Caucasus
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You are currently reading a thread in /trv/ - Travel
You are currently reading a thread in /trv/ - Travel
Anyone here traveled to Georgia/Armenia before?
I'm American and would like to go see some of the sites there, the ancient stuff.
Does anyone have any advice regarding things to go see or maybe any precautions?
Thanks.
>>1062437
If you go to Armenia you cant get into Azerbaijan because they block people with Armenian passport stamps, however your able to do the reverse (from Azerbaijan to Armenia).
Also a war between the two countries potentially broke out yesterday, so Armenia mightn't be a great option right now, though i doubt much would happen as Azerbaijan cant stand up to Armenia+Russia.
>>1062444
Sure about these stamps? I know Azerbaijan used to deny entrance for people who had stamps from Nagorno Karabakh but not Armenian.
The recent skirmishes come in very bad moment. Russia and US will support Armenia while Turkey will probably help Azerbaijan. That means widening the conflict between Russia and Turkey.
>>1062451
Turkey and US are allied though. Why would the US care about some little nation like Armenia?
>>1062437
I did Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh this summer. Ask away
I just got back from a week long trip to Georgia
See some of the mountains, Kazbegi or Mestia. There's a lot of ancient sites but I didn't get the chance to see them. Georgia is a really cool country and you'll have a fun time either way
>>1062608
>pic
That's Kazbegi, right? Never saw it during winter.
Anyway, been to Georgia twice by now - haven't made it to Armenia yet. What kind of ancient stuff do you exactly want to see? Ask away.
Where to stay in these countries? Hostels? Airbnb? Coachsurfing? Hotel?
>>1062807
Old churches are basically everywhere in Georgia and Armenia.
In Georgia, Svaneti has a number of worthwhile ones; Ushguli and Adishi are home to several ancient churches - pic is a 9th century church in Ushguli. While in Georgia, I'd recommend Davit Gareji (easiest way to get there is the Gareji line, just google that, only 25GEL) and Uplistsikhe (marshrutka to Gori, further transport easily available there - can be done directly from Tbilisi as well).
Armenia has many of the oldest surviving churches on the planet, but I don't have any specific info on which ones are must-sees, other than Ani cathedral - because, ironically, a number of the most important Armenian churches are now in Turkey. They're usually hard to visit because they're close to the sensitive Armenia-Turkey border, but last year one /trv/anon made it there. He just blundered into some border guards who happened to be cool guys - after some small bureaucratic hassles - and drove him to the place. But rest assured that there's plently of ancient churches are still left within Armenia.
Haven't had any issues with theft or intimidation. Never felt anywhere near unsafe. You can probably get by with just English - plenty of people do - but I would recommend learning some basic Russian, it'll make things a lot easier if you visit a less touristic place.
>>1062807
>>1062828
Some more info on Ani
https://mediachecker.wordpress.com/2014/01/27/ruined-site-of-the-old-armenian-city-of-ani-turkey/
>>1062827
Hostels are possible in bigger cities, there's a couchsurfing community as well, hotels are usually quite expensive. Don't know about AirBnB.
Overall, however, I'd recommend homestays and guesthouses. Most widespreak form of accomodation, can arrange meals, inexpensive, and the commonly found genuine hospitality is a nice plus.
was there this summer. went to tbilisi, yerevan, lake sevan, dilijan, borjomi, kutaisi, mestia and back to tbilisi. had a great time. bring your hiking boots for the caucaus and take some hikes.
Yerevan is a great city but Armenians are generally not very nice and very proud of their country. georgians are way more relaxed.
thanks for the help guys! really looking forward to this trip
