maybe. It wasn’t, we can tell you that.
At the top of the Abano pass we had a break and enjoyed the scenery. The hardest part is behind us, right? Then it was time for the descent. Not very eventful. Alexine did what she had to do, although she doesn’t really like to go down in gear 1 or 2, or any gear at all, and she struggled a little bit. Struggled in the sense of; turning off her engine and sputtering. But other than that, it went quite easy. There was a lot more traffic now then on the way up but nothing that we couldn’t pass or handle. After half way we decided to check out the medical water of Georgia as Alexine deserved a rest and our muscles as well. We stopped at a little house on the cliff and drank home made brandy and chacha (a local drink, quite strong and not recommended when one drives the most dangerous road, but well, it calms the nerves) and had some pears. We checked out the baths, which were quite nice actually. Refreshing and with a very beautiful view.
Fresh and delighted we started the last part of the trip down. The road is worse on this side and some moments we feared for the wellbeing of Alexine and her tires. But, after one hour we arrived at the bottom of the mountain alive and well. High five time.
So, we made it! A Volkswagen T2 can actually drive over the Abano Pass, one of the most dangerous roads, for us definitely the most dangerous one we ever drove. A friend of us said that we are probably the first Volkswagen T2 in Tusheti National Park. Wow, wouldn’t that be amazing? Alexine being the first T2 to cross the pass. I’m sure the name giver Alexine would be proud of her. An explorer by heart & engine!
Freedom can only be found in the mountains, as the Georgians say. So, after a couple of days in Tbilisi, getting Alexine fixed and some work done, it was time to head to the mountains again. Everyone tells us Svaneti is amazing, but that’s on the other side of Georgia so we decided to head where all of Tbilisi is heading in the weekends: Kazbegi.
It’s only a two hour drive from Tbilisi. What to see in Kazbegi? Well, there is the Trinity Church, probably the most famous church of Georgia. And that says something as we’re sure there are thousands of churches here.
On the way to the Trinity Church we stopped at the Georgian & Russian friendship monument. Not such a great monument but the views are spectacular. Lots of tourists here go parapenting or horse back riding. We didn’t do any of that but just had a look before we continued our journey.
Maffia monks
At the Trinity Church it was too crowded for our taste so we parked the van and had a walk through the mountains. Best idea ever! The hiking path we took wasn’t really a path, more like a trail made by cows and horses. It brought us all around the mountain and so we had the best view on the trinity church. The church itself isn’t so spectacular, it’s especially the backdrop. The mountains surrounding the church are just breathtaking. Truly astonishing.
We slept the night with a great view on the mountain. Strangely, at night the monks are apparently working as cars drive on and off to the gates of the church.
Earlier on we where told about the dubious activities of the monks in the country. The word ‘maffia’ was even mentioned. We couldn’t really believe it until we were sleeping right next to the monastery and witnessed all the strange nightly activities there. Our suspicion only got strengthened when we saw monks on the news participating in the anti LHBTI riots in Tbilisi last weekend. Monks with double agenda’s perhaps?
Of course we will never know what goes on behind those closed church doors. However, everything that goes through our minds and is written down here is subject for debate. For our own safety we will not elaborate any further on the matter…
So, early in the morning, when most tourists are still sleeping, we walked over to the church and had a look around. Inside and outside not too impressive but again, with the mountains surrounding it, it feels very majestic.
We soon hit the road to drive almost to the border with Russia to have a small but nice hike to a waterfall. Afterwards we drove to Juta, here we wanted to have a hike the next day. A proper hike, which we definitely had.
Hiking the Chaukhi pass
Early in the morning we started the hike. We were thinking of hiking to a lake, only 1.5 hours hike, but as we missed the lake and got closer to the Chaukhi pass we decided that it would be nice to reach the pass. The pass is at 3.200 metres high and the trail to it is amazing!! The mountains surrounding us, the flowers in the field, the little river we hiked alongside. The only downside were the many many insects, but alright, we take it. So we had to climb a lot to reach the pass but as the view got more and more beautiful it wasn’t a bad thing. The higher you get the more mountain tops you see, until you are on top of the pass and it truly feels like you’re on top of the world.
After a while enjoying the view we headed back down. Going down is a lot easier than going up but it’s a lot heavier for the body. So, we didn’t go too quick and not too slow either. We had a nice speed and half way down took a detour as walking the same way back isn’t that much fun right? Good choice! The route was so great, from stones to flower fields, to river crossings and grass lands. All that with views on the magnificent mountainside which reminds us of the Dolomites. On our way back we even found the little lake, which to us felt manmade but we’re not sure. Not the most interesting place, so we were very very happy to have done the long hike.
Back in Juta, after 6 hours of hiking, we jumped into the ice cold river next to the van. So refreshing, so nice. We get more and more used to this lifestyle. Taking a bath wherever you can, however cold it is.
No more rolling for Alexine
We didn’t want to stay in Juta so we continued our road. Not for too long though because Alexine didn’t want to continue. She stopped. Apparently we had to change the spark plugs every 5.000km and we’ve driven almost 15.000km now so yeah, they needed to be changed. Luckily we met a very nice guy at the gasoline station who knew someone who works on old cars. He came in the evening, changed the spark plugs, checked some other things and Alexine was running again.
We learn so much on the road, not only about ourselves or the countries we drive through but also about the van. And up to now we’ve been lucky with the people we met who helped us fix her. On our own it would still be quite difficult.
Hi there! We are Milene & Yuri. We are travelling the world together since 2015. Our endless curiosity and will to explore has resulted in many cool, and somewhat extreme, adventures. On MYgrations you'll read all about our adventures, you'll find lots of information about the countries we visit you won't find anywhere else and more. Enjoy!
We’re also grammin’
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