Archives for September 2010

Planning Central Asia Overland

September 23, 2010 By Danny

When we first starting looking at Central Asia and trying to think about our route, we really had no idea where we were going or what we were doing. We started with a map of the region and, made note of several very troublesome features (e.g. Afghanistan) and started to work at it. All through Latin America and Africa we basically traveled in a straight line along the ‘road;’ in Central Asia there are lots of ‘roads’ to choose from and we had to do some serious work and research to figure out which ones were open to us. To those who think we are on a permanent vacation, this should help to prove otherwise.

The first challenge was getting to Central Asia from Turkey and the Caucasus. From that region we looked to the east and came up with three ways of reaching Central Asia.

1.The southern route around the Caspian Sea. Through Iran. The visa process for US citizens wishing to visit Iran is straightforward and clear as mud. Pay lots of money, apply within the US, wait 3 months, maybe get approved (but probably not because we have a website) and then take an organized tour that starts and ends in Tehran. Given that we wanted to travel from one end of the country to the other…this really wasn’t an option at all.

2.The northern route around the Caspian Sea. From Georgia we would have had to trek up through Russia and around the Caspian Sea and back down. Problem is that the Georgian-Russian border is a bit fortified at the moment (there was a war between the two a mere 2 years ago) and foreigners are not allowed to cross. This would have meant backtracking across the Black Sea and back into Europe to enter Russia through Moscow….a bit much if you ask us. Not a great option either.

3.Through the Caspian Sea. Travel from Georgia to Azerbaijan to the port city of Baku. Take the near daily ferry to Turkmenbashi, Turkmenistan, or the not so daily ferry to Aktau, Kazakhstan. This was the ‘option’ we thought was the best.

Now that we knew where we were going we started our visa research:

Azerbaijan: Tourist visa $130 and takes 3-5 days to get. Thankfully there exists a $20 5 day transit visa, nice.

Turkmenistan: Tourist visa as much of a PITA as an Iranian visa, not an option. Thankfully there exists a cheap 5 day transit visa, nice.

Kazakhstan: Tourist visa is $60 and has two entries, no problem there.

So we begin a bit more research. We read rumors online that the Turkmenistan government likes to hold the boats at port and disallow disembarkment until transit visas have expired. This is seemingly confirmed by various warnings against said visa on the US Department of State website…the first such warning we’ve seen from them. We rule out the Baku-Turkmenbashi ferry option.

Next up is the ferry from Baku to Aktau, Kazakhstan. This should be a winner, operative word is ‘should.’ Problems. It has no schedule and generally runs only every 2-7 days or so. This means if we enter Azerbaijan to take the ferry we can either pay for the $131 tourist visa or risk overstaying the $20 5-day transit visa. Either way we’ll likely burn time and money while we sit in Baku waiting. At least we finally have an option. Confused yet, not so easy is it?

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The other option we can think up is to fly over this mess. From Georgia and Armenia only one airline, the Kazakhstan airline SCAT, flys to where we’d like to go. Good luck using their website, not much English to help you. From Baku there are a few more options, but again that means getting a visa. To make matters worse, we find at least two airlines that don’t even seem to exist….Central Asian and Georgian International (not to be confused with Georgia Air, Georgia’s actual national carrier). Naturally, none of the air tickets available could only be booked until we found an an authorized travel agent within the Caucasus.

Uzbekistan Airways also flew from Baku to cities within Uzbekistan, and is a ‘modern’ airline by all accounts, but we preferred to travel on land as much as possible and this would have had us skip a fair bit and meant going to Baku, Azerbaijan, in order to catch the flight.

This is the kind of ‘route planning’ we deal with frequently and have gotten quite good at. As we’ve found most of the information we’ve used on the Internet (and especially a few cousins of ours planning their own Silk Road trip) we are happy to help future travelers by sharing our experiences. Our next post will describe the route we actually took, what we learned, and the next steps we made.

Always Accept Alcohol…from Iranians

September 22, 2010 By Danny

Everyone knows never to get involved in a land war in Asia, but only slight less well known is this: never deny the offer of a beer from an Iranian when friendship is on the line!

Iran, more than any other country these days, fills the headlines as America’s number one threat. We are Americans and that should mean that Iran is our enemy. This is the country whose most recent news headline have revolved around such punishments as stoning and lashing. As we travel through the Soviet states our parents grew up with, it is easy to think of Iran as today’s threatening menace. Many of us don’t know what goes on inside, and are left wondering….and worrying.

Taking a day trip out from the Armenian capital of Yerevan we were on a bus heading to some ruins when another tourist asked us first if we spoke English and then confirmed we were all going to the same place. She, an Iranian English professor, was on holiday with another female friend who was an architect. Neither lady wore a headscarf. A man made up the trio, he was a dentist but didn’t speak much English.

The first of the sites we went to, the Garni temple, was a bit underwhelming and probably wasn’t worth the trip out from the city for us. It consisted of a single Hellenic temple and a few scattered ruins of the old baths. We toured site together, and then shared a taxi from the Garni Temple to the Geghard Monastery further up the road. (Much nicer than the Garni temple, best Monastery yet) As we were sitting and waiting for our final bus back to town, a cup was suddenly placed into my hand by the dentist. Next I knew, it was filled with beer. We had hardly said two words to one another, his English not being too much better than my Farsi, but it was a hot day and he aimed to quench my thirst and his own…not something he was permitted to do within his own country. I asked how to say thank you in Farsi and was disappointed to find out that the Iranians, like the Armenians, simply use the French ‘merci’ because it is easier. They saw my disappointment and proudly shared that the word ‘Bazaar’ is of Persian origin. As we sat on that bus riding back to town, passing a beer around the back and sharing some chips and popcorn, one thing was absolutely clear: These three people were no more capable of terrorism than me.

It was the start of this encounter though that I will remember the best. As we walked together down the street, we found ourselves exchanging the usual pleasantries. They said they were from Iran and upon hearing that I’m sure our eyes were as wide as theirs were when we answered with our home country. We told them how much we had wanted to visit Iran but that the visa process was simply too difficult and costly for us and that those few people we’ve known who have actually gone there had only good things to say…especially about the people. They blushed and thanked us for the kind words and said that everyone really is all the same and wants the same things. We agreed and we all expressed hope and expectations that the current divisions between our countries would not be long lasting. After a mere two minutes of conversation, they offered to personally sponsor a visa for us if we thought it would be helpful. (Don’t worry mom, we denied…but only because it wouldn’t have helped 🙂 )

With the rest of our time in Yerevan we visited the National History Museum as well as the Museum and Monument to the Armenian Genocide. With the help/force/urging/etc of the best Couchsurfing hosts in Yerevan we ate gobs of traditional food and loved every minute of it.

IF YOU GO: There are several day trips around Yerevan. We took public transportation to Garni Temple and from there shared a taxi to Gerhard Monastery. Guidebook times were way off, Yerevan to Garni took nearly an hour on the bus not 25 minutes. Taxi’s in Yerevan were relatively inexpensive, but the entire center is easily covered on foot. Don’t miss Botero’s fat soldier in the park between the Opera and Cascade. The season hadn’t opened yet for the symphony or opera while we were there, but tickets are extremely inexpensive and I would recommend checking them out if you’re interested in a night of culture.

Photo Tuesday: Gorilla Baby

September 21, 2010 By Jillian

After surviving the terrifying (at least for me) charge of the male mountain gorilla, we settled into a peaceful detante with them in a large clearing. Surrounded by dense jungle foliage, it was hard to see the gorillas in the shadows. I was uneasy being so exposed until I saw this mother and her baby about 10 feet away. The baby’s adorable little face captured my heart and I immediately relaxed.

Want to see more gorilla pictures? Click here.

The First Christians Are Who???

September 20, 2010 By Jillian

The Armenians. In their little patch of land, tossed between the Islamic Ottoman and Persian empires, somehow managed to become and remain the world’s first Christians. Through the years they have maintained a distinctive Christianity which is more closely related to the Coptic Church than most other things. Their Monasteries are impressive and cover the country and are unlike anything that exists in Europe or anywhere else we’ve visited.

Arriving from Georgia to the north we set off to visit a handful of these structures. The first, Kobayr, was basically in ruins and saw only a handful of tourists each week. It is currently being reconstructed to become a house of prayer once again but this is likely to take many years. The second (Sanahin) and third (Haghpat ) were larger and more elaborate. Both were still in use and one,Sanahin, even had it’s Priest there, a man who spent 20 years with the Armenian Church in California and was only too happy to speak to a few Americans. The architecture in all of them was unique and interesting to explore if only for a short while. All were covered in Armenian script lettering which added to the ‘Indian Jones’ allure of the locations.

The fourth Monastery (Aktala ) we visited proved to be the most interesting. In it, we met the Priest who had only been ordained 6 months prior, and at this monastery for only 5 of those months. He was the first Priest of the monastery in over 200 years and was working painstakingly to to finish the refurbishments (outside asphalt was being poured to rebuild the crumbly road). The inside of the this church though was covered in Byzantine styled frescoes unlike the other churches we had seen in Armenia. This particular building had been designed according to the styles and customs of the church in Georgia as something of thank you for protection and a few centuries later fell out of use for this reason. (Nationalist identities in the Caucasus are particularly strong!)

He shared stories of each fresco and stopped when he reached the front of the room, where a canon had blasted a hole in the ceiling where Mary’s face should have been. He told us this had been done by some Turks but noted that they stopped after that one shot when they saw another fresco. This other fresco he described as Jesus’ trial by the Jew Herod who was wearing a turban. He told us that when the Turks saw this scene they stopped because they felt Allah was in the room. We neglected to point out the several flaws in his story of events as he was a rather nice man…which was good because he then took us to the secret rooms which were pretty cool.

IF YOU GO: We based ourselves in Vanadzor. There are few tourists in this region and even less in the way of infrastructure. The easiest way to see these sites is to hire a taxi for the day, which we did for ($22) 8000AMD. Vanadzor is a 2-3 hour bus ride from Yerevan on the Yerevan-Tbilisi road, if coming from Tbilisi you’ll need to pay the full fare to Yerevan and let the driver know you want to get off in Vanadzor. There is one institutional hotel in the town and several homestays for the same cost which can be more comfortable. The pizza place in town quotes its pizzas by the cost per slice, not per pie, so be careful! A ride to Yerevan should cost you about 1200AMD.

Foodie Friday: Khachapuri, or how to ruin your diet

September 17, 2010 By Jillian

Just the sight of Khachapuri would make a Cardiologist cringe. White bread shaped like a canoe, covered with a ridiculous amount of cheese and topped with a pad of butter and a raw egg. My arteries are closing just thinking about it. This picture isn’t ours, our arteries couldn’t take it again and we didn’t have our camera the first time.

Sitting in a restaurant in Tbilisi, everyone around us had what looked like cheesy pizza on their table. We couldn’t see exactly what it was, but from the pictures on the wall, depicting the size options and the fact it was on nearly every table, we figured it was the house specialty. Somehow we failed to realize it came with a raw egg on top, so when the Khachapuri was put in front of us my eyes opened wide in disbelief. We didn’t eat raw meat in Ethiopia and I wasn’t going to chance a raw egg in Georgia, so we did the best we could trying to extract it from the cheesy, buttery mess.

Now before you get totally grossed out, this is only one kind of Khachapuri, Ajarian. It can also come filled with beans, meat or vegetables and lacking the raw egg.

Our Khachapuri was deliciously cheesy, but I felt like a 13 year old girl afterwards my face was so covered in grease. Interestingly enough, this dish is so popular across the country that the price of Khachapuri across the country is apparently used by Tbilisi State University’s Economics Department as a measure of inflation! http://www.iset.ge/index.php?article_id=215&clang=0

Planning Central Asia Overland

Always Accept Alcohol…from Iranians

Photo Tuesday: Gorilla Baby

Want to see more gorilla pictures? Click here.

The First Christians Are Who???

Foodie Friday: Khachapuri, or how to ruin your diet

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