Day 29. Sunday, 19th July, 2026. From Georgia to Armenia.

Leaving Guest House Calma

Our accommodation at the guest house had been better than expected. We were just finishing breakfast in Poki when the Austrian couple in a Toyota Land Cruiser we met yesterday, drew up. We chatted for a while. They were heading for Armenia. It was our intention to visit the David Gareji monastery complex. The Austrians said they were giving it a miss, as the best part is in Azerbaijan and inaccessible now due to the border being closed. I had read it was still worth visiting, so that was our plan.

David Gareji Monastery Complex

Off we set and all seemed to be going well. We retraced the winding mountain road we had come into Telavi on. The roadside and meadow flowers are absolutely gorgeous. Obviously no pesticides are used here.

It came to a point when I noticed we were getting further away from our destination. Google Maps seemed confused. We reprogrammed our destination and Google Maps wanted to take us back in the direction we had come from. I noticed, then, that the monastery closed at 11.00. As it was almost 11.00, we decided to cut our losses, we would head for the Armenian border instead.

We passed more churches and Georgian flags. I think the worse driving we have come across has been in Georgia. They are very impatient. The sky looked ominous on several occasions, but we only had the odd spot of rain.

Looking ominous.

Stray Dogs

Stray dogs are a big problem in this part of the world. Moldova, Turkiye, Georgia and Armenia all seem to have a serious issue with them. In Georgia they lie asleep in the sun all around tourist attractions. People step round, over and on them and they don’t blink an eyelid. Even in the forests they are running along the side of the road. It is these strays that are such a nuisance barking at night.

Some stray dogs in Arnenia.

Reaching the Border

We arrived at the Georgian border point at 15.30. The queue was long. The driving was crazy. Cars kept trying to go down the inside lane to cut into the queue, and blocking the outside lane, the lane for traffic coming from Armenia. It was chaotic. There were many Russian cars and they seemed to be the most impatient.

Once we reached the police point, I was told to get out and go through the passport control on foot. Dennis continued in Poki. This wasn’t going to work well, as my name is on the car papers. The queue I was in was huge. Sure enough Dennis came running to find me. We both went through passport control at the driver’s window with our passports and Poki’s papers.

The Georgia side was slow. It took an hour, but at least they were civil. Once we got to the Armenia side, once again I was told to get out and go through separately. Having done this, I went to go back to Poki, only to be shouted at and told I wasn’t allowed to. I was standing waiting for Dennis to come though with Poki, only to get told off again and to stand somewhere else.

Next I had to take Poki’s papers for Customs Clearance. Here I got in an argument with some Russians who said they had been in front of me in the queue. They weren’t. Then the official behind the desk looked up and told me I had to go to the bank next door. Not knowing what for, I went and joined another slow moving queue. At least when I got to the desk the guy spoke a little English. It was some sort of tax and everyone was paying it. Then I had to go back to the Customs Clearance desk. By this time Dennis had come to find out why it was taking so long. Eventually we got the paperwork we needed and were advised to get insurance outside the border gate.

Outside the gate several young boys came running after us and wanting us to go to their kiosk for insurance. By this stage I was stressed out and not in the mood to be nice to touts. We picked a booth, headed there, bought our insurance and SIM cards for both our phones. Bank cards weren’t accepted, but fortunately I still had some euros, and they were acceptable. By now it was 18.30. This is the worst and longest border crossing we have faced on this trip.

By now we were tired and hungry. Travelling a few kilometres, we came to Hotel Yerak. Stopping, I went to check it out. It was a reasonable price and acceptable level, so we are now resting here, having eaten dinner in Poki.

Tomorrow will be better, after a good night’s sleep and we will do some sightseeing in Armenia.

”

Views: 23