It is a little about itself for acquaintance. Our crew: I, my beloved wife, the best and irreplaceable navigator - Vera and our loyal canine friends, standard bull terrier Shakari and his elder brother, tiny bull terrier Zakhar. Until recently we traveled on stock Toyota Land Cruiser 200. And now would like to tell about our travel for New Year's holidays 2017-2018.
New Year's journey in 2017-2018 along the route: Moscow - Rostov-on-Don — Russia; Kazbegi (Stepantsminda) - Tbilisi - Goderdzi - Borjomi - Batumi — Georgia; Istanbul - Antalya - Aspendos - Ankara — Turkey; Batumi - Tbilisi - Kazbegi - Rostov-on-Don - Russia; Minsk - Beoolzersk, Brest region — Belarus; Moscow.
From Tbilisi to Batumi, we decided to go through the Goderdzi ski resort. And this, as it turned out later, was not the right decision for a car unprepared for going to the roads. Before the start, we acquired anti-skid chains, which were useful to us on slippery serpentine, but were powerless in deep snow. And here we are, almost at the top, standing in the snow, no shovels, trying to dig up the car with metal bowls of our dogs. Naturally, all this does not help, we sat on the bottom of the snow, and the wheels rotate helplessly in the air.
Sitting in the car, we thought about a plan for further action. I knew that about 10 km ahead, there was a hotel in a ski resort and they should have equipment that can pull us out. We didn’t give up trying to dig out the cars, dug, warmed, dug, warmed. It began to get dark and here it was necessary to act immediately. And suddenly, in the distance, we saw the headlights and they moved in our direction. After 15 minutes, a ratrak drove up to us, he drove the workers from the ski resort to the normal road. When they returned, the guys hooked us and safely reached the hotel, where we stayed overnight.
In the morning we stand on the top of the mountain, near the hotel. The owner of the hotel, who accepted us, warmed, fed us, at 2 am, when asked if it would be difficult for us to descend, he answered - no, not difficult, at night it would be dangerous. The owner of the snowcat, turns out to be the brother of the hotel owner, came for us. We cling two cables and begin the descent. There are two unpleasant moments, we need to go exactly in the center for the snowmobile, otherwise the cables fall on the tracks and the cables explode. Keep smooth, difficult enough, the car floats through the snow like clockwork, almost not controlled. We descend from the mountain, and then to the left, then to the right we have a cliff. And the break of cables can lead to falling in this break. On the descent, the cables were somewhat torn, but always in the safest places for us. An hour later we were downstairs. They shook hands with our rescuers, thanked them and continued on their own path.
Further on our route Borjomi, but still need to get to it. A small digression. Before the trip I studied a lot of information on snow chains. The choice was on Pewag Servo SUV chains, bought according to the dimension of the wheels, but they did not fit, although the seller assured me that the chains would fit my wheels 100%. I had to return. As a result, I bought the chain Thule XD-16. Very easy to use, well helped on the descent from the mountain. We drove in the morning and the snow that melted yesterday turned into ice, and we felt confident on the descent while braking. In Borjomi, it was planned to visit Borjomi Park with a source, ride the cable car and explore the surroundings. We accomplished all this very quickly. In December, there are no tourists, we were practically alone in this beautiful park. After exploring the area, we went to Batumi. It was there that we decided to celebrate the New Year. About it a little later.
December 31, 2017. Here we are in Batumi. Outside the window + 14C. Tangerines on the trees, the sea. We rented an apartment in advance near the sea (we did not stay for the first time in this residential complex). We are surrounded by New Year's mood. New Year in Georgia is a home holiday, even our favorite restaurant closes at 11 pm, everyone rushes to the New Year's table. Around heard the explosions of firecrackers, crackers. Georgians have their own Christmas tree - Chichilaki. We decided to celebrate New Year by the sea. We left Batumi, chose a place in advance, so that near the sea, and most importantly, deserted. At 00:00 we launched a salute and took a walk along the shore with our four-footed travelers, Zakhar and Shakari, and went home. On January 1st, we are scheduled to start in Turkey.
On the 1st of January, in the morning, we started in Istanbul. 1200 km from Batumi to Istanbul, we decided to drive this way without stopping for the night. It was raining outside the window, there is such a belief in Russia, if you start your way in the rain, then you will be lucky and the whole way will pass without incident. The passage through the border between Georgia and Turkey took 1.5 hours, and stood for a very long time in front of the checkpoint with Turkish border guards. Most of our route lay along the Black Sea coast. From the rain with a strong wind on the sea were high waves, it is at such moments you feel the full power of the sea. The first stop was in the city of Trabzon, we had to buy SIM cards in the phone. This procedure took 1.5 hours !!! Our passports and data were checked as if we were spies or secret agents. We did not expect to lose so much time on it. We go further. Next stop for lunch or dinner as lucky)) We stopped, ate at a roadside cafe, tasty, not expensive, a great menu. A bit away from the topic. We rode with two dogs. Turkey is a country with the main religion of Islam. We did not think that Turkey is a country of savages and devout Muslims, but we also didn’t know how old the traditions were. How and where you can walk with dogs, people treat dogs as dogs, we studied all this before the trip, but this is only text from the Internet, and we actually had to find out everything ourselves.
As we planned to Istanbul, we arrived without stopping for the night. In Istanbul, we had booked a room in a hostel, we agreed in advance on our arrival and clarified the possibility of living with dogs in the same room. They took a shower and went for a walk along the embankment, the hostel was set on the very seashore. In the evening we were in for an unpleasant surprise, the owner of the hostel arrived in the evening and said that we could not stay in a room with dogs. Our dialogue lasted 2 hours, we did not understand why the hostel administrator populated us in the afternoon (we showed our dogs to her in advance) and what has changed since that time. The owner of the hostel did not want to listen to us and claimed that we were time and nobody inhabited us, that we have room keys that only the administrator could give us, did not convince her. Worst of all, the owner of the hostel did not want to return money to us for paid 2 days in advance (tired after a long and difficult journey from Batumi to Istanbul, when we paid, we scored to take the cashier’s check). As a result, we were given back only a part of the money, and we were left without a place to sleep. Despair, even in the worst situations, it is not for us. Very soon we found a great hotel where we were allowed to stay with the dogs, taking a separate fee for cleaning the wool after our stay. Sorry for such details, but this is important, many people travel with their four-legged friends.
In the morning, we went to explore the city. Istanbul is a very beautiful city, with its own sights. We looked at the center, walked along the embankments, everything was very interesting, and the next day we went to Antalya, where at this time of the year the air temperature is +20 C +20, for comparison with Moscow where at this time is –20 C –25 C. Antalya is a 100% tourist city and in December the streets are very empty, few people. On the beach, we met a married couple from Russia who moved here to live. We talked with them, introduced them to our dogs. On Antalya in us according to the plan was 2 days. In fact, all the time we spent on the beach with our dogs. The next on our route was Aspendos.
Aspendos is an ancient city in southern Turkey. The ruins of the city are 35 km from Antalya, near the village of Serik. We looked at a very beautiful amphitheater and ruins. It took about 4 hours, and went to Ankara. Ankara in terms of our trip, took only a night for the night. Having spent the night in Ankara, we began our return journey to Georgia. Crossing the border between Turkey and Georgia, we understood and felt how much we love and how close this country with its friendly, pushy people, Georgia, is to us. And literally in 20 minutes we were faced with the problem of finding a night restaurant or cafe, we met the taxi driver who accompanied us to a good restaurant, wished us good luck and left our phone number.
From Batumi we went to Belarus, the city of Beloozersk (it is located 100 km from the border with Poland), to my parents.
New Year's journey in 2017-2018 along the route: Moscow - Rostov-on-Don — Russia; Kazbegi (Stepantsminda) - Tbilisi - Goderdzi - Borjomi - Batumi — Georgia; Istanbul - Antalya - Aspendos - Ankara — Turkey; Batumi - Tbilisi - Kazbegi - Rostov-on-Don - Russia; Minsk - Beoolzersk, Brest region — Belarus; Moscow.
From Tbilisi to Batumi, we decided to go through the Goderdzi ski resort. And this, as it turned out later, was not the right decision for a car unprepared for going to the roads. Before the start, we acquired anti-skid chains, which were useful to us on slippery serpentine, but were powerless in deep snow. And here we are, almost at the top, standing in the snow, no shovels, trying to dig up the car with metal bowls of our dogs. Naturally, all this does not help, we sat on the bottom of the snow, and the wheels rotate helplessly in the air.
Sitting in the car, we thought about a plan for further action. I knew that about 10 km ahead, there was a hotel in a ski resort and they should have equipment that can pull us out. We didn’t give up trying to dig out the cars, dug, warmed, dug, warmed. It began to get dark and here it was necessary to act immediately. And suddenly, in the distance, we saw the headlights and they moved in our direction. After 15 minutes, a ratrak drove up to us, he drove the workers from the ski resort to the normal road. When they returned, the guys hooked us and safely reached the hotel, where we stayed overnight.
In the morning we stand on the top of the mountain, near the hotel. The owner of the hotel, who accepted us, warmed, fed us, at 2 am, when asked if it would be difficult for us to descend, he answered - no, not difficult, at night it would be dangerous. The owner of the snowcat, turns out to be the brother of the hotel owner, came for us. We cling two cables and begin the descent. There are two unpleasant moments, we need to go exactly in the center for the snowmobile, otherwise the cables fall on the tracks and the cables explode. Keep smooth, difficult enough, the car floats through the snow like clockwork, almost not controlled. We descend from the mountain, and then to the left, then to the right we have a cliff. And the break of cables can lead to falling in this break. On the descent, the cables were somewhat torn, but always in the safest places for us. An hour later we were downstairs. They shook hands with our rescuers, thanked them and continued on their own path.
Further on our route Borjomi, but still need to get to it. A small digression. Before the trip I studied a lot of information on snow chains. The choice was on Pewag Servo SUV chains, bought according to the dimension of the wheels, but they did not fit, although the seller assured me that the chains would fit my wheels 100%. I had to return. As a result, I bought the chain Thule XD-16. Very easy to use, well helped on the descent from the mountain. We drove in the morning and the snow that melted yesterday turned into ice, and we felt confident on the descent while braking. In Borjomi, it was planned to visit Borjomi Park with a source, ride the cable car and explore the surroundings. We accomplished all this very quickly. In December, there are no tourists, we were practically alone in this beautiful park. After exploring the area, we went to Batumi. It was there that we decided to celebrate the New Year. About it a little later.
December 31, 2017. Here we are in Batumi. Outside the window + 14C. Tangerines on the trees, the sea. We rented an apartment in advance near the sea (we did not stay for the first time in this residential complex). We are surrounded by New Year's mood. New Year in Georgia is a home holiday, even our favorite restaurant closes at 11 pm, everyone rushes to the New Year's table. Around heard the explosions of firecrackers, crackers. Georgians have their own Christmas tree - Chichilaki. We decided to celebrate New Year by the sea. We left Batumi, chose a place in advance, so that near the sea, and most importantly, deserted. At 00:00 we launched a salute and took a walk along the shore with our four-footed travelers, Zakhar and Shakari, and went home. On January 1st, we are scheduled to start in Turkey.
On the 1st of January, in the morning, we started in Istanbul. 1200 km from Batumi to Istanbul, we decided to drive this way without stopping for the night. It was raining outside the window, there is such a belief in Russia, if you start your way in the rain, then you will be lucky and the whole way will pass without incident. The passage through the border between Georgia and Turkey took 1.5 hours, and stood for a very long time in front of the checkpoint with Turkish border guards. Most of our route lay along the Black Sea coast. From the rain with a strong wind on the sea were high waves, it is at such moments you feel the full power of the sea. The first stop was in the city of Trabzon, we had to buy SIM cards in the phone. This procedure took 1.5 hours !!! Our passports and data were checked as if we were spies or secret agents. We did not expect to lose so much time on it. We go further. Next stop for lunch or dinner as lucky)) We stopped, ate at a roadside cafe, tasty, not expensive, a great menu. A bit away from the topic. We rode with two dogs. Turkey is a country with the main religion of Islam. We did not think that Turkey is a country of savages and devout Muslims, but we also didn’t know how old the traditions were. How and where you can walk with dogs, people treat dogs as dogs, we studied all this before the trip, but this is only text from the Internet, and we actually had to find out everything ourselves.
As we planned to Istanbul, we arrived without stopping for the night. In Istanbul, we had booked a room in a hostel, we agreed in advance on our arrival and clarified the possibility of living with dogs in the same room. They took a shower and went for a walk along the embankment, the hostel was set on the very seashore. In the evening we were in for an unpleasant surprise, the owner of the hostel arrived in the evening and said that we could not stay in a room with dogs. Our dialogue lasted 2 hours, we did not understand why the hostel administrator populated us in the afternoon (we showed our dogs to her in advance) and what has changed since that time. The owner of the hostel did not want to listen to us and claimed that we were time and nobody inhabited us, that we have room keys that only the administrator could give us, did not convince her. Worst of all, the owner of the hostel did not want to return money to us for paid 2 days in advance (tired after a long and difficult journey from Batumi to Istanbul, when we paid, we scored to take the cashier’s check). As a result, we were given back only a part of the money, and we were left without a place to sleep. Despair, even in the worst situations, it is not for us. Very soon we found a great hotel where we were allowed to stay with the dogs, taking a separate fee for cleaning the wool after our stay. Sorry for such details, but this is important, many people travel with their four-legged friends.
In the morning, we went to explore the city. Istanbul is a very beautiful city, with its own sights. We looked at the center, walked along the embankments, everything was very interesting, and the next day we went to Antalya, where at this time of the year the air temperature is +20 C +20, for comparison with Moscow where at this time is –20 C –25 C. Antalya is a 100% tourist city and in December the streets are very empty, few people. On the beach, we met a married couple from Russia who moved here to live. We talked with them, introduced them to our dogs. On Antalya in us according to the plan was 2 days. In fact, all the time we spent on the beach with our dogs. The next on our route was Aspendos.
Aspendos is an ancient city in southern Turkey. The ruins of the city are 35 km from Antalya, near the village of Serik. We looked at a very beautiful amphitheater and ruins. It took about 4 hours, and went to Ankara. Ankara in terms of our trip, took only a night for the night. Having spent the night in Ankara, we began our return journey to Georgia. Crossing the border between Turkey and Georgia, we understood and felt how much we love and how close this country with its friendly, pushy people, Georgia, is to us. And literally in 20 minutes we were faced with the problem of finding a night restaurant or cafe, we met the taxi driver who accompanied us to a good restaurant, wished us good luck and left our phone number.
From Batumi we went to Belarus, the city of Beloozersk (it is located 100 km from the border with Poland), to my parents.
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