Astounding Astana: Kazakhstan, Georgia & more

[Wanderlust_tim]

Tbilisi, Georgia


The country's main claim to fame is that it is the birthplace of wine. Wine was apparently invented in Georgia, and today there are so many different varieties of Georgian wine that nobody knows the exact number. There are wineries all over the countryside, and every fourth store in Tbilisi seemed to be offering free wine tasting. I'll talk more about Georgian wine a little later.

I loved Tbilisi and one of the highlights was that the immigration official gave me a bottle of wine on arrival into the country. Certainly the best immigration experience I have ever had.

On another note, how did the language experience compare with Kazakhstan? Do you think the English skills between Georgia and Kazakhstan were comparable?

 

[Mattg]

I stayed close to Freedom Square (sometimes translated as Liberty Square). This was within walking distance of virtually everywhere I wanted to go.

Liberty Square:



I did give the Tbilisi metro a go. Just like in Almaty, the metro system had a definite Soviet feel about it. The trains were old and the stations, located a very long way underground, seemed a little run down. But the stations were well-decorated. I'm told that the trains currently running on the Tbilisi metro are new trains... I suspect they meant "second-hand". Either way, I'd hate to see what the old trains were like. The current lot are so loud, you would not be able to hold a normal conversation once the train starts moving.

This didn't stop one musician from trying to busk on the train. She had a microphone and boom box but I could not hear the music from a few metres away.







There was a large flower market in the nearby park. The people here would sell flowers from mid-morning until around midnight each day.

 

[Mattg]

Some more photos from Tbilisi...









Georgian baths

 

[Mattg]

A different kind of Gloria Jeans

 

[Mattg]

I took the funicular up to Mtatsminda Park. There were some great views from up there and, predictably, a few bars and restaurants.

But there was also a sizeable theme park up there! You could easily spend half a day, and I imagine this would be great for kids.





Tbilisi TV Tower

 

[Mattg]

I loved the food in Georgia. None of it was especially healthy, but it was tasty and filling. My favourite dishes were khinkali, a kind of dumpling filled with meat or potato, and khachapuri. The latter, seen here, is a pastry with cheese and (sometimes) egg.

 

[Monica932]

Love this trip report Matt, keep it up you are doing a great job.

I am planning to visit Georgia with my family next year, I will certainly use your report as a guide. Hope you don't mind.

 

[Mattg]

There were tour offices all over the city, most of them offering tours to similar places at reasonable prices (around $40 for a day trip).

I joined a couple of day tours out of Tbilisi. The first one was to the Kazbegi mountains, very close to the border with Russia. This was a really interesting tour and the scenery once we got into the mountains was truly stunning.

We also had a really interesting guide and I chatted with him on the drive back about his thoughts on Georgian politics, history and joining the European Union. For the record, he did not support Georgia joining the EU.

As we got out of the city, the condition of the roads did start to deteriorate - as did the driving. The majority of the roads were two-lane roads, but they were treated like three-to-four-lane roads. There was a lot of ducking around other cars, as well as a surprisingly large number of cows on the road.



Our first stop was at the Ananuri fortress, overlooking the Zhinvali reservoir.



Inside the fortress



Predictably there was a church here among the fortress. As with most other Orthodox churches in Georgia, men were required to remove their hats and women were required to cover their faces before entering. Photography was not permitted inside the church.

 

[Mattg]

Some scenery from along the way...









We left the bus in Stepantsminda, a small tourist village at the base of the Kazbegi mountains.

 

[Mattg]

From there, we were taken by a local driver in a minivan up to Gergeti Trinity Church. That was a seriosuly bumpy ride, but it was worth it for the views!

 

[Mattg]

For the second day tour we headed to the Kakheti wine region.

The first stop was the Monastery of St Nino



Followed by Sighnaghi, aka. the "city of love".





Finally we had a tour, wine tasting and a delicious lunch at the Chelti winery.





This was another enjoyable tour, spoiled only be a loud, egotistic American bloke on the tour. He constantly interrupted the guide, complained about having to tip at lunch and kept holding up the bus so he could take a zillion photos of himself in ridiculous poses. The tour was half in Russian and half in English, and this guy actually complained about having to listen to the Russian commentary - even though he proudly announced to everyone multiple times that he lives in Russia. Apparently he hadn't bothered to learn any of the language despite living there for a year!

 

[Mattg]

Georgian wine is traditionally fermented underground, in large clay pots like these known as qvevri.



The result is a beautiful dry wine that is unique to Georgia.

I enjoyed almost all of the wine I tried in Georgia. And it wasn't hard to find - free wine tasting was offered everywhere.



My favourite place was Vinoground. The guy there spoke half a dozen different languages and was happy for us to try what must have been around 20 varieties of wine.





I would have loved to take some wine back to Australia with me. There was just one problem: my next stop was Qatar, and as far as I'm aware it's illegal to bring alcohol into there.

 

[Mattg]

I loved Tbilisi and one of the highlights was that the immigration official gave me a bottle of wine on arrival into the country. Certainly the best immigration experience I have ever had.

On another note, how did the language experience compare with Kazakhstan? Do you think the English skills between Georgia and Kazakhstan were comparable?

I was disappointed to miss out on the free wine at the border!

Getting around was definitely easier in Georgia than in Kazakhstan.

 

[Mattg]

From Tbilisi, my next main stop on the way back to Australia was Colombo. And the easiest way to get from Tbilisi to Colombo was with Qatar Airways via Doha.

At the time of booking, Qatar Airways was running a promotion whereby you could get a free hotel room in Doha by booking a stopover there. I hadn't been to Doha before so decided to give this a go.

Tbilisi Airport was very quiet when I arrived around lunch time.



At check-in I requested, and received, an exit row seat for the flights to Doha.

Qatar Airways uses the Primeclass lounge at TBS. It wasn't a bad lounge, with a reasonable variety of food & drinks. Predictably for Georgia, there was also a smoking area. The lounge felt a little bit like an art gallery, with the walls covered in paintings.

 

[Mattg]

QR252 Tbilisi - Baku - Doha
Departure time: 13:45
Arrival time: 17:50
Airbus A320
Economy class



This flight operated via Baku, Azerbaijan. The first leg to Baku took around an hour, and the second flight was around 3 hours.

Despite being on an A320, I was pretty comfortable. Seat-back IFE was available and the range of entertainment was good. This was the legroom from my exit row seat:



There was a blanket and pillow on every seat. The crew handed out menus and refreshment towels before take-off.

A hot chicken sandwich and brownie were served on the short Tbilisi-Baku sector. Drinks were served to the passengers seated towards the front of the plane, but the crew ran out of time and stopped serving drinks to anyone in around row 10 or behind. The flight time was barely 50 minutes.



We spent about an hour on the ground in Baku. Around 50% of the passengers disembarked, and the other 50% who were continuing to Doha seemed confused as to whether they were supposed to stay on the plane. No announcement was made advising transit passengers to stay on the plane, but we were required to do so. Once the Baku passengers had disembarked, the crew came through the plane making sure that all the bags in the overhead bins were accounted for. The plane was then cleaned and there was a crew change.

On the ground in Baku...



Lunch was served between Baku and Doha:

 

[Mattg]

The arrival in Doha was relatively painless. I had to apply beforehand through Qatar Airways for a transit visa, although I believe the visa requirement for Australians has since been removed.

The Discover Qatar package, which I booked for free, included transfers to/from the hotel. I found my driver in the arrivals area and was taken to the Golden Ocean Hotel. As an Economy passenger I had a choice a 4-star hotels... Business and First passengers could choose from a range of 5-star hotels.

I was given a "Golden Suite", which was lovely and spacious.




View from the room:

 

[Mattg]

Doha, Qatar

I had a few hours between checking out of the hotel the next morning and returning to the airport, so I had planned to do a little sightseeing. Unfortunately, there were a few problems with that.

Firstly, it was REALLY hot! You just had to step outside for 30 seconds and you'd start sweating like a pig. It was a sticky, humid heat too which didn't help.



With that in mind, I thought it best to stick to the air conditioning. I came up with a list of places I wanted to visit, such as the Museum of Islamic Art and a couple of the souqs. I soon learned that as it was the middle of Friday prayers, everything was closed!

I thought about doing the city sightseeing bus, but thought twice when I discovered the 1.5 hour bus tour would cost more than $60!

Even the hotel concierge couldn't think of anything that was open, so I just went for a bit of a walk down to Doha Corniche.





The outdoor exercise equipment was popular in the 42 degree heat



Honestly, Doha was not a great experience for me.

But I wouldn't write off Doha based on this one experience. I'll try to come back sometime when things are actually open, and perhaps stay a litte longer. If it's any consolation, the food was excellent and everyone I came across in Qatar was genuinely friendly.

 

[Mattg]

QR668 Doha - Colombo
Departure time: 18:00
Arrival time: 01:45 (next day)
Airbus A340-600
Economy class

I had been keeping an eye on this flight in the days prior to departure and it was pretty clear that it was heavily oversold in Economy. I was hoping that I might be lucky enough to get an upgrade, but it wasn't to be.

Not to worry - it was another comfortable flight and there was plenty of IFE to keep me occupied for ~5 hours.

Before the flight I visited the Qatar Airways "Business Class" lounge, which isn't really for Business passengers at all. This lounge is for Oneworld Sapphire cardholders, while Business class passengers can use the much nicer Al Mourjan lounge. The lounge wasn't bad though. There were a few hot food options and a bar service - though no champagne or sparkling wine was available. I settled into the far corner near the TV, and at 4pm when I arrived there were more staff than lounge guests!



I was particularly impressed with the cleanliness of the bathrooms in the lounge. They were kept immaculately clean by a dedicated men's bathroom attendant. This attendant would even turn the tap on/off for you and hand you a towel when washing your hands. (I found this completely over-the-top, personally.)

The lounge is located just above the main entrance to the departure terminal, which for some reason features this giant stuffed bear...



Dinner was served on the flight. I didn't take any photos, but the choices were chicken korma or a vegetarian dish.

This flight had a schedule change shortly after various neighbouring countries imposed sanctions and travel restrictions on Qatar in June. The flight was rescheduled to depart 50 minutes earlier, and the flight time was extended by 25 minutes. Those extra 25 minutes were spent taking a detour around UAE airspace.

The slightly earlier arrival time actually would have worked better for me, but we departed late and arrived after the original arrival time anyway.

It may have been the middle of the night, but Colombo Airport was very busy when we arrived! As you'd expect, there were plenty of duty-free stores at CMB. But this is the first airport I've seen where you can buy duty-free whitegoods! There were around a dozen stores selling everything from TVs to washing machines.

The taxi into Colombo took an hour and I finally got to my hotel room at 4am.

 

[flightobserver]

Your Qatari experience is very similar to what I had back in February, albeit on the free city tour provided by QR and without the heat Certainly not much to see and do but I definitely agree with you in that I wouldn't write the country off just yet. I expect there will be more infrastructure in place by the 2022 FIFA World Cup (if Qatar is still hosting it by then) but right now Doha feels to me like a giant sandbox for the rich citizens to play with their construction toys.

 

[Wanderlust_tim]

I was disappointed to miss out on the free wine at the border!

Getting around was definitely easier in Georgia than in Kazakhstan.

Thanks for letting me know, that will be handy for when i plan my own trip.