Europe
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12 June 2014 – En route to Signagi, Georgia
A short stop at the very holy Alaverdi Monastery, dating back to the 6th century. Rahter beautiful and peaceful, the monastery also features a wine cellar — common for religious buildings all across Georgia. The country is known to have invented wine making after all.
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11 June 2014 – Tusheti, Georgia
Climbing defense towers around upper Omalo, Tusheti – fun even in the rain. Earlier in the day we visited picturesque village of Dartlo, at the time it was nice and sunny, or at least not rainy. Regardless, another day of adventure in the wilds of Tushseti.
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10 June 2014 – Tusheti, Georgia
You know — just chopping some wood in the mountains. Best form of exercise and relaxation. ) Featured here on the grounds of our lovely Tusheti guesthouse – Mirgvela, set on top of a hill about 3 kilometers away from the large village of Omalo (where most visitors stay).
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9 June 2014 – Tusheti, Georgia
First Tusheti hike turned out pretty ambitious. We walked most of the day, exploring some tiny village which boasted a population of 3 inhabitants and ten times as many houses. We also came across plenty of hungry sheepdogs vociferously guarding their charges, as well as, masked horsemen. We later learned that Caucasus tradition of stealing
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8 June 2014 – En route to Tusheti, Georgia
We are off on our first adventure outside of Tbilisi — the wild and pristine mountains of Tusheti. The road from Tbilisi to Tusheti is only maybe 120 km, but it took us 9 hours (!) due to the highway conditions. Never mind that though, just enjoys the views!
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7 June 2014 – Tbilisi, Georgia
A peak at Sergey’s childhood home — he used to spend his summers in Tbilisi until about 7 years old. The cherry tree is still there, as are the books, pictures, and all the neat other things.
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6 June 2014 – Tbilisi, Georgia
Adventures around Tbilisi ramparts — we climbed the Narikala Fortress, high above the capital, for spectacular city views. Fun fact: Originally it was established in the 4th century as Shuris-tsikhe, or enviable stronghold. But when the Mongols invaded Georgia in 13th century, they renamed the fortress Narikala, or little fortress.
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5 June 2014 – Tbilisi, Georgia
Arrival in Tbilisi. A little tired – after an early morning flight and a long lay-over in Kiev – but super excited. We started to feel welcome straight from the airport — Tbilisi Loves You signs are everywhere. Little did we know, the slogan is for free public wifi, which most of the time did
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4 June 2014 – En route to Moscow, Russia
Flying over fascinating bits of the globe — Himalayas, Afghanistan, and the Aral Sea on our way from Hanoi to Moscow. Cheers!
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Change of Plans: Part Deux
So remember that time we talked about relaxing in Indonesia? Well, we kind of changed our minds (it has happened before). It happened in Vietnam, during our DIY motorcycle adventure from Hanoi to Hoi An.
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Month 9 Roundup
These 9 months of travel have been an incredible learning experience. We’ve seen a lot of good bits: spectacular nature, beautiful people and fascinating cultures. Part of the trip though has been seeing first hand the utter devastation that we as humans are capable of. It has been painful, challenging, and thought-provoking.
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Ulan Ude – Transsiberian stop #6
Founded: 1735 Pop: 404,000 Other names: Udinskoye, Verkhniy Udinsk Our last stop in Russia was in Ulan Ude, the capital of Buryat Republic. Ulan Ude is famous for two things: the largest head of Lenin is the world and being the center of Buddhism in Russia. Giant Lenin head in downtown Ulan Ude, Russia. Apparently,