To have a decent goodbye from Turkey I decided that I wanted to go from Istanbul along Turkey's Black Sea Coast to Ex-Soviet states of Georgia and Armenia. Luckily my good old friend Albors joined me for this trip. So we headed eastwards from Istanbul in the beginning of March 2013. Our first stop was Turkey's capital Ankara from there we went up north to the Black Sea where we stopped in Sinop, Amasya and Trabzon before heading towards Georgia's border.
 |
| This massive mausoleum is Anıtkabir where Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of Republic of Turkey, is buried, Ankara, Turkey 2013 |
 |
| We entered this deserted and never finished hotel, Sinop, Turkey 2013 |
 |
| Amasya is surrounded by mountains from where you have a superb view, Amasya, Turkey 2013 |
 |
| Being used to old cameras old people mostly tend not to move when taking a picture of them, Amasya, Turkey 2013 |
 |
| Mural paintings at Sumela Monastry which is impressively located in a mountains face, Trabzon, Turkey 2013 |
On an overnight bus we left Turkey after one and a half weeks and we were looking forward to experience Georgia. After eleven hours and a long stop at the border in Sarpi we finally arrived in Tbilisi, Georgia's 1.1million capital. In Tbilisi we stayed with Mahdi and his mother, our awesome Iranian couchsurfers and from their place we were easily able to start trips to whatever was around. But first we spend a few days in the city before we headed to a monastry close to Azerbaijan's border.
 |
| There are still a few cars from back in the soviet days such as this GAZ Wolga, Tbilisi, Georgia 2013 |
 |
In Georgian Tbilisi means 'hot spring', Tbilisi, Georgia 2013
|
 |
After Armenia it was Georgia in 337 to be second country in the world to adopt christianity, Tbilisi, Georgia 2013
|
 |
Oldtown at Tbilisi's narrowest part in the very south is probably the most beautiful part of the city, Tbilisi, Georgia 2013
|
 |
He invited us for a shot of his home-made distillate, Tbilisi, Georgia 2013
|
 |
After hunger strikes in April 1989 Georgia became independent from USSR on 9th of April 1991, Tbilisi, Georgia 2013
|
 |
After turbulent 1990s Georgia stabilised after 2003 peaceful Rose Revolution took place, Tbilisi, Georgia 2013
|
 |
2004 anti-russian Mikheil Saakashvili became president and improved transparency and safety, Tbilisi, Georgia 2013
|
 |
| Tbilisi has three well-developed metro lines that run on both side of Mtkvari River, Tbilisi, Georgia 2013 |
 |
| In the underground a smell sometimes reminds you that Tbilisi is build on sulphur springs, Tbilisi, Georgia 2013 |
 |
| Tying a piece of cloth or a plastic bag on a tree gives you a wish, Tbilisi, Georgia 2013 |
 |
| Georgians were throughout one of the kindest people I have ever met, Tbilisi, Georgia 2013 |
 |
The family in the back of the queue used to live in Germany for a while, Tbilisi, Georgia 2013
|
 |
| Georgian and Armenian alphabets made me feel slightly analphabetic, Tbilisi, Georgia 2013 |
 |
| Around grand Rustaveli Avenue in the centre you find magnificient buildings and nightlife, Tbilisi, Georgia 2013 |
 |
| At most bus stations where marshrutka-minibuses start you can find interesting food markets, Tbilisi, Georgia 2013 |
 |
| Tschurtschchela is a common Georgian candy consisting of nuts and grape juice, Tbilisi, Georgia 2013 |
 |
| Khachapouri is a delicious georgian filo-pastry cheese-pie, Tbilisi, Georgia 2013 |
 |
| Khinkali is another famous but hard-to-eat Georgian dish consisting of boiled meat-filled pasta, Tbilisi, Georgia 2013 |
 |
| Markets are close to overland bus stations so it is easy to provide smaller villages with food, Tbilisi, Georgia 2013 |
 |
| In Georgia and Armenia they call Backgammon Nardi, in Turkey it is called Tavla, Tbilisi, Georgia 2013 |
 |
| Whatever amount customers want..., Tbilisi, Georgia 2013 |
 |
| ...is portioned right here, Tbilisi, Georgia 2013 |
 |
| There was this market hall full of meat, pigheads and half animal bodies, unfortunately in black and white, Tbilisi, Georgia 2013 |
 |
| On a butcher's counter I found this big piece of entrails right next to a gameboy and other stuff, Tbilisi, Georgia 2013 |
 |
| Some meatmen invited us for redwine, Tbilisi, Georgia 2013 |
 |
| It was a bit bizarre but if you want to eat meat you need to face the facts, Tbilisi, Georgia 2013 |
 |
| One Georgian Lari is worth about 0.6 US-Dollar and is divided into 100 Tetri, Tbilisi, Georgia 2013 |
 |
| She was traveling from Tbilisi to Sagarejo all on her own, Tbilisi, Georgia 2013 |
 |
| From Sagarejo we took a cab through the mountains and over gravel road to Davit Gareji Monastry, Davit Gareji, Georgia 2013 |
 |
| Otto was our cabdriver along this five-hour return trip, Davit Gareji, Georgia 2013 |
 |
| Davit Gareji includes hundreds of caves and chapels as you may see behind Otto in the picture above, Davit Gareji, Georgia 2013 |
 |
| In the distance there is Azerbaijan as Davit Gareji is only 500m away from the border, Davit Gareji, Georgia 2013 |
 |
| On our way we met this shepherd in the middle of nowhere who is a friend of Otto, Udabno, Georgia 2013 |
 |
| Fuelwood collection during energy shortages in the 1990s left stark plains around the monastry, Udabno, Georgia 2013 |
 |
| Although our Georgian language skill consisted of only two words we mostly got what we wanted, Tbilisi, Georgia 2013 |
 |
| Georgian-orthodox church of Tsminda Sameba in the east of Tbilisi was built in 2004, Tbilisi, Georgia 2013 |
The next morning we found ourselves driving south onboard of another marshrutka. We passed Armenia's state border and continued riding to Yerevan, the capital of another beautiful state in the South Caucasus Region. We stayed there for another four days and explored the city and some more places around before returning to Tbilisi to have a closer look on Georgia. Part 2 is in the make and will be found here soon.
