I would like to travel to Armenia, Azerbijan, Abkhazia, Nakhchivan, and Georgia, but am not sure how to navigate through the areas--I understand there are some political disputes among the countries. Has anyone gone to this area? What about safety? Do you have any tips/suggestions for how to maneuver through the countries?
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Thanks Diane for your response. I appreciate the input. Will call her tomorrow and see if they have scheduled aa trip for the dates I want to go. Travel as a single so sometimes difficult to get a place on a tour. Regards. Don.
Planning a similar trip for Sept. 2018, and may of the tours are already full. Was looking at East Site Travel--anyone have experience with them? Road Scholar, MIR (expensive), and a few others are full for this year. Thanks. Don Tomajan.
I used www.natigtravel.com for my tour in Nahkchivan also, and Natig Pashayev was my guide/driver. He is a great guy, and I recommend him. He will arrange the domestic flight from Baku, a hotel in Nakhchivan City, meals, transportation (his car) and entry at all stops. Note my story above about Natig getting pulled over by a policeman. BTW, for a great photo op, when you fly back to Baku's domestic terminal, if it is dark, when you leave the terminal and the driver stops to pay the parking fee, get out of the car and look back at the domestic terminal. It will be all lit up and look like a giant illuminated turban.
As an aside, if you are going to tour Armenia and Georgia, I recommend Vrezh (pronounced "fresh") Nazaryan who lives in Yerevan, but covers both countries. His company is www.adventurearmenia.com (email: adventurearmenia@gmail.com). He can do everything from old-folks "take it easy" tours to adventure cycling/hiking/watercrafting. He will customize the tour to exactly what you want.
The web site I have is www.natigtravel.com. I went through Victory Tours in Baku, but they work together.
diane
Hi John,
What is the website of that tour company?
Thanks,
David
John Dranchak said:
That was a great story. I too noticed that my guide drove very slowly. He mentioned that the fines for speeding were quite high. I was impressed with the quality of the roads--I had just spent 3 weeks in the Stans driving over extremely bumpy roads.
Agree that trip to Nakhchivan is a must do. I also had www.natigtravel.com take me there. As you probably figured out, it is a family run tour company (Basrad Pashayev was my guide in and around Baku, and his (cousin?) Natig Pashayev was my guide in Nakhchivan. Very nice people and very knowledgeable. I must tell you a funny story from Nakhchivan ... As you would have seen, the roads in N are very good, lightly traveled, and have an amazingly slow speed limit which most people observe. On our way back to N City, Natig was pulled over by a policeman, I presume for speeding. The moment he noticed the red lights behind, he immediately pulled out his phone and hit a speed dial number. Whoever he called answered right away and Natig was talking with the person on the phone before he even coasted to a stop on the road shoulder. Of course I don't speak the language, so I couldn't tell what the conversation was about. The policeman came to the car window and said something, probably that he was going to give Natig a ticket. Their discussion went back and forth a while. Natig pointed at his phone a couple times, and eventually held it out to the policeman appearing to ask him to talk with the person on the phone. The policeman eventually got a pained look on his face, stepped back and motioned us to go on. Once back on the road I asked Natig what the heck that was all about. He told me that in this small country everyone knows everyone, and the Minister of Transportation is a good friend, and also is the ultimate boss of the policeman. Natig told the Minister that he was being pulled over by a policeman, and would the Minister mind telling the policeman that it wouldn't look so good for a distinguished foreign tourist to have to experience a police stop. When Natig told the policeman that the Minister wanted to talk with him on the phone, the policeman at first thought it was a bluff, but eventually realized it was real and not a bluff. So he extracted himself from the situation without taking the phone and talking with the Minister.
Diane Ness Laucks said:
I agree-it is fascinating. I just returned from the 5 Stans and the Caucasus. I went with East-Site Travel in Medford New Jersey. Both tours were fantastic-great hotels and tour guides. I also arranged a separate day tour with a Nakhchivan tour group (www.natigtravel.com) and first arranged by Mariya through Victory Tours in Baku. I was picked up at my hotel in Baku and transferred to the airport. In Nakhchivan, I was met by a wonderful guide who gave me a wonderful insight into his country's history, politics, and culture. I always felt safe and was very impressed with the area. At the end of the day, I returned to Baku and was back at my hotel by 9PM. I highly recommend going to Nakhchivan--it can be done in a day or two.
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