I love to travel, and I love to write about my travels.
Geographically in Asia, politically in Europe, Georgia is the perfect base for exploring the Caucasus. We visited Georgia before, between, and after visiting Azerbaijan and Armenia (Americans can enter Georgia without a visa for up to one year). Each time we visited, we explored a different part. We both really liked Georgia and hope to visit again one day. It’s beautiful, it has a rich history, and it has nice weather. And they are the oldest makers of wine in the world. What’s not to like?
We’ve just passed the nine-month mark of our trip, and our travels have brought us to Armenia. Did you know there’s over 4000 monasteries in Armenia? That’s a lot! As the first country in the world to formally adopt Christianity, much of Armenia’s identity is tied to St Gregory the Illuminator, and his conversion of the king and the nation in 301 AD- as well as conflicts with empires of other faiths ever since.
We arrived in Azerbaijan via the overnight train from Tbilisi, which was cheap ($20) and easy. It left Tbilisi’s Station Square at 8:40 pm, arrived at the border just before midnight, and made it to Baku by 9 am. We had already applied for an e-visa for Azerbaijan ($55), which we printed out in Tbilisi, and they do the immigration stuff on the train. We had a 4-person sleeper berth which was fairly comfortable, aside from being super hot for a couple of hours before they turned off the heater.
Ranked as #193 in the world as far as tourism, it’s not easy finding information on Comoros. But since we were in the Indian Ocean area, Chris and I were determined to visit. After much research into finding a flight, a plan began to come together. Here’s all the information I could gather, in the hopes that it helps other travelers who want to see this seldom-visited island nation.
As Chris and I looked at flights out of Mauritius and into Comoros, we found that most flights made use of the Johannesburg airport. Since we have friends in South Africa, whom we have not seen since we left Khartoum in 2011, we decided to stopover for a week and visit the area.
We arrived in Johannesburg, connected to Durban, and were picked up by our friends Paula and George. It was great seeing them and reminiscing about our days of the Khartoum Hash House Harriers and the crazy adventures we used to get up to in Sudan. We stayed with them for four relaxing days, and explored the area near Durban.
PalmTreeMusings 