Craving a trip back to Baku – we were obsessed – we decided to escape the Dubai heat (and poor air quality) and explore the other Caucasus countries: Armenia and Georgia.
While planning a road trip across these two countries, I had our sights and route mapped out but was stuck on how to actually transport us. Thought #1 was a rental car but they were SO expensive and driving in non-English speaking countries isn’t my idea of a relaxing trip. Next plan was taxis and taking a train to cross the border of Armenia and Georgia. The train sounded romantic – 9 hours overnight, a cozy sleeper car, seeing the country … what a dream. I was about to book our train tickets when a random Facebook ad popped up for “Armen’s tours through Armenia and Georgia.” Intrigued, we started chatting and he was making my job of planning this trip feel easy. Dude seemed chill so we took the risk and agreed to hire him as our guide the entire trip.
Touching down at the airport, I was skeptical. Would this guy show? Theoretically, he would have driven all the way from his home in Georgia (6 hours away) to pick us up at the airport in Armenia … over/under on him actually being there? Turns out he was 100% there.
Armen made our entire trip. From his stories and insider info, to his ability to tailor our itinerary to a 3 year old, to speaking both languages (Armenian and Georgian, which even have different alphabets) and flawlessly navigating us … an actual dream. Added bonus, Armen is a photographer and videographer so we received the most precious video of our trip at the end. I only cried for a second, Armen! Perhaps the greatest relief, as a mom, was that if anything were to happen, I knew that he was only a call away and would effortlessly guide us through hospitals or crisis. This trip could have been a true disaster without Armen, mainly because of the way he looked at me like an insane person when I said we were thinking of taking the train. Guess it wouldn’t have been so romantic.
Armenia is a mono national country. Armenians marry Armenians and have Armenian babies – i.e. no diversity at all. This is odd at first but intriguing because you learn about the Armenian culture, way of life, appearance, parenting styles almost immediately. 3 million Armenians live in Armenia and 11 million Armenians live outside of the country. It’s common and expected for expat Armenians to come back each year to visit. Thus, nearly all tourists we saw were either Armenian or Russian.
Because Armenia is drivable to Russia and the two countries are friendly, Russians are spending ample time there due to the war with Ukraine.
Armenia has stunning cultural sites. As the first country to fully embrace Christianity as their national religion (about 300 AD), the history found in these mountains is humbling. But it’s surprising that Armenia has not promoted their wonders with more (or any) enthusiasm to encourage tourism. There really isn’t any international marketing or advertising. A great example was walking through the multi block flea market. Not one person asked us to buy anything, or even look at their booth. Used to being harassed by souvenir shop owners, it was bliss to simply walk through and admire, purchasing what we liked.
This mono national country did mean that H and I stood out like ... freaks? His hair was a little greasy at night from people touching it, and for the first time he truly noticed that he was a “spectacle”. He really felt the stares and the pointing. To be honest, I did too because I was a damn foot taller than the entire country. It was a little much by the end of Armenia and we were both relieved to be surrounded by a bit more diversity in Georgia.
Georgia has gone full speed in the opposite direction. This little country promotes the hell out of itself. It has a deeply cosmopolitan feel with high-end restaurants, Pinterest-y bars, beautiful squares, even a hop on hop off bus. Georgia felt like it required multiple trips for us to truly understand the country - we can't wait to go back and ski!
Georgia tourists were slightly more diverse but the majority were Russian and Arab. This is interesting … when talking about the power of passports. Georgia is a country that is easy to gain citizenship in and a Georgian passport allows entry into European countries without a visa
(Armenia does not). Citizenship simply requires a real estate purchase of 100K+ and then you receive a Georgian passport and can travel freely throughout Europe. For many, this is HUGE. And for many Arab countries, with less powerful passports, this nominal real estate purchase gives incredible travel freedom. I think our flight back to the UAE was about 75% Saudi nationals - who may have been enjoying second homes or just escaping the blistering heat.
Both countries are still growing up. The Soviet Union fell in 1991 so both countries have only had a few decades to relearn and rebuild their infrastructure. There’s very progressive parts of the cities but many rural villages adhere to ancient traditions.
One example of these traditions still in practice was apparent immediately after crossing the border into Georgia. We drove through a rural Azerbaijani village (Azerbaijan and Georgia are friendly) and I noticed red ribbons tied to many of the gates.
And you know what those red ribbons symbolize? That in that house is a woman who is ready for marriage. A bachelor walking down the street can note the ribbon, then knock on the door and ask to meet the parents, who will invite him in for tea. The "marriage ready" girl makes a quick appearance, only for a few seconds to deliver the tea to her parents and suitor and then disappears. If the bachelor is keen after that 10 second viewing he will sip his tea, if he isn’t, he wont drink. The family then discusses and the girl may then be married.
You can’t believe how many red ribbons we drove passed.
Crossing Borders
It’s awkward to explain, but having an American passport is like the golden ticket. We’ve seen the power of that blue USA booklet on our travels, but crossing the Armenian border to Georgia was next level. Obviously, Armen, our guide, prepared us for what we might need to know for immigration and the protocol, but as soon as our passports were noticed, (I kinda casually like to subtly wave them around) we were ushered passed the line immediately. Up ahead was a metal detector and baggage screening and scanning line. We geared up to be totally searched and wait our turn, but almost immediately we heard, “American? Go through.” No scanning, no metal detector even … totally and completely wild.
It was similar to our experience entering Armenia. Armenia and Azerbaijan are at war. We chose to explore Baku first, because it’s much more difficult to explore Azerbaijan with an Armenian stamp in our passports then the converse. Azerbaijan is known to question extensively to ensure you aren't an Armenian spy. When entering Armenia, I was prepared to be scrutinized and the border agent zeroed right in on that Azerbaijani stamp. Her tone changed and she asked quite a few questions – dates, location stayed, why we went. I was prepared and answered calmly and politely. No issue, welcome to Armenia!
For those Americans who have never got around to getting your passport, you don’t understand the golden ticket that you aren’t cashing.
In summary, the trip was incredible. The people, the places, the landscapes … I would highly recommend driving across both countries because the contrast between the two is beyond fascinating. Oh, and hire Armen.
Behind the Scenes Costs:
3 nights in Yerevan at Hilton Double Tree (4.7 star) + full breakfast = $400
3 nights in Tbilisi at Marriott Moxy (4.5 star) + full breakfast = $229
Flights on FlyDubai (one way DXB to Yerevan and another one way Tbilisi to DXB) = $1644
Guide + car + gas = $700 (plus tip)
Cash (used for misc and all food) = $298
Visas = free for Americans
= $3271
This was as cheap as I could/would want to make this trip. Airbnbs in each city can be as low as $17/night but I’m just not confident enough traveling with a 3 year old to risk an airbnb. Plus the included breakfast for us is key – we typically don’t ever really stop for lunch because we snag fruits or muffins to go. Our guide was a huge chunk of the budget but to be honest, I would have paid far more. He was fantastic and the trip was such a success because of him. The flights were higher than I like, but 2 one ways tickets are still less that 2 round trips …
In summary, worth every penny.
Itinerary:
Day 1: Pick up from Yerevan airport. Walking city tour
Day 2: Garni, Gerhard, Symphony of the Stones
Day 3: Khor Virap, Noravank
Day 4: Drive cross the border to Georgia (5.5 hours). Stops at Sevan Lake and Sevanavank monastery
Day 5: Tbilisi city tour (sulfur baths, waterfall, cable car), Mtskheta (Georgia’s former capital), Svetitskhoveli Cathedral, Jvari Monastary
Day 6: Ananuri Fortress, Zhinvali Reservoir
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