Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia
Got the MIR brochure, read the trip description, and he calmed down... Adventure Center (Explore U.K.) also has a trip there, but MIR has a very strong presence in that part of the World. Even though the costs were greater with MIR (considered a "luxury" trip in that area), I wanted a tour operator that could almost be guaranteed to get us IN, THROUGH and OUT of the country, SAFELY!
MIR assured us that they had escorted many trips in this region and we would be perfectly safe. It's a plan, on the road again with Margie & Art!
"ex-Marine" found out about all the problems there, and ran around the house, screaming like a maniac, "Are you *#*#**(profanities) nuts? Do you know there are rebels and wars in that region? Are you trying to kill us?" His usual response to all my unique suggestions, and my usual response is to get literature on the area, do some research, and ignore him!
Another concern of his - our friends, Margie and Art (M&A), are also the same people who:
- Do Class 6+ Whitewater Rafting;
- Climb Mount Rainier; and
- Trek to the Baltoro Glacier/K2, Pakistan which involved going up and over the Gondogoro La Pass at 18,700' only containing some 60 degree ice and snow slopes.
No wonder he's hysterical. According to M&A, and MIR, this was a perfectly normal, 15-day cultural trip from MIR Corporation called "Treasures of the Trans-Caucasus."
The trip included: breakfast, lunch and dinner daily; all hotels - Hyatt Regency in Baku, Azerbaijan, Marriott's in Tbilisi, Georgia and Yerevan, Armenia, a Caravanserai (small hotel) in Sheki and another hotel in the Mountains of Georgia; tour leader; all tours, etc.; and transport between countries.
Extremely detailed information instantly began arriving from MIR. The trip began in Baku, Azerbaijan and ended in Yerevan, Armenia.
Air? Lufthansa flew Frankfurt to Azerbaijan, but didn't fly into Armenia. Austrian Airlines flew back to Frankurt from Armenia but didn't fly to Azerbaijan. We ended up blowing miles on United's Mileage Plus to get free economy air on both airlines. British Airways flew both places and most of our group used them.
Visas? We needed three (3) of them! It would have been very difficult to Fedex passports, back and forth to three different consulates so we opted to have MIR's visa service handle everything...expensive...but worth it.
Health? Always drink and use bottled water, even for brushing your teeth. No Malaria pills were required, and we keep our Tetanus, Hep A and other inoculation up-to-date. Usual warnings about not eating off the street stands, only cooked/peeled foods/fruits, etc.
Clothing? Unfortunately, it is culturally insensitive for Women to wear even long shorts. Once again, I'll have to sweat it out in pants/capris or long skirts.
The trip began.....
Comments
I needed detailed information Map Azarbijan-baku
Are you referring to a driving map or just general information on the sights?
Posted by: hooman n | September 15, 2007 06:12 AM