#64: Trip to the Caucasus

During the last two weeks I've been travelling a lot. First went on a working trip to Batken, then went to the Caucasus. I had a roundtable in Baku, but decided to take the chance to see the region. First flew to Yerevan (where I had a friend I met at previous job), spend half of the day seeing the town, then took a taxi to Tbilisi. Drove all night, while it was raining like hell. Although I heard the scenery was beautiful, I missed it all only seeing the silhouettes of mountains, gorges, and rivers elluminated by thunder. It was a scary ride because I was afraid we would fly off the cliff. Because of the rain (and the driver), it took us 8 hours instead of 4 hours to get to Tbilisi. Got there at about 5 am. Walked around Tbilisi till noon. Gorgeous city. Amazing. Loved it. Then hooked up with colleagues in Georgia, who gave me a ride to Baku. After two days of not sleeping, I slept on the way to Baku (7hrs). Was in Baku for 3 days. Great city too, although fuelled by petrodollars. I liked Tbilisi the most. On the way back to Bishkek, I stayed with Elnura in Moscow. Met Veta too. I did not do much sight-seeing or touristy stuff because I was soo tired. So just relaxed in Moscow. Flew in to Bishkek this monday, and the same day took off to Karakol (6hrs). Returned only yesterday. I am sick of travelling. I want to sleep in my own bed.

All in all, I brought 3 bottles of the famous Armenian cognac, 4 bottles of Georgian wine, and 2 bottles of Azeri narsharap (pomegranate sause - good stuff).

Baku: Maiden Tower (Qiz Qala).
Tbilisi: A Samarkandesque building turned into a banya, however the minaret in the back belongs to a working mosque in an Azeri neighborhood in Tbilisi.

Yerevan: Masrop Mashtots, creator of the Armenian alphabet, is playing keyboards, as locals says.