Blog Archive: February 2015
Ananuri Castle Complex On The Aragvi River, Georgia
| Churches and Monasteries | 130 seen
Ananuri is a castle complex on the Aragvi River in Georgia, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) from Tbilisi.
Located on the Georgian military road heading to Gudauri and Kazbegi and later to Russia via Upper Lars. Due to its close proximity to the nation's capital, Ananuri is a popular tourist spot.
Ananuri castle complex in Georgia
Ananuri was a castle and seat of the eristavis (Dukes) of Aragvi, a feudal dynasty which ruled the area from the 13th century. The castle was the scene of numerous battles. In 1739, Ananuri was attacked by forces from a rival duchy, commanded by Shanshe of Ksani and was set on fire. The Aragvi clan was massacred. However, four years later, the local peasants revolted against rule by the Shamshe, killing the usurpers and inviting King Teimuraz II to rule directly over them. However, in 1746, King Teimuraz was forced to suppress another peasant uprising, with the help of King Erekle II of Kakheti. The fortress remained in use until the beginning of the 19th century.…
Gudauri - Cost Free And Fun Outdoor Activities
| Outdoor Activities | 101 seen
Gudauri is well known as Georgian winter capital thanks to it's skiing infrastructure. But that doesn't mean Gudauri is expensive and those with limited budget can't have fun at Gudauri as well.
Turns out - there are a dozen of option to enjoy winter activities absolutly for free. Honeslty speaking I was sursprised and that's the reason me making this blog post.
OK, who I'm trying to trick - actually if you are heading to Gudauri for mountain skiing, there are two options: You are coming here with your skiing equipment or you will rent skiing equipment on site.
If you are already equipped - the the only costs you will spend here - probably will be just ski-lift pass (it's 5GEL single ride or 30GEL multi pass) + money you will spend on local restaurants/hotels.
If you don't have your skiing equipment - you can easily rent it out in some of Gudauri Ski rental points - costs - 25-30GEL for skis and skiing boots.
Again - depending on your equipment level a day on mountain at Gudauri will cost you 25 - 60 GEL. I wouldn't call it expensive.
But still there are some…
Hotel Shamo Gudauri Review
| Hotel reviews | 18 seen
Hotel Shamo in Gudauri actually is a very cosy guest house located close to Gudauri (in Kumlistsikhe village) not far from ski-lifts.
I first stayed at this hotel back in April, 2011, then again at the end of 2011, and finally we stayed here during our recent visit to Gudauri.
The default price per person at Hotel Shamo are about $50 per night. 2 meals (breakfast and supper) are included in price. Also a free transfer to and from ski-lifts as well.
Guests staying at Hotel Shamo can receive pretty good discounts at Gudauri ski rental points (ask for more details on site)
During your supper you will enjoy a great Kakhetian red wine (for free).
I believe the magic of this place comes from it's owner - Gela. Gela is a story teller, you will definitely enjoy chatting with him sitting next to fireplace. Gela knows everything what's happening around - ask Gela anything, and he will gladly help you around.
Another feature I like at this hotel/guest house - it's one of the few in Georgia, were it's kindly asked not to smoke inside. You will notice Thank you for not…
Gudauri - Georgian Winter Capital for skiing, snowboarding, paragliding and heli-skiing
| Living in Georgia | 38 seen
Gudauri is a popular winter resort located in the Republic of Georgia, Caucasus some 120 km from Tbilisi. I first visited Gudauri back in the Spring of 2011, and since then I have come here at least once a season.
The resort offers high quality skiing opportunities. The slopes of Gudauri are completely above the tree line and are best for free-riders and are generally considered to be avalanche-safe. The ski season lasts from December to April. Heliskiing is also available throughout the season.
In the last years, seems the global melting has been hitting Georgia by a storm, as the snow is actually decreasing every year.
Browse till the end of the article and you will learn about skiing, ski lifts, paragliding, and even heli-skiing options in Gudauri.
Besides Georgians, many Russians, Ukrainians, Israeli, Turkish and visitors from the Gulf states love to come here.
There are plenty of hotels in Gudauri, a New Gudauri is built just next to the ski-lifts at the height of about 2600 meters
Gudauri skiing slopes
Skiing instructor Vaso
Friend of us hired a skiing instructor to learn…
Neighborhoods of Tbilisi - Abanotubani
| Tourism objects | 91 seen
Abanotubani is one of the most attractive neighborhoods in Tbilisi. It's famous of its public sulfur baths, and very spectacular views.
I believe Tbilisi Sulphur bath district is one of the most iconic Tbilisi sights. Personally I doubt there are many tourists who have not seen Abanotubani (Tbilisi bath district) while visiting Georgian capital. Though - I believe fewer ones have actually visited them. If you are among the lucky one, please leave a comment!
Tbilisi sulfur bath district
Narikala fortress on top of the hill? Colorful carved wooden balconies? You name it - Just a few of the reasons to fell in love with this beautiful city.
High end hotel in Abanotubani neighborhood
There are dozens of budget to high end hotels in Abanotubani. If you are looking for a hotel here or in Tbilisi, take a look here: Tbilisi hotels
Public bath houses and a mosque
An old channel in Abanotubani
You are free to walk near channel and you can actually reach a lovely waterfall at the end of this channel. There are some other hidden…
Organique Josper Bar - Tbilisi Restaurant Review
| Restaurant reviews | 25 seen
Welcome to another Tbilisi Restaurant review post series - today I will speak about Organique Josper Bar/restaurant/steakhouse, located in Tbilisi Old Town.
I have previously much heard of this bar/restaurant/steakhouse and have seen plenty of it's ads on local English language newspapers (Georgian Journal, if correct), but never had visited it before.
My (our) visit to Josper bar went pretty spontaneous, as it might happen in Georgia, we were cut of electricity, and during days like that, we prefer to take our laptops and head to some restaurant with a good internet connection.
So we headed to Tbilisi Old town (Shardeni), and actually spent few hours in another Tbilisi restaurant - Jazzve coffee, after enjoying a delicious tea at Jazzve, we were looking for some lunch offer (Jazzve might have something, but I had a demand - I would either have - carbonara or grilled meat, though I didn't find such offer at Jazzve ,somehow we find that Josper bar has some lunch offers.
Turned out it does - they had, exactly what I was looking for - Carbonara.
…
Blog Online Income Report - January 2015 - $701.80
| Blogging | 8 seen
Welcome to my blog's thirteen online income report, this time covering earnings I have made solely with my blog in month of January 2015.
Those reports keeps me track were I'm, were I was and were I'm heading to. I hope they can inspire some as well.
About Online Income in January 2015In total my blog helped me to earn additional $752.65, what is a decrease of -62.95% if compared to previous month, when we (blog and me) earned pretty serious $2,029.67
$752.65 in a month equals to $24.27 in a day
Technically speaking, my January's earnings would be about the same as minimum wage in Portugal.
About Blog Traffic in JanuaryI guess it would be just fair to share some data how much visitors my blog is attracting in these income reports, right? Well, Actually, I have a separate blog category for such kind of reports - 'Blog Statistics' - but to keep it simple, I will give you some overview of January traffic:
Speaking of January traffic - in short - it was an awesome month, in total my blog attracted 19,798 users, I didn't managed to crack 20,000 milestone, but I do not feel…
Blog Traffic Report - January 2015 - 19,798 Users
| Blogging | 10 seen
Welcome to already 16 my blog's statistics and traffic report, this time covering month of January, 2015. 16 months ago I started a journey called blogging.
I have done those reports from first month I started to blog, to measure were I was, were I am and were I am heading too. Those reports keep me track my progress (or bounces), and hopefully can inspire some other bloger(s) as well.
Speaking of January traffic - in short - it was an awesome month, in total my blog attracted 19,798 users, I didn't managed to crack 20,000 milestone, but I do not feel sad about that at all.
Blog Traffic January 2015
19,798 users is a 51,43% growth if compared to previous month.
It's a 6724 users gain if compared to previous month.
19,798 users in a month equals to 638.64 users in a day, again, it's up from 421.74 users in a day from last month
Following words I said last month (when foretasted traffic results for January):
Speaking of forecast for January - I will keep my forecast modest - 10,000 unique visitors or a little bit less (I'm afraid of traffic drop…
My Savings Report January 2015 - GEL Loses It's Value Against USD For 14% Since September
| Living in Georgia | 13 seen
A time ago, in September 2014, I started to save some money, I was so eager to save money, that I even started a new category on my blog - 'Savings Reports'.
4 months from my first, and yet latest, Savings report have passed, back then in September I deposited a small amount of sum of 300 GEL, which back then equaled to $169.68 or EUR 131.81.
By today's exchange rates 300 GEL would equal to $145.27 or EUR 128.75, which basically means following, since the end of September Georgian national currency Lari (GEL) has lost it's value to USD for -14.38%, and - 2.32% to Euro.
Investors don't like to lose money, right?I didn't paid much attention to Lari fluctuations until now, when I found that I have lost around 14% of my money if exchanged to USD.
Unfortunately I'm not wise enough (just a regular dude) to tell you what happened to Lari exactly and why it's loosing it's value both to USD and EUR, probably you have heard that USD is getting stronger to almost every other currency. Wise economist call it a - dollar was not assessed, and now it's being assessed…
Hiking Trails in Tbilisi - Turtle Lake (Kus Tba) - Tskneti
| Outdoor Activities | 238 seen
I believe one of my most favourite places in Tbilisi is a Turtle Lake (Kus Tba). I have been heading here pretty often, actually just a few weeks ago we did a shorter hiking route heading from Turtle lake to Vake Park. There are pretty many hiking trails around Turtle lake - if you are found of eco-tourism or just like me (us) are looking to wind your head from noisy city sounds - these hikes will do it best!
Today we made a spontaneous route from Turtle lake to Tskenti. At start of this trip I had no idea we will actually end our route there, but as I said - it was a spontaneous route. In time of what we discovered first messengers of Spring - different mountain flowers (snowdrops, for example), had a delicious picnic, seen a rabbit and hound dogs hunting for him, and many other)
Turtle Lake - Tskneti trail map
I forgot to charge my phone so I cannot give you precise route, but according to Google Maps - this route is 7.0 km long and it's to possible to finish it in 1 K 46 min. For us it took around 4 hours and felt like 20 km, but we had three breaks for in-taking our meal, enjoying a coffee or just relaxing…