At Home In The Wasteland Travel Blog

The Kura river, which these cliffhouses are perched precariously over, starts in north-eastern Turkey, flows through Turkey to Georgia, and then to Azerbaijan, where it enters the Caspian Sea. The total length of the river is 1,515 kilometres (941 mi). As Tbilisi’s economy continues to grow following its independence from the USSR, flights to Istanbul [...]

This is my friend, Laura, taking photos of Tbilisi from Narikala, a fortress established in the 4th century. It’s a steep climb up to the fortress (especially when you are, uh, hungover) but the view makes it worth it.

The Metekhi Church of Assumption was originally built by the Georgian king St Demetrius II circa 1278–1284. It was later damaged and restored several times. Throughout its existence it has served as army barracks, a jail, and theater until 1988, when the Soviet government allowed the building to once again be used as a church.

Stayed here for a few nights while in Tbilisi. Great place. The parking lot is full of SUVs with diplomatic plates, so if you are looking for some interesting conversations, head for the bar.

And finally, continuing part whatever of our trip to the South Caucasus…which took place in July… It was our last day in Baku, but our plane wasn’t leaving until the afternoon so we had some time to kill. The day before, we found a travel agency that offered a tour of sights outside the city, [...]

For breakfast I had a chocolate croissant and a Coke float. Not quite the healthiest meal, but when you’re on vacation you can pretty much do whatever the hell you want, right? We were at a quaint little coffee shop/bookstore that specialized in English language books. Liz and Taline stocked up, and I purchased a [...]

We were supposed to pick up Crystal and Taline at 8:30 that morning. I say supposed to, because we didn’t. When 8:30am rolled around, Liz was running around the house banging on my bedroom door and shouting “AHHHH WE’RE LATE! WE ARE SOOOOO LATE!” We hurriedly packed, piled into Liz’s Rav4, and sped to Taline’s [...]

As always, here is a small sample: The album is located here. I actually have a few more I need to upload, and I will get those up soon (You’re probably thinking, “MORE?!”…yes, more) Now comes the fun part, though…writing the travelogue of our trip around the South Caucasus. I promise that I will try [...]

After 24 hours of non-stop traveling (damn you Heathrow!), I’m finally back from my incredible journey to the Caucasus. I took over 400 photos, so it will take me awhile to get them all sorted, labeled, and uploaded, but I expect that by the end of this week they will be available for your viewing [...]

I’ve had two people tell me this in the past week…and these are friends of mine who studied the region at LSE. Comrades, be reasonable! I’m not looking to grab an AK-47 and hop into one of the various post-Soviet conflicts plaguing the region, I just want some homemade Georgian khachapuri and Armenian cognac. Besides, [...]