Lead writer for our adventure documentation team.
We headed out of Tbilisi this morning, again bound for the mountains. This time we headed north. The drive was beautiful – a mixture of winding rivers/streams, green valleys, and mountains. Our first stop was at Ananuri Fortress. This was built as a combination defensive fortress/palace and included an Orthodox church. Heading on, we encountered a slow down as we...
We headed out of Tbilisi this morning, bound for the mountains. Traffic wasn’t as bad today as it was heading in, but the city certainly has a lot regardless! Our drive took us to Telavi, located approximately 2 hours east/northeast from Tbilisi. It was a mountainous trek with a lot of switchbacks and hairpin turns, as Telavi is about 2600 feet above sea level...
Headed out of Shekhi with the Georgia border in sight. Crossing from Azerbaijan to Georgia was unlike any other border crossing we’ve had. Our guide & driver dropped us off at the border….literally within feet of the guards. The guard took a quick look at each passport and motioned us on. We immediately walked into customs, placing our belongings on the scanner...
Today we packed up and headed out of Baku, heading for Sheki. Baku was a great city, very clean (we didn’t see much graffiti at all, for example), and felt very safe. We really enjoyed our time here and think this is a wonderful city. Our first stop of the day was the Diri Baba Mausoleum outside of Maraza City. It was located within hilly areas with deep ravines...
Today was Baku Day. Not an official holiday, but the day that we spent in Baku. Despite being a somewhat unknown country, Azerbaijan is steeped in history. The Silk Road passed through Azerbaijan. The’ve been ruled by several empires, and at various times was considered part of Persia (now Iran), Russia, and Turkey. The country was occupied twice by Russia/Soviets –...
The first official day of our tour! When we booked the tour months ago, the company allowed a max of 13 travelers. We checked many times, seeing that there were still 8 spots available. We thought “an almost private tour?? Sweet!!”. Imagine our surprise when we met 9 other travelers today!! (obviously the tour company hadn’t been updating availability) Because...
Here we go again!!! Another trip guest starring cousins Blake and Sondra. While the journey was long, it was one of the smoothest trips yet. We had front door service at KCI (thanks to another cousin – Marla). The flight from Kansas City to Chicago left on time. Our flight from Chicago to Zurich left on time. Our flight from Zurich to Frankfurt left on time. Our...
Same song, second verse……. We’re now on our 6th of 4 days in Ilulissat, Greenland. Yes, you’re reading the numbers correctly. Similar to yesterday we were up at 5:45 am, leaving for the airport at 7:20 am. Which turned into 7:50 am as the flight coming in from Nuuk would be late. Our group headed for the airport, checked in, and waited for our incoming flight...
Ilulissat, Day 5 of 4. Let’s once again talk about today’s flight to Nuuk, that was moved up as of last night due to bad weather in Nuuk. We were up at 5:45 am with a 7:20 am departure time to the airport. The shuttle was late, which wasn’t an issue as we were about 5 minutes away from the airport with time to spare. Everyone checked in with Air Greenland, prepared...
Monday? We’ve been gone for seven days already?! We were up numerous times during the night hoping to see the Northern Lights, but to no avail. Thankfully this was our ‘late day’ so sleeping in was an option. Our first scheduled event wasn’t until 1:45 pm so we slept in and ate breakfast late. Which was much to our advantage. One of our travel mates was looking to go...