Monthly Archives: November 2019

Armenia – Yerevan, Ararat, Kotayk, Aragatsotn, Armavir   November 30-December 1, 3-4, 2019 Day 2 YEREVAN (pop 1,073,000) Yerevan is the capital and largest city of Armenia as well as one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, it is the administrative, … Continue reading →

Armenia – Gegharkunik, Lori, Shirak, Tavush (Gyumri) November 29, 2019 OBSERVATIONS 1. Currency. Armenian Dram – AMD. Exchange rate (Nov 2019): 529 AMD = 1€. 2. Drivers. Easily the worst thing about Armenia are the aggressive drivers. Of the “accelerate … Continue reading →

Nagorno-Karabakh, officially the Republic of Artsakh, is a country in the Caucasus. It is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but is closely linked in every way to Armenia and accessible only through Armenia. WARNING: There is a very high … Continue reading →

My interest in this religious ethnic group that emigrated from Georgia in the late 1890s, is that I lived in the West Kootenay of British Columbia where the majority of Doukhobors finally settled permanently.  Originally from Ukraine, they were relocated … Continue reading →

Azerbaijan – East (Baku, Quba, Lankaran, Yevlakh) November 24-27, 2019 CASPIAN SHORE DEFENSIVE CONSTRUCTIONS (24/10/2001) The Caucasus Mountains on the northern border of Azerbaijan was a natural defensive obstacle for foreign campaigns. They gave access to the narrow Caspian Plain, … Continue reading →

Azerbaijan – West – Ganja-Qazakh, Shaki-Zaqatala – November 23-24, 2019 Currency. Azerbaijan manet (AZN). Exchange rate November 2019 1€ = 1.88 AZN Capital. Baku Population. 10 million GETTING IN Visa. Most citizens of Western countries can enter with an e-visa … Continue reading →

Iraq is a republic in the Middle East. While Iraq contains ancient Mesopotamia, the cradle of civilization, it has been ravaged by war and oppression for the last century. WARNING: The political situation in Iraq remains extremely unstable, even though the war was officially … Continue reading →

Georgia – Kartli Shida/Kvemo, Mtskheta, Kakheti (Tbilisi, Gori) November 20-23, 2019 GORI Stalin House and Museum. Now in a park, Stalin’s birth house is housed under a monumental stone canopy. The tiny, flat roofed, brick house had 2 rooms, one … Continue reading →

Georgia – Imereti, Svaneti, Samtskhe Javakheti, Guria (Kutaisi, Poti) November 19-20, 2019 COLCHIS WETLANDS and FORESTS. A Tentative WHS (24/10/2007), this approximately 74, 826 ha area is one of the last remains of the landscape belt, rich in tropical and … Continue reading →

Currency. Exchange rate November 2019. 1€ = 3.28 Georgian Lari (GEL) Alphabet. The Georgian alphabet is ancient and only related to Armenian. All road signs are also in Latin script. There is little Cyrillic. Diesel prices. Vary from 2.35 to … Continue reading →