Dear Diary – Roadtrip from Batumi, Georgia to Yerevan, Armenia

March 29th – 28th April 2014

March 29th

The wedding day hangover I was expecting never arrived thankfully and we made a plan to hit the road that afternoon. Having fallen hard in love with Batumi it was natural that we wanted to explore more of Georgia to see if it was all just as amazing. We met with George, Nana and Mamuka for dumplings and to say yet more sad farewells. Nana gifted me one of her spoons. I had seen them when we had gone to their home for dinner and told her how much I loved them, she had explained to me that they had been in her family for a long time. I was so touched by such a thoughtful gift. To receive a gift that holds sentimental value to the giver can’t be described. I felt so blessed to be the new owner of such a simple item, yet one that holds so many memories of family gatherings around a table. It made leaving even harder and we left with tears as always. To ease the pain we did a food shop before setting off in search of our next adventure. We dawdled around so much that it was too late to leave so we stayed just outside of town and planned to set off early the next day.

March 30th

Woke up to 3 inches of snow and decided to waste the entire day snuggling up, keeping warm and watching movies.

March 31st

It turned out it was a good job we had stayed in Batumi as we received an email from the shipping agent and had to go and see them to arrange final dates. We were really going to do this. The plan was to leave Peggy with the dock on the 4th of April, giving us 4 days to explore a bit more of Georgia.

Heading for the capital City, Tbilisi, the roads were just dreadful. Shitty roads and a long drive made us so miserable, we just felt so defeated. We gave up after 150km, parked in a bush off the side of a main road and cooked dinner. Dinner down and a glass of wine or two later we were sat relaxing when headlights appeared in the windscreen. Our curtains were closed and we decided to ignore it. We had no way out, the car was blocking our only exit. No-one came to the door and after a while the car left. We sighed with relief…and then the police arrived. They insisted we weren’t safe to stay there and made us follow them to the police station. They let us park outside the station for the night, right next to the bright red and blue strip lights. Its fair to say we didn’t get so much sleep that night.

April 1st – I like to think this day was an April fool and didn’t actually happen!

Carried on along the dreadful roads to Tbilisi but the further we went the rougher Peggy sounded. Before long we pulled over at a gas station to fill up with fuel and check out what was wrong. As we pulled onto the forecourt she stalled and just rolled to a stop, to make matters worse, she showed no sign of starting again. The guys from the garage (after a lot of trying to explain using hand signals as we didn’t speak a word of Georgian) gave us a jump start and we had to just go without getting fuel, not daring to stop again. The battery had been so low that we barely got started. As we drove through rural Georgia Alex decided it was maybe the lights that were causing the battery to drain so we pulled up at a make-shift store that looked like it sold car parts and luckily they had what we needed. Peggy had kept running as Alex went in the shop but as he put his foot on the accelerator, she stalled again.

Switching out the batteries on the side of the dusty road so we could get going again was a nightmare but we got it done and carried on our way, confused about what was going on. After a few more kilometers we had gotten to the point where we HAD to stop for fuel but guessed that Peggy would be fine as we had swapped the batteries. WRONG. The van refused to start again. Enrolling help from people buying gas, we had to be rolled out of the way of the pumps to try and figure out what was wrong. It just didn’t make sense, all we could do was swap the batteries around again and hope that the swap would get us the last 70km to Tbilisi.

Luckily we made it to a garage just on the outskirts of the city and had Peggy looked at. It turned out that the wires to the alternator were so badly rusted that they had just quit working. Once they were replaced we were free to go…but were pretty lost. Exhausted, we asked the one English speaking guy if someone could show us the way to our hotel and before we knew it we were following a taxi. He actually got us lost but we managed to find it in the end.

Our booked hotel said it had parking so imagine our shock when we turned up and there was only on-street parking available. WHAT A DAY! We had only booked as we needed to check emails and generally wild camping spots are rare within a city, anyway, we eventually parked half a mile away from the hotel, dropped our bags in our room and went out for a dinner treat. Ate great food at a great little restaurant and slept like logs happy that April fools day was over.

April 2nd

Worked all day online and went for a stroll around eclectic Tbilisi at lunch time. Again, modern buildings nestle next to ancient ones and some are even crumbling into the street. An amazing place to stroll around and absorb.

April 3rd

Interviewed in Peggy for BBC World News in the morning and left Tbilisi at lunch time. We had yet to visit the wine region of Kvareli and made it there just before dark. On our map we had found a beautiful lake to park near but when we arrived it was so strange. A barrier with a guard stopped us from driving straight in. The guard didn’t speak any English but he looked confused and let us pass. The lake was stunning under the moody sky and there was a huge hotel on one side. We asked if we could park in the carpark for the night but they said no. We looked nearby for somewhere to sleep and found a spot in some bushes along the guarded road but it just felt too weird. I couldn’t sleep and woke Alex up at 2 in the morning to move. He drove us into the quiet village and parked outside a nunnery.

April 4th

Woken by the heavy traffic of cows passing up and down the lane at the crack of dawn. We were supposed to be back in Batumi by now to leave Peggy for shipping to India but it just didn’t feel right. We HAD to try again to get through Iran. Waiting on emails, as always, we had delayed the shipping for another few days.

Found Lake Ilia and parked up there to wait it out.

April 5th

Spent the morning hijacking wifi and it paid off, finally an email arrived that suggested we might be able to get into Iran after all. We also arranged to meet an online friend in Tbilisi tomorrow. Feeling excited we treated Peggy to a car wash and had to literally force the guy to take our money for washing her by hand. Then the same happened again buying some veggies from a lady selling outside her home. She wouldn’t take any money from us either! Literally struggled to pay for things, everyone just being so kind and friendly!

Spent the night at the lake again

April 6th.

Visited the wine tunnel and set off back to Tbilisi to meet Anais at 6. Peggy spat power steering fluid all over the place and we got lost trying to find the bar to meet Anais. We finally made it and drank great wine in an underground cellar and talked travel and weddings all night.

April 7th

Cancelled the shipping to India. It was official, we could go to Iran. We re-planned our route into Iran, this time via Armenia. Booked a place to stay in Armenia to finalise our Iranian visas and set off thinking we would make it in no time. The distance looked to be around 90 km but the roads were terrible…maybe this wasn’t the most direct route after all!

When we finally made it to the border it took hours to get across. The official refused to believe that we were from the UK and the van was from Canada. The paperwork and the language barrier was a nightmare and after around 3 hours he let us go. Worn out we wild camped just off the main road for the night.

April 8th.

Took our time getting to Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. Obviously getting lost as the map we had was ridiculous. Hunted out a fast food joint and hijacked wifi to find a map to our accommodation…which turned out to be hidden behind a rehab clinic. Checked in to our little cottage, were made incredibly welcome by Karen the manager and made plans to visit the Indian embassy the following day. We had a few days to wait for our Iranian visa’s so were committed to make the most of our time in Yerevan. The blossom was in bloom and we soon settled in to our little home from home.

April 9th. (Wednesday)

Got to the Indian embassy at 11.50 after spending hours completing the online forms and were turned away as it was too late. The office advertised that it closed at 12. Another lady had been turned away also and she had driven all the way from Georgia, she was furious. We were told to come back tomorrow.

Left angry as the visa application would take 3 working days which now meant that we stood no chance of getting it before the weekend, therefore meaning we had to stay in Yerevan until at least Monday rather than just until Friday. All of course adding to the cost of staying near the city.

We tried to make the most of the day and took Peggy to the mechanic. The power steering fluid was still leaking, the rear axle was leaking oil and the brakes just weren’t working properly so they desperately needed looking at. We fell lucky for a change as we walked into the mechanics and tried to speak to the receptionist who didn’t speak a word of English. She introduced us to one of the mechanics who was an American. An American Dodge mechanic, working in Armenia. We had struck gold!

Peggy booked in for the next day Alex sighed a huge sigh of relief as we drove away.

April 10th.

Went back to the Indian Embassy only to be turned away AGAIN. It was election day in India and all of the visa machines were offline…much to the surprise of the embassy it seemed. I was fuming. All of this messing around was adding time and money we just didn’t have. We were told to return yet again the following day…Friday! Which now meant we would have to be in Yerevan for another 5 days at least!

Reluctantly we traipsed into town to get me a new computer, my 4 year old notebook had finally given up on top of everything else. Alex’s birthday was coming up and I tried to buy him a gift but failed at that too. A truly miserable day. We dropped Peggy at the garage and caught a taxi back to the cottage and sulked.

April 11th.

Phoned the embassy before we got in a taxi to get there to check it was open and the machines were working. Everything was as it should be so we took a cab and were finally able to hand in our forms. We were told to wait while the forms were checked. After an hour the boss of the office came over to us and started shouting at us. He told us we must go to England to apply for our Indian visas, or to Iran or Pakistan. He told us he wouldn’t give us a visa as it was a big job for him to make such a decision. I just about erupted but Alex remained calm and explained to him the reasons we couldn’t apply in England, Iran or Pakistan. He told him that we had been travelling extensively and had tried to gain our visa’s already in both Istanbul and England but there had been good reasons that it hadn’t been possible. The boss calmed down and actually listened (while I stood aside fuming, steam coming from my ears) and eventually agreed to look at our application.

I couldn’t believe it. We paid our fee’s and left quickly before he changed his mind again.

A cab took us to the mechanic and we waited there for 3 hours while our American mechanic gave us a shopping list of parts to order form the USA. More money, more time waiting and more worry about Peggy.

April 12th

Alex’s birthday was a lovely day. After being invited by Karen to use the rehab clinics facilities we relaxed and used the pool and steam room. We had to yet again extended our stay but it didn’t seem all bad today, we cooked, ate and chilled out, refusing to worry about anything too much.

Skip forward 10 days to April 22nd…we are STILL in Yerevan.

April 22nd.

Got up and painted my nails, brushed my hair and got dressed to go shopping to buy some clothes that would be suitable to wear in Iran. Finally we were owners of Indian visas and even had an appointment to collect Iranian visas, we were slowly getting there. Although still waiting for parts to arrive from the USA for Peggy, otherwise we were making slow progress.

We drove Peggy into town and the second we arrived we received a call from Karen, (he had given us a phone to use during our stay…we were like family by now) telling us that he had confirmation that the parts for Peggy had arrived at the Post office and we should go to collect them. The post office sent us to customs to collect the parts. We took a taxi to customs instead of trying to find it ourselves, signed for the parts and got a taxi back to Peggy…which is when we realised that something was missing. Now that we knew where the customs house was we turned around and set off back to get the missing part…and promptly got pulled over by the police.

The police checked our papers and fined us $100 on the spot as our insurance for Armenia expired TODAY! What are the chances??? Of course we had never intended to be in Armenia for so long. It just seemed everything we did was turning into a disaster. We did what we do best and just got on with it. We continued on to the customs house to collect the missing part and took Peggy straight to the Garage.

By the time Peggy was in the garage with the parts it was 6pm. Neither of us really in the mood for a shopping trip any more even if anything HAD still been open, we sacked the whole thing off and took a cab into town and went for dinner and a bottle of wine. God knows we had earned it.

April 23rd. Wednesday.

Woke up to good news. We finally had our appointment numbers to collect our long awaited Iranian visas! Hungover from last nights excess, we dragged ourselves to the embassy and handed over 290 Euro EACH to get our visas the same day (the other option was wait another week and pay 200 Euro each). We left with those precious stamps in our passports and felt on top of the world. Things were finally turning around for us.

Once back at the cottage we happily called the mechanic to see when Peggy would be ready to get back on the road, which led to yet another blow. The Garage was going to be closed tomorrow and Friday for the 99th Armenian Genocide anniversary. Which meant that if we didn’t collect her today we would be here once again for a further 5 days! Alex told the mechanic to finish up what he was doing and leave the rest, we just couldn’t afford to be in Yerevan for another 5 days, we had to get moving, an entire month had passed already!

Alex got in a taxi at 6pm to collect Peggy and at 10.30pm he finally got back to the cottage after a nightmare trying to find his way around all of the closed roads in the city. The preparations for the Anniversary had already begun.

April 24th.

Armenian Genocide Day. A day I never knew a thing about until hearing about the entire city closing down for the day to pay its respects. Sometimes called the Armenian Holocaust, the atrocities of 1915 are now known as the first modern day genocide. This is due to the methodical way that an estimated 1.5 million Armenians were killed in an attempt by the Ottoman government to eliminate the entire Armenian population.

As we drove away from our cottage for the last time and hugged Karen goodbye we watched the crowds flocking into the city and up the hill in droves to add flowers to the striking Tsitsernkaberd memorials for the 99th anniversary.  Even Mount Ararat looked solemn as we left, clouds covered its volcanic peak in an otherwise perfectly blue sky.

Heading south towards to Iranian border felt like a new beginning. The fight for the paperwork had been such a long drawn out nightmare that prior to this very moment I never believed we were going to make it. I was absolutely convinced that we were going to miss out a huge chunk of world all down to the lack of a stamp in our passports, yet here we were. On the road to Iran. Finally!

The excitement meant that we didn’t get far that afternoon and once dark fell we stopped in a deserted car park for the night.

April 25th

Woke up to find ourselves at the foot of a Monastery with an incredible view of Mount Ararat, (where Noah parked the Ark) we couldn’t leave without having a snoop around and had the entire place to ourselves. Later we realised that we had stumbled upon one of Armenias best known attractions, Khor Virap. The beauty of travelling blind I guess.

Along our journey through some of the most beautiful, untouched scenery we had ever witnessed, we also saw Goris , a valley of small naturally formed fairy chimneys, rather like Capadoccia but minus the mass tourism. The valley spread along the edge of a small town, the town only really noticeable, sadly, because of all the litter. We searched for Areni 1, apparently the first EVER wine cave but couldn’t find it for the life of us. We did somehow stumble upon a monstrous concrete frame in the middle of nowhere while searching for it though. The 400km journey through the little known country to Meghri where we would finally cross into Iran was pretty incredible.

April 26th

Drove all day through the south of Armenias stunning scenery, up and down mountains that looked impossible to climb. Our last night in Armenia was spent perched on a flat patch of grass clinging to the side of a mountain over looking a series of mountain ridges that formed Arevik National Park. Even surrounded by so much beauty our nerves played havoc with us, we had no idea what to expect from Iran, we had built it up so much in our minds after all of the messing about with trying to arrange guides and visa’s and papers to even get in. Now that we were literally on the frontier we were actually pretty worried about getting in.

April 27th

Nervously we left our patch of green paradise and completed the journey to the Iranian border.

Getting out of Armenia was ridiculously eventful as we had outstayed our visa’s AND our insurance had expired. We hadn’t even considered looking at our visa’s, we just presumed we had at least 30 days but had been given only 14, we had overstayed our welcome by 6 days. Alex got a royal bollocking from several border officials and they seemed incredibly thrilled to fine us a grand total of $16! We were happy to take the fine which peeved them a little so they made sure that they gave Peggy a thorough checking before letting us go any further. It all turned into fun and games though once the inquisitive guard found Alex’s dog slippers and could no longer hold off a smile.

Getting into Iran on the other hand was easy, friendly and smooth as silk. We had to use our carnet (a Passport for Peggy) for the first time and it was readily accepted. Our finger prints were taken by a very smiley guard in a small office and our picture too. We had a good laugh about him printing our official entry documents on top of someone elses but he didn’t seem too phased and waved us along to the van checking area.

Once into Iran proper we set off organised with a map and GPS on my tablet. We felt prepared for anything. I had looked up a place to stay in Marand, the first city we would come to after around 250km driving mainly along the border of Azerbaijan. However when we arrived in Marand the ‘hotel’ had closed down. We pulled up at a taxi parking area to ask for directions for a place to stay but were told the nearest place was in Tabriz, another 70km away.

Of course we made it there in time for rush hour traffic, got stuck in a bus lane and got completely lost but we eventually found somewhere to stay after an epic day. We cooked a curry in the van in the hotel car park much to everyone’s amusement. We had plenty of visitors, all intrigued by Peggy and interested to hear where we had come from.

We were just so relieved. We had made it into Iran, we had jumped the biggest hurdle in the trip so far.