Georgia & Armenia 2024 Day Day 6: Tbilisi To Telavi/Sighnaghi

Thursday, December 12, 2024

Georgia & Armenia 2024 Day Day 6: Tbilisi To Telavi/Sighnaghi

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Georgia-Armenia 2024 Day 6: Tbilisi To Telavi/Sighnaghi

Georgia-Armenia 2024 Day 6 : 22nd September (Sunday)

Group (Non-cycling) Tour of Georgia & Armenia:
Day 6 - Tbilisi to Telavi & Sighnaghi:
Tbilisi (Boutique Hotel Manufactura)>Telavi>Rostomaant Marani Family Winery>Batonistsikhe Fortress>Sighnaghi>Sighnaghi Wall>Sighnaghi-St. Nino Monastery>Sartichala>Tbilisi (Boutique Hotel Manufactura).

This is page 6 of a 14-page blog, Click Here To Go To Title Page.

< D5: Tbilisi 02 | Go to Other Days | D7: Stepantsminda >

Route recommendations, here're some tips on travelling in and around Tbilisi (Georgia):

1. Traffic Directions!

Driving in Georgia is left-hand drive, with a speed limit of 60 km/h in cities and towns, and 80 km/h in other areas unless indicated otherwise. Armenia is also left-hand drive, so in both Georgia and Armenia drive/cycle on the right.

2. Immigration & Customs Requirements

For Georgia, citizens of Malaysia do not need a visa to enter for travel purposes and can stay in the country for 365 days without a visa. The travel passport must be valid throughout the whole period of stay in Georgia. A blank page is necessary for an entry stamp. Click here for a list of countries that need visa entry. Click here for the Georgia E-visa application portal and click here for guidelines on the E-visa application which costs USD20 (30 days validity).

For both countries, after clearing immigration, one will have to go through customs. We had to carry our luggage personally through. They are green lanes for those with nothing to declare; for duty-free good exemption, click here for Georgia's regulations, and here for Armenia's. Our vans had to go through the vehicles' lanes.

For those bringing in personal medication (up to 31 days usage) into Georgia, do get a prescription from your doctor; click here for guidelines.

3. Getting to and around Georgia & Armenia.

Major airlines serve both Georgia & Armenia. We flew from KLIA Terminal 1 into and out of Shota Rustaveli Tbilisi International Airport via Qatar Airways, with transit at Doha. It would have been time-saving into Armenia via Yerevan's Zvartnots International Airport; but we naively erred on the side of caution. Our airfares were bought during the MATA Travel Fair via promotions by the RHB Debit Card, the return fare cost us between MYR 2,800 to 3,200.
We got around both countries by using a local long-chassis Mercedes Sprinter Van with an extended rear luggage section for the 16 of us, and a Mercedes V-Class 7-seater van for another four of us who enlisted later. The rides were generally comfortable as most were on tarred roads with some stretches of gravel roads.
For harsher rides we used smaller local vans with drivers familiar to the rougher, steeper roads - this was to the Gergeti Trinity Church, Ushguli Village, Koruldi Lakes and Chalaadi Glacier.

There were a couple of free days to explore Tbilisi by ourselves, but it is possible to use the Uber Georgia app to get further around. Other ride-hailing alternatives are Bolt, Yandex and Taxi Maxim.

4. Places & Things of Interest

Enroute were several places of interest, some of which we visited and others we did not for lack of time (Note: click on GPS coordinates for a directional map to respective places):
a. Man and The Sun Statue at Tbilisi Airport Square (GPS: 41.69175, 44.95295).
b. Rostomaant Marani Family Winery (მარანი) & fruit orchard (GPS: 41.91551, 45.47821).
c. Grape Harvesting at Rostomaant Marani Family Vineyard (GPS: 41.96931, 45.51145).
d. Batonistsikhe Fortress (ბატონის ციხე) (GPS: 41.91730, 45.47602).
e. Sculpture of Family of Mechanical Snails (GPS: 41.91714, 45.47786).
f. Giant Plane Tree (დიდი ჭადარი) (GPS: 41.91673, 45.47821).
g. Sighnaghi National Museum (სიღნაღის მუზეუმი) (GPS: 41.61966, 45.92294).
h. Sighnaghi Wall (სიღნაღის გალავანი) (GPS: 41.62348, 45.92412).
i. Sighnaghi City Gate (GPS: 41.62147, 45.92299).
j. Sighnaghi Viewpoint (GPS: 41.62065, 45.92244).
k. Tower of Sighnaghi Wall (GPS: 41.62128, 45.92129).
l. Sighnaghi Marraige Bureau (სიღნაღის ქორწინების სახლი) (GPS: 41.61765, 45.92232).
m. Sighnaghi-St. Nino Monastery (სიღნაღი-წმინდა ნინოს მონასტერი) (GPS: 41.60821, 45.92903).
n. Bodbe's St. Nino's Convent Cathedral (ბოდბის წმ. ნინოს მონასტერი) (GPS: 41.60628, 45.93392).

5. Food

a. Breakfast:

An excellent inclusive Western/Georgian Fare at the Boutique Hotel Manufactura (GPS: 41.69014, 44.81479).
b. Lunch:
Wine Tasting and Barbecue at the Rostomaant Marani Family Vineyard (GPS: 41.96931, 45.51145).
c. Dinner:

Quick Western Meal at Plan B (GPS: 41.72675, 45.18857) at Sartichala (სართიჭალა) (GPS: c).

6. Accommodations

We are back in Tbilisi for two nights and stayed at the Boutique Hotel Manufactura (GPS: 41.69014, 44.81479). This cost was included in the overall ground arrangements.

7. Tour Costs & Arrangements

Return air tickets bought during the MATA Travel Fair/RHB Debit Card promotions were between MYR 2,800 to 3,200.

The ground arrangements tour package included a 10-passenger van to take us around, starting from & returning to Tbilisi. It also included 3-star hotels/homestays. The charge per pax for this ground arrangement was at MYR7,400. This excluded meals (other than hotel breakfasts & 3 dinners at Mestia), airport transfers, most entry tickets and tips. This allows for individuals to have meals according to their own liking & budget. Allow per meal should be adequate.

On average, the overall tour cost worked out to be around RM950 to RM1,000 per day. For those interested in this tour, contact Eddie at +6012-6122600 for more details and updated costs.

For out-of-pocket spending, we exchange some Georgian Lari (GEL) and Armenian Dram (AMD) in the respective countries. Some brought along their Wise debit cards to use; one can pre-load the card with the local currency. Or let it auto-deduct the currencies existing in the card. We found that it deducted other currencies first before deducting Malaysian Ringgit.

8. Communicating with Each Other

When travelling in a group it's important to be able to communicate with each other, especially if one gets lost from the rest. Georgia pre-paid sim cards are easily available and cost 5 GEL to 20 GEL, depending on the provider and the included benefits. While Armenian pre-paid SIM cards range from AMD 1000 to AMD 3000. Those in our tour group pre-ordered their SIM cards through our Georgian guide.

Those who use Maxis as their telco can purchase the Maxis Roaming Pass. The RM89 15-day Multi-country Roaming Pass covers many countries including Georgia, Armenia and Qatar.
The Pass can be bought before the trip with a designated starting time/date, BUT DO TURN OFF your data roaming just before the Roaming Pass expires OTHERWISE any subsequent usage will automatically trigger off the 1-Day Roaming Pass costing between RM29 to RM38 per day!

9. Communicating with Locals

At favourite tourist destinations, locals may speak fairly good English. At the smaller towns, locals speak some rudimentary English, and our local guide was most helpful in translating for us.

10. Weather

The average day and night temperatures at Tbilisi & Telavi were 25°C & 15°C. While the day temperature at Sighnaghi were 23°C.

Useful weather forecast sites for Georgia & Armenia is AccuWeather. For more detailed weather, including cloud cover and wind speed, use Weatherspark and Ventusky.

11. Navigation

I used MapMyRide to track our routes and stops. Geo-tagging of places of interest was via FaceBook or Google Maps.

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PRELUDE

A day earlier after we left visiting Lake Parz and taking a stroll along the old part of Dilijan, we left Armenia to head back to Tbilisi, Georgia. Today we head out to the Kakheti wine region of Georgia to experience harvesting wine grapes, and later will visit a "Love" town!

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DAY 6: TBILISI-TELAVI-SIGHNAGHI

Guided Group (Non-cycling) Tour of Georgia & Armenia:

Tbilisi (Boutique Hotel Manufactura)>Telavi>Rostomaant Marani Family Winery>Batonistsikhe Fortress>Sighnaghi>Sighnaghi Wall>Sighnaghi-St. Nino Monastery>Sartichala>Tbilisi (Boutique Hotel Manufactura).

(Click here for the Georgia-Armenia Day 6: Tbilisi-Telavi-Sighnaghi-Tbilisi Route Map)

Most of the posts below are linked to my Facebook postings during the trip and are embedded here with some comments. (NOTE: Click on respective posts to link to the FB post to read more details. If you can't see the posts, please log out from your Facebook first)

Good morning from Boutique Hotel Manufactura, Tbilisi. It's a beautiful crispy morning, just right weather for today's tour out of the city. We will be going to a vineyard and a winery for a wine-tasting adventure.

But before that, to top up fuel for the body with a good breakfast at the hotel.

Here we are along the Kakheti Highway heading to the Kakheti wine region, specifically to the Telavi Wine Valley. Along the way we picked up George, the local wine expert, who is going to be our guide for today!

Passed by Tbilisi Airport Square the " Man and The Sun Statue".

12:00 Noon - We arrived at the Rostomaant Marani Family Winery. While waiting for the wine-making presentation, we admired their gardens, full of local fruits like peaches, grapes, pears, persimmons, pomegranates, walnuts, etc.

Mr. Iraki, the owner, demonstrating the traditional way of wine-making. His family has been making wine since 1800. Their wine is still made in centuries-old method with the grapes fermented in big 800 litres amphoras buried underground.

Here is a video of how the wine was made. Georgian wine-making is one of the oldest in the world, they have been making wine for over 8,000 years. And many like Mr. Iraki, are still making it the old way. The Rostomaant Marani wines are renowned and they have several well-known labels.

From the Winery to the Vineyard.

After that good insight into wine-making, we head out, on rough roads leading to their vineyard, near the Telavi Airport.

Tourists turned grape harvesters; that's us!

We were each allocated a couple of rows of grape vines, and with a short thin knife, we started harvesting the grapes into our baskets. One is supposed to cut through the branch-twigs and not break them as it will hurt the vine. Unfortunately, the knives were not that sharp and some of us clumsily broke some branches. Anyway, we proudly harvested clusters of grapes into our baskets, trying to see who could harvest the most!

A bountiful harvest of grapes, but it was not enough to take the prize!

Back at the open dining area, George was cutting some Georgian Guda Cheese for our lunch. This cheese is made from a 50/50 blend of sheep and cow's milk. The best Guda Cheese is made with milk from Tusheti Sheep found in the highlands. of Tusheti.

Our lunch of freshly roasted pork with Georgian Tonis Puri bread (something like Naan) with salad. And ..... wine-tasting of a range of Rostomaant Marani wines.

A BBQ lunch included a good experience of Georgian Kepi toast.
George was our Tamada (toastmaster) led us in the first toast to God thanking Him for this good meal amongst good friends. We all replied with Gagimarjos, which means “to you the victory” in Georgian. He then made a second toast of welcoming us as brothers (relatives). But later we did a "Yum Seng" toast, which coincidently is Cantonese meaning "drink to victory"!

Eddie, our tour leader, showing off the bottle of "Chacha" he bought., No it's not the cha-cha dance, but rather a Georgian pomace brandy, made from left-over wine.

3:00pm: We left the vineyard and made a quick "pee" stop next to the Batonistsikhe Fortress, at the outskirts of Telavi. Batonistsikhe "the castle of batoni (the lord)", is a 17th–18th century architectural monument. It includes some surviving sections of the Persian-style palace of the kings of Kakheti and a museum.

Just around the corner was another interesting sight - the nine-hundred-year-old Giant Plane Tree of Telavi. It's forty-six metres high AND with a circumference of 12 metres, it would need 10 people, touching finger tip to finger tip to ring it. But the more interesting is its age of almost a millennium; it must have witnessed eras of history!

Another interesting thing just a walk away - the "Sculpture of Family of Mechanical Snails".

4:30pm - Enroute to Sighnaghi, passing by Bakurtsikhe, near the Georgia-Azerbaijan border.

Panorama view of the Alazani Wine Valley from the Sighnaghi Viewpoint.

Mural walls below the Sighnaghi National Museum.

Sighnaghi the City of Love, and it did bring out the romance in these two old lovebirds at Sighnaghi City Gate 😂.

Walking the the Walls of Sighnaghi.
"Sighnaghi situated at the entry to the Alazani Valley, has served as the “Gateway to Georgia” for invader after invader, from Parthians to Arabs, Mongolians to Persians to Qajars. The fact that this is one of the most fortified ancient towns in Georgia shouldn’t be of any surprise."

Jo-taru, the Conqueror, at the Walls of Sighnaghi.

That's me! Trying to emulate being a conqueror of old!

More lovey-dovey at Sighnaghi the City of Love..... Ugghs....

The timing of our visit was fortunate, as we got to witness a religious procession going around the Sighnaghi-St. Nino Monastery. Some pilgrims from Holland had come to pray, and a small procession was held for them.

A video of the procession showed that the pilgrims had also dressed up in period costumes and brought along their banners.

The tower of the Sighnaghi National Museum, this tower although not that tall, sits on a hill and as such is a conspicuous landmark.

On the way back to Tbilisi we met a terrible traffic jam that delayed our journey by several hours. Hungry, we stopped at the Plan B RnR (along Kakheti Highway Route S5 near Sartichala) for dinner.

"Gagimarjos!"

(That's a drinking cheer meaning "To you the victory!")

(For more photos of Day 6, Click Here)

This is page 6 of a 14-page blog, Click Here To Go To Title Page.

< D5: Tbilisi 02 | Go to Other Days | D7: Stepantsminda >

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