Discovering Transcaucasia

Cooling ourselves down with an iced tea and iced coffee in Yerevan (Armenia)

The three countries on the crossroads of Europe and Asia with a complex history and often far from amicable neighbouring relations provide any adventurous traveller with a great opportunity to discover places literally off the beaten paths. Tourists are rare, and if any, you come across them mostly in big cities, which is something I personally really enjoyed. If you meet any foreigners, they are mostly travellers as opposed to tourists as I call them. Often with big rucksacks, comfortable hiking shoes and slightly sunburnt faces (no wonder as summers tend to be really hot with temperatures in the range of 30-38C on a daily basis), they are visiting on a small budget, tend to stay in hostels or home stays and are willing to embrace the local sights and culture without minding some of the inconveniences.

Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan have been on my list of countries to visit for a long time. Neither fully in Europe nor in Asia they offer a blend of interesting culture, architecture and cuisine. They are also quite veggie-friendly which is important for me as a non-meat eater :) People are generally really friendly and a lot of them speak fairly good English. I myself concluded however that starting to learn Russian few years ago was one of the best language decisions I made. Knowledge of even basic Russian helps immensely - especially when you are trying to find your way around busy and chaotic bus or train stations, asking about details of your meal in a restaurant or simply in every day conversations with the locals. Although relations with Russia have not always been positive to say the least, majority of locals would have no objections communicating with you in this Slavic language.

For a traveller from Europe or North America, the Caucasus is a relatively cheap destination. Typically a night in a hostel for a double room (mostly with a shared bathroom) would cost us between 6-10GBP per person, sometimes even including a small breakfast. A meal in a local restaurant would usually cost us a max. of 6GBP per person for a selection of regional dishes and a drink and sometimes as little as 1GBP in a small cantine. 2nd class train tickets in a kupe (4-berth compartment) for long-distance overnight trains (e.g. Tbilisi to Baku or Yerevan) have costed us about 22GBP per person one way and the cost of local transportation ranges between 0.10GBP per metro ride to 3GBP for a 3.5hrs marshrutka (local mini-bus) ride to another city.

Caucasian cuisine is an interesting blend of Turkish and Eastern European influences with commonly present grilled meats and vegetables, but also a nice selection of cheeses, salads, breads, beer and wine. I won't dwell on the details of all the different dishes we have tried (and we have eaten like kings most of the time) but I have decided to tell you a bit more about some of the key Georgian dishes we have enjoyed (for some reason this cuisine has really stood out for me). If in Georgia the must-try dishes include:
- Khachapuri (cheese-filled bread) - Imeratian is an easy on the go pie, whilst Ajarian is a more indulgent version topped up with egg and butter (forget about the diet!);
- Khinkali - small twisted knobs of dough stuffed with different meats, potatoes, cheese or vegetables (Georgian family classic);
- Badrijani Niguzit - aubergine with walnut-garlic paste (guarantees to scare away any vampires!)
- Lobio Niguzit - beans (hot or cold) mixed with garlic, walnuts, onions and coriander (Georgians love the garlic-walnut combination of flavours)
- Ajapsandali - veggie ratatouille of aubergines, peppers in a spicy tomato-garlic sauce;
- Pkhali - small balls of vegetable pate, made with beets, carrots or spinach (again really garlicky);
- Churchkhela - walnuts or hazelnuts covered in syrupy grape juice (every day snack).

Traditional Georgian food

Churchkhela and regional fruit and vegetables at a local market in Tbilisi (Georgia)

Out of the three countries Georgia has been somehow closest to my heart (and that's not only because we ate a lot of delicacies). Wherever we went if we stumbled upon any other travellers, they were mostly from Poland, which to me was a really nice surprise. Due to the unbearable heat in Azerbaijan we actually saw more of Georgia that we had initially planned. We spent few days in Tbilisi enjoying the historical sights and walking kilometres up and down on the city hills, went on a half a day to Mtshketa (ancient Georgian capital), spent a night in Kazbegi (or as it is sometimes referred under its new name - Stepantsminda) and climbed up to the Gergeti Trinity Church, took a bumpy marshrutka ride to Kutaisi and finally visited Stalin's hometown of Gori.

Clock Tower in Tbilisi Old Town (Georgia)

View of Tbilisi (Georgia)

Our visit to Azerbaijan as mentioned was shorter that we had intended. Baku heat mixed up with a smell of oil in the air was however something else and we struggled a bit (to put it mildly). Nevertheless, the Azerbaijani capital is an interesting place worth exploring. Undeniably richer (did I mention the oil already?) Baku looks and 'behaves' a bit like a spoilt child that just wants everything that he/she's ever seen...walking through the city centre we stumbled upon the following things which inspired this comparison: a massive collection of cactuses (just like that) at the sea promenade, right next to the collection of trees and plants from around the world, including an ancient olive tree, German-like Bratwurst stands, soon to be the biggest Hard Rock Cafe, all the possible coffeeshop chains from around the world, little Venice (!) and numerous monuments and statues resembling well-known pieces of art from other countries, such as Easter Island egg-shaped heads. Initially we planned to take a marshrutka and possibly hitchhike to Lahij (Ismaili) and Sheki before returning to Tbilisi, but unfortunately due to food poisoning (do not be tempted to try cheese from anyone offering it on the train to you as you do not know how much time it spent in the sun etc.) we had to postpone our plans. In fact this was the only time ever on our travels, where we had to give ip on the idea of visiting a place that we had really wanted to see. Oh well, another reason to return one day to this beautiful region!

Flame Towers in Baku (Azerbaijan)

Armenia on the other hand was a very positive surprise for both of us. Yerevan is a really interesting and trendy place with lots of street cafes and museums. We stayed in a little private apartment a bit outside of the city centre with a very nice Jewish-Armenian host, Mikhail who really stretched my ability to comprehend Russian with his incredibly fast speaking. Having only just arrived after a night-long journey on the train we decided to jump straight into a marshrutka to Khor Virap Monastery, a famous pilgrimage site with a very scenic location at the foot of Mt Ararat. Unable to take a marshrutka back I negotiated a pretty decent deal with a taxi driver to take us back to the city. My origins and ability to speak Russian helped a lot again. On the second day in Armenia we decided to join an organised tour (a bit unusual for us but that was the only way to see both sites in one go). We went to Garni, originally pagan then rebuilt in Hellenic style temple dedicated to the sun god, Mitra and spectacular caved in the stone Gerhard Monastery. These both so important heritage sites have helped us to understand a bit more of Armenia's complex history. On the way back to Yerevan we stopped for traditional baking and tasting of lavash, thin flatbread. Having still most of the afternoon and evening to spare, we strolled around the city soaking in the atmosphere and observing the locals. On our last day in Armenia we were planning to do some brandy tasting but as the English-speaking group was not till the evening, we decided to visit the Armenian Genocide Memorial instead and did some final shopping (of course including wine and brandy that travelled with us all the way to the UK and then Poland).

Garni Temple (Armenia)

Cooling ourselves down with an iced tea and iced coffee in Yerevan (Armenia)

Transcaucasia has been definitely worth a visit - super friendly people, delicious food and wine, as well as a blend of different cultures, languages and history made our 2-week travels really enjoyable and enriching! Till the next time!