Christmas in Central Asia

[cgichard]

Some years ago I did travel by mrshrutka from Yerevan to Tbilisi, to link two tours with different companies. I was helped by the Armenian tour guide on my departure, and met by John Graham, the Georgian tour leader on arrival in Tbilisi. He is an American who has lived in Tbilis for many year, and is married to a delightful Georginan woman. His tour groups are small and take you to many places off the beatrn track. Last year I went with him through SW Georgia into the part of Turkey that for many centuries was part of Georgia.

He's leading a trip into remote areas of Eastern Georgi in April-May this year, on which you could learn to make khachapuri and khinkali, among with many other traditional crafts. Later in May another through Georgia into Armenia. Places still available on both.

 

[oobi doobi]

Are you talking about the 'Stans or the Caucasus region?

Either is certainly possible, although the language barrier could be a problem (more so in the 'Stans perhaps, although as RooFlyer says, the Georgian script is even more incomprehensible than Cyrillic). Also, the roads are variable in quality outside of the major cities and highways. But it could be done and I'm sure you'd have a great experience. I did meet Germans in Kazakhstan who were driving around the countryside for 6 weeks.



Don't mind at all



There are trains from Tbilisi to both Baku and Yerevan. I believe they run overnight and are quite acceptable, but I haven't tried them out myself. There's also a small network of long-distance trains within Georgia. Otherwise, I think the most common way of getting from town to town is by private minivan. They work in the same as as the marshrutkas that we used to travel from Shymkent to Turkestan.

 

[oobi doobi]

We caught the train from Baku to Tbilisi 2 years ago. The train was an overnight trip with sleepers which were quite comfortable. Two things to remember is there is no food or drink available on the 12 to 14 hour trip, so take something with you. When you book your sleeper berth remember to take your passport to the train station in Baku a day or so before departure.

Without it, they will not issue a ticket. From memory the tickets were not too expensive.

Cheers