Daniel is living soon to the road to Miskolc so I thought about getting back to Poland through Kosice. Bad idea. There was a petrol station nearby which seemed to be a good place but after 2,5 hours of waiting I decided to go the other way through Vac. It was much better. There's no highway there so it was easier to find a good waiting spot. I met on my way a Polish girl, Magda, also a hitchhiker. We travelled a bit together until we found a truck going straight to Poland. I let her go and waited for another one. It wasn't hard and at 6.30pm I was already in Poland. Finally at home! (not literally home but still..) I didn't manage to catch another car and I had to sleep somewhere near the petrol station. I had a great meal in a restaurant nearby. Finally Polish food! Pork chops, potatoes, some cucumbers and cold beer. After almost 40 days of travelling it seemed to be one of the best meals I've ever had! Next day I left to Warsaw and without any problems I got home at about 5pm.
27 sierpnia 2010
25 sierpnia 2010
Georgia 2010: HR - HU
Road to Pecs was short and easy. On my way I explored few more mine fields and post war sites. Abandoned houses, completely destroyed, inhabited ones - still with a lot of bullet holes. Even thou a lot was made to restore the damages there was always something reminding about the past. I spoke with some people on the road about the war. I was quite suprised that almost most of them didn't have problems with other balkan countries. They blamed polititians not normal people. I got the impression that now the general opinion was that the war was started on some higher level, somewhere above.
I arrived at Pecs late afternoon so I just had a walk in the old town with my CS host, Zsolt and then we went to his place. Funny thing, he'll be coming to Poland for 2 weeks soon. Propably we'll have some more time to talk then when we met in Hungary.
Next day I got to Budapest. Only 200 km, no problem at all. I had a very interesting driver. Teacher, philosopher, member of some Krishna kind of spiritual community (or whatever it's called). We had a really good conversation and he also invited me to a dinner. Since free food always sounds interesting I went with him and met also few more people from his community. After this I went to McDonalds at Nyugati station. I realized it's propably a place I visited the most times in Budapest. Don't like the food but free WiFi is always good. In the afternoon I met with my friend, Daniel who hosted me for a night. I got some really interesting ideas from him, maybe we'll go travelling together some day :)
I arrived at Pecs late afternoon so I just had a walk in the old town with my CS host, Zsolt and then we went to his place. Funny thing, he'll be coming to Poland for 2 weeks soon. Propably we'll have some more time to talk then when we met in Hungary.
Next day I got to Budapest. Only 200 km, no problem at all. I had a very interesting driver. Teacher, philosopher, member of some Krishna kind of spiritual community (or whatever it's called). We had a really good conversation and he also invited me to a dinner. Since free food always sounds interesting I went with him and met also few more people from his community. After this I went to McDonalds at Nyugati station. I realized it's propably a place I visited the most times in Budapest. Don't like the food but free WiFi is always good. In the afternoon I met with my friend, Daniel who hosted me for a night. I got some really interesting ideas from him, maybe we'll go travelling together some day :)
22 sierpnia 2010
Georgia 2010: HR-BA-HR
I didn't have any specific plans for Bosnia. I thought bout visiting Radimlja (old pagan cemetery) and maybe Mostar. Hitchhiking turned out to be a bit easier than in Croatia but still I wasn't going as fast as I expected and instead of Mostar I decided to go somewhere else. I heard bout really nice lake surrounded by waterfalls which was about 30 km further and I decided to spend a night there. Getting there was not easy - I had to walk the last 5 km with my 30kg backpack but it was definately worth it. The place was beautiful, water was clean (and not salty) and also there were just a few tourists visiting it. Apart from me only few people stayed there for a night for fishing. I spent some time with them, we ate together, had a beer - very nice and hospitable people!
Next day again some swimming in the morning and then some more swimming :) Instead of leaving at 6-7 am as usual, I stayed there till 11. I just couldn't leave! Gotta come back next time I'm gonna be somewhere around!
That day I was not hurrying anywhere. I wanted to go as far as possible north cause the next day I had to reach Pecs in Hungary where I had CS hosting. I enjoyed every minute of that day. Waiting by the road, eating fresh pears, apples and grapes I found nearby. Especially the last ones were amazing - the best ones I've ever eaten!
The day I left Bosnia was very interesting also because of the people I met on my way. I drove with a guy from Switzerland working at military mission in Bosnia and a girl from Slovenia who was planning to organize a trip to Sarajevo. I was really glad to finally find some people with a lot of interesting things to say instead of truck-driver-types with whom you could talk like: my name is..., I'm going to.. and discuss whether Turkish/Greek/Croatian/Serbian/other girls nice asses and tits. I don't mind the last one but it's not one of the things that gives you a lot of new experience and helps you develop your personality :)
I finished the day at some petrol station. It was already after 10pm and completely dark. Since the station was close to the road and it was visible from there I decided to go a bit further with some small local road. I followed it till I saw some wayside chapel. I wanted to sleep just after it but then I saw a sign. It was saying that that place was full of land mines and I was in the middle of it. In a second I felt very strange. I was not afraid but in a while everything become different. Croatia, a tourist destination, with its beaches and curorts was no longer the same. Of course, I knew about the war, read about it a bit, saw some pictures but only at that moment it become so real. Walking through the mine field in complete darkness every step could be the last one. Amazing experience. Much better than the seaside..
Next day again some swimming in the morning and then some more swimming :) Instead of leaving at 6-7 am as usual, I stayed there till 11. I just couldn't leave! Gotta come back next time I'm gonna be somewhere around!
That day I was not hurrying anywhere. I wanted to go as far as possible north cause the next day I had to reach Pecs in Hungary where I had CS hosting. I enjoyed every minute of that day. Waiting by the road, eating fresh pears, apples and grapes I found nearby. Especially the last ones were amazing - the best ones I've ever eaten!
The day I left Bosnia was very interesting also because of the people I met on my way. I drove with a guy from Switzerland working at military mission in Bosnia and a girl from Slovenia who was planning to organize a trip to Sarajevo. I was really glad to finally find some people with a lot of interesting things to say instead of truck-driver-types with whom you could talk like: my name is..., I'm going to.. and discuss whether Turkish/Greek/Croatian/Serbian/other girls nice asses and tits. I don't mind the last one but it's not one of the things that gives you a lot of new experience and helps you develop your personality :)
I finished the day at some petrol station. It was already after 10pm and completely dark. Since the station was close to the road and it was visible from there I decided to go a bit further with some small local road. I followed it till I saw some wayside chapel. I wanted to sleep just after it but then I saw a sign. It was saying that that place was full of land mines and I was in the middle of it. In a second I felt very strange. I was not afraid but in a while everything become different. Croatia, a tourist destination, with its beaches and curorts was no longer the same. Of course, I knew about the war, read about it a bit, saw some pictures but only at that moment it become so real. Walking through the mine field in complete darkness every step could be the last one. Amazing experience. Much better than the seaside..
Georgia 2010: ME - HR
This time the plan was supposed to be a piece of cake but those 100km to Dubrovnik turned to be hard as hell. I waited for all cars at least an hour each, and the whole trip took me 6 hours! Damn! And it could've been a lot easier. I just forgot about the t-shirt I bought before the trip (red & white with "Poland" written on it). Just after I put it on the first Polish car stopped! Nice! :)
Dubrovnik was a bit disappointing for me. The city itself is beautiful but when u add thousands of tourists, it becomes hell. Overcrowded busses, restaurants and the old town - it was a nightmare. And the prices - 3,5-4 euros for a beer...
There were few things bout Dubrovnik I liked thou. I went to see the city walls and wanted to buy the ticket. It was about 10 euros. I asked for a student discount (I'm no longer a student). When they asked for student card I showed them my Polish ID. It worked, I got 50% discount but I told them it's still very expensive and in Belgrad everything was so cheap, I liked Serbia a lot etc. Since the Croats don't like Serbs so much I managed to get another discount (just to prove me wrong). I paid 2,5 euro. Same was the last day - I managed to see an exhibition of photos from Yugoslavian war for free. You just have to know how to talk to people :)
Anyways I'll remember Dubrovnik also because of something else. While walking in the Old Town I met my Estonian friend with whom I studied 2 years ago.. in Georgia. Unbelievable. Come on, what are the odds?!?
In Dubrovnik I slept on some cliffs just by the sea. Not so comfortable but when I woke up at 5am I was about 3 metres from the sea. It was great to swim without million of people around you.
Dubrovnik was a bit disappointing for me. The city itself is beautiful but when u add thousands of tourists, it becomes hell. Overcrowded busses, restaurants and the old town - it was a nightmare. And the prices - 3,5-4 euros for a beer...
There were few things bout Dubrovnik I liked thou. I went to see the city walls and wanted to buy the ticket. It was about 10 euros. I asked for a student discount (I'm no longer a student). When they asked for student card I showed them my Polish ID. It worked, I got 50% discount but I told them it's still very expensive and in Belgrad everything was so cheap, I liked Serbia a lot etc. Since the Croats don't like Serbs so much I managed to get another discount (just to prove me wrong). I paid 2,5 euro. Same was the last day - I managed to see an exhibition of photos from Yugoslavian war for free. You just have to know how to talk to people :)
Anyways I'll remember Dubrovnik also because of something else. While walking in the Old Town I met my Estonian friend with whom I studied 2 years ago.. in Georgia. Unbelievable. Come on, what are the odds?!?
In Dubrovnik I slept on some cliffs just by the sea. Not so comfortable but when I woke up at 5am I was about 3 metres from the sea. It was great to swim without million of people around you.
17 sierpnia 2010
Georgia 2010: MK-AL-ME
I left Macedonia in the morning with Slavche and his grandpa who took me to the boarder. Before crossing it I decided to ask some drivers for a lift. I was lucky again. The first car took me. It was Spanish, I mean Catalan, couple. Turned out they're going exactly the same way as me so it was a perfect start of a day! Albania was an interesting experience. The landscapes are amazing - the road was picturesque - going through the mountains, climbing them, just to go all the way down in a second. About the roads.. hmm, guess I haven't seen worse ones in my life. We say that in Poland roads are quite shitty but comparing to Albanian ones we have only highways. Some parts of national road, which is supposed to be the second best type after motorway, were not made of asphalt at all. I'd like to visit Albania some other time but I wouldn't come there with a car unless it would be a monster truck (or a good jeep at least).
It took a long time to go past Albania due to the quality of the roads. Maybe it's their way to keep tourists in their country? Anyways we managed to get to Montenegro. The views changed a bit, in addition to montains there was a nice seaside. Quite like Croatian one but maybe a bit more dirty. The thing is that it's cheaper there (a beer = 0,5 euro) and there're less tourists. After leaving the Catalan guys I hitchhiked bit to Kotor which was my final destination for that day. The place was very nice, really liked the old town surrounded by city walls with small cafes and restaurants. Also it's not so famous place as for example Dubrovnik which means less tourists and better overall experience.
After seeing the town I went 6-7km further to find a place to sleep. This time it turned out to be a construction site. Somebody was building a house for himself - I just went to the 3rd floor and had there everything I needed: clean and dry place, some refreshing air coming through the windows and a beer which I bought earlier in a shop (the picture of this place will be available in the galleries in the middle of September).
It took a long time to go past Albania due to the quality of the roads. Maybe it's their way to keep tourists in their country? Anyways we managed to get to Montenegro. The views changed a bit, in addition to montains there was a nice seaside. Quite like Croatian one but maybe a bit more dirty. The thing is that it's cheaper there (a beer = 0,5 euro) and there're less tourists. After leaving the Catalan guys I hitchhiked bit to Kotor which was my final destination for that day. The place was very nice, really liked the old town surrounded by city walls with small cafes and restaurants. Also it's not so famous place as for example Dubrovnik which means less tourists and better overall experience.
After seeing the town I went 6-7km further to find a place to sleep. This time it turned out to be a construction site. Somebody was building a house for himself - I just went to the 3rd floor and had there everything I needed: clean and dry place, some refreshing air coming through the windows and a beer which I bought earlier in a shop (the picture of this place will be available in the galleries in the middle of September).
Georgia 2010: GR-MK
So.. I left my strip-club 'friends' and headed to Macedonia. Getting there was not simple at all. The boarder with Grecce is small and there're not many cars going that direction but I managed somehow. The drivers were very helpful, most of them offered me also some food. Especially travelling with some Albanians was a nice experience. Together with me we were 6 people in the car (and my luggage could be considered the 7th) :)
I arrived in Ohrid early and spend there 2 days. The place itself is quite impressive - very nice lake, clear water, just perfect for some rest. Also the old part of the city is intersting. Nice architecture, pubs - all you need is there. I thought there were quite a lot of tourists thou but later on when I saw Croatia I realized there were just a few of them.. In Ohrid I had a really good host - Slavche. We had some interesting conversations and I found out a lot about Macedonia, it's culture and interesting sights. One of them is Golen Grad, abandoned place full of snakes (that's why nobody goes there). Snakes are one reason I wanna see it - in Poland they're not so common and the second reason is the place itself. Next year I'm gonna go there!
Also thanks to Slavche I had an opportunity to check out some home made Macedonian food. Think the name was Kravche-Tavche (not sure). Yeah, the food is also one of the reasons the place is worth visiting.
The 2 days in Ohrid passed very quickly - I was suprised how fast. The next stop was Montenegro (via Albania).
I arrived in Ohrid early and spend there 2 days. The place itself is quite impressive - very nice lake, clear water, just perfect for some rest. Also the old part of the city is intersting. Nice architecture, pubs - all you need is there. I thought there were quite a lot of tourists thou but later on when I saw Croatia I realized there were just a few of them.. In Ohrid I had a really good host - Slavche. We had some interesting conversations and I found out a lot about Macedonia, it's culture and interesting sights. One of them is Golen Grad, abandoned place full of snakes (that's why nobody goes there). Snakes are one reason I wanna see it - in Poland they're not so common and the second reason is the place itself. Next year I'm gonna go there!
Also thanks to Slavche I had an opportunity to check out some home made Macedonian food. Think the name was Kravche-Tavche (not sure). Yeah, the food is also one of the reasons the place is worth visiting.
The 2 days in Ohrid passed very quickly - I was suprised how fast. The next stop was Montenegro (via Albania).
10 sierpnia 2010
Georgia 2010: Greece
Well, yeah.. Greece. After 2 years I was coming back. In 2008 I studied for 1 semester in Thessaloniki and it was not a very nice experience. Rubbish everywhere, homeless dogs walking on university's corridors, people who usually like your money more than you. How was it now?
After crossing the boarder I was left by the French somewhere near Kavala and tried to hitchhike. Knowing Greeks I thought it's gonna be hard and so it was. After 1h nobody stopped. Some people were looking at me like I was some kind of a freak. Not so nice feeling.
I was holding a piece of paper with the name of my destination - "Thessaloniki". After 1h I changed it a bit adding "25€". Then it turned out that there're people willing to 'help'. 2 cars stopped. I that people they're cars suck and the standard is not good enough for me (one of them was a brand new Mercedes;)). Anyways the little experiment seemed to prove that what I thought bout the Greeks was right. I decided to search for the shop and hit the road the next day in the morning with the French. Then something strange happened. One guy asked me where I was going and then offered me a lift to Thessaloniki. That was really nice. And also he was the first person I was able to communicate in few days. Turks are great but they speak no languages at all. After getting to Thess. I cought one more car to Chalkidonia. It was night already so I started to look for a place to stay for a night outside of the city. When I was almost outta town I spotted a bar. Inside there was only the bartender. Thought it was closed but I asked for something to eat and to drink. Got it for free :) Another nice experience. After some tome it turned out that the bar was not closed. It was beeing prepared for the opening! Yeah, I found myself in a strip club. After 1h the strippers came. There were no other ppl inside so I had a chat with them (not suprisingly in russian) and also continued my conversation with the bartender. I got a "business proposal" from him: search for some Polish girls willing to work in his club. He was offering 50€ for one. WTF?!? Do I look like a pimp?!? Anyways I guess he thought we made a deal so I got some drinks, watched some strippers - everything for free :P
I left at 2am and slept by the road near the club. Next morning hitchhiked to Macedonia. Yes, Greek people, Macedonia, not FYROM. On my way visited Edessa (it was supposed to have nice waterfalls but it war crappy like hell).
Anyways, Greek people I hitchhiked with were very nice - completely opposite to the ones I met when I studied in Thessaloniki. I left Greece a bit confused about my feelings towards the Greeks. Guess gotta come once again..
After crossing the boarder I was left by the French somewhere near Kavala and tried to hitchhike. Knowing Greeks I thought it's gonna be hard and so it was. After 1h nobody stopped. Some people were looking at me like I was some kind of a freak. Not so nice feeling.
I was holding a piece of paper with the name of my destination - "Thessaloniki". After 1h I changed it a bit adding "25€". Then it turned out that there're people willing to 'help'. 2 cars stopped. I that people they're cars suck and the standard is not good enough for me (one of them was a brand new Mercedes;)). Anyways the little experiment seemed to prove that what I thought bout the Greeks was right. I decided to search for the shop and hit the road the next day in the morning with the French. Then something strange happened. One guy asked me where I was going and then offered me a lift to Thessaloniki. That was really nice. And also he was the first person I was able to communicate in few days. Turks are great but they speak no languages at all. After getting to Thess. I cought one more car to Chalkidonia. It was night already so I started to look for a place to stay for a night outside of the city. When I was almost outta town I spotted a bar. Inside there was only the bartender. Thought it was closed but I asked for something to eat and to drink. Got it for free :) Another nice experience. After some tome it turned out that the bar was not closed. It was beeing prepared for the opening! Yeah, I found myself in a strip club. After 1h the strippers came. There were no other ppl inside so I had a chat with them (not suprisingly in russian) and also continued my conversation with the bartender. I got a "business proposal" from him: search for some Polish girls willing to work in his club. He was offering 50€ for one. WTF?!? Do I look like a pimp?!? Anyways I guess he thought we made a deal so I got some drinks, watched some strippers - everything for free :P
I left at 2am and slept by the road near the club. Next morning hitchhiked to Macedonia. Yes, Greek people, Macedonia, not FYROM. On my way visited Edessa (it was supposed to have nice waterfalls but it war crappy like hell).
Anyways, Greek people I hitchhiked with were very nice - completely opposite to the ones I met when I studied in Thessaloniki. I left Greece a bit confused about my feelings towards the Greeks. Guess gotta come once again..
Georgia 2010: GE-TR-GR
7th of August, in the morning, I left Tbilisi. I was hoping to get to Europe as fast as possible. First day got to the Turkish boarder and then managed to get to Trabzon. It was the middle of the night so almost impossible to hitchhike but I was determined to try to get as fast as possible without sleeping. I crossed almost whole city by foot (with 25kg backpack) and hitchhiked a bit but at 1pm decided to sleep for 4 hrs on a bench by the mosque. Felt kinda like a junkie but sometimes doing the plan means some sacrifices. When it got a bit brighter I headed to Ankara. Once again hitchhiking was unbelievably easy and I had to verify my plan - I managed to go 400km further, to Istanbul. Arrived there at 2pm. The driver left me in the suburbs about 30 km from the centre. No chance to hitchhike, no chance for a bus. Had to wait 4 hrs at the gas station. As usual in Turkey after 10 mins gas station workers came to me - 'hi', 'what's your name?', 'would u like some tea and something to eat?'. Beeing in Turkey for some time I kinda expected this. It was the same on my road there. Just hang around for few minutes, behave like a lost tourist which has no idea where he is and I can guarantee you'll have as much tea and food as you want. Guess it's not right to expect that treatment but it's just Turkey, you have no choice. At the station they also got wireless internet. It was not possible to use it due to cameras on the station but I just went to the next pavilon, where they were about to open a new bank (under construction) and I connected without any probs. At 6 I left to meet my host Firat. Finally had a shower, some sleep, then I spent some time with Firat and his friends. Very nice ppl, once again I was able to experience some Turkish hospitality. Next day left at 6.30. The plan was Thessaloniki (Greece). The beginning was horrible. Living in the centre of Istanbul I needed more then 2 hrs to get out of the city by buses. Earlier I thought Istanbul is 'huge' but that word doesn't show how big is it. Later on once again had no probs with hitchhiking (cheers for the Armenian team who took me to Silivri). When I got to the boarder it turned out you can cross it only with a car. It was hard to explain the Turkish why I wanna get to their car just before the boarder but finally I managed... to find a French family coming back to Europe from holidays. I went with them all the way to Kavala. So back to Greece after 2 years... Good or bad, the memories had returned...
5 sierpnia 2010
Georgia 2010: Mkinvartsveri (Kazbegi)
Coming back to Georgia gave me a second chance to try to climb Kazbegi, one of the highest peaks in Georgia - 5047m high. Last time, in June 2008, I wasn't able to do this due to poor weather. Since I didn't have much experience in climbing mountains higher than 3000m, Kazbegi seemed to be an interesting challenge.
It all started on 31th of July. I woke up at 6.30, packed my stuff quickly, left Vaxo's house and headed to Didube bus station. Ate there some chachapuri (Georgian traditional food made of bread and some kind of cottage cheese) and went to find a mini bus (marshrutka) going to Stepantsminda (Kazbegi). It was supposed to leave at 8, but as usual it was late. We left the station at 8:30 when somebody finally filled the last empty place in the car. Even thou it was quite early the weather was very warm and travelling was tireing. Opened windows were not helping much. The bus was moving fast thou and I was hoping that at least it won't take long to reach it's final destination. I was wrong - we arrived at 11, but the road wasn't so horrible at all. The road was nicely situated offering the us some views on the mountains.
In Kazbegi the weather was very nice. It was to warm, as usual in Georgia, but good news was that the mountain itself was not covered in clouds at all. I was hoping that it will remain the same for few more days. My only problem was that I cought a cold the other day and I was worried it will get worse making the ascent impossible.
I bought some medicine at the local pharmacy and went to do some shoppings. Spent all my money but didn't buy enough for the whole trip. Unfortunately it was Saturday and the bank was closed and it was impossible to get any more cash or exchange any euros. I decided to go anyway hoping I'll be able to buy something from other people on the trail.
The plan for the first day was to reach the meteo station situated at about 3600m. It was supposed to take 8h to get there. I crossed the bridge and headed to Gergeti village situated next to Kazbegi. From there there are several roads leading to Cminda Sameba church - one of the most famouch churches of Georgia situated picturesquely on the hill above the village. I took the hardest option - the trail through the forest going almost straight up. It was very tireing, especially considering 37-40 C deg. temperature and 15 kg backpack I carried. I wouldn't recommend it for most of the people. The main advantage of it is that it's the fastest one (if you have enough stamina). To find it, when you reach Gergeti, you have to go as much left as possible and then pass a small gate that allows you to cross the fence. Than you just have to climb up. Approximately 45min - 1h. When I stopped at Sameba church for some rest I realized I lost my knife somewhere. Kinda bad news considering I bought a lot of canned meat and fishes and didn't have any other opener. Fortuntely borrowed it from some Israeli tourists visiting the church and after few minutes I was able to head to the meteo station. The road was easy. First it leaded through some trees but soon it went up the hill. According to Georgian people I spoke with, it was supposed to be marked with red&white signs but on my whole way I couldn't find any of them. Anyway, the road easy to spot and there were no problems with finding the right way to go. Soon the trail went up to the pass which offers a nice view on Kazbegi and Ortsveri glacier. At least in theory cause by the time I was there the weather got a bit worse covering it in thick fog. From the pass I went a bit down and crossed the river. Since the visibility was not so good I decided to camp near the river instead of going up to the meteo station. Just after the river there are a lot of good places to camp already prepared to pitch the tent. There's also a drinkable water source. Usually you can meet some other people camping there and so it was this time. I encoutered 3 Georgians who also stopped there for a night. We spoke a bit, ate something together and then I went to sleep. It was 6pm but there was absolutely nothing to do. Of course it turned out to be a bad idea. After sleeping 4,5 hours I woke up at 22:30, then at 2am and few other times. It was a very long night. Finally the sun came out and it was possible to go further. I joined the Georgians and we headed together to meteo station. The road was quite hard. The first part leaded through morena full of loose stones which made the ascent more tireing. After that it was only the glacier we had to cross. There are a lot of small stones on it so it's easy to keep the balance and move fast. The only problem is that it's covered by rifts and you would have to find a way around them. When we finally got to the other side of the glacier we started to search for the best place to get down. There are only few of them and the best one should be marked by a pole (it might be quite hard to see it thou). When we finally found the passage it was only a short ascent in front of us and we already were at the meteo station. We pitched our tents (1 night costs 5 lari) and decided to go see the chapel nearby. To get there you have to climb about 200m up. The trail is visible from the station. Going to the chapel might be quite good idea for acclimatization and getting used to high mountain conditions.
My plan was to climb the top the next day but it turned out that nobody was going then and it was not such a good idea to go alone, especially I wasn't sure how my organism will react to the height. In case it doesn't adjust well it might be a problem to get back without any help and might be dangerous. Usually altitude disease go as follows: first you feel a pain in your head, then you feel you like to vomit. In most advanced stage you might start to lose an ability to think resonably. While standing in the middle on the glacier you may just fall asleep on the snow thinking you're going to sleep in your comfy bed at home. If nobody finds you, you're dead.
The next day I also had problems with finding a group I could join. All of the guides wanted me to pay like 60-150 euros to join their groups. I almost decided to go alone but later on I found 2 girls from Poland and Czech Republic - Bożena and Iva, I could join the next day. I also borrowed some warmer pants from Archi, one of the Georgians I met the ther day, cause mine were not apropriate for the high mountain conditions.
About the guides: it was amazing they didn't allow me to join their groups for free. Is somebody's life really worth those bloody 60 euros. Is it better to let somebody go alone instead of taking him with the group? Especially they were already paid for that day. Unbelievable.
That wasn't the only unpeasant experience there. The person running the refuge was even worse. Me, I came to Georgia hitchhiking, didn't have much money, didn't have enough to eat. When I was borrowing crampions and ice axe I was hoping to get few lari discount or at least something ot eat. But no, that guy was like a vampire trying to suck your blood till the last drop. Every lari, every tetri. Until you have some money it's ok. Later you can die there - he wouldn't care. I love Georgia and it's people but this one was surely not acting like one of them. If you get there some time try avoid him if possible. I got cheated when paying in euros (got 2.00 exchange course for euro instead of 2.40) Also don't borrow any equipment under any circumstances. The crampions I got were missing some parts and they were in really bad condition. Inexperienced person could've died during the ascent (but I guess it's not a reason to buy new ones - some people will take it anyway cause they've no choice and the owner gets 15 lari anyway so everything's ok, right?). If somebody dies, well, accidents happen. If you don't have whole equipment needed to go to the top, better ask some people in the camp. Most of them stay there for one extra day before the ascent to adjust their organism to mountain conditions and they can borrow it for free.
To get to the top you need:
headlight -you start at 2-3 am so at the beginning it's completely dark
crampions - the most important piece of equipment, later on the slope is very steep
ice axe - not a must but you should take it for your own safety
trekking poles - useful for 3/4 of the road to the top, for the final ascent it's better to use ice axe
warm clothes - while it's 40 C deg. in the village, on the top it can be around 0 C deg.
suglasses - a must (unless you wanna get blind)
sun protection creme - even if it's cold
a piece of rope - you can manage without it but better take it for your own safety, there are some rifts on the way you could fall into
So.. the countdown has begun. I was about to get up at 1:30 and leave the station at about 2:15. The problem was my phone run out of battery and couldn't set the timer. I asked the girls to wake me up but I was kinda afraid that they'll forget or I'll just say (while sleepng): "OK, I'm getting up" and then stay in the tent. I woke up myself in the middle of the night not knowing what time it was and decided not to go to sleep again. If I felt asleep propably it would've been hard to wake me up and I didn't know if the girls were motivated enough to spend 10 mins by my tent trying to do so. I waited about 2 hours before I heard Bożena's voice. Uff.. I managed.
It was 1:30. It was bloody cold outside. I put everything I got on me but still I felt cold. My tent was covered in ice. I didn't have warm gloves but fortunately Iva borrowed me her undergloves which together with the ones I had made the cold bearable for my hands. After eating something we hit the road. Direction: Kazbegi. Into the dark.
It was easy to spot the road on te beginning but it turned out to be much harder to stick to it. Although it was marked by some piles of rocks sometimes they were hard to spot and it was even harder after getting to the morena where the path leading up and down and was cut by many rifts. At some point we lost our road and went to the glacier which was not so good idea at the moment. Going up to the plateau you should walk only through the morena. We noticed some other groups walking different way than ours and we decided to join them. It was slowly getting brighter but the temperature wasn't rising. Still bloody cold. We were moving up and soon we managed to overtake a group with a guide. The rest of the path from morena through plateau to the top was marked by footsteps and it was just impossible to miss. From the plateau I recommend to wear crampions - you just move faster (unless they're in similiar condition to the ones I borrowed:)).
The most important thing is that the biggest mountain that you see is not really the biggest one, the one you wanna climb. Kazbegi has 2 peaks and for most of the time you would see the smaller one. To get to the right one just follow the footsteps, go around small Kazbegi almost passing it on your right. You should get to the point where the road will split - on the right you'll have small Kazbegi (wich it not so small really) and bigger one on your left.
The last ascent migh be quite tireing, the slope is quite steep and it's better to change trekking poles into ice axe. We were also using the rope for assecuration but it's really optional. After we climbed the top we had some time for photos.
On the top!
As it turned out later we were the only group that had a nice view from the top that day :) It was quite cold on the top so we started the descent quite quickly. On the pass we had some food and continued to get down. In meantime Iva started not to feel goos showing some sighns of altitude disease. Also the weather conditions were getting worse. In meantime I broke one of my hiking poles and my sunglasses. Damn! We were walking much slower than expected. Also once again we took the wrong path. At least I think so cause it all looked different on our way back. The snow started to melt uncovering the rifts hidden underneath. Or.. not. Few times my feet fell more that 1 metre into the snow. How deep was the rift - I'll never know. Maybe one hour later I'd fall 10-15 metres down. While going back it's recomennded to go through the glacier. Morena might be dangerous because of lots of stones falling down from the cliff released by melting snow. Anyways for me it looked safer than the glacier, at least at the beginning. We started on the morena, then we walked the glacier, then morena again etc etc. We were changing the way very often trying to choose the safer options. The whole descent took us almost the same time as going up making it 14h total. As we heard later the guides also had some problems while going down - this made me think we really made a great job on our way back to the meteo station. First to leave, first to reach the top and first to come back. I was proud of it. I got back tired, with wet shoes and wet socks which meant sleeping without it during the night, cause I didn't have another pair.
I survived somehow and left the station next day at around 8. I went to Stepantsminda with a Polish girl I met at the station. We were not moving very fast - just to make it in 5 hours and catch 1pm marshrutka to Tbilisi. Before I got on, I had a deserved beer. Feeling somehow satisfied I spent the whole road thinking bout next ideas for the trips
It all started on 31th of July. I woke up at 6.30, packed my stuff quickly, left Vaxo's house and headed to Didube bus station. Ate there some chachapuri (Georgian traditional food made of bread and some kind of cottage cheese) and went to find a mini bus (marshrutka) going to Stepantsminda (Kazbegi). It was supposed to leave at 8, but as usual it was late. We left the station at 8:30 when somebody finally filled the last empty place in the car. Even thou it was quite early the weather was very warm and travelling was tireing. Opened windows were not helping much. The bus was moving fast thou and I was hoping that at least it won't take long to reach it's final destination. I was wrong - we arrived at 11, but the road wasn't so horrible at all. The road was nicely situated offering the us some views on the mountains.
In Kazbegi the weather was very nice. It was to warm, as usual in Georgia, but good news was that the mountain itself was not covered in clouds at all. I was hoping that it will remain the same for few more days. My only problem was that I cought a cold the other day and I was worried it will get worse making the ascent impossible.
I bought some medicine at the local pharmacy and went to do some shoppings. Spent all my money but didn't buy enough for the whole trip. Unfortunately it was Saturday and the bank was closed and it was impossible to get any more cash or exchange any euros. I decided to go anyway hoping I'll be able to buy something from other people on the trail.
The plan for the first day was to reach the meteo station situated at about 3600m. It was supposed to take 8h to get there. I crossed the bridge and headed to Gergeti village situated next to Kazbegi. From there there are several roads leading to Cminda Sameba church - one of the most famouch churches of Georgia situated picturesquely on the hill above the village. I took the hardest option - the trail through the forest going almost straight up. It was very tireing, especially considering 37-40 C deg. temperature and 15 kg backpack I carried. I wouldn't recommend it for most of the people. The main advantage of it is that it's the fastest one (if you have enough stamina). To find it, when you reach Gergeti, you have to go as much left as possible and then pass a small gate that allows you to cross the fence. Than you just have to climb up. Approximately 45min - 1h. When I stopped at Sameba church for some rest I realized I lost my knife somewhere. Kinda bad news considering I bought a lot of canned meat and fishes and didn't have any other opener. Fortuntely borrowed it from some Israeli tourists visiting the church and after few minutes I was able to head to the meteo station. The road was easy. First it leaded through some trees but soon it went up the hill. According to Georgian people I spoke with, it was supposed to be marked with red&white signs but on my whole way I couldn't find any of them. Anyway, the road easy to spot and there were no problems with finding the right way to go. Soon the trail went up to the pass which offers a nice view on Kazbegi and Ortsveri glacier. At least in theory cause by the time I was there the weather got a bit worse covering it in thick fog. From the pass I went a bit down and crossed the river. Since the visibility was not so good I decided to camp near the river instead of going up to the meteo station. Just after the river there are a lot of good places to camp already prepared to pitch the tent. There's also a drinkable water source. Usually you can meet some other people camping there and so it was this time. I encoutered 3 Georgians who also stopped there for a night. We spoke a bit, ate something together and then I went to sleep. It was 6pm but there was absolutely nothing to do. Of course it turned out to be a bad idea. After sleeping 4,5 hours I woke up at 22:30, then at 2am and few other times. It was a very long night. Finally the sun came out and it was possible to go further. I joined the Georgians and we headed together to meteo station. The road was quite hard. The first part leaded through morena full of loose stones which made the ascent more tireing. After that it was only the glacier we had to cross. There are a lot of small stones on it so it's easy to keep the balance and move fast. The only problem is that it's covered by rifts and you would have to find a way around them. When we finally got to the other side of the glacier we started to search for the best place to get down. There are only few of them and the best one should be marked by a pole (it might be quite hard to see it thou). When we finally found the passage it was only a short ascent in front of us and we already were at the meteo station. We pitched our tents (1 night costs 5 lari) and decided to go see the chapel nearby. To get there you have to climb about 200m up. The trail is visible from the station. Going to the chapel might be quite good idea for acclimatization and getting used to high mountain conditions.
My plan was to climb the top the next day but it turned out that nobody was going then and it was not such a good idea to go alone, especially I wasn't sure how my organism will react to the height. In case it doesn't adjust well it might be a problem to get back without any help and might be dangerous. Usually altitude disease go as follows: first you feel a pain in your head, then you feel you like to vomit. In most advanced stage you might start to lose an ability to think resonably. While standing in the middle on the glacier you may just fall asleep on the snow thinking you're going to sleep in your comfy bed at home. If nobody finds you, you're dead.
The next day I also had problems with finding a group I could join. All of the guides wanted me to pay like 60-150 euros to join their groups. I almost decided to go alone but later on I found 2 girls from Poland and Czech Republic - Bożena and Iva, I could join the next day. I also borrowed some warmer pants from Archi, one of the Georgians I met the ther day, cause mine were not apropriate for the high mountain conditions.
About the guides: it was amazing they didn't allow me to join their groups for free. Is somebody's life really worth those bloody 60 euros. Is it better to let somebody go alone instead of taking him with the group? Especially they were already paid for that day. Unbelievable.
That wasn't the only unpeasant experience there. The person running the refuge was even worse. Me, I came to Georgia hitchhiking, didn't have much money, didn't have enough to eat. When I was borrowing crampions and ice axe I was hoping to get few lari discount or at least something ot eat. But no, that guy was like a vampire trying to suck your blood till the last drop. Every lari, every tetri. Until you have some money it's ok. Later you can die there - he wouldn't care. I love Georgia and it's people but this one was surely not acting like one of them. If you get there some time try avoid him if possible. I got cheated when paying in euros (got 2.00 exchange course for euro instead of 2.40) Also don't borrow any equipment under any circumstances. The crampions I got were missing some parts and they were in really bad condition. Inexperienced person could've died during the ascent (but I guess it's not a reason to buy new ones - some people will take it anyway cause they've no choice and the owner gets 15 lari anyway so everything's ok, right?). If somebody dies, well, accidents happen. If you don't have whole equipment needed to go to the top, better ask some people in the camp. Most of them stay there for one extra day before the ascent to adjust their organism to mountain conditions and they can borrow it for free.
To get to the top you need:
headlight -you start at 2-3 am so at the beginning it's completely dark
crampions - the most important piece of equipment, later on the slope is very steep
ice axe - not a must but you should take it for your own safety
trekking poles - useful for 3/4 of the road to the top, for the final ascent it's better to use ice axe
warm clothes - while it's 40 C deg. in the village, on the top it can be around 0 C deg.
suglasses - a must (unless you wanna get blind)
sun protection creme - even if it's cold
a piece of rope - you can manage without it but better take it for your own safety, there are some rifts on the way you could fall into
So.. the countdown has begun. I was about to get up at 1:30 and leave the station at about 2:15. The problem was my phone run out of battery and couldn't set the timer. I asked the girls to wake me up but I was kinda afraid that they'll forget or I'll just say (while sleepng): "OK, I'm getting up" and then stay in the tent. I woke up myself in the middle of the night not knowing what time it was and decided not to go to sleep again. If I felt asleep propably it would've been hard to wake me up and I didn't know if the girls were motivated enough to spend 10 mins by my tent trying to do so. I waited about 2 hours before I heard Bożena's voice. Uff.. I managed.
It was 1:30. It was bloody cold outside. I put everything I got on me but still I felt cold. My tent was covered in ice. I didn't have warm gloves but fortunately Iva borrowed me her undergloves which together with the ones I had made the cold bearable for my hands. After eating something we hit the road. Direction: Kazbegi. Into the dark.
It was easy to spot the road on te beginning but it turned out to be much harder to stick to it. Although it was marked by some piles of rocks sometimes they were hard to spot and it was even harder after getting to the morena where the path leading up and down and was cut by many rifts. At some point we lost our road and went to the glacier which was not so good idea at the moment. Going up to the plateau you should walk only through the morena. We noticed some other groups walking different way than ours and we decided to join them. It was slowly getting brighter but the temperature wasn't rising. Still bloody cold. We were moving up and soon we managed to overtake a group with a guide. The rest of the path from morena through plateau to the top was marked by footsteps and it was just impossible to miss. From the plateau I recommend to wear crampions - you just move faster (unless they're in similiar condition to the ones I borrowed:)).
The most important thing is that the biggest mountain that you see is not really the biggest one, the one you wanna climb. Kazbegi has 2 peaks and for most of the time you would see the smaller one. To get to the right one just follow the footsteps, go around small Kazbegi almost passing it on your right. You should get to the point where the road will split - on the right you'll have small Kazbegi (wich it not so small really) and bigger one on your left.
The last ascent migh be quite tireing, the slope is quite steep and it's better to change trekking poles into ice axe. We were also using the rope for assecuration but it's really optional. After we climbed the top we had some time for photos.
On the top!I survived somehow and left the station next day at around 8. I went to Stepantsminda with a Polish girl I met at the station. We were not moving very fast - just to make it in 5 hours and catch 1pm marshrutka to Tbilisi. Before I got on, I had a deserved beer. Feeling somehow satisfied I spent the whole road thinking bout next ideas for the trips
4 sierpnia 2010
Georgia 2010: Sakartvelo!
So.. finally in Sakartvelo (Georgia). When I was crossing the boarder I felt like I was coming back home. Hearing Georgian language again, seeing familiar places made me think about the great time I had studying here. The first thing I thought about after getting to Tblisi was finding Rock Club, place where I spent lots of time, place where I had many friends. I was wondering if I'll see some familiar faces there. To my suprise when I got there I saw Istanbul disco club instead.. WTF?!? I met with a friend, Kesha, drank few beers in a park, and went to visit another one - Vakho. I stayed at his place for the rest of the time spent in Georgian capital. Next day we went to the lake outta town with Gio, Denver and a guy with a name I'll never remember :) Whole day doing nothing - swimming, eating mcvadi (shashlyki), drinking beer. Basically the whole time in Tbilisi was quite the same. I was not much into sighseeing - already saw everything. Preferred to spend time with my friends and enjoy it as much as possible.
In the meantime I went to the mountains for 4 days but this is a story for a separate post :)
On 6th of August I left Tbilisi and headed back to Poland. After 2 days I'm already in Istanbul writing from some gas station while waiting for the first bus to the city centre..
In the meantime I went to the mountains for 4 days but this is a story for a separate post :)
On 6th of August I left Tbilisi and headed back to Poland. After 2 days I'm already in Istanbul writing from some gas station while waiting for the first bus to the city centre..
Subskrybuj:
Posty (Atom)
