We stopped in Garni on the way back from Noravank. The temple is not far from Yerevan and, judging by the huge number of tourist buses, is one of the most promoted attractions in Armenia.
The temple was originally built in the 1st century AD and was dedicated to the ancient Armenian god of the sun, Mihr, but as usual, it was destroyed by a strong earthquake and restored only hundreds of years later by Soviet craftsmen.
The temple stands on a high cape, encircled by the Azat River. The steep slopes serve as an impregnable boundary, protecting the temple from the enemy at all times.
The structure is impressive and certainly surprises with its appearance; after all, we are in Armenia, not Greece.
The next day we planned to move to Batumi. I talked to the taxi driver about the quality of the road towards Georgia from Gyumri. He assured me that the road was quite decent, perhaps even better than from Bagratashen, and that we could safely go.
In the morning, we finally went to the "Vernissage", which we had not been able to visit in the previous days. On weekdays there are not so many traders, but all the necessary souvenirs can be bought.
We left Yerevan at about 11 o'clock. If from the Bagratashen side the road winds among the mountains dotted with green forests, then towards Gyumri the landscapes are more deserted, but no less picturesque.
The road really turned out to be of very decent quality and we got to Gyumri, at different times Leninakan and Alexandropol, in less than an hour and a half. It is a little less than 50 kilometers from Gyumri to the Bavra checkpoint, but the further you drive from the city towards the border, the road changes noticeably and not for the better. No, there is still asphalt here, but with huge holes and cracks, so the speed has noticeably decreased, and we spent about an hour on this section.
I drove up to the checkpoint, there was silence at the border, not a single car except us, only the wind was driving tumbleweeds along the road. A border guard was sitting in a booth near the barrier, half asleep. Not very happy about my appearance, he gestured to the building opposite. I went down to the semi-basement, two Armenians were sitting in a smoke-filled room, I handed the documents to the older one. He started filling out some forms by hand, telling me at the same time that I would need to pay a fee at the bank. Everything was unhurried, but quite friendly. I paid some money for filling out the documents, I don’t remember exactly, I think it was something around 20 drams. After that I went to the bank. The bank is a room about two meters by two, with an open door, through which communication with the bank employee takes place. I didn’t get into the bank itself, so I stood near it the whole time while the bank employee processed my payment on an old computer. It cost me another 80 drams, so the total for leaving Armenia was about 100 drams. Afterwards he gave me a paid receipt and sent me to the next room, where an officer in uniform stamped my passport and my wife's, and she was sitting in the car the whole time and her personal presence was not required.
The barrier slowly rose, and we entered neutral territory. There is no road, only a direction, and this direction goes along potholes and ruts, fortunately not far.
The Georgian border is traditionally more civilized, passengers are asked to get out of the car and go through passport control in the neighboring building. I slowly drive up to the booth with the border guard, documents are checked, a stamp in the passport and wishes for a safe journey. It should be noted that there is no one at the border except our car, and the officers are clearly bored. It would seem that all the formalities are behind us, the stamp in the passport on entry has been received, but no such luck. One of the Georgian border guards shows zeal to check my trunk, no problem. I get out of the car, open the trunk, there is a suitcase in it, I offer to open it, he says - no need. In a bag, tied to the body, there is a 10-liter canister of gasoline, just in case, after all, we are traveling by car. He asks what is in the canister? Boldly, I answer gasoline. A short pause, and the Georgian answers - this is a big problem. I am perplexed, why? According to the law, it is forbidden to import gasoline in any quantity from Armenia to Georgia, even 100 milliliters, the border guard calmly tells me. So what should I do? Go back to Armenia, pour it into the tank and then you can drive through. I remember that I will have to pay another 200 drams for entry, and then another 100 for exit, and this is for some 10 liters of gasoline? Not an option, I explain the situation to him, he seems to understand. A decent crowd of bored border guards has already gathered around the car, shouting “drugs?”, “weapons?” Someone, having learned that all the fuss is about 10 liters of gasoline, says to let me go and don’t disgrace myself, but the border guard is apparently responsible and calls his superior on the radio.
A couple of minutes later the boss comes and, not having figured out what the issue was, like a bull on a red rag, he pounces on the St. George ribbon tied to the rearview mirror inside the car. Shouting, “You can’t go to Georgia with that, take it off.” The border guards who surrounded the car were probably shocked by their boss’s actions, calmed down and began to crawl away in different directions. I played the fool and stood there without taking any action. Having figured out that I was carrying only 10 liters of gasoline, the boss ordered me to be released and quickly left. The border guard who had started this whole mess was apparently not happy himself and said that I could leave.
We crossed the border, but the aftertaste remained. No, I am not inciting anything, and I am not saying that crossing the Georgian border is a real nightmare, but I had to cross the border ten times in different parts of this country and still run into one inadequate person.
But today's bad luck did not end there. At 15-00, we left the territory of the checkpoint "Ninotsminda", poured gasoline into the tank, entered "Kutaisi" in the navigator and, following its instructions, set off. From Ninotsminda, or more precisely Akhalkalaki, there are two roads, one through Akhaltsikhe, where we were on our first trip, exactly a year ago, and the second through Bakuriani. Since we were in Akhaltsikhe, therefore, we chose the road through Bakuriani, in addition to everything, it is also an order of magnitude closer, and this was a fatal mistake.
A few kilometers after Akhalkalaki, the asphalt suddenly ends, but a quite tolerable gravel road begins, lasting about 10 kilometers. Sometimes there are small Georgian villages and, judging by the looks of the locals at our car, tourists do not come here often and certainly not in cars. So, the gravel road soon ended too and turned into a direction, along the green slope of a decent mountain, between huge stones. Somewhere on the ridge, a slowly climbing "Ural" was visible, I drove a few hundred meters more, but the stones finally blocked the way. If only I could get to Borjomi, the road from there is excellent, but the navigator said that Borjomi was still oh so far away, and the fuel gauge arrow treacherously inclined downwards. I had to admit that I had lost this fight and turn back.
We drove to Akhalkalaki. I turned to the nearest gas station to refill my fuel reserves. I asked the gas station attendant about the road to Borjomi, he laughed and said that there was a road, but you can’t drive there in a car like mine. I already realized this myself. What happened before was not to ask the locals, and not to trust soulless electronics. So if you are in a passenger car or even an SUV, I do not advise going through Bakuriani.
Another reason to travel through Akhaltsikhe is that the route runs past the Khertvisi fortress.
They entered Borjomi when it was already dark. They stopped at a roadside tavern to have a bite to eat, and with renewed strength they moved on towards Kutaisi. But after dinner they didn’t want to go so far in the dark, and the tavern owner offered to spend the night with her.
For a modest fee of 20 lari, we were given the house to ourselves. In the morning it turned out to have a picturesque view of the Kura and the surrounding mountain range.
Next will be Batumi and a trip to Turkey.
Source: travel.ru