Lake Seven and Dilijan

The drive from Gorin to Seven was through similar beautiful passes that we drove through on our way down.  Dits had diligently found some interesting places to visit on the way, the first being Carahunge, Armenia’s Stonehenge, although a lot older with estimated ages ranging from 5000 to 30,000 BC. There are 220 odd stones (some weighing 10 tonnes) and with over 80 having perfectly round holes drilled through that align with the stars leading to the belief that they were used for astronomical observations.   Just how the ancients drilled these holes before the Bronze Age is unknown.   The site was beautiful. 

Next stop was the lovely Shaki waterfall.  It was at the end of a 5-minute walk along a bubbling river.  We got there again before the masses so had time to chill with a cup of very strong Armenian coffee.  We are getting used to the sludge that is always at the bottom of the cup!

Next stop was Orbellian’s Caravanserai at the pinnacle of the Murtuni-Getap Highway.  A Caravanserai is effectively a luxury hotel for the ancient traders on the old Silk Road.  We picked up a French couple hitch-hiking (both carpenters), so it was nice to chat to some people.  They were going to Seven so were very happy to get a life the whole way rather than their usual village hops.  The Caravanserai was impressive though luxury it certainly wasn’t. It was a huge stone barn effectively with holes in the roof to let the light in.  It was also freezing. I am sure it would be very different filled with travellers and fires. The views were spectacular.

We dropped our hitchhikers in Martuni and then continued on to Hayvarank Monastery, built between the 9th and 13th century. It’s incredible how blasé you become after seeing to many of these historical marvels. What it incredible is how so many of them survived Armenia’s tempestuous history.  There was a wedding there with a stuffed fox strapped to the bonnet of the car which is a thing in Armenia.  It’s meant to bring the bride and groom god luck.   Not so lucky if you are a fox. 

Our accomodation in Seven was the impressively named Luxury Collection Hotel. It was located behind a high fence with an automatic gate.  We had got it incredibly cheap – $54 down from $185. It looked very Persian with lots of bling.  The owners were incredibly nice and upgraded us to a lovely big room to long as we gave them a 10 rating on Booking.com.  No problem!  We were recommended a restaurant on the shores of the lake so off we headed for dinner.  Seven has weird motorway system – once you navigate the pot holed roads to get to them – as you have to head many kilometres in the opposite direction before being able to head in the direction you want. Very odd.   The meal was amazing, as was the restaurant.  Being a day trip from Yerevan was obvious in the quality of the customers. 

We planned to get away early in the morning to check out the beautifully located Sevanavank Monastery.  However, we could not get out because of the locked gate, so we had to make some noise to try wake up the hotel owner.  He then insisted we come inside for a coffee and some sweets. However we still made it to the monastery before the crowds.  The monastery is located on a little peninsula and actually it was originally built on an island 3kms from the mainland, but the Soviets drained the lake by 20 metres in the 70’s for hydro and irrigation purposes. The monastery was built by Princess Mariam in 874.  She was not allowed to enter the island as it was men only.   The view was incredible.  Lake Seven is 1900m above sea level, is one of the largest freshwater lakes in Eurasia and comprises 1/6th of Armenian territory.  It also remains about 13 degs all year round so keeps the surrounding area nice and cool in the hear of summer. Hence a popular place for Yerevan locals escaping the heat. 

Next destination was the forest and hiking trails of Dilijan.  We were advised by our hotel host to stop at this supermarket on the northern tip of the lake.  It was incredible.  The food looked amazing.  It was packed because it was a Saturday am, but unfortunately we had already had breakfast.  We committed to stop there on our way back to Garni.  The trip to Dilijan was uneventful bar getting flashed by a speed camera just before entering a very long tunnel.  It’s a real nightmare driving in Armenia as there are very few speed signs.  It’s all a bit of a guess.  Dilijan was beautiful, as was our room in Verin Tun on its outskirts.  However, the mattresses had certainly seen better days.   

It was raining when we arrived, at times really heavy, but nonetheless we decided to head out for a walk and check out the Drunken Forest – a forest where the trees are all on a lean. We drove into the old town and the hiked up the hill.  We had to stop for cover during a particularly heavy downpour but apart form that it was fine.  After being on roads to the summit we found the Transcaucasian Trail – a 1900km (planned 3000) through the Caucuses and followed it on its way back into town.  We then had a wonderful around the very scenic Old Town.  Back home for a shower and back into town to a recommended local restaurant called Kchuch, on the banks of the Aghstev River.  The food was amazing.  Again!

The next day we drove to Parc Lake for the 7.5km hike to Goshavanq Monastery.  We got away early after a massive BnB breakfast so we were the only ones there when we arrived.  It was a beautiful 20 min drive through the wooded mountains.  The trail was part of the aforementioned TC Trail.  The first part of the hike was disappointing as it was a very muddy, rutted road but after 30 minutes we peeled off onto a single track through the forest.  After another hour we reached the alpine meadows and understood why Dilijan is referred to as Armenia’s Switzerland.  We were befriended by some cows so we stayed and had a little chat.  We made a couple of wrong turns but eventually we were rewarded with amazing views of the Goshavanq Monastery and surrounding village.  We passed an Aussie couple that we had bumped into earlier on in the trip on the way down heading the other way – small world. 

The monastery was built in the 12th century by Mkhitar Gosh, a bit of a dood who turned the monastery into a renown place of learning for academics all over the Caucuses. There was a service going happening so it was nice to be able to join in for a while.  The priest and alter boy’s singing was amazing.  After eating our picnic of dried fruit, and a cup of Armenian coffee, it was time for the return leg.  600m of climbing and just over 15kms in total.   Parc Lake was teeming by the time we got back around 2 so we didn’t hang around.  It was back to our BnB for a shower and a bumpy kip before heading to our favourite local restaurant for a few games of cribbage and another amazing meal.  Tomorrow, we head away back towards Yerevan to a place called Garni and some famous tourist attractions. 

Armenia – Yeghegnazdor and Goris

It was exciting to be on the road after nearly ending up without a rental car. It would have been a nightmare had Alina not managed to find one for us.  It was a lovely new car so driving was a pleasure.  First stop was Khor Virab – apart from stopping to photo one of the numerous storks that had made nest on top of lampposts.  The temple was first built in 642 to commemorate St Gregory the Illuminator who spend 13 years in a pit on the site after admitting to being a Christian to King Trdat.   Trdat fell ill and was advised by his wife to release Gregory, his illness was cured.  He then converted to Christianity and made Armenia the first Christian nation in the world in 301.   The view of Mt Ararat in the background was stunning – although cloud cover made it less than perfect.  

After that it was a beautiful drive through some spectacular canyons to the deserted Norovank Monastery built in the 13th century. The sheer red cliffs surrounding it made for an awesome setting.  After enjoying the isolation and scenery we headed back down the canyon to some nearby caves called Areni-1 Caves.  The caves were amazing – there was evidence that they were making wine there back in 3500 to 4000 BC.  There was still a lot of qvevri buried in the ground.  Again there was very few people there whjch enabled Deryn and I to have the place to ourselves – apart from the flocks of swallows which is hardly surprising given its also called the Birds Cave. 

From there it was off to the weirdly named Yeghegnadzor and our B&B called Home.  It was beautiful and our host Saba was an incredibly helpful host with a lovely twinkle in his eye.   His recommendation for dinner was the Gastro Yard Arman Hakhverdyan was superb. Best meal we have had on our travels to date.  For 5000 GEL each we had multiple courses, 2 wines, a brandy and a lovely vodka was well as a gift of a bottle of brandy with our photo on the label.  The walk to and from the restaurant was lovely – seemed like every car was a Lada. Very unlike Yerevan where there was a lot of Chinese EVs. 

Saba provided a lovely breakfast – again at 9am as no one gets up before then – and it was on our way to our next destination on the Yerevan Meghri Highway through a spectacular pass.  We spotted the isolated Vorotnavak Church off the to the side of the road. The benefit of getting away early is that there are no crowds.  Again we had the place to ourselves to wonder around.  

Next stop was the Tatev Monastery and the famous Wings of Tatev. A 5.2 km cable car that runs between Halidzor and Tatev Monastery.  We decided to do the cable car first and then check out the monastery.  The cable car was OK although a bit pricey at $40 each – $20 each way.  The monastery was built in the 9th century and in the 14 and 15th centuries it was most important Armenian universities.  It has spectacular views over the Vorotan River.   We decided to drive to the bottom of the canyon and walk to the Dragon’s Bridge – a cave that looked like a bridge. We ended up going what we thought was the wrong way so backed up and walked the other way up the river until we got to a point where the river was too deep to cross. Deryn bum was still hurting from the fall in Kutaisi fall.  It all got too hard so we flagged it and retuned to the car and continued our journey.  We found out later that the first route we took was the correct one.  Damn, as the cave sounded impressive.  

Our next stop was the town of Goris.  While driving there we notice a small stone rotunda perched on the edge of the Alaverdi. We enjoyed the little walk to the rotunda and then the incredible view.  

The drive to Goris was easy. The roads so had been pretty good although once we got into Goris the roads were terrible – it looked like the potholes were being prepared for fixing with these big rectangles all over the roads.  We pulled up outside our BnB called Aregak. It was run by Mareta who sounded like a real character.  The BnB was in an apartment block so it was a bit difficult to find but Mareta eventually came out and gave both of us a big bear hug.  We had booked a 4 bed room but Mareta tried to convince us to move into the room with a double bed.  The problem was that the bed took up the whole room.  After thinking about it for a while I said no.  That resulted in a big hug from Mareta.  She then made us some coffee and biscuits.  She noticed that I had dropped a crumb onto my sweatshirt so she picked it off for me.  When I chuckled she grabbed me by my head and smothered me with her bosom.  Very odd. 

We asked for a recommendation for dinner.  She said she knew just the place and rather just tell us where it was she walked us there holding Deryn’s hand the whole way.  Our take on the situation l was that the quality of the rooms of her BnB were poor so she compensated by being this person.  It didn’t feel put on though. Dinner was great as always.  

The next day we decided to do the hike to the Old Bells of Goris and through some well known cave dwellings. Apparently the caves were inhabited from the 5th century through to the 1950’s.  We had a lovely breakfast in the garden of the BnB – basically Mareta’s allotment.  It was a lovely breakfast.  We then headed out for hike. It was a beautiful day.  We had a bit of trouble finding the trial to the top of the hills but eventually made it.  The was a sign at the peak – and some cows – the the options of the the Old Goris Loop (and the cave dwellings) and Old Bells of Goris.  Well the loop will obviously bring is back here and then we can do the Bells walk.  Well the loop took us past some caves and back to where we started out this morning.  Well then had to re-climb the 300m back to the top of the hill.  We went off piste and found some dwellings but hardly impressive.  It was hard work and by the time we found the path to the Bells were were pretty worn out. But soldier on we did.  We met a local cow herdsman who chatted away in Armenian. After about an hour we got to the Bells which was again hardly inspiring.   We tried to hitch a ride for the 6kms back to town but failed.  Thankfully there was a fountain there so we could refill our empty water bottles.  I then convinced Deryn to retrace our steps back to our BnB.  It wasn’t that tough as it was mostly downhill We hobbled into town and grabbed a couple of kebabs from a very impressive local supermarket.  And then it was back to the hug palace for a well earned sleep after a 12km of hiking and nearly 800m of climbing. 

We headed back to the same restaurant as the previous night for another enjoyable meal and few games of cribbage.   That evening back in the BnB we met an older English lady who had spent a fair bit of time in NZ in the 80’s.  Working as a farmers in Gore. She told us a story about how she nearly died while hitching and being picked up in a truck that rolled. She was not wearing a seatbelt and was thrown from the truck. She was in hospital for 4 months.  She has travelled widely all without ever owning a phone!!

We talked Mareta into an 830 breakfast the next morning so we could head way early for our trip to Seven. Breakfast was great and after some hugs it was off back north. 

Armenia – Yerevan

Our driver turned up on the dot of 7:30, and within 90 minutes, we were at the Armenian border.  Our driver told us we had to take our luggage through the Georgian emigration as well as the Armenian side. We were there early, so it took less than 5 minutes to clear Georgian customs but at least 10 minutes to walk the 500 metres between the border posts.  Armenian immigration was a doddle, and we were outside looking for our driver in 5 minutes.  The problem was he was still waiting for us to get back in the car in Georgia— a bit of a communication breakdown.  Thankfully, Deryn had got roaming on her phone, so we were able to WhatsApp him.  We ended up waiting about 20 minutes for him to clear Armenian customs as things had got busier.   We used the time to grab some local currency— 1 AUD was about 260 Armenian Drams. 

The roads in Armenia seemed pretty good compared to Georgia, and also what we had read in a blog.  We stopped at the Haghart Monastery Complex. Like Georgia the day before, it was not a good idea to visit the  famous monastery on the weekend at a location with 90 minutes of the capital.  The place was packed.  The complex was located in a beautiful mountainous forest and was built between the 10th and 13th centuries— it was beautiful, and it made sense it was so popular. 

From there, it was about 90 minutes until we were dropped off at our hotel, Ithaca, right in the heart of Yerevan.  The hotel clerk was lovely and, after showing us to our room— a tiny but clean double room— he made us each a cup of the dark, tasty Armenian coffee. 

After that it was off to get some local ESIMs and check out the local area.  Yerevan had a much more energetic and happy vibe to Tbilisi.  It could have been because it was a beautiful sunny day – not an uncommon experience as apparently it happens 318 days of the year.  We decided to do a ‘free’ walking tour at 5pm. We were a little bit phased when he told us it would take 3 hours – getting close to our bedtime it thankfully we had wisely (as in two wise nomads!) grabbed a dinner before joining the tour.  The food was lovely – Deryn was impressed that the salads were as good as the Georgian ones. And as cheap, if not cheaper 

The walk was good although the host was a little prickly.   He was a ‘former’ artist who set up the free walking tour concept in Yerevan and now everyone was copying in, Lara’s are only driven by pheasants in the country and Azerbaijan deserves to be wiped off the map.  While Armenians smile a lot more than Georgians they are certainly a race that have been bashed around by the superpowers – Otterman Empire, Russians and the Persians. Like Georgia they have experienced recent wars.  Incredibly resilient people.  The guide was telling us that the Americans are investing a lot into Armenia because of their quality education.  He was also positive about Trump because of his trump highway – TRIPP. Trump Route for Peace and Prosperity – proposed 43-kilometer transport corridor in Armenia’s southern Syunik province intended to link mainland Azerbaijan with its Nakhchivan exclave.  The elections are being held on the upcoming Sunday and once again it’s a battle between the pro-West party (the incumbent and favourite) and the pro-Russian party. 

We had a local dog follow us for most of the tour – to the dismay of the tour guide who did not like dogs.  The tour was 3 hours with no rest – would have been nice to stop somewhere for a drink. We tipped the guide 10,000 GEL (A$40) and had a well earned cup of tea before collapsing into bed after a long day.

The next morning we had the usual challenge of finding a place for breakfast – the Armenians are certainly not morning people with most places not opening before 9 or even 10. We walked through town to the Opera House.  It’s an incredible building – it’s amazing a city smaller than Auckland sees it worthwhile to spend that sort of money on an opera house.  From there it was through a park filled with incredible statues – including some springboks and a kiwi. It was then a climb of over 840 steps to the top of the Cascade Centre.  The views of Mt Ararat and the incredibly conical volcano Mt Kucucagri towering over the city was amazing. It’s a tragedy that Mt Ararat which is such a symbol of Armenia was gifted to the Turks in 1921 by the Russians – post the Armenian Genocide. 

We took the extra time to climb up to the brutalist Soviet monument built in 1967 as a memorial to the 50th Anniversary to the October Revolution.  It was pretty average and the views hardly better than from the stairs below. 

We then wandered through the numerous beautiful parks looking for the Cognac Factory.  We eventually found it but unfortunately the tour wasn’t until 2 pm which made it a too hard.  We meandered back to our hotel stopping at a nearby cafe for some lunch.   I hung around to write the blog while Dits headed back to the hotel to do some more trip planning.   I bought myself a tea shirt at the huge market near our hotel – I was getting a bit sick of the wearing the same 3 shirts.  Dits wandered off to do a bit of market wondering; I joined her 45 minutes later.  Dits bought some lovely silver earrings and me another tea shirt.  We when checked out the Blue Mosque, an 18th century Iranian Shia mosque.  It is an active mosque used by Iranians living in Yerevan. 

We decided to try pick our rental car up earlier than the 10am we had booked.  When we turned up the rental company we were dealt a blow.  Aus and NZ drivers licences need a paper copy of an international drivers license as well – unlike virtually every other country on the planer where just the local drivers licences will do.  We cajoled and pleased but to no avail.  We went and sat in a cafe to try figure out wha the hell to do.  Stay in Yerevan and do day trips; hire a driver on a multi -day basis …. I decided to reach out to Simon who had married Alina, an Armenian.  He was on holiday in Moscow so Alina contacted her many cousins in Armenia to see if we could borrow a car. After several hours they finally tracked down a car.  Brilliant!!   We had to wait another  couple of hours before we got an address and GG’s (local Uber) to the address.  Our car was a new Mazda CR5 for a reasonable US$55 per day.   We had a fair bit of USD and Euro left over from our Sri Lankan holiday from 2 years ago so it felt like it was free.  4.5 hours late but we were back on track 

Georgia – Telavi

Some observations after a week in Georgia:

Black is by far the most popular colour of clothing;

Both sexes have great hair but with a weird practice of dying it very black.  There was a smattering of bright red heads in Tbilisi mind;

It’s rare to see a smile, that’s what being under the yoke of Russian imperialism for 200 years will do to you. However, they really are the loveliest people.  

Very limp handshakes mind  

We headed away straight after breakfast again as we intended to stop at Mtskheta, another one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the and is located at the confluence of the Kura and Aragvi rivers. 

We parked at the outskirts of the town – thankfully as closer into town the place we packed with tourist busses.  First stop was the Samtavro Monastery, a UNESCO world heritage site.  It was here that the Cappadocian maiden Nino, took refuge who bought Christianity to Georgia.  With her cross of twigs bound with her hair. 

From there it was a wander around the very touristy but beautiful town.  The main Cathedral in the town was the oddly named Svetitskhoveli Cahtedral another UNESCO world heritage site finished in 1029. The grounds were lovely with the roses in bloom.  We then wandered down to the river – nothing to see except the Jvari Monastery up on the hill. Our next destination. 


The Monastery was built in the 6th Century utop the hill with commanding views across the valley. And you guessed it, another world heritage site.  As with other religious sites we visited, the monastery was active with priests chanting mournful hymns.  The site was beautiful, contrasting with the dark thunderclouds storming in from the north. 

We drove to our home for the next 3 nights in the cute wine town of Telavi.  Dits preferred it over the main town of Sighnaghi which was a good call.  Our room was on the first floor of a century old, character filled house. We headed into town for dinner and to a 5 star rated restaurant picked by Dits.  I was getting more and more sceptical as we walked deeper and deeper into the industrial part of town.  The ‘restaurant’ was closed.  I checked the rating – 2 reviews.   Probably the mum and her sister. Back into main part of town with a bit of hangry brewing we found a place and after a salad and pizza plus a couple of games of cards; all was good.  Dits was also enjoying her nightly 2 glasses of wine.  I still wasn’t drinking.  I wasn’t missing it and being so busy during the day meant it made life easier.  

The next day the plan was to explore the museum and then do a wine tour in the afternoon. The lodging came with a lovely breakfast which was an unexpected bonus.  Fresh bread; tomatoes and cucumbers; frie eggs and some lovely coffee. Perfect start to the day. We walked into town – again noticing the large number of dogs.  We started off at the information centre but the three ladies in the stifling room were not a lot of help.  From there we walked across the road into the impressive Telavi History Museum. The walled complex contains the palace of the King (17th-18th centuries), which is the only royal palace that has been perfectly preserved in Georgia; the residence of King Archil II; the church built for Erekle’s son, Levan; a royal church (9th-10th centuries), the king’s bath, an underground tunnel, a wall, and the Ketevan Iashvili Art Gallery.  The art gallery was controversial when it was built – they basically dug it into the hill of the complex.  It contained part of the collection of a famous Georgian artist named Ketevan Iashvili.  She must have had a huge home or kept a lot of the art in storage.  It certain was an impressive collection. 

The palace was relatively spartan – it must have been freezing in winter when the temperatures in the area can get well into the negatives. There was also a school off to the side of the complex – nice to hear the sounds of kids playing which hasn’t really been a noise we have heard a lot of in Georgia. After spending an hour or so in the complex we wondered off to see the famous Giant Plane tree – a 900 year old Oriental plane tree. Not that impressive compared to the trees we saw in North America. 

We had booked a wine tour at 4 at a local winery called Sesikeli Winery.  We thought it was best to get some food in use before getting stuck into the wine so grabbed a feed before walking the 30 mins to the venue. Thankfully we did because it absolutely bucketed down during our meal.  It was still lightly drizzling for our walk but nothing we couldn’t handle.   The winery was a house – the grapes were grown a little way out of town on a 1 hectare block.  Our host Simeon produced the wine; and chacha in his house.  There was a Canadian couple there for the tour as well.  Simeon followed the traditional Kakhetian method, which has been used for over 8,000 years centred on the qvevri—a large, beeswax-lined clay vessel called buried underground. The process relies on natural fermentation and extended skin contact to create deep, tannin-rich amber and red wines, free from artificial additives.   The skins are kept on the grapes in the qvevri for 6 months giving the wine the orange colour and distinct flavour. 

The process is mostly manual – even heating of the skin over the corks to seal them.  Simeon produces about 6000 litres of wine and 500 litres of chacha (made from the grape skins, seeds and stems).  We went into a little room for the tasting and spend a lovely 45 minutes chatting and trying the wines and chacha.  Simon has spent 6 years in the UK in the mid 2000’s – there was no work in Georgia – driving a fork lift.  He could not gather the $10k to buy his way into the US, only managing $5k which got him into the UK.  The French couple, Valerie and Julien, were on a similar itinerary to ourselves.  We bought a bottle of the orange white (30 GEL) and combined with the 80 GEL for the tour,  great value for some lovely time with a local. We had a busy day of travel ahead of for our return journey back to Tbilisi the next day so headed home and watched a couple of episode of Widow’s Bay (great) we were in bed early. 

Another lovely breakfast in our BnB before heading off to the very cool Gremi Monastery perched on top of a hill.  As we were there early we had the place to ourselves apart from the monks who were chanting in the chapel.  After that it was a relatively short drive to our next Monastery – this time atop a lot more substantial hill with an incredibly steep road to get to it.  I have no idea how anyone could use the road in winter when I imagine it’ll be pretty slippery.  The Nekresi monastery was a functioning monastery with monks living onsite.   Again they were in the middle of morning prayer so we privileged to watch and listen.  The monks did not seem that enamoured with visitors though.   The monastery had a very old wine making area with at least a dozen qvevris so at full capacity they would be producing a lot of wine.  

After tha it was off to the tourist hotspot in the Kahketi region, namely Sighnaghi.  A beautiful town enclosed by a 5km wall with records showing it bing inhabited from the mid 18th century.  We grabbed some lunch and then wandered around the town trying to avoid the tourist throngs. We noticed once again the large number of Asian – Japanese and Chinese – tourist in Gerogia.  On the way out of town we took a slight diversion to visit the highly lauded St George’s Monastery of St Nino.  While we thought Sighnaghi was busy, this was a whole new level of busy.  I guess being a Saturday there were a lot of day trippers from Tbilisi. Certainly seemed that way given the huge number of large busses. The monastery was originally built in the 9th century but has a lot of remodelling done.  It is famous because of the many St Nino relics there.   Nuns are obviously much better gardeners than monks given the quality of the gardens. A really beautiful place and one that we would love to visit in a quiet time.

It was then a 2 hour drive back to our hotel in Tbilisi for our early pick up by our driver to Yerevan the next morning

Georgia – Kutaisi

We got up early to get out of Stepantsminda before the avalanche of trucks from Russia arrived. We’d already decided to give the Juta track a miss as the weather had completely closed in. 

The drive was a relative doodle compared to the journey up.   We still had to be very mindful of all the potholes and still encounted the holes odd truck but we did the journey in half the time of the journey up. 

We stopped at the same roadside cafe for a cup of strong Turkish  coffee ($3) and then back on the road.  Getting into this.  We stopped at a very Soviet styled city called Gori to check out the famous Stalin Museum.  He was born in the town as Joseph Dzhugashvili but changed his name to Stalin which means Man of Steel!!  Sums him up.  The museum was ok – a bit odd that the man was memorialised but hey I guess it’s a tourist attraction so brings the tourists. 

We had lunch in a local cafe and then got back on the road and off to our fancy room in Hotel Memoire in Kutaisi, one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world. It was pretty miserable when we go there but thankfully found a park right outside the hotel.   A slight hitch in that we had booked for the next 3 nights and not that night.  They found a triple single room for us and agreed we would move into our grand room the following night.  The room was lovely with views across the river to the town’s famous Bagrati Cathedral. 

We decided to head out into the miserable weather and find a cafe to grab a coffee. The main square was shut off due to the due to the upcoming Independence Day celebrations. We walked down to the very fast flowing Rioni River.  We found a cafe on the banks and sat and watched the turbulent water.  While there we noticed a cable car heading up the hill overlooking the city. 

So 3 GEL each later we were cabling our way up the hill admiring the views of Kutaisi.  From the top it was a 15 minute walk through some lovely old houses to the Cathedral.   The Cathedral was pretty busy – the front door was guarded by a couple of elderly female bull terriers shaking a begging plate at all those entering.  The Cathedral’s here in Georgia, while beautiful, are not as opulent inside as the South American ones. Thank the Russians looters for that.  

We decided to walk back the 30 minutes back to tue hotel as the weather had fined up.  Poor Deryn went bottom up on a slippery bit of road and was really lucky not to do some real damage. We managed to find a cafe nearby for another lovely Georgian meal. 

The weather was terrible the next day so after an amazing breakfast in the hotel we decided to stay close with any excursions.  We managed to dodge the weather to find a local museum that had a few interesting nicks and nacks.  It was then back to the hotel and our new double bedroom hotel suite to chill for the rest of the day. 

Breakfasts in Georgia are rarely before 830 so any early departures are difficult.  We got away at 9 and headed to the Prometheus Caves first which opened at 10.  The drive there was lovely although this is where we first encountered the Georgian habit of letting their livestock (except sheep as they are too dumb) roam the streets.  Numerous times we had to stop or drive slowly to get round a cow or dog that was sleeping in the middle of the street.  The grass verges were often full of horses, pigs and the odd goats.  Later in the trip we saw cows grazing on the grass growing on elevated barriers between the motorway!!

The caves were impressive although the tour group at about 30 odd was a bit too large to really get the best out of the caves. And for some reason the 300m boat ride wasn’t on – perhaps the water was too high from the rain. We were followed through the entire 1.4km underground walk by a trio of dogs. 

After the cave it was off to the Okatse waterfall and canyon. Google Maps wanted to take us cross country so after a couple of false attempts we decided to go old school and follow the street signs.   The waterfall was OK – the landscape reminded us of the Blue Mountains in Sydney.  There was a zip line offer which looked great but unfortunately we didn’t have the time. 

Next it was off to Okatse Canyon. It was a 2.3km  walk from the entrance to the canyon and then a 2km walk along the canyon.  Taxis were on offer -15 GEL each but we decided, somewhat unenthusiastically, to walk. It was a pleasant downhill walk (will be up hill back!!) to the canyon.  They had built a steel walkway long the cliff of the canyon so you could see the river 70 or so metres below your feet.  I know a few people that would struggle on the walk.  It was beautiful and definitely worth it. We thought about a return taxi but unfortunately we had forgotten our cash.  Good for the step count!

Driving back into Kutaisi, we passed huge, hulking ruins of legacy Soviet factories and decrepit housing blocks obviously built to house the workers. Must have been awful back in those dark days. 

It was close to 5 by the time we made it back to our hotel.  We were both starving so getting some food was urgent – basically breakfast and a bag of crisps was the intake for the day.   The great thing about Kutaisi, and our experience in Georgia, is that’s it’s never hard to find a decent meal.  Off to Telavi and the wine region tomorrow. 

Georgia – Stepantsminda

Dits had arranged the car rental to be dropped off at our apartment at 9am so we were up nice and early to pack up and be ready.   We waited curbside for about 10 minutes before the car arrived.  When we went to pay, we had a problem – he wanted $600 when we were expecting half the amount.  Turns out it was the car rental that Deryn had cancelled a month earlier.  The guy took it very well.  We then had to grab a Bolt to the car rental place that was expecting us at 10 (and whom Deryn thought was dropping off the rental).  When we got to the address, we could not find the rental.   We got a different location every time we put the address into Google Maps.  Very odd.  Finally, we got hold of someone from the rental who sent us a gps link – the rental was literally 100m around a corner. We went and grabbed some breakfast from the café chain Paul’s before heading off at 10am.  Interestingly the car was nearly empty – much like all the scooters in Sri Lanka that we rented.  We filled up (similar to Aus) and off we went.

The roads were OK although the drivers were very aggressive in their passing.  We drove to the outskirts of Tbilisi before stopping at a Carrefour to grab some essentials.  Then it was into the worlds.  We stopped at Ananuri Fortress which was a bit of a tourist trap – a Saturday outing for the locals me thinks. The fortress was OK but a bit too busy to enjoy so it was back on the road.  The road we were travelling on is called the Georgian Russian Highway, the only road link between Russia and Georgia.   We were warned that the traffic could be really bad and that the roads were full of potholes.  So far it hadn’t been that bad. There were a lot of restaurants on the side of the roads – certainly a lot more than petrol stations.  We stopped at a lovely café overlooking a river for a feed.  Some beans and the local favourite of mushroom Khinkali.  Quite delicious.  While sitting on the deck, a convoy of massive trucks passed us heading in our direction.  Damn. 

Damn indeed.  We were now locked into a nightmare.   It took us nearly 2.5 hours to travel the 65km to Stepantsminda.  The convoy of trucks was endless – thankfully only coming in 1 direction.  This wasn’t coincidental – trucks are only allowed to travel one way during set times to prevent gridlock at the many hairpin turns.  The state of the road was unbelievable – potholes big enough to destroy any car unfortunate to drive into it.  I have no idea how they are going to repair or upgrade the road.  Then there were the overtaking locals in cars who had the view that they had the right of way over anyone including oncoming traffic.  I was driving so would duck behind an overtaking car and hope like hell that we didn’t meet anyone coming the other way.  Some of the tunnels – used only winter – looked even more damaged than the summer roads.  Passing through the ski resort of Gudauri was interesting.  Loads of new hotels etc so it looked like it would have been busy in winter.   How the hell did people get there thought??  The hairpins bends were a nightmare for the big trucks. We finally made it to Stepantsminda, exhausted.  We pledged to do the return journey early to avoid the trucks.

Stepantsminda was a cute alpine village at 1800m.  There was a mix of run-down buildings and new builds.  The highest peak was Mount Kazbek (5033m) and Mount Shani (4,451m) so there was plenty of snow around which made it a chilly 6 deg in the village.  Our AirBnb was a cute little place – once again looked better inside than out.  We unpacked and then set off for a wonder around the village. The peace of the village was destroyed by the endless stream of trucks.  The Gergeti Trinity Church silhouetted by the setting sun looked amazing and something that we looked forward climbing to tomorrow – weather permitted. We had a lovely meal at the most popular restaurant in the village – Samani. 

Thankfully the weather was fine when we go up at 630.  The early starts are the benefit of our early nights. We grabbed a quick brekkie at home – not before I burnt all the hair of my left arm trying to light the gas heating stove.  We walked through the village of Gergeti to get the the start of the hike.  There was 2 ways up – we decided to take the steep way up and the less so down.  First stop was the Gergeti Tower (2100m) halfway up.  The views were stunning including spotting what looked like Griffon vultures ring the thermals.  We met a group of Japanese ladies on the path – have noticed a lot of younger Japanese tourists; and to a lesser extent older Chinese tourists, in Georgia. 

The views from the Church (2250m) were amazing. The church itself was beautiful.  Inside a monk was chanting – virtually all the churches we have visited have monk chanting continuously.  Must be hard work.  The journey down was less impressive than the walk up – we should have gone down the same way – but we were escorted by a couple of local dogs.  The dogs in Georgia are mostly wild, or cared for by the community, tagged with yellow tags and also castrated / neutered.  They are all big dogs and look pretty healthy.

We headed home for a snooze and then it was back to Samani for several hours to play som cribbage and have an early dinner.  We decided to see what the weather was like in the am to see if it was worth doing the hike to Juta as if it was raining there was no point.  When we woke at 6am it was miserable to that made the decision easy.  Off to Kutaisi.  We left at 730 am to clear pothole ridden roads.  Fingers crossed it remained that way!!

Georgia – Tbilisi

Day 1

This trip was a bit of a weird one because we really didn’t know until the last moment whether the trip would happen – thanks to the temperament of the US president. Thankfully the heads of the other Gulf states talked him out of it. So, after a short sleep due to an amazing Split Enz concert at the Tik Tok centre, we flew out to Dubai at 6am on the 19th of May. 

We had a 12 hour stop over in Dubai so headed to a hotel for some sleep before getting a taxi back to terminal 2 for our budget (Dubai Air) flight to Tbilisi. The airport obviously served the Middle East and Sth Asia as the crowd matched the destinations. Our flight got called so Dits and joined the queue. I asked Dits about the religion of Georgia – Orthodox Christian was the reply. We both wondered why so many of our fellow passengers wore turbans and veils.   Something wasn’t right.  I checked the board again – the queue we were in was a flight to Amman, Jordan.  Wrong gate!  By the time we got to our gate (thankfully only one over) they were calling our names.  Well, the easier one of the two – Bliss!!   Dodged a camel there.

The flight to Tbilisi was just under 5 hours.  Looking out the window, we could see a lot of snow in the highland of Georgia, but it was very green in the valleys neat Tbilisi.  It’s not mandatory to prove that you have travel insurance before entering the country – we were a bit nervous whether our bland Amex note would suffice but the very friendly customs girl just waived us though after the obligatory photo. Dits had pre-sorted the Bolt app, so we did not have to haggle with the dodgy locals trying to sell their cheap taxi rides.  The ride into the old town and our AirBnB took 30 minutes with Liam Lawson behind the wheel. It’s going to be fun driving around this country later in our trip. 

We had a bit of trouble finding our apartment – insert url.  We had a photo of the entrance however upon eventually finding it, it looked like it had aged 20 years.   While the building was decrepit – like a lot of buildings in the old town – the apartment itself was lovely.

From the inside!

We decided to try walk off some of the jet lag by getting our SIM cards and some cash. We headed into Liberation Square, a mere 100m from our apartment to sort. There was a lot of activity in the square – flashing lights on cop cars and a whole lot of building going on.  Preparation for Independence Day on 26 May when Georgia became independent from the Russian Federation in 1917.  It was ‘retaken’ by the Soviet Republic in 1922 and then reestablished independence in 1991.  They had another stoush in 2008.   Interestingly there were quite a bit of “Fuck Russia’ graffiti around the place.   We grabbed a couple of MAGTIC sims (about $30 for unlimited data over 1 month) but could not find an ATM. Every Bank of Georgia ATM on google maps didn’t exist. It was fine though as eftpos was everywhere.   I eventually found one while Deryn was browsing a local market.

We walked for about 14km exploring the old town. We were amazed at how many of the buildings appeared as is if they we about to topple over and yet people were still living in them. I would hate to think what would happen to the old town if an earthquake hit.  Fingers crossed.  There was also quite a few old, mostly tagged dogs sleeping everywhere, cared for by the local communities.  The highlights of the afternoon were the leaning clock tower in Shavteli Street; the Anchiskhati Basilica – Tbilisi’s oldest church built in the 6th century and the Bridge of Peace.  We stopped for a coffee in the very cool vegan called Café Leila.  It was so good we returned there for dinner.   

On the return home from dinner, we encountered a lot of soldiers preparing for the upcoming celebrations.  What struck us was how young they appeared and how all the tall soldiers were in front and the short arses at the back.  Interestingly they were all in camouflage fatigues.    

Day 2

Had a better night sleep so were eager to go but unfortunately nothing opens in Tbilisi until 9 am.  We had breakfast at Paul’s – a recommendation from the AirBnB host. Great omelettes and coffee. It was then up the famous Betlemi Street Stairs and 340 steps to the aluminium (formerly wooden) statue of the Mother of Georgia – she holds a bowl of wine to welcome friends and a sword to defend her homeland.  You realise that defending the homeland is a constant theme given the yoke of the nation to the north.  It was a relatively leisurely walk and was great for enjoying the view across Tbilisi.  Unfortunately, the famous Narakila Fortress was closed for renovations.  So, we grabbed the cable car down ($3.50 for 2) and after wandering around the very touristy Metekhi Church we decided to hike up the hill to check out the impressive Holy Trinity Cathedral of Tbilisi.  Also known as the Semeba Cathedral

The cathedral certainly was impressive.  It was constructed between 1998 and 2004.  The grounds are impressive although I hate that walking into the Cathedral you run a gauntlet of beggars.  On that note we have come across very few beggars in the Old Town.  Apparently, it’s a policy to move them on in areas where there are plenty of tourists.   We headed back to our apartment for a well-earned rest before heading down to the famous sulphur baths. We grabbed a couple of chicken Lobiani (pasties) for lunch.  Cheap and cheerful.


We tried to find the cheap public baths but decided to spoil ourselves with the private version.  For 150GEL (about $80) you got a private bath plus showers and an adjoining room for an hour. Also meant you could do away with togs. It was lovely although spending an hour took a little bit of effort.  Dits grabbed a 30 min massage after ($30).  We had a lovely early dinner at Makmani afterwards.  Eating out in restaurants here is a fair bit cheaper than Sydney if you keep away from the touristy areas. For example, our meal at Makmani – a shared starter, a couple of mains and 2 glasses of wine for Dits was GEL107 ($55). The food was particularly good.

We headed away early the next morning to walk to a famous backpackers called Fabrika which had been a conversion from a warehouse.  It was certainly very funky and looked like a fun place to stay. $30 for unlimited wine and shots for party games night.  We then took the scenic route to the Georgian National Museum.   

The museum was interesting – Georgian fauna was once remarkably diverse and included hyenas, wild cats and some massive boars.  The degree to which the country had been dominated by the Russians was confronting.  Since the 2008 exchange, 20% of Georgian territory is still occupied by Russia.  Russia is supporting the separatists in both South Ossetia and Abkhazia and has a lot of military bases there.  We head up to Stepantsminda tomorrow morning which is close to South Ossetia.  Let us hope the Ruskies behave. 

Sri Lanka (A.C) – Galle

We arrived at Galle just after 1 after a leisurely 1 hour drive along the coast from Mirissa.  The water got dirtier the closer we got to Galle. We drove past the fort and the Galle cricket ground on the way to our hotel Taavitti which got us all excited at the exploring to come.  Our hotel was lovely – it had been recommended by a friend of Deryn’s so we were expecting good thing.  Once again they put us all on the same floor so Taylor got upgraded to a nice double room.

We decided to get a local bus into town (probably about 2 km) so appease Deryn who had been wanting to get a local bus the entire trip.  You basically just flag a coloured one (not red as they are the intercity buses) and pay when you get off.  The bus was packed so we had to stand but we all enjoyed the experience.  Rp150 (75 cents) for the 5 of us. 

We wandered around the outside wall of the fort – every gun rampart on the wall seemed to be occupied by local lovers sheltering under umbrellas. We then wandered the lovely streets that were littered with lots of old colonial building that were now cafes or shops.   It had a lovely vibe and reminded Deryn and I of the old part of Macau when we visits there in 1996.  It was bloody hot in the sun though so we thought visiting one of the museums  would be a good way to get out of the heat.   We made our to the Maritime Museum (Rp350 each) and spent 20 minutes or so wandering around a rather dank and hot couple of rooms that were not being kept very cool by the 3 of 4 overworked fans.  So much for avoiding the heat – it felt cooler when we got back outside

It was nice seeing the famous Galle Cricket Ground which the legend Shane Warne rated as one of his favourites. So much so, the legend goes, that he contributed a substantial part of the rebuild costs post the 2004 tsunami.

We decided to head back to the beachside of the fort to an upstairs pizza restaurant where we could watch the sun set over the ocean while being cooled by the breeze.  We enjoyed a few beers and the usual game of 10&1 before ordering a couple of pizzas to share. It was lovely watching the sun setting and the literally hundreds of school kids – all dressed in pristine white uniforms – wander up and down the wall.  We noticed quite a few schools within the sort that appear to have 2 shifts a day.  We grabbed a couple of tuk tuks back to our hotel – we were told Rp1000 each which seemed reasonable until a day later we paid Rp300!!

The hotel offered to do us breakfast at Rp3000 a piece; a bit more than we usually spent but given the convenience we thought why not.  The breakfast was actually very good – not as bulky as others but certainly very tasty dal and chicken and fish curries.  We headed into town around 9 for a couple of hours before retuning to the hotel to chill by the pool and in our rooms to avoid the midday heat.  We headed back into town around 5 and found a bar with happy hour (not as cheap as the beach bars at Rp800 for a can of beer) and played cards again.   

We decided to splash out a bit for dinner so had a lovely meal at 1710; a lovely courtyard cafe / hotel that had an expensive gem counter on the way to the toilet.  The girls spent a fair bit of time exploring the stones without actually buying anything.   We grabbed some gelato’s on the way home to cap off an evening of culinary delights. 

Our flight out of Colombo was at 20 past midnight so we organised a taxi to pick myself, Dits and Taylor up at 7.  Conor and Amanda were staying another night was they were not fly in out until Sunday am.  We spent the morning chilling at the hotel before leaving all our bags in C & A’s room and then headed into town to explore the fort once again.  We were all struggling with the heat so after a couple of air-conditioned stops  – fruit juices and then balms before grabbing a small meal at a wind swept cafe. 

We decided to grab an early dinner at the hotel as we couldn’t face the great again so the hotel agreed to provide a seafood meal for Rp6000 each.  They sent someone down to the fish market to grab some fish, crab and prawns.  We had out last game of 10&1 – a double ton from yours truely and the our seafood dinner at 5.  The dinner was lovely but unfortunately it was spoiled by the plague of flies.  They were unbelievable. 

Our taxi arrived a bit early so it was a quick pack up; the usual challenges of using a credit card to pay the bill before a very sad farewell to Conor and Amanda.  Although the farewell to Conor was tempered by the fact he was coming to Aus in 3 weeks for Taylor and my party.  It was a 2 hour drive to the airport followed by various queues to get onto the plane.  Taylor was thankfully allowed into the lounge with Dits and I which was a bonus.   We then popped a Valium acquired earlier in the day from a chemist (Rp250 for 4) which knocked us all out for a good 8 hours.

My key takeaways from the trip were:

 – travel with your kids. It makes it so much more fun

– curries for breakfast, lunch and dinner. 

 – amazingly friendly people. 

 – preferred the hinterland to the beaches but that’s probably because of the summer heat

 – its not a place to go if everything needs to be tidy and organised 

 – the more you challenge yourself; the more you will get out of it. 

Sri Lanka (A.C.) Arugam Bay and Merrisa

It was a 3 hour drive from Ella to Aragum Bay.  You could feel the heat intensifying as we left the mountains to by the time we got to AB it was a steamy 33.  AB was in the same touristy mould as Ella just with that real beachy vibe – ie no shirts or shoes. AB was nearly wiped out by the 2002 tsunami so it was good to see it fully recovered – although there were still a fee half built hotels around the place – monuments to covid. 

As always it took a few wrong turns before we found our hotel, Beach Way.  Unfortunately it was not near the water and was pretty drank and dingy in the kids downstairs rooms – Taylor’s room did not have AC so we upgraded to another with AC for $A15 per night.  Dits and my room was on top with a bit of a sea view and a decent breeze but with no internet.  

We grabbed our beach gear – Conor also sorted a board – and headed to the beach.  The set up was like a lot of Asian beaches where hotels/ cafes have recliners in front of their property that pundits can use if they buy food and drink.    It seems the ‘German principle’ applied where people would leave a towel draped across a couple of recliners and then wander off for many hours but expected their chairs to remain theirs. I gave it an hour and then removed the towel and made myself comfortable.  I pleaded ignorance when a couple turned up later asking for their towel.  

It was a bit of a drop off from the cafe’s to the beach proper as a result of the strong waves. You had to be careful heading out for a swim as you could very easily get dumped. We spent a lovely couple of hours chilling before heading down to the far end of the beach to see if we could see Conor.    The southern end of the beach was for locals (swimming in jeans!) and surf beginners on foamies.  Conor had gone around the corner so we could not watch him.  

We basically spent the next 2 days just chilling on the beach; doing a bit of shopping, playing cards and trying different spots for eating. Conor was the exception as he surfed most mornings and afternoons.  It was lovely after the very busy time we had had previously and I think everyone enjoyed the relaxation.  On the Saturday night we were all kept awake by a nightclub that went to 6am. It was weird hearing the 5am Muslim prayers clashing with techno.  On our last night there we went cheap at a local buffet – A$20 for 4 of us as Amanda wasn’t hungry. It was Conor’s pick. The fish in the fish curry was so hard it was like burnt Vogels toast. We all survived though.

We all agreed that 2 days was enough and we’re looking forward to our 3 days in a much more relaxed Mirissa Bay and our ‘fancy’ hotel Ballena Regency.

It was a 5 hour drive to Mirissa so decided to get away at 9.  The problem was that first van that arrived to pick us up would not have even managed 5 adults never mind our baggage.  So we upped the cost by Rp5k to Rp35K and sent them off to get a bigger van. We chilled in our favourite cafe, Pono across the road, for about half an hour later before the new van arrived.

We stopped for lunch in a little roadside traveller cafe for a round of rotti’s and a curry for Conor.  Our hotel was down a tiny little dirt road but any sense of foreboding vanished when we saw the place.  It looked amazing with a big 25m pool out front.  We were checked into 3 massive rooms on the second floor – Taylor was upgraded to a double to keep the family together.  We organised bikes for the following day and headed to the beach. 

The beach set up was similar to AB with cafes and recliners all along the waterfront.  The sea was rough but very refreshing.   We found a cafe with a happy hour and proceed to get stuck into the Rp800 beers ($4) and a game of cards.  For dinner we ordered a whole fish off the iced display out front ($60 for 5 of us).  It was delicious!! 

After a great Sri Lankan breakfast in the hotel we grabbed our scooters (pretty iffy lot); filled up with petrol (well Rp500 each) and then headed to a beach known for having turtles about 20 min away. Decidedly average and not a turtle in sight.  There were a few tropical fish but not worth the effort really.  

Then it was off to Weligama snake farm – it seemed like we went via Colombo in miles of pokey little roads.  When we finally got there, it was closed.  Dits rang the owner who turned up 10 minutes later.  We had read it was Rp1000 per person so were a bit meeved when the owner said it was Rp2500 – blamed it on covid??  We agreed on Rp2000 each. 

The farm was founded by the owners dad to rehabilitate injured snakes and then release them back into the nearby national park. The process for the next 45 mins was he bought out a snake; if it was non poisonous we all got to hold it; if not he played with it in front of us.  We got to hold the following non poisonous – green trees name; a young and a 5 year old python and a couple a couple of ‘ can’t remember’.  The poisonous snakes were an adder and a cobra. The owner got the cobra to strike at hi numerous time – the trick is to remember the strike range of the cobra is only the distance that they are elevated!

We then intended to head to Secret Beach but a sudden downpour put paid to that.   We were all drenched by the time we returned to our oasis. We headed out to find some lunch but didn’t have much luck so headed back to the beach cafe’ and grabbed a feed there.  We were all buggered so spent the rest of the afternoon chilling back at the hotel.  We had a lovely meal at Mirissa Garlic for dinner watched over by frogs. 

The next morning I relaxed at the hotel pool while the rest headed off to Secret Beach, a small little beach that didn’t sound very secret. It was then back to the beach for happy hour, cards and some whole fish.  We mistakenly got 2 small fish instead of 1 large and found the meat to bone ratio a bit disappointing.   We organised a van for a midday pickup to Galle the next day, wanting to spend as much time as possible at this lovely hotel.   I for one, am exited at heading to a place with lots of history and things to see rather than beach life. I guess living in Manly spoils you as far as beaches go. 

Sri Lanka (A.C) – Ella

We had arranged for a local taxi to take us to Ella – agreeing on a minivan.  The first car that turned up was a 5 seater with barely enough room for us, never mind the bags.  After a phone call, a decent sized van arrived with a very friendly driver.   First order of the day was to find breakfast (breakfast in the hotel was terrible).  After a couple of false alarms we found an authentic local joint that cost us $A15 for 5 of.  It’s amusing how Sri Lankan’s have the same food for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Hoppers / rice; daal, coconut mix and a curry.  And a dollop of very strong black coffee.  

We originally agreed to go via Kandy for a brief stop but after finding out it was going to add 2 hours to our journey we decided not to – thankfully as we heard it took 6 hours to get from Kendy to Ella.  Before arriving at Ella, we stopped briefly at a temple, bought some flowers and wished Buddha the best of luck.  The drive was spectacular once we hit the hills – made us a bit sad that the Kandy to Ella train was fully booked.  Tea plantations as far as the eye could see.  Once again finding our hotel – Misty Villas Ella was a bit of a challenge but we eventually got there.  First impressions were good although somewhat let down by the second bedroom in fact being a thoroughfare into the main bedroom.  So after some negotiations for we found Conor and Amanda a lovely room in a new hotel across the road (at half the normal rate for birthday boy Conor).

As per the new routine, the first thing to organise was the scooters.  Managed to get 3 for 2 days for $A12  per day.  After a quick swim we headed back into Ella and to Little Adam’s Peak.  First thing we needed to do was fill up the bikes with petrol – weird this practice of the bikes being empty.   It was a bit of a ride to the station but made pleasurable by a stop at a local cafe where we all had 2 vegetable rotti’s and a drink (for a total of $A7!!) 

The first thing that stuck us driving through Ella was the number of tourists – the place was swamped!!  Getting to the car park at Little Adam’s Peak was a bit of a mission on very bumpy dirt roads but we all made it successfully.  There was a massive club complex there that would not have been out of place at Ibiza – pools, bars and house music.  There was also a big swing ($25) and a flying fox ($125).  Certainly not the usual Sri Lankan prices. The climb to the peak wasn’t too bad with some pretty amazing views.  Ella is built around quite a decent canyon and its elevation keeps it a bit cooler which was lovely. We finished off the day with a game of cards,  a few beers and a western meal at The Barn to celebrate Conor’s birthday. 

Our plan for the following day was to cover 3 tourist attractions starting with the Nildiya Pokuna caves around 30km from Ella, then pop in to the secret waterfalls just around the corner before we visiting the Ravana Waterfall on the way back to Ella.  We drove past the Ravana Falls on the day to the cave and could see already it was a bit of a tourist trap – it was a nightmare by the time we drove past on our return journey so decided to give them a wide berth. 

We turned off the main road and followed a very windy track to the start of the caves.  It was $15 per person for a guided tour (not possible to do without a guide – we definitely would have got lost). Taylor was a bit ambivalent about entering the cafes when we saw the narrowness of the entrance and requiring to climb down 2 ladders.  We talked her into it but she remained very doubtful for the first 5 minutes as we had to clamber though some very narrow passages before the caves finally opened up.  The chambers were really dark – only our poor headlights providing light so we did not really appreciate their splendour.  The stillness was punctuated by the continual clicking of the bats in flight.  The rocks were slippery and in once instance I nearly slid over a steep drop.  We walked for about 800m before coming to the bottom of the cave which was filled with water up to a depth of 5 metres.  The water was that clear you would not know it was there until you stepped in it.  We all had a very refreshing swim in the cool water – definitely the highlight of the experience.  We passed 2 other groups coming down as we left which was a benefit of getting out early.  

After the caves we headed a couple of kilometres down the road to the Secret Waterfall.  They were a couple of fairly short waterfalls with some decent swimming ponds.  We all enjoyed the swim although there was something in the water that brushed against our feet and sort of nibbled on us – not in a painful way – that made swimming too long uncomfortable.  

 It was then back to the pool and some chilling before heading to the station to grab 4 return tickets (Amanda preferred some chill time) to Bandaraweta – about 20 mins away.  It’s called the Calypso Special train and it has 2 open roofed carriages so you can enjoy the beautiful surrounds. They even had a couple of local musicians entertaining us tourists with old legends like “Country Road”.  It was a lovely trip to Bandaraweta even if it took twice as long to get there – had to wait 20 min for another train to pass. 

Bandaraweta was a bustling town – the busiest we had encountered to date.  We had an hour to kill so went for a bit of a wonder around the town.  It was a hive of activity and we luckily encountered some sort of religious festival with energetic music with a load of woman ‘pulling’ a tractor which in turn was pulling a float.  Not sure exactly what we going on.  We grabbed a round of egg samosas before heading back to the station.  We grabbed some seats on the train but unfortunately we sat in the station for 45 minutes waiting for the non tourist train to depart.  Deryn went and got some drinks – tea for Conor and I and beer for her and Taylor.  The tea was undrinkable – the milk and honey – while the beer was warm. Anyway it was a fun afternoon.  We were all shattered so it was an early night.

We had a chill morning with Conor and I sitting in a cafe in Ella doing some stuff that required wifi (although it was shite) while Taylor and Deryn did some shopping – one small purchase between them.  Conor, Deryn and myself went and checked out the fabled 9 arch bridge.  A bit ho hum I thought – the drive on the windy roads was more interesting.  We had just returned to our scooters (around 200m from the bridge) when we head a train go past.  That may have made it more interesting although probably not!!

We gathered around 3 to head out to climb Ella Rock.  It was reported to be quite a tough climb so we wanted to do it later in the day.  We also thought, given we had scooters, bike to a spot closer to the Ella Rock trailhead to save 45 minutes.  We were all flashing low on petrol so there were a few nerves of running out – although as I pointed out it was 8.4km to the petrol station and a mere 8km return to our destination.  After a bit of going back and forward we found our destination.  It cost Rp100 each to park our bikes and after some initial directions we were off.  10 minutes in a local pointed out that we had ‘missed a turn’ so pointed us in the right direction – seemed he was heading the same way.  He effectively led us to the top via a few ‘short cuts’.   Looks like we had got ourselves a guide. 

The walk was pretty tough but it was beautiful.  Again we were amazed at the vast number of Eucalyptus trees. We literally walked through a forest of them. It cost us Rp930 (A$5) to visit the summit and enjoy the spectacular views. We then walked over to the eastern side of Ella Rock for some more spectacular view up the canyon and across the plains. The walk down was a lot easier – and quicker.  Deryn and I were remiss on the fact that we had not used our poles which would have made the walk a lot easier – and the reason we bought them!!

We all made it back into Ella without running out of petrol but decided not to risk returning to our villa before heading out for dinner. So it was a bit of a sweaty dinner but we were all so hungry it really didn’t matter.    We headed home all pretty satisfied that we had made the most of our time in this beautiful town.  Off to Arugam Bay tomorrow to another tourist hotspot.