Monasteries, mud volcanoes and plenty of wine!

So since our last update upon entering Azerbaijan we have made our way through to Armenia via Georgia.

Stunning Georgian countryside

The truck could only stay in Azerbaijan for 72 hours due to local regulations, so with limited time we made sure we spent it wisely. We drove out from Baku to our first night's bush camp a couple of kilometres south of Qobustan to be near mud volcanoes.

After setting up camp some of the group walked the short distance up the hill to see the volcanoes at night. The darkness heightened the senses and made the bubbling and gurgling sounds coming up from the ground even more peculiar and slightly creepy. With only our head torches to light the way, and feeling like intrepid explorers amongst an alien landscape made the experience even more special! By day it was even more impressive and gave us all the opportunity to attempt to capture the big bursting bubbles with our cameras.

Bubbling mud

Teresa & Al

Andrew E

Toby

Our next stop was Sheki, where we stayed in an old Karavansaray, a Silk Road hotel. The town is neatly nestled in the hills and the autumn colours made for remarkable views down the valley. The group went to see the Khan's Palace soon after we arrived. Unfortunately it is no longer possible to take photos of the palace, so you will have to come and see it for yourself instead!

The Karavansaray Hotel in Sheki

This was our last stop in Azerbaijan as the next day it was time to cross the border into Georgia, a land full of history, monasteries and (most importantly) wine!

From Mercedes Benz to horse drawn carts, Georgia has it all

Check out the unique Georgian script!

Eating at a local restaurant

Our first home stay was an experience of typical Georgian hospitality, with a spread of local food and cheap yet delicious wine which was seemingly endless in its supply.

The two Nigels enjoying some Georgian hospitality

At the homestay

The next day we were driving through the vineyards and stopped at a couple of wineries for some wine tasting. We were greeted with yet more Georgian hospitality and found the experience to be more like wine drinking rather than tasting! At the second winery our host was a lovely lady of the ripe old age of 85. She and her family kindly let us use a room in her house to have our lunch in, providing us with lovely crockery and piles of persimmons, pumpkin and pears to enjoy with our buffet lunch. Everyone (well, except Simon, our designated driver!) drank a hefty volume of wine with our hosts not allowing anyone's glass stay empty for long. The wine was stored in the traditional way in huge containers underground and those who purchased some watched it being hauled up with a bucket on a rope.

Ann S

Cathy

Traditional underground wine storage

Buying wine by the (20) litre!

Ilkato monastery, Zaza explaining the history and wine making process, with Simon, Mignon and Ann H

Jacq & Mignon (hiding behind the different varieties of wine on offer)

Zaza is passionate about Georgian wine

Nigel H and Al

Wine tasting - Ann S, Norm and Al

Andrew E and Nigel C wine tasting

Nigel H, Anne W and Mignon

Teresa

The next major sight was the monastery at Davit Gareja which is situated just on the border of Azerbaijan and has a long history dating back to the 6^th century and over 80% is hewn from the sandstone hills. Also cut into the stone are water collection systems and reservoirs. There are many monasteries throughout this beautiful, stark and remote windswept landscape and this made it the location of a live firing range during the soviet period with some monastery’s sadly being used as targets.

From here it was just a hop skip jump to the border of Armenia. This border crossing was surprisingly straight forward and simple, even the process of obtaining our visas for Armenia didn’t take too long. The duty free shop on the way out was a nice distraction for most people, with some taking the opportunity to purchase cheap alcohol to others just spritzing their camping clothes with expensive perfume.

We set up a bush camp just outside Diljon in order for a short drive to the capital Yerevan the next day. Join us again soon for more on our time in Yerevan!