Defunct Tkibuli - Tskhrajvari Cable Car

24 January, 2023 | Tourism objects | 172 seen

During our latest (and yet first) Racha trip we discovered this quite awesome, but defunct Soviet cable car station near Tskhrajvari.

Turns out, it has been the second largest Second longest aerial tramway in Georgia and Soviet Union with 3644 meters, height difference: 850 meters.

The cable car station near Tskhrajvari is located at the top of the cliff - nowadays quite a popular tourist destination in the area. 

Despite being defunct - I see a great potential to renew cable car service hear, at least as tourism potential.

According to Irakli Zhozhuashvili Flickr post

• Put in Service in 1984.
• Project Engineer: Vakhtang Lejava and "Sakgiproshakht" Tbilisi Institute team.
• Designer of 12 person Cabins: Vakhtang Lejava
• Manufacturer of Cabins: Tbilisi Aviation Factory.

Let's hope the cable car line is renewed anytime soon. I see it as a great tourist magnet for the whole region, with some…

Birthday in Latgale

20 January, 2023 | Tourism objects | 35 seen

While editing the "Big Documentary Film 2022"  and while working with August 2022 video files - I made an additional, short film - a wonderful weekend, during which we traveled from Ječi to Andzeli - visiting Koknese, Varakļani, Rēzekne, Daugpili, Dagdu - a couple of lakes and more.

Latgale is cool, go to Latgale! Enjoy the video and thumbs up!

Save thousands on Architecture costs with SketchUp 3D Modeling for your Scandi house in Latvia

18 January, 2023 | Frame House | 154 seen

This Spring we are planning another awesome DIY project - to build a Scandinavian-style house in rural Latvia.

A simple, one-storey building, with a total area slightly under 60m2.

The local construction law in Latvia classifies buildings under 60m2 as Group 1 buildings, which requires fewer loosened rules, just a description of the construction plan, and a minimal building plan is required to be submitted at bis.gov.lv

I'm planning to build this house myself, thus saving a lot on construction. There is no set timeframe for the project, but I would say it looks like a two Summer project. Fulfilling Summers.

For the past few weeks, I have been in touch with a few architects, looking to order a project for our house to submit to the local construction board to get a construction permit.

So far I have got two offers - an individual offer for about EUR 7,000 and a project from a template for about EUR 650. 

The price for the individual project seems way too high, while the reputation of template project authors raises some doubts. 

…

Top 20 Best Selling Gaming Laptops 2023

16 January, 2023 | Laptop Reviews | 27 seen

Gaming laptops with Intel Core or AMD Ryzen processors are among best selling in 2023. ASUS, Lenovo, Acer, HP, MSI and some leaser known brands are computing for the title - best gamimg laptop in 2023.

Keep reading to learn more about 20 great gaming laptops

A quick note: This article contains affiliate links to Amazon.com, by clicking on links on this page and by making a purchase on the Amazon site, I might earn an affiliate income from that. The prices for laptop computers listed on this page are retrieved using Amazon Product Advertising API and are updated daily. For actual prices please refer to the product page on Amazon.

• SUPERCHARGED GTX GRAPHICS - Gameplay graphics are silky smooth with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 4GB GDDR6 so you can stay immersed in the game even in the most graphically intensive moments
• READY FOR ANYTHING - Use your gaming laptop to stream and multitask with ease thanks to an Intel Core i5-10300H with 8M Cache, up to…

Israel Movie 2022 / 2023

13 January, 2023 | Travel guides | 43 seen

Israel movie is out - or we made a short week trip to the Holy Land, visiting Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Bethlehem (Palestinian territories), getting tan at Herod's place in Eilat, and back to Tel Aviv. 

High-speed rail, inner flights, fine cuisine, and many more.

Filmed: Dec 28, 2022 - Jan 3, 2023

Israel, also known as the Holy Land, is a country that holds immense historical and religious significance for many people around the world. With its rich history, breathtaking landscapes, and diverse culture, Israel is a fascinating destination that should be on everyone's travel bucket list

Our trip to Israel was nothing short of an adventure. From the bustling city of Tel Aviv to the holy city of Jerusalem, and even a visit to the Palestinian territories, we were able to experience the unique blend of history and modernity that the country has to offer.

Mahane Yehuda Market in Jerusalem

12 January, 2023 | Shopping Venues | 34 seen

Mahane Yehuda Market often referred to as "The Shuk"  is a marketplace (originally open-air, but now partially covered) in Jerusalem.

Popular with locals and tourists alike, the market's more than 250 vendors sell fresh fruits and vegetables; baked goods; fish, meat and cheeses; nuts, seeds, and spices; wines and liquors; clothing and shoes; and housewares, textiles, and Judaica.

We first visited this market at the end of 2022, during our week-long trip to Israel. Our Air BNB stay was located some 700 meters from this market on Be'er Sheva street - so we discovered this place quite randomly by just browsing Google Maps. 

In and around the market are falafel, shawarma, kibbeh, kebab, shashlik, kanafeh, baklava, halva, zalabiya and Jerusalem mixed grill stands, juice bars, cafes, and restaurants. The color and bustle of the marketplace is accentuated by vendors who call out their prices to passersby.

On Thursdays and Fridays, the marketplace is filled with shoppers stocking up for Shabbat, until the Friday afternoon sounding of the bugle that signifies the market will close for the Sabbath. In recent years, the 'shuk' has emerged as…

Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem

11 January, 2023 | Churches and Monasteries | 40 seen

The Church of the Nativity, or Basilica of the Nativity, is a basilica located in Bethlehem, the State of Palestine.

The grotto it contains holds a prominent religious significance to Christians of various denominations as the birthplace of Jesus.

I first visited this church back in 2009 and revisited it again at then end of 2022.

To get here I caught a street taxi near the Western Wall in Jerusalem and the driver agreed to take us here and back to Jerusalem for 350 New Israeli Shekels (about $100). The driver was keen enough and organized us a tour guide on site, with whom we skipped the lines on the site. I was not asked for any additional payment but I gave about 40 shekels (about $10) to the tour guide. 

The Grotto is the oldest site continuously used as a place of worship in Christianity, and the basilica is the oldest major church in the Holy Land.

The church was originally commissioned by Constantine the Great a short time after his mother Helena's visit to Jerusalem and Bethlehem in 325–326, on the site that was traditionally considered to be the birthplace of Jesus.

That original basilica was likely…

Western Wall in Jerusalem

9 January, 2023 | Tourism objects | 26 seen

The Western Wall is known in the West as the Wailing Wall, and in Islam, as the Buraq Wall is a portion of ancient limestone wall in the Old City of Jerusalem that forms part of the larger retaining wall of the hill known to Jews and Christians as the Temple Mount. 

Just over half the wall's total height, including its 17 courses located below street level, dates from the end of the Second Temple period and is believed to have been begun by Herod the Great.

I first visited the Western Wall back in 2009, and re-visited again at the end of 2022 during our about week long trip to Israel. Entrance to the Western Wall is completelty free, but men and women have seperated access to the Wall.

The very large stone blocks of the lower courses are Herodian, the courses of medium-sized stones above them were added during the Umayyad period, while the small stones of the uppermost courses are of more recent date, especially from the Ottoman period.

The Western Wall plays an important role in Judaism due to its proximity to the Temple Mount. Because of the Temple Mount entry restrictions, the Wall is the holiest place where Jews are permitted to pray…

New Years Party at the Caucasus Translations office in Tbilisi

6 January, 2023 | Living in Georgia | 15 seen

On January 7, 2023, New Year's party was celebrated at the Caucasus Translations office in Tbilisi.

We arrived early to set up the party scene, decorating with ballons and more. Pizza, sushi, wine & champagne, pinata game for little ones, t-shirts for employees.

Music by Alexa (Amazon Echo)

In total about 130 helium filled ballons were ordered for the party from myday.ge

Cake from the local Madat bakery in Tbilisi

It was a sushi, pizza and wine party. All the food was delivered from several local sushi places and pizzerias using Wolt delivery

She spends quite a lot of time at the office

Special T-shirts with company logo was ordered from maika.ge

Wishing a happy and prosperous 2023 to the team and families. Gilocavt Akhalcels!

Hotel GreenWood in Bakuriani

5 January, 2023 | Hotel reviews | 18 seen

Greenwood hotel is located in Bakuriani on the A. Tsereteli street is next to the forest and close to the ski lifts and city center.

We booked lux family rooms during Christmas 2022, paying about GEL 1,000 for a 3-night stay, thus as there was little snow in Bakuriani we left one day earlier. 

Here I made a short documenary about our latest stay in Bakuriani: Christmas in Bakuriani

Greenwood hotel is a 3 or 4 storey building kind of a loghouse, looks very attractive. We had our superiour room at the top floor without an elevator. Perfectly fine for us, but might be a problem for eldery or disabled person.

Bed was good enough for three of us, watching Netflix on my macbook. Hotel had two TV's, but just local Georgian TV was presented.

The hotel features a garden, a terrace, a kind of restaurant, and an onsite bar. 

A decent hotel for a decent money. What felt we were missing - some kind of a kitchen.

For getting here from Tbilisi we used gotrip application, hiring a driver and paid about GEL 210 one way (GEL 420 round trip). 

During our stay in Bakuriani and at this hotel, I enjoyed trading…

27 places, hotels & restaurants in Georgia we discovered in 2022

4 January, 2023 | Living in Georgia | 25 seen

In this article, I've listed 27 awesome places (including hotels and restaurants) to visit in Georgia, Tbilisi, Batumi, Gori, Bakuriani, Rustavi, Racha i, and more.

These are the places I actually visited and discovered for the first (Well most of them) back in 2022.

From the impressive Gori Fortress to fine french cuisine in Tbilisi

December 2022 Blog Traffic And Income Report 20,598 Users / $411.86

3 January, 2023 | Blogging | 24 seen

Welcome to the #2 renewed blog traffic and income reports covering blog traffic and earnings for the month of December 2022.

These reports help me track my progress or failures and also can give some glimpse behind the scenes and hopefully can generate some ideas for you as well.

The last December comes with a -4.86% traffic dip compared to November and resulted in 20,598 unique users visiting my blog.

I was hoping to reach at least 25,000 in December, but that just didn't happen.

If compared YoY to December 2021 that is a -10.53% traffic drop. It has been about 12 months already since my blog actually lost its stem and right now I put my effort to stop the loss and return to growth. 

• 20,598 users is a -4.86% drop if compared to the previous month
• decline by  -1,052 users
• 20,598 users in a month are about 664 daily users

For a blog that has had more than 120,000 monthly visitors in the past these numbers are very humble., I'm…

TerraM Crypto Hedge Fund Portfolio Updates December 2022

2 January, 2023 | Crypto | 10 seen

On December 12, 2022, I minted 10,000 TerraM coins on the Solana network with an aim to raise $10,000 capital for options trades on Ethereum via the Deribit trading platform.

We didn't raise the capital yet, but we did have a quite good month.

Besides minting and listing tokens for sale on the Raydium network, from the capital raised (I'm the single largest investor) we were able to book a $176.09 profit. That would give about an 11.38% yield.

We were able to grow TerraM by 11.38% despite Ethereum actually dropping by more than -5% last month

All profits were distributed back to the token holders

Here are the assets under TerraM control (as of December 31, 2022)

On the last day, od December TerraM crypto hedge funds' total value was $1,572.72, which makes the value…

Christmas in Bakuriani

30 December, 2022 | Living in Georgia | 70 seen

Another awesome holiday weekend has been recorded, this time we had a road trip to Bakuriani, staying in a lovely log house with fine cuisine.

Winter fun, attractions, gifts, and a lot of fun with drones. Made my first real - flythrough. December 23-25, 2022

Enjoy the video and thumbs up!

How to obtain a tourist permit to fly a drone in Israel

28 December, 2022 | Travel guides | 48 seen

In this article, I will share details on how I obtained a tourist permit for flying a drone in Israel at the end of 2022.

We booked a short one-week trip to the State of Israel for the 2022/2023 New Year celebrations. I have my DJI Mavic Air 2 drone and I thought it would be cool to bring back some drone memory from Israel as I did from Sri Lanka.

I know different countries have different drone regulations, and I assumed Israel might have one as well. 

I started by simply googling several articles about flying a drone in Israel, at one point I got even more confused and was considering not taking a drone with me to Israel until I found the official website for obtaining a tourist permit for flying a drone in Israel - and it was much easier than I thought. 

There was a 350 ILS fee (about EUR 100), PayPal was available and it took about 10 minutes to complete the registration form (though it took another 24 hours to get the actual permit to my email)

In case you are wondering how to get a permit to fly a drone in Israel in 2025 or 2030, this article might get outdated, as drone rules change quite quickly

At the time of…