A Season to be Freezing: Armenia & Georgia

One of my faith goals is to travel at least one country a year, and by God’s grace, this is my 4th in a row! Yey! Thank you Papa God!

I was planning to travel alone this time, well, I just wanted to try. Yet I still have hesitation. Haha. Luckily, I have this special friend of mine whom I was planning to travel with for a looong time, but sadly our schedule always don’t match. This time, everything was so rushed, to make the story short, we travelled together. Ahaha!

We were expecting that we do have the same Christmas day celebration in Georgia and Armenia, and was so excited coz I really missed how Philippines celebrate it, but, I got our ticket before learning that both countries celebrates it on 7th of January (Orthodox). Anyhow, they still have some decors around the city as they prepare for January 2020.

Most city trips are way expensive. But, that won’t be a problem in these two budget friendly countries especially if you’re from UAE (Filipinos).

THINGS TO PREPARE:

Again, so far, I always do DIY than having a package tour; as you own your time and you can squeeze some unscheduled route in-between. Tho we had one day mountain tour in each countries which we purchased there as it is way cheaper than availing it here in Dubai.

Visa

First thing’s first. Depending on your nationality, you may or may not need to apply for an e- visa before your travel to Armenia and Georgia. As long as you have at least (just to be safe) 6months UAE resident Visa, it will be stress-free visiting these two countries.

Armenia – Lucky for us Filipinos who have UAE resident visa, we can obtain a single entry visa valid for 21 days upon arriving to Armenia. We just need to pay 3200AMD (24.56 AED) visa on arrival.

Georgia – free visa on arrival to all UAE residents valid for up to 90 days upon arrival.

Plane Ticket

Destination: Dubai to Armenia ; return - Georgia to Dubai

Cost : 1700 AED inclusive of 7 kg carry-on-bag + 20 kg check-in luggage.

Flight : via FlyDubai

Our plane ticket was costly coz its peak season and I purchased it 1 month before our travel date.

Train Ticket

We took train for the Armenia to Georgia transfer which is a dream come true! Haha! The transfer was so comfy as we have our own compartment. However, better to book a train ticket in advance coz they only have 1 train travelling from Armenia to Georgia every 2 days during winter, so better to check the schedules in advance. Guess what? We booked

online - http://www.ukzhd.am/en.html at exactly a month before the transfer coz we don’t wanna lose seats! Hahaha.

Our train departed in Yerevan (Armenia) at 9.30pm and arrived in Tbilisi (Georgia) at 7.50am the next morning.

Cost : 177 AED per person

Coach Class: Soft Seated Carriage

Tour

There are lots of agencies giving flyers around Armenia and Georgia which offers cheap tours.

Armenia – We purchased a one day mountain tour in TABEER ARMENIA. Funny thing is, we just wanted to achieve few shots in the snow for our Instagram feed. Ahaha! I literally only need 1 picture, and since there is no snow yet in the city, climbing up in the mountain is a must. Though we also visited some places which were included in the mountain tour.

Price : 55aed per person / 1 day

Places: Tsakadzor Ski Resort, Lake Sevan & Sevanavank Monastery, Garni Temple, Geghard Monastery

Georgia – we availed the one day tour from CHITA TRAVEL, we just also met them in Tbilisi. Their tour representatives are helpful and friendly as they are also giving some sight of history about the places that we visited.

Price : 50.75aed per person / 1 day mountain Tour

Places: Ananuri Castle, Gudauri Mountain, Panorama Friendship Monument, and Honey tasting

ARMENIA

1 day Mountain Tour

Tsakadzor Ski Resort

Lake Sevan & Sevanavank Monastery

Garni Temple

There will be a 1500AMD (11.15aed) entrance fee here.

Geghard Monastery

YEREVAN, ARMENIA

Since both of us love nature and I'm really into historical places, we enjoyed roaming around the city. Both countries have their own remarkable history, but history of Armenia really caught my attention.

Republic Square

When in doubt, go to Republic Square. Haha! Since this is the center of Yerevan, you’ll find all that you needed around the area; restaurants, coffee stalls and shops, souvenir and shopping stores, hostel & hotels and an awesome view of the Pink City.

The Cascade

A massive stairway showcasing different sculptures on each level. You need to see for yourself to know the real scale of the cascade. It was so relaxing sitting at the top of the giant architecture after a tiring day of “fun”.

Freedom Square

This is where the opera theatre is located. Felt like I'm in the Harry Potter movie.

Street Alleys

You will love and will never get bored wandering around this ancient city! I really felt the calmness and peace here!

GEORGIA

1 day Mountain Tour

Honey Tasting

Ananuri Castle

Gudauri Snow Mountain

Friendship Monument

This monument was built to celebrate the bicentennial of the Treaty of Georgievsk and the ongoing friendship between Soviet Georgia and Soviet Russia.

Tbilisi, Georgia

Georgia is so charming. Since this was my 2nd visit, aside from the 1 day mountain tour that we availed, we just roam around the city as well while waiting for Christmas . Compared on my first visit here last 2017, there are a lot of improvements around the area, and hospitality to the tourists remains the same and even got better. Thank you Georgians!

**I was not able to take good shots in this part coz my hands were freezin, but you can find more places I visited last 2017 in my first journal. :(

Liberty Square, Tbilisi

Rike Park

This is an ideal place to relax among nature and where the cable car starts going to the Narikala Fortress and Monument of Mother of Georgia

Narikala Fortress

The view of Tbilisi from the top of the fortress is superb!

Old Tbilisi

This will always be my favorite stomping ground in Tbilisi, as they still preserve the old structures which retains its authenticity.

FOODS!

Both countries’ food culture is wonderful, we didn’t starve! Ahaha! Their servings are huge, cheap, delightful, and we always have excess for take aways! We really love their coffee and hot chocolates; been looking for a cafe around here in Dubai which offers the same taste, but haven’t found one 'til now.

Art and Music

Arts and music are almost everywhere, and when I say, music, it’s not just someone who just pop up in the street singing with a guitar, nah! they have a quality performances!

Once again, I fell inlove...inlove in the beauty of nature and culture of our neighboring countries. Travelling is learning; vast of informations that we never thought are existing. Experiencing something unfamiliar will let you realize that your view is way different from others. Most imporantly, it will make you realize how blessed you are, experiencing the wonderful glimpse of the past.

All in all, we were recharged again and ready for another awesome year full of motivations and memories! Cheers!