Mazeri, Caucasus Mountains, Georgia

This is such a beautiful place I feel like staying forever, except that summer only lasts 3 months and winter temperatures are -30C and 2 metres of snow. Actually I would like to see that but maybe not for 9 months.
The owner showed me a photo of himself with a bear cub in the snow. I asked where the mother was but he speaks no English.(some one told me later he had probably shot her and would sell the cub).
The guest house is a big, solid old building with wide verandas and sloping wooden floors.
The garden is surrounded by old stone walls and full of very tall old apple trees and fat  brown hens, three sheep, a hairy piglet and two fluffy puppies.
Mazeri is a littIe mountain village. I came from Mestia this morning by mini bus, luckily with two students from Czech Republic to share the cost. Taxis are expensive and there is no public transport.
A new road and bridge are being built; the government is trying hard to increase tourism and the taxi drivers told me it was up by 50% this year.
There are a lot of Polish tourists here but I have only met one from England.
Had dinner last night with a guy from Norway; I thought I should try the pork since there are so many pigs running around. I had Ojakhuri, chunks of pork with potatoes. The meat was as dark as beef (unlike the pale grey you get in England) unfortunately swimming in oil; his choice, (I never go to the places full of tourists). Live music though, 3 men harmonising + an accordian. 

Got a share taxi back to Tbilisi; hair raising drive. Not helped by the driver constantly crossing himself. I had rather he kept both hands on the wheel and not overtaken on blind bends.
I hoped to fly north west to the mountains at Mestia but fully booked until 9 th September.
A guy from Spain on the bus to Sighnaghi told me about an overnight train to Zugdidi and bus to Mestia so booked a cabin on the overnight train on the internet with the help of the info office by the cathedral.
Next day was the feast of Our Lady so went to the service in the cathedral.
Really beautiful singing from male and female choirs.
The congregation does not participate, or sit.
Similar format, insense and bell ringing as RC.
 

Mtzkheta, Geogia

Arrived in Mtskheta by taxi for £10 (!)
Its 1gel (27p) by bus, only Ididn't know where to get the bus and didn't want to be traipsing around with my bags, (even though when I checked at the airport it was only 7.5kg.)
Delighted with the place at once. Super friendly, landladies daughter speaking English. Super clean and comfortable bed.
Cool, fresh air, grapes hanging from pergolas. So nice to be out of the city.
Walked around and saw the sights, two major old churches,lots of tourists, (religion is big here, and wine). The town has all been restored so it does not seem real. Its more like a film set. Also really small. I'd pretty much covered the whole town by the end of the afternoon.
Pleasant though, and comfortable, cool weather.

Had an excellent red berry icecream and dinner in nearby restaurant.
Aubergine with walnut paste and saute potatoes and drank what turned out to be something like scrumpy cider which went straight to my head. Only £3.50 in total.
women with dyed hair and towering platform shoes, men smoking and drinking beer followed by vodka and some green liquer.
Bought a new case for my phone to replace the one from Italy, (stolen in Ub) Nice, hand embroidered.
 Walked to ancient palace ruins opposite the town over the river.
Spent next day at an enamelled jewelery making workshop (it is the thing here) run by   volunteers at a centre for refugees.

It has to be finished and polished and I will  collect it on my way back.
Since the weather is forecast to be terrible next week, decided to postpone trekking in northern mountains and head east to wine/ monastery  country.
Left after leisurely breakfast with 2 hours to get bus to Signaghi.

Did not realise the Signaghi bus station was on the other side of the city. Not difficult though, Directed to nearby metro and walked from there to bus to find I had missed the 11am by seconds. Next one in 2 hours.
It was raining, turning this scruffy, run down, back end of Tbilisi into a muddy mess. Enormous contrast between the metro here and the one in Almaty  .
People sitting on the street selling fresh wild plums, rose hips, blackberries and raspberries; unfortunately only in large quantities.
Eventually reached Signaghi, another pretty tourist town with steep cobbled streets. After considerable difficulty found my guest house (no sign, just a normal home) owned by a lovely old lady who at once plied me with home made figs in sweet syrup (they were boiling on the stove) and red wine, so sweet I drank it without realising how strong it was and passed out for the afternoon.

Wonderful dinner cooked by Maria but with one dish I did not recognise. Some kind of offal, dark brown, tasting like kidney but wrinkled chunks. Declined any more wine. Marias family and chubby grandaughters, so charming in the afternnon, were crashing around,  shouting until 2 am. I wanted to strangle them so moved to another guest house in the morning.
Torrential rain turned the streets into rivers, not for long but caught some guys who had hired quad bikes. Completely saturated.

Saw them again in the restaurant where I had dinner. There was traditional music and their girls danced.
Very glad to have moved to town centre only 2 minutes from bus station; more heavy rain all day.
Beat up marshrutka 2 hours to Telavi. Planned a tour of the region but no point in this weather.

arriving in Georgia

Such a contrast arriving at Tbilisi airport, Georgia. Short queue at passport control, the girl glanced at my passport, stamped it, handed me a half bottle of wine and wished me a pleasant stay.
Good feelings soon dispelled by taxi drivers trying to double the price of trip to city (as usual).
Dropped by a dark alley, no sign of hotel. Luckily a lady who had studied in England and her husband helped me find the place which turned out to be a private appartment on the top floor of a block of old buildings above shops.
Nice room though and modern bathroom.
Decided to leave for the country first thing and explore Tbilisi later.
 

I have never seen a city with so many trees. Every street is lined with big old lime trees. It was the capital before they built the tower blocks in Astana and it certainly has more character.
The smart side has shops selling mink, fox and snow leopard coats + designer labels. The other side has street vendors and markets with spices, lots of fish, (huge salmon) and all kinds of smoked meat and chicken. Wonderful smell.
One row of shops had M+S, Gap, Monsoon, La Senza, Zara. I may as well have stayed in Tunbridge Wells!
Nice street with various entertainers, girls having henna painted hands, families strolling; it could be anywhere in Europe except about half the people look Oriental, the rest Russian, which is hardly surprising since it is sandwiched between the two.
Its nice to be somewhere I do not stand out as a tourist. People keep talking to me, unfortunately hardly anyone speaks English. I managed to get around ok on buses and the metro was amazing; huge halls with gleaming tiles an enormous chandeleirs.
It was getting hot, 35C and I really wanted to get out of the city. There are snowcapped mountains nearby, but so much pollution, quite hard to see and more petroglyphs.
The only tour I could find did not leave until the weekend and I realized my planned journey overland would just take me to more new cities so I decided to cancel my flight to the coast and fly straight to Georgia.

Arriving in Astana, Kazakhstan

Two students on the bus told me it was too dangerous to stay near the bus station so their cousins , rough , shady looking characters kindly took me to a hotel accross the river . $100 per night. Much needed luxury, ( 2 nights).
 Next morning went to the immigration police dept. to register my arrival in the country and the travel agent in a  shopping mall to book train ticket to Almaty, the old capital in the south. Since it was overnight I took the most expensive 'lux' class.
Spent two days in Astana, a city of two halves divided by the river. I was staying in the smart side. Towering  buildings and shopping malls, like Dubai except you can walk around. (Not that you would want to) Spotlessly clean and devoid of  charm or character. Smart, well dressed people and expensive cars. I knew they had oil money but I did not expect this.
Booked a flight to Actau on the Caspian Sea in 15 days time.
Having seen enough of the shopping malls I waited in the hotel for my 5pm train.
Super smart modern train. Glad I chose the lux cabin. Small but two seats, two beds an d a bathroom with loo,sink and shower. Luckily did not have to share.
Woke to find snow capped mountains and lush green vegetation.

ölgii to Kazakhstan

Flew from Ulaanbaatar to Ölgii hoping
to have the best part of two days there, unfortunately the fight was delayed by 9 hours and when I arrived discovered that the time written on my bus ticket was wrong. Not 17.00 but 7.00
Luckily, helpful guest ger owner took me to a shop to get provisions for the journey and money exchanger ( 11pm) to get a few rubles to buy food in Russia.
Though she did charge me for the trip.
Ölgii was little more than a collection of widely spaced huts with dusty dirt roads surrounded by smooth mountains (glacial scouring) and a forked river meandering through the valley.

I didnt get to see much having to walk through the town in the dark for dinner and to the bus station at 6.30 next morning. It was actually only 10  minutes walk and it didnt leave until 8.20. Made some frieÖlgii.
hough in the bleak, windswept, empty bus station.
Long, long ride. 40 hours but quite comfortable bus. The worst was  4 hours waiting to get into Russia. The whole bus had to be unloaded, x rayed, sniffed by dogs and reloaded.
Caught a glimpse of an eagle hunter training; I'd love to see the eagle hunting festival, its held every October in Ölgii.

The landscape did not change but when I woke up next morning it was all rugged, rocky mountains and pine forests; the road following a rushing river.
The gers had changed into wooden houses with fences around little gardens growing potatoes.
We stopped for food at a cafe in Russia and, not surprisingly, had meat and potatoes. I had no idea what the menu said but got some one to read it to me and recognised Borscht and Goulash, so thats what i had. Delicious.
Another loo stop and they were so bad I went in the fields
Only 2 hours to unload and reload the bus leaving Russia.
The visa cost 60 US dollars for the day.
Fields of sunflowers most of the way and flat.

Flew from Ulaanbaatar to Ölgii hoping
to have the best part of two days there, unfortunately the fight was delayed by 9 hours and when I arrived discovered that the time written on my bus ticket was wrong. Not 17.00 but 7.00
Luckily, helpful guest ger owner took me to a shop (closed) to get provisions for the journey and money exchanger ( 11pm) to get a few rubles to buy food in Russia.
Though she did charge me for the trip.
Ölgii was little more than a collection of widely spaced huts with dusty dirt roads surrounded by smooth mountains (glacial scouring) and a river meandering in forks through the valley.
I didnt get to see much having to walk through the town in the dark for dinner and to the bus station at 6.30 next morning. It was actually only 10  minutes walk and it didnt leave until 8.30
Long, long ride. 40 hours but quite comfortable bus. The worst was  the 4 hours to get into Russia. The whole bus had to be unloaded, x rayed, sniffed by dogs and reloaded.
The landscape did not change but when I woke up next morning it was all rugged, rocky mountains and pine forests; the road following a rushing river.
The gers had changed into wooden houses with fences around little gardens growing potatoes.
We stopped for food at a cafe and, not surprisingly, had meat and potatoes. I had no idea what the menu said but got some one to read it to me and recognised Borsch and Goulash, so thats what i had. Delicious.
Another loo stop and they were so bad I went in the fields
Only 2 hours to unload and reload the bus laving Russia.
The visa cost 60 US dollars for the day.
Fields of sunflowers most of the way and flat.

My first short trip was a tour of sights close to Ub; giant modern statue of Chinggis- Kaahn (he's big here) which houses a museum, shops and a lift to the horses head; posing for photos holding eagle (v heavy, 10 kg) and drive to nearby Gurkhi -Tereij National Park.
First stay in ger, (muddy) surrounded by animals, first Yak milk, (no difference from the fresh cow's milk I drink in Turkey)
First day trek over hills and mountains with Agnieshka. Young Polish psychotherapist met in guest house Ub. (Super) Lush wild flowers, silver birch glades, fabulous mountain views. Luckily only a little rain.
Returned to Ub on local bus (packed)
Took transit visa application forms completed online to Russian Embassy. They wanted to know every country I had visited in the past 10 years, with dates! I put the last 6.
Forms accepted so next important task- shopping.
Gorgeous cashmere jumpers, (3)
Contemporary painting
Poscards
Visited 2 art galleries- some nice work, lots of drama and horses- all flying manes and flared nostrils (and that's just the women)
Actually the women are all depicted as small, slim and demure ,(which they mainly are) in lovely national costume, (which they no longer wear)
Even in the remotest parts I visited women wore modern clothes, in the city- killer shoes and micro shorts.
Next day caught the city bus out to coach station for 20 hour journey to Mörön and northern lakes and mountains.
All the way the same landscape of smooth rolling hills dotted with gers.
Arrived after 15 hours at 5.30am (still dark) somewhat confused, thinking this could not be the right place. Apparently they made a new road since the last LP. Luckily there was a girl on the bus who spoke English who took me to her aunt who happens to be a tour operator.
Within the hour I had arranged an 8 day horse riding trek up the East side of Lake Khövsgöl to Bulnai Hot Springs, booked my return bus and paid lots of money to a complete stranger (Saara) in her home in the middle of no where and was on my way in a private car to Khövsgöl.
Stopped on the way to take photos of reindeer and tee pee camp. (Found out later they are only there for tourists and the reindeer suffer in the warmer)
The guest house Saara said she had booked for me was full so went to another, out of town, and waited for 2pm and the arrival of my guide.
By 5.30 I was starting to wonder if I had done the right thing when Baati turned up, took me shopping for 8 days supplies (excellent German meusli) and promised to come with the horses at 9 o'clock next morning.
He arrived at 10 and took one hour trying to pack the baggage horse and failing, called 2 other guys who did it in minutes. I was beginning to wonder what I had let myself in for.
After dire warnings about how wild and dangerous Mongol horses are we set off.
From then on everything was absolutely fabulous.
We passed through the town with Baatis horse shieing at everything (mine was fine so long as I kept him out of the way)
The town is like something out of the wild west. Dirt streets with low wooden buildings, every house has a tall wooden fence around it, otherwise there are no fences in Mogolia. A Mongolian may put his ger anywhere he likes.
Crossed the river flowing shallow but strong out of the lake and headed for the hills.
Baati spoke little English but just enough. He is 28 , married, with a 4 yr old daughter. Most people marry young and have small families.
He was always cheerful and sang all the time, beautiful, rather mournful melodies I have video of this (not easy filming on horseback) he phoned his wife several times a day whenever there was signal. When we stopped he would climb a hill or a tree to use the phone.
After 3 hours I was starting to feel uncomfortable, after 5, I was in agony. There was nothing to be done but continue to the next suitable place to camp. Another half hour and we stopped for the night and I collapsed and could not move for an hour .
Next day I walked a little and it was easier.

On day 3, I was just thinking how the horses had settled down when mine bolted. I was fiddling with my stirrup and it spooked him and he shot off like a rocket. Managed to keep my seat and pull him up, trying to remember Mongolian for "stop".
To go you say "chuh",softly, if you say it loud he will shoot off. To stop you roll r's, rrrrrrr.
Poor Baati was really worried, apparently several tourists die every year riding horses.
He said "You ride good", coming from a Mongolian, praise indeed!

By day 4 riding was no problem only that afternoon it rained heavily. The horses didn't like it and were spooked by everything, especially in the forest. Must admit to being slightly spooked myself; there are Shaymen shrines everywhere, piles of rocks and branches decorated with animal skulls and blue rags. You would often see skulls in trees.
luckily we arrived at the hot springs so stayed in a nice new chalet with wood stove that night and good hot food. I had only eaten meusli and instant noodles so far ,with cheese slices and apples for lunch since the bread was mouldy by day 2. For breakfast there was thick cream and wild blueberries.
The hot springs were amazing. Each one had a little wooden hut built over it with the temperature written on it . They ranged from 28 - 48C. Inside was a wooden floor with a hole cut out and a ladder to get into the water.
lovely! Just what I needed after being soaked and frozen.
There were a few people there who had managed to drive up the dirt road . We had come overland, up and down hillsides, through forests and rivers.
Completely unspoilt natural landscape; beautiful, remote, very few gers and lots of animals, sheep and goats, cows and yaks and herds of fabulous horses galloping wild and free. Baati had to keep chasing them away because ours might have run away with them.
He hammered a stake in the ground each night to tether them while they ate and lit a fire so we could eat, even when it rained with just one match and no paper. Respect!
After the hot springs we returned by a slightly different route. I was so sad when it ended I cried.
 

Absolutely adore Mongolia. It is my new favourite place. Apart from the 2 minutes when I was careless enough to get my bag nicked it was wonderful.
The people are lovely, very calm and gentle and hospitable also incredibly strong. They need to be to survive the harsh climate, it's between freezing and -40 for 6 months of the year and very dry, the first rain of the year began just before I arrived in mid July when the landscape turned from brown to green. The mountains were carpeted with wild flowers so really this was Spring.
The temperature was comfortably in the 20's for the whole month apart from 2 of my 6 days in the Gobi Desert when it went uo to 32.
It was raining when I arrived and the desert bloomed, surprisingly with wild chives. Mile upon mile as far as the eye  could see, a pink carpet.
The few people who manage to live here chop and store them in salt. I had pictures of this :( and other domestic activities like making fermented  mares milk. Delicious, like alchoholic fizzy yogurt.
Lots of camel photos (2 humps) and video of myself milking a goat, climbing a giant sand dune, swimming in a river, exploring a cave and canyons with ice which will last until the end of July, all lost.
I had to hire a car and driver for the trip, there is no alternative but it was great because we could go wherever I wanted. Lots and lots and lots of driving across the seemingly endless plains on tracks; there are no roads. V. happy to have landcruiser, unlike the old Russian mini vans of some tourists.
The driver searched all over for the petroglyphs I wanted to see. They are everywhere including here in Kazakhstan and Georgia. 8000 to 10000 years old. Beautiful and incredible that they survived.
I stayed in gers, all the same, round  tents with painted wooden frames covered with thick felt and canvas,  containing only beds.
The family's gers usually had 2 beds, a cupboard, a stove burning dried animal dung, (no trees ) a vanity unit for hand washing and teeth cleaning with a little water tank, no plumbing obviuosly and big piles of blankets.
Oh, and a flat screen tv, telephone, solar powered generator. They are modern people.
 The loo was always miles away. A pit with planks over in a hut, sometimes with a door, sometimes not.
We were always greeted with some refreshment, either tea (very weak, milky with salt, no sugar) yoghurt or ai- rag (mares milk) and a bowl of thick biscuits, dried curd cheese and sometimes sugar cubes.
Dinner was included in the £3 per night stay. I'm afraid I declined the meat and noodle soup and once, a special treat, boiled sheep head and entrails. I just asked for hot water and had instant noodles for dinner and meusli for breakfast. They had the same for breakfast.
There was a lot more to the desert than sand, actually I hardly saw any.

So much for writing a blog!
I have either been too busy,too tired or off the radar.
So I have some catching up to do. I have 7 hours to wait in Almaty airport, kazakhstan.
I  could have spent  the time in the city but its 38 degrees C and I've had enough of cities.
I will have to add some photos later because my phone and camera were stolen in  Ulaanbaatar on my last day in Mongolia so I lost all the photos of the Gobi desert. Luckily I had saved all the previous pictures onto a stick. Although it fits my new phone I cant upload from it (help, anyone?)
I hate this new phone, Nokia lumia. I bought it because it seemed to have a good camera and I thought it would save me from replacing two items. It does lots of fancy tricks but not enough pixels for distance shots. It was from the Ub State Department Store and there were only about 6 to choose from.
One good thing though, it automatically saves all my photos and videos to cloud storage. Whether I will ever get them down from the cloud is another matter.

Finally got around to setting up a blog!

Here I am in my basecamp, a
mountain village in Turkey preparing for my next trip.

Flying from Istanbul to Mongolia for one month,  bus to Kazakhstan, cheap Pegasus flight to Georgia then overland back to Turkey. Total two months but it could all change. All I have booked at the moment is my first night's accommodation in Ulaanbataar.