Day 1: Tbilisi City Tour

The travel days are never part of the trip regardless of the time you arrive at your destination, which is why when planning a person should always, in my point of view, not count those days as part of the trip unless it was something simple like dinner or lunch at a certain place.

After a long night rest, a warm shower, and a healthy breakfast, we decided that this day would be best spent around the city of Tbilisi.  After heading down to the lobby to meet my parents, my father already booked a private tour for four adults.  Demitrit (I am still searching for his business card and will post it once I find it) showed up about 30 minutes later greeting and welcoming us to Georgia.  He then started his tour.  The thing about Georgia is that it has a long history so most of our visits were historical.

The tour started of with a visit to the Holy Trinity Cathedral of Tbilisi commonly known as Sameba. It is the main Cathedral of the Georgian Orthodox Church located in Tbilisi. The Sameba Cathedral is constructed on the Elia Hill, which rises above the left bank of the Kura River (Mtkvari) in the historic neighborhood of Avlabari in Old Tbilisi. (no entrance fee)

General Fact: Sameba is a synthesis of traditional styles dominating the Georgian church architecture at various stages in history and has some Byzantine undertones. 

Holy Trinity Cathedral
Tbilisi, Georgia
Hind Al Ameri

Holy Trinity Cathedral
Tbilisi, Georgia
Hind Al Ameri

After the Holy Trinity Cathedral, we went to see the statue of the founder of Tbilisi, King Vakhtang I Gorgasali,  which is next to Metekhi church. Metekhi is a church and a fort which served also as a king’s residence; hence comes the name Metekhi which dates back to the 12th century and literally means “the area around the palace”. 

Statue of King Vakhtang I Gorgasali
Hind Al Ameri

We then moved down to the cable car so we could go up to the fortress. The cable car is very easy to use, you just buy a public transport card (which our guide already had) and add credit to it (we added 3 GEL to our card for 3 people), and the views from the cars of the city are very nice. It moves quickly and the ride is short but it is worth it. The cars themselves are well maintained and safe.  

Cable car
www.inyourpocket.com

The view from the cable car
Hind Al Ameri

At the end of the ride is Narikala; which is an ancient fortress overlooking Tbilisi and the Kura River. The fortress is on a steep hill between the sulphur baths and the botanical gardens of Tbilisi. 

History fact (Narikala): Also called the mother fortress of Tbilisi, Narikala is an ancient symbol of Tbilisi’s defence. The fortress was established in the 4th century, around the period when the city itself was founded. It was then known as Shuris-tsikhe ("Invidious Fort"). The name Narikala is said to derive from a Persian word for citadel, but another theory says was the name that Mongols used, meaning “little fortress”. It was expanded considerably by the Arabs during the 7th and 8th centuries. The Arabs built the Emir’s palace within its walls.

Narikala Fortress
www.tripomatic.com

The view from the top
Hind Al Ameri

Instead of taking the cable car back down we decided to walk down the steps passing by a odd looking tree (see picture below).  As you may notice that the tree is covered with plastic-bag-strings all tied up along the stems of the tree.  This is a “wish tree”; same idea as a wishing well or coin drop at a fountain.

Wish Tree
Hind Al Ameri

This is not the end of day 1 tour, but until next time.

Hind's Travels Advice:

For UAE Nationals: It is always advised to register on Twajudi, which is provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, when traveling to enable the UAE embassy to contact you in case of any emergency.

"UAE MOFA" is now available through your smartphone, you may download it through the AppStore/Google Play, or register on Twajudi online.

Happy traveling!

Hind

Arrival at Tbilisi International Airport

Note: I will be mostly using Georgian Lari (GEL) when talking about amounts. 

1 GEL≈  1 AED; 1 USD ≈ 2 GEL

Everything went smooth in Tbilisi Airport.  Customs and baggage collection was easy as well and there is no security check when leaving the airport.  As for those people who are like me that require a sim card when traveling, I found two kiosks near the airport exit.  The one I went for was Beeline; the number itself costs 20 GEL and if you want data for internet use it costs an extra 7 GEL for 3GB data allowance which is more than enough for a short trip.  They only require to look at your passport to give you the number.

It has come to my attention that it costs less if you purchase it from the stores and shops outside the airport; I read someplace that it is 2 GEL per number but I can't guarantee the price.  The speed of the internet was not very efficient (and for those who care, SnapChat was blocked). 

Taxis are found right at the exit of the airport and it costed about 40 GEL to the Marriott hotel which is about a 20-minute drive.

A review on the Marriott Hotel will be in a different post.

Until next time.

Happy traveling!

Hind

Pre-travel to Georgia: Travel Details and Hotel Booking

Choosing a place to travel is never easy, especially with my family; always wanting to experience new things, meet new people, and understand new cultures.  This time the choice of destination was Georgia, and no not the state.  I got used to saying this sentence due to a lot of people not knowing about this place or assuming that we would not go to the country.  As to the reason or how we found out about this place is as follows:

Eid-Al-Fitr break was coming up and our beloved government gave us a whole week off, which meant a whole 9-days, this meant TRAVEL to us.  Looking at various places over the internet and long hours of conversation with my mother; we of course wanted a place close to Abu Dhabi and were no visas were required since most EU embassies at this time were packed.  I read previous reviews from people who visited Georgia from different nationalities and it was set to Georgia.

Looking on how to get there was the most troubling part, since our local airlines do not have direct flights to Georgia, we found that it was either through FlyDubai or Qatar Airlines.  We set to go through Qatar Airlines because their timing was most suitable for us.

Travel details: 

Departure: 31 July 2014

AUH-DOH: 05:55 - 05:55 (Duration 1hr)

DOH-TBS: 07:25-13:30 (there was one technical stop in Baku, Azerbaijan- total duration 5:05hrs)

Return: 6 August 2014

TBS-DOH: 20:00 - 23:59 (Duration 4:59hrs)

DOH-AUH: 01:55-03:55 (there was one technical stop in Baku, Azerbaijan- total duration 1hr)

Transit waiting time in both departure and return is about 1 hr.

Total ticket cost (at the time):

Business class: AED 12,180 (approx. $3,316)

Economy class: AED 2,100 (approx. $573)

Hotel booking comes next, we booked the hotel through the travel agent in Qatar Airways.

Marriott Hotel, Tbilisi: great location, it overlooks the main avenue in the center of Tbilisi.  The atmosphere is great, food is okay as well.  The room rate, per night was about AED 1,400 (approx. $381). I did not take pictures of the hotel, but they are the same as those found on their website.

Happy traveling!

Hind

Travel Not To Find Yourself, But To Remember Who You've Been All Along.

Dear Readers,

I have been asked to start a blog which would include details of my traveling; flights, hotels, attractions, and famous food.  I am no expert in blog-ing but I will surely try my best to include everything I can (and lots of photos).

I hope that this would be a good way for people around me to benifit from my personal experiences.  

If anyone has any questions, please feel free to contact me anytime on:

hindstravels@gmail.com

Happy traveling!

Hind