Paragliding and jet skiing
Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan
Paragliding
Jet ski super sport
Paragliding
Location: Tibilisi, Georgia
Georgia is an astonishing country where you can find sea resorts with sandy beaches overlooking The Black Sea – perfect place to chill and have a good rest. You can also hike for 8 hours in Caucasian mountains where temperature will drop to 3 degrees Celsius in the summer and the weather is unpredictable. Georgia have places to chill but also to conquer where nature can win even if you have a strongest will to beat the odds and get to the top of the mountains that reach over 5000 meters above the sea level. Two weeks definitely are not enough if you want to discover this Caucasian pearl that has so much more to offer than you can imagine.
Paragliding was one of the best choices to make. Also it was my first time to try this breathtaking activity. The weather was so perfect that I could see all the mountains surrounding Tbilisi but also the highest Caucasian mountains reaching over 5000 meter above the sea level that are 150 kilometres away.
The company that I have chosen was Fly Zone through Fly Caucasus website. Company run by two Ukrainians that are professional para-gliders for 10 to 15 years. They have also revealed that they are planing to organise first professional paragliding competitions in Georgia in summer 2019.
I have had one of my best time with those guys. It is an amazing feeling where you are pulled by 4×4 and you can watch your feet gradually increasing the distance to our mother Earth. I have done it many times but usually on board of a plane where you can have a false feeling of touching a hard surface that can imitate the ground while in a sky. When paragliding your legs are dangling hundreds of meters above the ground so on the beginning you have to get used to it. Wen you reach the right altitude, which was 700 meters for us, you can enjoy the breathtaking view. After a while you want more and the option is an extreme flight.
Extreme flight will make half of the people pass out and the other half dizzy as G forces are going through the sky for an ordinary people. As he told me because I didn’t pass out (barely) I can try turning pro one day if I wish. During that part of the flight you can feel your blood rushing away out of your brain. It will put you to bed better than your mum singing nursery rhymes. It’s just 7 second! Can you imagine a jet fighter pilot during the flight? This is way less than they experience but for most people 1 G is more than enough especially when it’s on a comfy couch in front of the TV. So remember to tie your shoe laces tight or you will be landing shoeless Fred Flintstone style.
I was definitely happy to choose 30 min flight as it was divided to two 15 minute sections (flight times depends on the strength of the thermal winds) so I have had two starts and landings and also more possibilities to set up the cameras right. Plus it’s fun when you have to run and eventually you stop touching the ground…. I remember when as a kid I used to spread my hands pretending that I am a plane. This is just like that but this time you actually take off into the sky. Childhood dream come true.
So spread your arms wide and enjoy the flight.
More information about Paragliding that I have chosen on http://flyzone.ge/ and also on their facebook page FlyZone.ge
Jet ski
Lake Sevan is truly a gem in Armenia for sure. It’s the biggest lake in the country surrounded by the astonishing mountains. It was probably the best place to choose jet skiing. You can cheer with many Armenians and Russians drinking their favourites and also get some freedom in the middle of the lake. Funny thing that they know a lot of currencies but when I showed a British pounds they were surprised to see a note that they haven’t seen before. After convincing them that it is legit I got 12 minutes on the regular jet ski and 8 minutes on super sport monster.
The difference is visible straight away. Acceleration and top speed increased drastically… to the speed where water becomes a concrete. Go pro gets blurry every second because it’s very messy with water flying around. It’s a bit like a Taz from Lonely Tunes. Madness on the water and its up to you how do you want to spend the abilities that you have in your hands.
I would only have one more wish – to do few jumps on it. It would be just a cherry on a cake for me.
The place itself is just perfect. You have an opened wide space so on a super sport you can go full throttle to find out the top speed but also fool around with tight turns. The difference between the ordinary model (on the picture) and super sport is huge. The beast just wants more and more speed and one false move will send you flying for quite some time but if you don’t mind to get wet then I would go for it as it’s much more fun.
Prices and more information are available on many places around the lake. You can also google the bigger renting places around Lake Sevan.
Driving in Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan
Driving in those countries differs in a way. The roads can be bad, very bad … or worse. Although Baku is an exception with its astonishing street Formula one race track.
You think I am kidding about the roads … you will learn by yourself the hard way. I wasn’t discouraged by that anyway. I think that Georgia and Armenia has so much more to offer than just just the roads… and it is the freedom from concrete jungle.
The worst roads are definitely in Armenia or in Georgia near the Armenian border. It definitely did not look like I am heading toward the border crossing. It was more like going toward a 4×4 competition and accidently entering their race track.
You have to use the whole width of the road to miss potholes but sometimes it cannot be done. On a way to Ushguli the highest located village in Europe you have to use a mini bus service (mashrutka) or have 4×4 to get there as you might loose few bits and pieces of your car.
Accommodation has the best ratio price to standard (out of the 43 countries so far). I have paid around £10-36 per night for the places that looked like mini palaces with high ceilings and chandeliers that aren’t usually in a budget hotels. Most of the places had also breakfast included and were very clean. Best deals are definitely in Georgia but in two other countries I would recommend to pay more for better standard as you wont get a good one for the similar money as in Georgia.
I can say that low prices in Georgia don’t mean low standards as I have liked all of the locations and were very welcomed by the hosts. Great memories.
Places and Hotel names that I strongly recommend (no discount and paid on my own so I don’t get anything for those recommendations):
prices per night for a couple
Georgia:
Kutaisi – Edemi Hotel – £15 (pictures below)
Akhaltsikhe – Meskhuri Koshki – £19
Batumi – Orbi Beach Tower Aparts – £19
Mestia – Garden House – £10 (standard rooms but very nice host and very cheap and calm place)
Armenia:
Yerevan – Capital Hostel – £30
Azerbaijan:
Baku – La Casa Hotel – £36
Georgia is an amazing country where 2 weeks are definitely not enough for sure. There is so many places to explore that you can spend 2 months and still won’t see all of the wonders. Georgia has a lot longer history than you can imagine. When you go to see monastery you wont see just a ruins of the 5th century temple but you will see it all in a glory like it was over 1500 years ago. This is the only way that you can experience time travel in 21st century so far. I always try to imagine how it all looked just after it was built. Imagine the surroundings with no motorways or roads as we know it. When this was a building on a large hill ,the closest to the God in the area, without any tall buildings or possibility to raise above it. It was probably breathtaking for the pilgrims and one of the best experience in their lives.
Mestia
Upliscyche (Uplistsikhe)
Georgia has so much to offer. Such as Uplistsikhe, a rock-hewn town or Vardzia a cave monastery that have multiple caves that can be considered as a fully functioning town inside and up the mountain (built in solid rock).
Mestia is a base camp for the travellers that trek the surrounding mountains for days reaching over 5000 meters. It is also close to Ushguli that is considered as the highest inhabited located town in the Europe.
Vardzia, Rabati castle and astonishing Khertvisi fortress are close together so you won’t be disappointed to visit this region as the drive there would be worth it because of the beautiful mountain scenery.
Khertvisi Fortress
Tibilisi
Vardzia
Rabati Castle in Akhaltsikhe
Ushguli
Armenia is the first country that accepted Christian religion in the world and it happened in 301 AD century. Armenian influenced many around the world and there is an Armenian district in Jerusalem. It can only give you some clues on how rich their history is.
Khor Virap is one of the most visited places in Armenia. It is located on a top of the hill surrounded by the flat fields. Most of the photos will have also a beautiful Mount Ararat in its background. It is believed that the summit holds Noah’s Arc. Both of those symbols are included in Armenian coats of Arms. It also resembles holy land for Armenians that unfortunately was lost. The mount Ararat is also visible from the capital city of Armenia – Yerevan.
Khor Virap
Yerevan holds a beautiful fountain show that happens to the accompanying classical music. Many restaurants and beautiful city centre attracts a lot of tourists.
Because Armenia doesn’t have an access to the sea the main place to rest by the water is Lake Sevan that is close to Yerevan and many Armenian citizens use it as a weekend getaways. It is very often visited by tourist and from what I have noticed large numbers of Russians seems to like that location where you can easily try most of the water sports than you can imagine.
On the way to Geghard Monastery
Yerevan
Geghard Monastery
Armenia on the way to Lake Sevan
Baku
Cycling in Baku
Baku, a capital city of Azerbaijan, is very wealthy. Quite often you will see oil wells and private villas with beautifully engraved sandstone pillars and entrances surrounding them.
Baku definitely will make you speechless with it’s monuments, sky scrapers, beautiful parks and seaside walks. Also every year Baku becomes a Formula One racetrack and you can always see the parts of it with the drivers pit stops and main seating area.
I have decided to take a night train to Baku from Tibilisi where the journey takes 12 to 15 hours with 1 hour stop at the border. First class ticket costs around £50 and there are two beds in each compartment. Journey is long but wort it especially that you cannot drive into Azerbaijan if you rent a car in Georgia.
Formula One pit stops
Train from Tibilisi to Baku
Gobustan
Gobustan
I would also highly recommend visiting Gobustan and Fire Mountain as they are close to the city. Gobustan is the Rock Art Museum with it’s 6000 prehistoric rock cravings on average dated 5,000 to 20,000 years old. It is also known that 300 out of 700 world’s mud volcanoes sit in Gobustan. There is also a large museum with all the cravings explained.
Yanar Dag, also known as Fire Mountain, burns steadily because a seep of gas from the subsurface. The fire has never extinguished to this day.
Yanar Dag (Fire Mountain)
Baku
Lokbatan
Baku
