Travelogues – Page 2

Day trip from Tblisi: Jvari, Uplistsikhe, Gori, Mtskheta, Chronicle of Georgia

Rugs, scarves and more for sale outside the walls surrounding
Svetitskhoveli Cathedral in Mtskheta

Georgia has so much to offer and I was excited about our first day trip out of Tblisi. I booked a private tour with “Karlo-Georgia” on Viator that offered an interesting mix of sites from differing periods in Georgia’s long history. Our driver turned out to be George (how appropriate!), an independent guide who worked with Karlo. George arrived promptly at 10am across the street from our hotel on Rustaveli Avenue in a spiffy and spacious new SUV. I’d agreed in advance with Karlo on the sites we’d visit, but left it to George to determine the order of our stops as circumstances warranted. It’s impossible to know in advance where we’ll want to linger or move on quickly, how long a lunch break might be, traffic, whether rain will be a factor, etc., so I’m happy to be flexible. read more

Tblisi, Georgia, a city of contrasts

We arrived in Tblisi on a short Azerbaijan Airlines flight from Baku. The Tblisi International Airport is not big and we quickly collected our luggage and summoned a Bolt car. We ended up using Bolt several times in Tblisi, always with very reasonable prices and typically short wait times. We knew prior to our arrival in Tblisi that massive protests had been going on in the city over objections to a proposed anti-free-journalism law. I messaged our hotel from the Baku airport to verify that the street our hotel was on (the same avenue on which the Georgian Parliament sits) was still open. Thankfully, the hotel confirmed that it was so I could reassure our Bolt driver who at first told me the road was closed. read more

Azerbaijan: Mud volcanoes, a burning hillside and more

Our guide, Hasan, arrived at our Baku hotel promptly at 9am to start a day tour of the Absheron Peninsula on which the Azerbaijani capital sits and the cultural and historic preserve of Gobustan with its prehistoric carvings. We headed southwest out of Baku driving almost a hour to Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape where we joined a cluster of cars and buses awaiting the park’s 10am opening. Skipping the park museum for the time being, we bypassed most of our fellow visitors and went straight to the rock art. read more

Surprising Baku, Azerbaijan

View of the Maiden Tower and Caspian Sea from Xanliq Restaurant in Old Baku

We landed at the Baku airport around 7:30pm local time on Azerbaijan Airlines. We were 30 minutes or so late due to a delay leaving CDG, but the 5h50 flight was pleasant enough with a hot meal served. The sun set just prior to our taxi ride into town which allowed us to enjoy the light show provided by the many high-rise buildings that lined the broad road, the hi-tech display reminiscent of a recent overnight in Doha. In the distance, I finally caught sight of those “flame towers” that so caught my eye in the photograph of Baku that led me to plan this trip. [An overview of this 12-night Caucasus trip is in my previous post.] read more

A Photo of Baku leads to 12 Nights in the Caucasus

This photo is my own, but similar to the one that originally caught my attention.

I can’t say how many times an interesting photo has caught my eye and led me to plan yet another trip, but Baku, Azerbaijan, was definitely one of those times. I don’t even remember where I first saw that intriguing image of a classic Islamic medina (“old town”) with three flame-shaped skyscrapers looming in the background, but I do know I started researching straight away. Baku. Even the name was unfamiliar and intriguing. Azerbaijan I knew nothing about. “The Caucasus” for me was a region usually in the news because of some conflict involving Russia and/or Turkey. I clearly needed to know more. read more

Marrakech

David and I were lucky enough to have the chance to attend five nights in Marrakech celebrating the wedding of American friends’ daughter to a Moroccan-American man. As this was a private event, I won’t write or share photos of that except to say our hosts went to extraordinary lengths to ensure their guests had a fabulous time. (And we did!) Instead, I’ll keep this post to a relatively short travelogue, sharing some photos and a few places we really enjoyed. It wasn’t my first time in Marrakech, but it had been some years and there were new places to discover (and a cautionary tale to share). read more

Nungwi, Zanzibar: resort time on a prime beach

Nungwi Beach on the northern coast of Zanzibar ranks among the prettiest on the island and is home to many popular resorts, hotels and restaurants. I definitely wanted to spend some of our time in Zanzibar there. Scanning our available hotel points and certificates and local resorts I was happy to find very reasonable award availability at Marriott’s Nungwi Beach Resort by Turaco. Reviews sounded good, the location was great, so I quickly locked in four nights.

Although roads are generally good in Zanzibar, the last half mile or so through the town of Nungwi approaching the resort is a narrow dirt road. Our SUV slowed to a crawl as our Zanzibar driver, Ally, dodged impressive potholes and wove among small shops. We stopped in front of tall gates, checking in with a security guard before proceeding to a large open-air lobby. read more

Uroa, Zanzibar

After some weeks of gray and cold Paris, I was ready for sunshine and warmth. Unfortunately, the Mediterranean is still too cold for me this time of year so I started looking further afield. I eyed Cape Verde (Cap Vert) but found flights less-than-convient. A couple of stunning photos of Zanzibar beaches caught my eye, further research piqued my easily-piqued curiosity, and when I discovered I could book us reasonably-priced award flights in Qatar Airways business class with an overnight layover in Doha, I was all in. read more

Tashkent, Uzbekistan’s modern capital

Fountains of the State Museum of the Temurids in Tashkent

Our high-speed train from Samarkand to Tashkent had us arriving in the Uzbek capital city in the evening. After driving down wide modern boulevards, we were a little surprised to find our hotel located on what appeared to be a residential street. The hotel itself was nice, though, and a short walk to a major road and the Russian embassy. When our city guide, Marifat, arrived the next day, we discovered that the hotel was also a short drive to many of the main sights as well as conveniently located to the airport. read more

Samarkand, Uzbekistan

Back in Samarkand after our day in Shahrisabz, our first stop continued the Timur theme of the day before with a visit to his mausoleum. Our guide, Amin, was stuck in traffic, so driver Umid got our tickets and told us to wander on our own inside and that Amin would find us when he arrived. We didn’t mind the time alone as we knew about the site already both from the audiobook on Timur I’d been listening to and from what we’d learned the day before. During his lifetime, Emir Timur planned his tomb to be Shahrisabz. He died in 1405 on an aborted invasion of China. The mountain passes to Shahrisabz were closed due to snow at the time and Timur was buried in Samarkand in this mausoleum, originally intended by him for his grandson and heir who predeceased him. read more