Blog Archive: January 2015

Public Coffee Tbilisi Review (Aghmashenebeli avenue)

16 January, 2015 | Restaurant reviews | 17 seen

Welcome to another Tbilisi "restaurant" review. This time I would like to talk about Public Coffee on Aghmashenebeli avenue (Right next to McDonald's).

Update: Seem this place is out of business

The reason I enjoy this place - because they have toasts and delicious Cappuccino, It's one of the rare places in Tbilisi, I like to have my morning coffee and breakfasts.

Visit of this place will cost you a bit more than average but in most cases service and food will be delicious.

Entrance at Public Coffee

Inside interior at Public Coffee

Inside interior at Public Coffee

Inside interior at Public Coffee

Cappuccino at Public Coffee (Price ~4,90 GEL)

Crepes at Public Coffee (~5,90 GEL)

This was first time I tasted crepes at this Public coffee - though they are eatable, I wouldn't call them a real crepe - salads in a pancake, hold ham (I wouldn't recommend crepes at Public Coffee)

Greek salads at Public Coffee (Price ~ 8,90 GEL)

Toast of egg and chese

The main reason I enjoy Public Coffee is because of their toasts and cappuccino. Though ordering here a toast is a pretty the same as to play a lottery, there might be times when cheese is cold or toast is overburden. In 80% cases they are gone be fine, but I have warned you.

P.S. They have tasty pizzas at Public Coffee as well.

Proposed New High Speed Rail Line - Moscow - Beijing could cost ~$ 230 bln

15 January, 2015 | Railway / Bus / Ferry | 3 seen

<p>While <a href="http://www.reinisfischer.com/pictures-khazar-islands-azerbaijan-tower">… are building it's super expensive project Khazar Islands</a> with estimate costs of ~ $100 bln, Russians together with Chinese are looking to build a high speed rail connecting Moscow to Beijing in 33 hours with estimate cost of around $230 bln.</p><p><img src="http://www.reinisfischer.com/sites/default/files/russia-new-hs-train.pn…; alt="Russia China high speed train" title="Russia China high speed train" width="1200" height="587"></p><p><em>Russia China high speed train (Image source:&nbsp;businessinsider.com)</em></p><p>According to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/afp-china-russia-mull-high-speed-moscow-… Insider</a> -&nbsp;The project would <strong>cost more than $230 billion and be over 7,000 kilometres (4,350 miles) long</strong>, the Beijing Times reported -- more than three times the world's current longest high-speed line, from the Chinese capital to the southern city of Guangzhou.</p><p>The railway would be a powerful physical symbol of the ties that bind Moscow and Beijing, whose political relationship has roots dating from the Soviet era and who often vote together on the UN Security Council. They have strengthened their relationship as Western criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin mounts over Ukraine and other issues.&nbsp;</p><p>The two signed a memorandum of understanding earlier this week during Premier Li Keqiang's visit to Moscow in which Beijing expressed interest in building a fast rail link between the Russian capital and Kazan in the oil-rich Tatarstan region, state broadcaster China Central Television reported.</p><p>The 803-kilometre line would be the first stage of the route to Beijing, CCTV said.</p><p>At present, trains between the two run along the Trans-Siberian railway that links Moscow and Vladivostok, before switching to a branch line heading south through the Mongolian capital Ulan Bator.</p><p>Direct passenger trains between Beijing and Moscow went into operation in 1954 and there are still two services per week, CCTV said. The new link would cut the train travel time from six days at present to under two days, the Beijing Times quoted Wang Mengshu, a tunnel and railway expert at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, as saying.</p><blockquote><p>"If the funds are raised smoothly... the line can be completed in five years at the quickest," he added.</p></blockquote><p>The paper cited a research report that put the cost of one kilometre of Chinese-built fast rail at $33 million. The country has the world's largest high-speed rail network, built from scratch in less than a decade, relying on technology transfer from foreign companies, including France's Alstom, Germany's Siemens and Japan's Kawasaki Heavy Industries. Its reputation was tarnished after a bullet train collision in July 2011 near the eastern city of Wenzhou that killed at least 40 people and injured hundreds.</p><p>But China is now keen to promote the export of its technology, and has been building high-speed rail networks in Turkey and Venezuela.&nbsp;</p>

Pictures of Khazar Islands, Azerbaijan Tower

15 January, 2015 | Macroeconomics | 509 seen

I have never been to Azerbaijan, but have heard a lot of it's plans to build a super expensive project of Khazar Islands and worlds highest tower - Azerbaijan, somewhere close to it's capital city Baku.

More than a year ago - I wrote about Baku to build Worlds Tallest building:

Azerbaijan is aimed to build artificial island archipelago called Khazar Islands with worlds largest building on it - Azerbaijan Tower. Estimated cost for such a mega project is 100 bln USD, which is more than total of Azerbaijan's GDP.

The cost of Azerbaijan Tower will be 3 bln USD: The $3 billion tower is to be the centerpiece of the Khazar Islands, a $100 billion city of 41 artificial islands that will spread 3,000 hectares over the Caspian Sea.

The city is being planned to house 1 million residents, contain 150 schools, 50 hospitals and daycare centers, numerous parks, shopping malls, cultural centers, university campuses, and a Formula 1 quality racetrack.

All of these facilities are planned to be able to withstand up to magnitude 9.0 earthquakes. The city will be equipped with 150 bridges and a large municipal airport to connect the islands to the mainland

Construction works on the Azerbaijan Tower is set to begin in 2015 and will be completed around 2019. The Khazar Islands are scheduled to be finished between 2020 and 2025.

Residential complex at Khazar Islands

Khazar Islands

Khazar Islands

Construction works at Khazar Islands

Construction works at Khazar Islands

Construction works at Khazar Islands

Bridge at Khazar Islands

Boulevard at Khazar Islands

Boulevard at Khazar Islands

Pool at Khazar Islands

Construction works at Khazar Islands

Visualization of Khazar Islands

Visualization of Khazar Islands

 Visualization of Khazar Islands

 Visualization of Khazar Islands

 Visualization of Khazar Islands

 Visualization of Khazar Islands

Azerbaijan Tower - Worlds Highest building

Visualization of Khazar Islands

Visualization of Khazar Islands

Azerbaijan Tower - Worlds Highest Skyscraper

Khazar Islands built by Avesta

The Avesta concern is building complex with developed infrastructure, on artificial islands in the Caspian Sea.
Khazar Islands (Yeni Sheher) is being developed 23 km south-west of the capital, towards Primorsk and within sight of the coast. The furthest island is 7 km from the shore. The development will cover 2,000 hectares (two parallel lines of buildings on the main island, high-rise constructions on several isolated islands and villas on stand-alone islands). Bridges will connect all facilities in the complex.

You can find more pictures on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/khazarislandsofficial

South African Fish Farms in Georgia (Sagarejo, Sartichala)

14 January, 2015 | Farms | 33 seen

The other day I was contacted on my blog's contact form by locally living foreigner in Georgia originally coming from South Africa. It turned out Afrikaner guy (Johann Kritzinger)  is a manager of South African owned fish farms here in Georgia. 

Since I'm open to almost anything new and unknown for me, I asked is it possible to arrange some sightseeing tour in his properties.

I'm a complete noob in a fishery, fish farms e.t.c. I could barely find any difference between a carp and a salmon, so it's always interesting to learn new things.

My new friend agreed to showcase fish farms in Sartichala and Sagarejo (both located in Georgian province of Kakheti).

On a lovely Tuesday afternoon he picked me up in Tbilisi and story can be told now:

Fish Farm in Sartichala

If honestly I have no idea what devices are in this picture, I believe I was told of them, but as I said, I'm a complete noob in fishery

Fish Farm in Sartichala

Fish farm ravines in Sartichala

Fish farm located inside this greenhouse

House dog

Street in Sartichala

A stop for a coffee break

Looks like a Mini Canyon for me

Scenic views near Sagarejo

Scenic views near Sagarejo

View from a Dam building near Sagarajo

Waterfall on Iori river, Georgia

Beauty of Georgia

Fish pools near Sagarejo

Fish pools near Sagarejo

Parking lot near fish ponds

Old Soviet car - VAZ

Sheep's looking for food on a valley

Vasiliy and Rocky preparing to catch a fish

I got as a present two huge fishes

I would like to say a HUGE thanks to Johann Kritzinger for contacting me and given me such a great opportunity, not only to learn something new of fish farming, but also he explained me many interesting things of his native South Africa. Did you new, there is 11 official languages and 4 capitals in South Africa? 

Johann with smile pointed out, that Charlize Theron not Scarlett Johansson is a South African actress (as I mistakenly thought), but he agreed both of them are very beautiful actress. 

Again, Johann, thank you for being such a great story teller, I hope we will make some more trips in Georgia (and not only) together.

About Afrikaner Farmers migrating to Georgia

I did a quick search and found some interesting information about many Afrikaners emigrating away from South Africa, and seems Georgia is trying to attract some of them.  I will republish one of them: (You can read original here)

by James Brooke September 14, 2011 8:00 PM

A South African court on September 12 convicted Julius Malema, president of the African National Congress Youth League, of hate speech for singing "shoot the Boer, kill the Boer" at a rally last year. But some Boers (white South African farmers) say they have had enough of violence and racial tension in South Africa and are planning to move out. VOA's James Brooke visited one Afrikaner who started farming this year in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia.

Piet Kemp's family farmed in southern Africa for three centuries. But now at age 66, this Afrikaner farmer has traded South Africa's Eastern Transvaal for Eastern Georgia. Here, he is reviving wheat and corn production on what was once a Soviet collective farm. Kemp says he has no regrets.

"I have a new life here," he explained. "I try to make friends with all the people in Georgia, learning their culture. I have been here since 3rd of March, and I have not heard of one murder in Georgia in this time. I didn't hear about any bank robbery. I didn't hear about any one hijacking."

It was not just high crime rates that prompted Kemp to leave South Africa.  

"There is no security of land, absolutely no security of land in South Africa," he stressed.

Kemp said that over the last decade he successfully helped hundreds of white farmers hold on to their farmland in face of legal challenges from black farm workers and squatters.  But now, he says white farmers face threats of farm seizures by ANC Youth League President Julius Malema and other politicians.

"With a youth leader like Malema, he can go up and stand and say to anyone I want this land for South Africa, for the future of South Africa," noted Kemp. "He can take just what he wants. For me, I just say no."

The Bill of Rights in South Africa’s 1996 post-apartheid constitution protects land ownership rights, stipulating restitution for land that is redistributed.  This law, defenders say, has limited land expropriations.  A two-thirds vote in parliament is needed to change the constitution, a majority the ruling ANC does not have.

Georgia is playing on these insecurities, actively recruiting Afrikaner farmers to help revive the nation's moribund agriculture. In the 20 years since the collapse of the Soviet Union, half of Georgia's farmland has gone out of production.

"They have done exceptionally great job over the years in South Africa, and to give them an opportunity to do the same thing here and for Georgian farmers to learn from the experience they will receive from their new neighbors, from the South African farmers," said Georgia's Canada-educated Economy Minister, Vera Kobalia.

Kobalia praises Sandra Roelofs, the Dutch-born wife of Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, for promoting the program.  Dutch is the mother language of Afrikaans.

"It helped in terms of making them feel more secure in Georgia," Kobalia noted.  "There is definitely that connection, the Holland connection in Georgia."

Kemp says that Georgia's Dutch-speaking first lady impressed a visiting group of Afrikaner farmers last year.

"Sandra, she was touring a week with us," said Kemp.  "We pick[ed] grapes together. We spoke Netherlands."

Kemp is a devout Protestant and feels a strong connection to Georgia's overwhelmingly Christian Orthodox population.

"We believe in the same thing, believe in the same God," said Kemp.

Kemp says he and other Afrikaner pioneers feel welcome. But Mariam Jorjadze, who runs a farmers' aid organization, worries that the 10 Afrikaner families here now could lead to a big influx of foreign farm directors. As in the Soviet days, Georgian farmers could again be reduced to laborers on big industrial farms.

"If the trend will be many South Africa farmers coming and there will tendency to convert people in rural areas again into labor force for foreign investors, I don't think that this system is viable. It resembles the former Soviet system," said Jorjadze.

Kemp believes that Afrikaners will help jump start Georgian agriculture. But he cautions that they must integrate into Georgian society.

"We must go into Georgia as Georgians - in Georgian culture, in Georgian language - so that they see us as Georgians, not as South Africans coming to Georgia," Kemp explained.

Kemp adds that he does not want his new life in Georgia to be like his old life in South Africa, where he was part of a successful minority envied by the majority population.

Travellers from Poland, Germany and Greece Among Top countries from European Union visiting Georgia - EU From Total Just 4.21%

13 January, 2015 | Macroeconomics | 13 seen

According to Georgian National Tourism Administration in 2014 there was a total of  5 493 492 international travelers arriving to Georgia, what is a increase of 1.9% compared to previous year (2013)

Most of the travelers arrive from following 5 countries - Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia and Ukraine, if counted together international travelers from those 5 countries makes 4 992 934 or saying in percentage - makes 90.88% of total travelers,  leaving the rest of the World travelers with 500, 588 (9,22%)

I decided to count - how many travelers arrives to Georgia from European Union member states

Data source (Georgian National Tourism Administration)

Most travelers visiting Georgia from European Union member states comes from Poland (46,024), Germany (33,315) and Greece (21,408).

Speaking of Greece - I believe many Greek passport holders are actual Georgians who have got citizenship of Greece. I'm not so sure regarding Germany, but I believe some percent of ethnic Georgians holding German passports are as well.

The biggest traveler increase is from Lithuania, up from 5,647 in 2013 to 10,858 in 2014, making a total of 47.99% increase -  as I believe is thanks to a new direct flights connecting Vilnius with Kutaisi. 

I find it interesting to learn that travelers from Finland (-77%) and Estonia (-8,83%) has decreased in 2014. That led me to think following - while I believe Lithuanian travelers have increased to Georgia, mainly thanks to cheap direct Vilnius - Kutaisi flights with Wizz Air, Finns and Estonians have decreased "thanks" to canceled line - Tallinn - Tbilisi, performed by Estonian Air. I might be wrong, but that's my subjective opinion.

Another interesting trend to observe is Hungarian travelers to Georgia, on autumn of 2014, the same Wizz air launched direct flights from Budapest to Kutaisi, and we can see that Hungarian traveler count to Georgia has increased already by 29% in 2014, well in total nothing impressive, making 2,658 travelers in 2014, but I guess this number could crack 10,000 milestone this (2015) year.

My overall evaluation of following traveler trend from European Union to Georgia is - it's really really modest result.

I mean, if in 2014 there were a total of 5,4 million travelers to Georgia, and just a 0,23 million travelers of them were from European Union, it's a tiny fraction in overall pot, making just 4,21%. It is a very very tiny result. Well I'm not saying it's bad that vast majority of international travelers to Georgia arrives from it's neighboring countries, like Turkey, Russia, Azerbaijan or Armenia, I'm saying that there is a huge potential to attract more travelers from European Union.

I believe that those ones who arrives from Germany, Sweden or even Estonia will be those ones who will stay at hotels, eat at restaurants, ski at mountains and spend more euros, so needed for Georgian economy. 

So the question I would like to ask now - why there is such low percentage of travelers from European Union to Georgia?

Is it a lack of services, not being well informed of travel options to Georgia? Or maybe Georgia just isn't a very attractive country for travelers from European Union?

Methodology

• Air: Tbilisi International Airport, Batumi International Airport
• Sea: Poti port, Batumi port, Kulevi port
• Land: Tbilisi, Akhkerpi, Guguti, Vale, Vakhtangisi, Ninotsminda, Sadakhlo (air and railway border checkpoints), Sarpi, Kazbegi, Tsodna, Tsiteli Khidi, Gardabani, Samtatskaro, Kulevi

• http://stats.georgia.travel/Default.aspx

Rabati Fortress Complex in Akhaltsikhe, Georgia

11 January, 2015 | Tourism objects | 99 seen

Georgia will never end to surprise you (at least - me).

Few years ago a major tourist attraction was renovated and opened to the public, some would call it a Jewel in the Crown, while others would call it a Georgian Disneyland (appealing that like in Disney land, everything here is a butaforie).

My subjective opinion will stay somewhere in middle. Yes it's kinda of butaforie, built from lightweight materials in less than 15 month almost from scratch, but still, it's a jewel in the crown.

First time I visited the Rabati Fortress complex back in July 2014, during 2 day rafting trip. Back then we had our minds focused more on rafting than exploring Rabati Fortress. We decided to come back here when we will have more time.

That time happened at the start of January 2015. We booked Hotel Rabath, took a Tbilisi - Akhaltsikhe minibus, and in less than in 3 hours we were again in Rabati Fortress complex. This time armed with time and photo camera. The story can be told now.

Meet Rabati fortress complex with eyes of me - I managed to capture more than 200 pictures here, they all looked great for me, and it was hard to select few ones to display on my blog - at the end I selected 48 pictures of Rabati Fortress complex.

Rocks near Rabati Castle Complex

Hotel Rabath & Gino Wellness

You can read my review of  Hotel Rabath & Gino Wellness here

View from Hotel Rabath

Restaurant Rabath

Vineyards on terraces

View to Rabati complex

View to Rabati complex 

I guess in summertime this formation becomes a fountain?

View to Akhaltsikhe town from Rabati fortress 

View to Akhaltsikhe town from Rabati fortress 

Rabati fortress towers

You can climb up on every tower at Rabati Fortress complex

View to Rabati complex

Hotel Rabath is located just inside of this complex

Another angle of Rabati complex

Stage in middle of Rabati complex

I guess in summertime Rabati complex is great place to held musical festivals

Souvenir shop at Rabati complex

Mainly you can buy here Georgian vine and other local goods

Arch bridge at Rabati complex

Rabati fortress Towers

Rabati Fortress Towers built in the rocks

Guard booth at Rabati complex (author of this blog captured showing entrance ticket to guards)

You must buy entrance tickets at tourism information kiosk which is located down at the entrance in Rabati complex. Ticket price - 5GEL

Aisles at Rabati Fortress

View to Rabati complex

View to Rabati complex

Georgian flag at the top of the building

I have no clue what is the name of this building - only thing what come to my mind - it's some Convent?! Correct me if I'm wrong.

Rabati Cathedral

Wooden building at Rabati complex

Rabati Fortress complex

Outdoor pool (decorative) at Rabati Fortress complex

Interesting architecture elements at Rabati Fortress complex

Inside view from Rabati cathedral

Vaults at complex

Grates at a monk's cell

Convent? built on the rocks

Stairways up to the Convent building

Rocky mountains around fortress and Akhaltsikhe town

Iron doors

On the way to reach Georgian Flag up in the tower

Flat Screen TV on rocks (inside Convent building)

Curved metal stairs heading up to the tower with Georgian Flag

View to Rabati complex from flag tower

View to Rabati complex from flag tower

View to Rabati complex from flag tower

View to Akhaltsikhe town from flag tower

View to rocky mountains from flag tower

View to surrounding villages from flag tower

Georgian Flag

Stairways down from the convent building

History museum of Samthske - Javakheti region

Inside territory of Rabati Fortress complex there is a local Samtskhe-Javakheti (region in which is situated Rabati fortress) history museum. 

History museum of Samthske - Javakheti region

Unfortunately it's not allowed to photograph inside in museum - so that's the only one photo I managed to illegally capture here

Tips

• Entrance fee in Rabati fortress complex - 5 GEL
• You can have a guided tour by additional 20 GEL
• You can reach Akhaltsikhe from Tbilisi by minibus in less than 3 hours
• You should allocate at least 3 hours for exploring Rabati fortress complex

Hotel Rabath & Gino Wellness Review in Akhaltsikhe

10 January, 2015 | Hotel reviews | 25 seen

Back in summer of 2014, we took a 2 day rafting trip, during which we visited Rabati Castle Complex for about an hour. in such short time we hadn't much chance to explore the so called "Jewel in the Crown" - Rabati Castle complex, renovated just couple of years ago, and aimed to become as one of the most popular tourist attractions in Georgia. 

Back then (in summer of 2014) we noticed a hotel located at the heart of Rabati castle complex, and we decided we should come back again, stay at local hotel and explore this charming place.

Our second trip to Akhaltsikhe happened at start of January 2015, using one of the cheapest travel options in Georgia - minibus, we reached Akhatlsikhe in less than 3 hours.

Hotel Rabath in middle of Rabati complex

Hotel Rabath & Gino Wellness sign

Stairs down to Spa

Bedroom at Hotel Rabath

Flat screen TV at Hotel Rabath

Lately, I have no luck of getting English language channels at Georgian hotels, here at Hotel Rabath during our stay was available just 3 Georgian language channels

Our Room with a balcony and view to towers

Room at Hotel Rabath

Bathroom at hotel Rabath

Nice place to wrap up a blog income report

I created my first yearly blog income report here

Christmas tree at Hotel Rabath

Georgians are an Orthodox nation, Christmas and New year here is celebrated according to Julian calendar

Salads at Hotel Rabath restaurant

Georgian Traditional cuisine at hotel Rabath

Restaurant at Hotel Rabath

Advent Wreath

Scenic views from Rabath square

Whirlpool at Hotel Rabath (Gino Wellness)

Sauna at Hotel Rabath (Gino Wellness)

Herbal sauna at Hotel Rabath (Gino Wellness)

For a two night stay, we paid in total 260 GEL (USD140.00/EUR 115.00), in price was included breakfast and a visit to the spa center for 2 hours each day.

We paid around 60 GEL for supper at first night at the Hotels restaurant. Another day we went to local Akhaltsikhe restaurants and got the same value for about 30 GEL.

In overall - Hotel Rabath in Akhaltsikhe is now my second favorite hotel in Georgia after Hotel Royal Batoni in Kvareli.

About Hotel Rabath

• Hotel Gino Wellness Rabath is the only hotel in Caucasus region which is placed inside the walls of the historic fortress Rabath. It has the best location, its old design, and comfort.
• The hotel offers Classic, Lux, Classic family and Apartment Lux rooms.
• The hotel offers a conference room, bar - restaurant, terrace, and wellness - spa center. Where are all conditions for a comfortable rest and vacation spot.

About Wellness & Spa

• fragrant aroma sauna is the best for relaxation.
• Salt has beneficial effects on the skin, it provides a natural smooth blood circulation. Salt inhalation is suitable for allergy and respiratory.
• The strength of menthol together with steam clears the airways and release the skin pores. Comfortable seating, moisture and heat, it is another relax for your body and soul..
• We offer Jacuzzi, Roman sauna, Finnish dry sauna, cold water pool, sea pebbles pool with foot hydro - massage, mini bar with soft drinks, good music that is heard throughout the sauna and resting place - Tepidarium, the combination creates a very special atmosphere and full relaxation.

Tbilisi - Akhaltsikhe by Minibus: Cost, Time & Distance

9 January, 2015 | Travel guides | 102 seen

As an indie traveler, I prefer to travel in Georgia by mini buses, they are cheap and most often the fastest way to get from one point in Georgia to another.

Not always, but most often (for example, I would prefer railway to travel from Tbilisi to Batumi over minibus).

My first time when I visited Akhaltsikhe was in July 2014, during our 2 day rafting trip. Back then we had a little time to explore Akhaltsikhe and I decided - we must return here another time for a longer stay.

That day came at the start of January 2015 -  we booked a superb hotel at a superb location in Akhaltsikhe, see Hotel Rabath & Gino Wellness Review in Akhaltsikhe

​Update: See how can I save you time and money by helping to plan your itinerary to Georgia, see organized tours in Georgia.

Departing

Turns out mini buses heading to Akhaltsikhe departs both from Didube station and from Tbilisi Railway Station. You can travel to Borjomi as well, using Tbilisi - Akhaltsikhe minibus. 

Price

Price per person was 8 GEL

Distance and driving time

Distance from Tbilisi to Akhaltiskhe is around 207 km. Travel time should be around 2 and a half hours (2.5h)

Timetable

Basically there is one minibus departing every hour or 40 minutes starting 6AM till 7PM 

Tbilisi -  Akhaltsikhe minibus

City minibuses parked near Tbilisi Railway Station

Building close to Tbilisi Railway Station

Liqueur store with entrance from carriageway

Minibuses at Akhaltsikhe (close to Rabati Castle Complex)

Timetable at Akhaltsikhe minibus station

Scenic Sights during Akhaltsikhe - Tbilisi ride

Blog Income Report 2014 - $3,334.20

8 January, 2015 | Blogging | 12 seen

Yesterday I published a round-up post for the total blog traffic in 2014.  It turns out my blog has attracted more than 40,000 unique visitors last year.

Today I decided to wrap up a blog income report for the whole of 2014.

I have been publishing my blog online income reports starting in January 2014, so by today, I have 12 reports for the previous twelve months.

In total, my blog in 2014 has earned $3,334.2, what is around $277.85 per month or $9.13 in a day. 

Blog Income Report 2014

As you can see from the above chart -  first months of 2014 (January, February, March, April, and May) are not even visible on this chart. Starting August there is a significant growth in the online income.

Here is why - starting January, I implemented only Google AdSense on my blog to monetize it, and income stayed low while I added Amazon Associates starting the month of August.

Blog online income report 2014

The best month in terms of online income in 2014 was December, when my blog earned pretty serious $2,029.67.

The worst month in 2014 was March with really modest $5.51.

In overall, the year of 2014 was full of surprises, but was closed in steady growth (at least I hope so, and hope that growth will continue in 2015 as well)

What monetization channels I have used in 2014

In total, I have used 4 or 5 channels to monetize my blog - Google Adsense, Booking.com, Amazon Associates, Amazon CPM, and some other affiliate programs.

By now, the most successful channel turned out is Amazon Associates, followed by Google Adsense and Amazon CPM equally. I dropped Booking.com affiliate program after I found the hotel industry is a way too competitive.

Expenses

Doing my monthly income reports I have never included expenses section, what might give not a fully transparent picture of what's really happening each month. I promise I will include expenses section in future reports. 

Speaking of expenses in 2014 - I have used some Facebook Ads to drive traffic or buy likes and of course, I had to pay monthly hosting payments.

I guess total "investment" in Facebook's ads are about $200.00 while I know for sure - I'm paying for my Linode VPS $40.00 each month. During this summer I got a Linode Promo code, and it saved me another $100.00.

So in total:

• Facebook Ads: = $200.00
• Linode VPS:$380.00
• Total: $580

Goals for 2015

Though I have been monetizing my blog for already 1 year - I still feel like a newbie at this thing. I have no idea were 2015 actually will lead me in, but I have some goals for it.

In total, I would like to reach $15,000 by the end of 2015. In average it's $1,250 each month or $41.09 every day. By writing these lines these numbers sound pretty high for me, but actually I don't think they are impossible. 

I'm looking to diversify my online income sources as well, though Amazon, for now, seems a "gold miner" - I believe there are more options to discover and add as a potential income stream.

I will keep Google AdSense on my blog, and who knows, maybe in 2015 I will figure out how to get more than $40.00 per month from it (I did setup a goal about a year ago)

Blog Traffic Report 2014 - 40,378 Unique Visitors - Growth; Location, Gender & Age

7 January, 2015 | Blogging | 10 seen

I have been doing monthly blog traffic reports starting from the first month I started this blog. Today I have decided to wrap up a blog traffic report for the whole year of 2014. It should show more accurate data about what was happening last year. 

In average my blog traffic stats have gone up from 1,433 unique visitors in January up to 13,074 unique's at the end of December. Though there were 3 months (February, March, and April) when traffic didn't overpass 1,000 unique visitors in a month.

• In total, my blog reached 40,378 unique visitors in 2014.
• In average it is - 3364.83 unique's a month or
• 110 unique visitors in a day

Blog Traffic 2014 (Data source: Google Analytics)

As you can see from the graph provided above, pretty serious growth has happened during those twelve months. Most impressive traffic growth happened at Q4.

Blog Traffic 2014 Weekly (Data source: Google Analytics)

Most visited was Nov 30 - Dec 6 week, when unique visitors totaled in 3,583  - should I mention, that on these dates Black Friday and Cyber Monday happened?

Blog Traffic 2014 daily (Data source: Google Analytics)

The huge spike at the start of the year happened on January 24, 2014, when someone posted a link to Reddit, it was enough to generate to my blog most traffic on that day. And I will remember that day as a day of most traffic received (1,140 unique visitors). 

Next biggest spikes happened at the end of November/ start of December (again thanks to Black Friday and Cyber Monday), reaching 794 (on November 28) and 877 (on December 1) respectively.

Blog Traffic report 2014 by Quarters

Blog Traffic 2014 report by quarters

As mentioned already at the start of this post, Q4 was the best in terms of unique visitors making more than 50% of unique visitors (26,746), leaving the second Q3 with 8,063, third Q2 with modest 3,445 and finally first quarter of last year with really modest 2,293 unique visitors.

The maths are simple - the year of 2014 was in the sign of steady growth.

I guess in overall results are neither good nor bad. Results are as they are.

10 most popular articles

In 2014 I wrote in total 428 articles, on average it is 1.17 articles per day. 

Here come 10 most popular articles

In total, these 10 most popular articles generated 40.45% of total unique page views. A pretty impressive number, right?

Mobile device users

In our days it's a hot topic -  while many claims they have more than 50% visitors browsing their sites using mobile devices - I can report more modest but still impressive results:

Mobile device users (Data Source: Google Analytics)

As you can see from the image above - Desktop users still are the king for my blog making in total 74.09%, followed by mobile devices (19.26%) and tablets (6.65%).

One thing I have noticed here - bounce rates from mobile and tablets are lower than from desktop, and pretty significant lower, the same applies for average time spent on the blog.

Interesting trends to observe and improve in 2015.

Demographics: Age and Gender

I implemented Google Analytics Display features at the end of August, and here is the report after counting around 35% of sessions:

Demographics: Age & Gender (Data source: Google Analytics)

As you can see from the charts above, main audience for my blog is - males (66%) in age between 25-34. Females come second making 33.4%. Not bad, I guess. 

Demographics: Location

Demographics: Location (Data source: Google Analytics)

• Around 1/3 (29.92%) of visitors to my blog come from the United States, followed by United Kingdom (8.55%) and India (7.75%).
• Canada is 4th with 4.84% and Georgia (the country where I'm currently living) comes 5th with 3.96%.
• 4 other European countries - Germany (2.17%), Spain (1.76%) and Russia (1.58%) are in my top 10 countries list.
• Australia ranks 9th with 1.62%.

Traffic sources

Traffic Sources 2014 (Data Source: Google Analytics)

I guess it is no surprise to see Google as the main traffic source in our days (though some reports show great results with Facebook or Pinterest as well).

• in 2014 Google Organic search sent 78.28% or all traffic to my blog. 
• Direct traffic (have no clue what it is) - made 10.12%
• Referrals from Reddit.com accounts for 2.75%
• Seems that Twitter (1.94%) got me better results than Facebook (1.03%)
• Bing sent 0.38% and Yahoo sent 0.36%

Good to know.

Goals for 2015

While it has been a fun ride in 2014, I must admit total result of 40,000 unique visitors is nothing much.

Just logically I have some goals to achieve in 2015. I will not be arrogant, and will set my goal pretty modest - to reach in total 150,000 unique visitors in 2015.

In average it would ask to have 12,500 unique visitors each month.

Since I ended December with more than 13,000 unique visitors - I believe it is a reasonable goal to reach 150,000 unique visitors in 2015.

Hotel Trialeti Palace in Bakuriani Review

6 January, 2015 | Hotel reviews | 17 seen

Welcome to another photo review article, this time I will photo-review Hotel Trialeti Palace hotel in Bakuriani.

For a prelude - this was my second stay at this hotel during Christmas time second year in a row. You might find interesting my post - White Christmas in Bakuriani.

Though, I didn't find a way to book this hotel on booking.com, as usual we used local groupon clone site - hotsale.ge or vovovo.ge (search in both for deals, use Google Translate if needed). So we bought coupons on of the groupon clone sites and get a nice discount, in total making to pay 50GEL per person per day.

This hotel offer included in price 3 meals per day (Swedish table), they claim they have sauna (they do have sauna, but second year in a row, it didn't worked), so do they have indoor pool (haven't used any of them - because, never works)

Simple bathroom at Hotel Trialeti Palace

Room with a balcony

View from Balcony

View from Balcony

Balcony at Hotel Trialeti Palace

A tiny TV at Trialeti Palace hotel

Unfortunately no English language channels here, just Georgian and Russian. 

Queen size bed at Trialati Palace hotel

Lobby at Hotel Trialeti Palace

Christmas tree at Lobby

Bar at Trialeti Palace hotel in Bakuriani

That said - I can only add this - Trialeti Palace hotel is a budget friendly and I can recommend it,though you should beware of something might not work as planned thing to happen.

About Hotel Trialeti Palace Bakuriani

Best winter and summer resort in Georgian mountains.

Hotel Trialeti Palace is the only one in bakuriani with its own, 1700 m. length skiing track. Elevator with special pay. The hotel has ski depot reservoir only for Trialeti Palace Guests. Hotel offers ski rent. Rooms 43 comfortable twin-bedded rooms, 8 suits. All equipped with private bathrooms, international phone and cable TV. The rooms at first and second floors have balconies.

Hiking in Tbilisi - Turtle lake (Kus Tba) - Vake Park

4 January, 2015 | Outdoor Activities | 57 seen

On a lovely and sunny Saturday morning, we decided to take hiking from Turtle's Lake down to Vake Park.

First thing first.

How to get to Turtle Lake?

Catch a Taxi, or call a taxi company. Personally, I prefer the taxi company with number 2 155 155.

Drive to Turtle lake should cost you around 5 GEL. If you prefer to catch a taxi on street - the price may go up to 10 Lari, but I wouldn't pay more than 8 Lari.

Update: Use taxi ride companies like Bolt

Actually, Turtle Lake or Kus Tba is one of the best attractions of Tbilisi (my subjective opinion) - so you can stay there all day along without any need to hike or trek somewhere else.

You can enjoy a lovely meal at coffee Intelligentsia there. Mostly I prefer to head to Turtle lake in hot summer days.

Ok, enough talking here is the pictures;

Turtle Lake

Sundial at Turtle lake

View to Tbilisi city

Pine forest and plenty of oxygen

Hiking trails in Tbilisi

Hiking trails in Tbilisi used by extreme riders

View to Stadium from trails

Parallel bars on trails

Vake park

Tennis courts at Vake park

Vake park

Memorial at Vake park

New Building

About Turtle lake

Turtle Lake is a direct English translation of Kus Tba, a small lake at the outskirts of Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, so named due to the perceived abundance of turtles living in these places.

 Turtle Lake is located on the wooded northern slope of Mtatsminda Mount at elevation of 686.7 m above sea level and fed by a small river Varazis-Khevi, a tributary to the Mtkvari (Kura). The area of surface is 0.034 km², while the catchment area is 0.4 km². Maximal depth is 2.6 m.

The Turtle Lake area is designed as a recreational zone and is frequented by the Tbilisians on weekends. It is also a place where festivals and concerts are held. It could be reached either via a road or an aerial tramway leading from Tbilisi’s Vake Municipality, but it is now defunct.

West to the lake is the Open Air Museum of Ethnography, a large exhibition of Georgia’s folk architecture.

Blog Online Income Report - December 2014

3 January, 2015 | Blogging | 9 seen

Welcome to my twelve blog income report - covering month of December 2014. 

I'm making an income report each month covering earnings I have made solely in internet and in general with my blog.

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 December 2014

• In total my blog and I earned $2,029.67, that's increase by 188.04% if compared to previous month.
• $2,029.67 makes average $65.47 in a day.

Money I earned in December equals to a minimum wage in Belgium ($2,026.00) or average wage in Spain ($2,018.00). I believe it would be hard to survive in Belgium with minimum wage but I know for sure, that it would be pretty easy to live and travel in Spain.

If compared to country were I'm currently living - Georgia. Money earned in December would equal to 4.5 average salaries in Georgia. Technically speaking - I could take a long rest now (till mid April)

Seriously speaking - December was a Christmas time, and as I believe my earnings were so high thanks to:

• Black Friday (End of November)
• Cyber Monday
• Gifts buying season

Let me explain:

Most of the money I made online I made using Amazon Affiliates. Those of you not familiar what Amazon is - it is a damned good place were to buy online many kind of goods, starting books and ending jewellery. Amazon has it's own affiliate program were associates (affiliates) can join and promote Amazon products,and receive commission for each shipped item. 

The rest of money I made online last month came from Google Adsense and Amazon CPM ADS - combined both of them accounts for about 0.5% from huge pie of $2,029.67.

I have been already many times told - Google Adsense makes pennies, but taking into account that every piece counts - really valuable pennies.

Amazon CPM ADS is something similar to Google Adsense, but instead of paying for clicks, they are paying for impressions. The more impressions you can serve, more you can earn.

You can read more about my first impressions of Amazon CPM ads in my Review.

Following words I said last month (In November report) when forecasted results for this month (December):

Taking into account that holiday season has just started, and I can see data for first 2 days of December (Which already are pretty impressive) I will forecast about $600 in month of December, though I believe it can crack $1000 this month.

Isn't it awesome - I not only cracked $1,000 milestone - I even cracked $2,000 milestone. This leads me to think of another blog post (reaching one year anniversary of blog back in October 2014 and settings goals for second year of bloging):

I have 2 simple goals - first to reach $500 per month, second to reach $1000 per month.

Now, December was second month in a row, when my blog earned more than $500 per month, so I guess it's time to adjust new goals and milestones for 2015.

Speaking of them:

Goals/Forecast for January 2015

Though it has been two great months in a row of passive online income - I'm looking on month of January pretty concerned - I mean holiday season is over - there should come a drop. I will stick with high forecast for myself, but modest for more pro affiliate marketers - January should reach $500.00 (it's 4 times less than I did in December)

I'm not willing to get in self-fooling traps - by forecasting - OK, now I will crack $5,000 milestone in January - simply because: I'm not attracting so much traffic yet and I still see a  potential drop of new purchases - simply of - holiday season is over.

Blog Traffic Report - December 2014

2 January, 2015 | Blogging | 10 seen

Welcome to monthly blog traffic report, today I will share some data how my blog performed on month of December 2014.

As it turns out this is already 15th blog traffic report. 

In short - December was a great month, traffic first time cracked 10,000 milestone and ended with 13,074 unique visitors.

Blog Traffic Report December 2014 (Source Google Analytics)

• 13,074 unique visitors is a 43.73% growth compared to previous month
• It's 3,978 unique visitors gain if compared to previous month
• 13,074 unique visitors in a month, is an average 421.74 unique visitors in a day, again it's up from 303.2 in previous month.

When I forecasted results for December month (in previous report covering November) this is what I told:

At this point I will forecast results for December - it would be great to crack 10,000 mark, but I will say - a drop could happen, so my goal is to reach at least 6,000 unique visitors in month of December.

Now - the great thing happened and I cracked a 10,000 unique visitors milestone.

December 2014 VS December 2013

My blog is about 15 month old, and I have been doing monthly traffic reports from first month starting. So it's easy to compare were I was a year ago.

Blog Traffic Report: December 2014 vs December 2013 (Data Source: Google Analytics)

A year ago I managed to attract to my blog really modest, not to say pathetic 74 unique visitors, following words I used then to describe my results:

In month of December my blog has attracted just 74 unique visitors, what is very bad result. It has been already 3 months since I started to blog, and 74 visitors in one month is very bad result. On other hand - I haven't done much promoting, just re-posting to my Twitter account.

Well - I haven't done any social (Twitter) promotion at all this December (Well all of my post are synced to my Twitter account) - but it's pretty impressive 17.567% growth in last 12 month. I'm happy - what else can I add to this.

Road to 100,000 unique visitors in a month

Starting last summer, I have been measuring my success (or failures)  to reach 100,000 unique visitors in a month. Since there is nothing much I can analyse (just actual traffic results) - at end of the December - I stand at 13% level of eventual 100,000 unique visitors. I doubt I will reach 100 K any time soon, but it's good to know were you stand right now.

What I have done in month of December

There is no magic or formula - it's just a blog writing and up keeping (maybe a little bit following global trends). In short I have been consecutive bloging each day, starting October 2013 (missing just 2 days in May 2014). Another formula I'm trying to stick with - to write a minimum 500 words article each day.

In days I have no good internet access I'm posting from my phone. I'm trying to stay focused to not to miss a single day of blog post each and every day. That simple.

Traffic sources

More than 80% of traffic in month of December to my blog came from Google search. Social traffic (Facebook, Twiiter) accounts for about 3.67% and referral traffic for some 2.3%.

In conclusion

Last month (December 2014) was a best month so far in terms of unique visitors. It was a first time I ever cracked 10,000 unique visitors milestone. 

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)