The first few days in Iran were spent driving and then hanging out in Masuleh. After all the time and expense to finally get to Iran, none of us had any clue why we spent so long in Masuleh – after all, there was nothing to do there except relax and enjoy the slightly cooler […]
Exploring Esfahan – Part 1 – Iran Read More »
Although we had fairly limited time in Georgia, I somehow managed to try a whole range of different traditional Georgian food. It began with surprise tastings on the Tbilisi Hack Free Walking Tour (highly recommended!) and, with the exception of the first night where I was craving a really good steak, I tried something different for
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While the Brits trooped off to the Iranian consulate in Tbilisi again to try to secure their visas now that they had their Letters of Invitation sorted, the rest of us bundled into a very spacious minivan and headed off for a day trip to Kutaisi. It’s a bloody long way from Tbilisi to Kutaisi
One of the highlights of southern Georgia is Vardzia – an extensive cave monastery (500m long and rising up 19 tiers) that was largely built in the latter part of the 12th century. We had 2 hours to explore the site so I decided to spring for the $5 for an audio tour and set
Besides Yerevan, the only other things we had time to see in our extremely short sojourn in Armenia were two monasteries. Haghbat Monastery (975AD) This is a medieval monastery complex with several structures, the largest of which is the cathedral of Surb Nishan. With its dome supported by 4 large pillars, it is a typical example
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After having spent a few days in Tbilisi, Georgia arranging our Iranian visas (more about Georgia coming), our circuit through Armenia was also, unfortunately, very short. However, we did manage to get just over a day in Yerevan – the capital of the country. I have to say – I really liked Yerevan – where
After a month of traveling through the poorer parts of the ex-Soviet Union on incredibly bad roads (for the most part), arriving in Azerbaijan was quite a shock! In our <3 days in the country (we could only get a 3-day permit for the truck), I discovered that: the roads are great there are Western
Thoughts on Azerbaijan Read More »
The other quick stop we did in Azerbaijan was to the mud volcanoes (otherwise known as sedimentary volcanoes). These weren’t too far from the Gobustan Petroglyphs in fact, and were definitely worth the quick side-trip to see. It’s an amazing, moon-like landscape, with the Caspian Sea in the background with both fresh and baked mud
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Because you can never see too many petroglyphs (and I don’t say that facetiously – I actually find them fascinating), one of our quick stops in Azerbaijan was to visit the Gobustan petroglyphs. This National park is home to more than 6,000 rock engravings dating from between 5,000–40,000 years ago – some of which are
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Woke up early after only about 2 hours sleep, thanks largely to the snoring efforts of my traveling companions, and decided to just get up and start exploring Baku. Made my way downstairs at the hostel to be confronted with doctors and patients and wheelchairs on the first floor… WTF??!! The running semi-joke is that
