About Georgia
Georgia is located at the boundary of Eurasia and along the Black Sea. It borders Russia in the north and Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan in the south. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, it became independent. Together with Armenia and Azerbaijan, it is called Transcaucasia. There is a four-hour time difference with China.
For many people, Georgia is indeed a strange country. When I say I'm going to Georgia, my friends' first reaction is "Where?" "Libya, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia", their reaction will become "Are you going to Africa?" Due to the recharge of Georgia Tourism Bureau in the past two years, this unpopular eastern European country has gradually become popular.
Georgia is very suitable for me, who has been to Southeast Asia several times and is eager for western countries. However, it is also a rogue person who spends too much on air tickets and visas. In short, Georgia is a country where air tickets are not expensive, consumption is not high, and visas are issued when money is paid. There are sea, snow-capped mountains, European and American faces and exotic buildings.
Safe
Because Georgia is politically inclined to the EU. And let American oil pipelines transit through their own countries. Russia, the old club, was not happy, and turned into a shit-stirring stick, desperately stirring and stirring in Georgia. In the above picture, Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Azar regions provoked wars and made them independent from Georgia. Later, the Azar region returned to the embrace of Georgia's mother country because of the referendum. Abkhazia and South Ossetia are relatively independent. The latest war in Georgia took place in August 28, during the Beijing Olympic Games. It seems that Georgia is quite chaotic. Let's take a look at the various indexes released by major authorities.
According to the global global peace index released by The Economist Intelligence Unit, Georgia ranks 12nd (China ranks 112th). The global crime rate and murder rate released by numbeo show that Georgia ranks fifth (China ranks 75th). There is no refugee problem in Georgia. As long as Russia does not attack again, there is no need to worry about Georgia's security. During the tour, it was a joint military exercise between the United States and Georgia, and people's lives remained the same, with no impact.
plane
Urumqi transit: China Southern Airlines flies to Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, through Urumqi, 7 times a week. Years ago, it was promoted by about 2,1 yuan, in March by about 2,3 yuan, in June by about 2,6 yuan, and last time by about 2,7 yuan, the price showed an upward trend. But it is still recommended.
Moscow transit: the national ticket price to Moscow is usually relatively high, and there are more tickets from Hong Kong to Moscow around 25. There are Russian Airlines and Siberian Airlines to fly from Moscow to Tbilisi. The annual fare is about 6, and the price is relatively stable.
Almaty transit: Astana Airlines is more suitable for friends in Beijing and Hong Kong, and can enter in case of promotion.
Middle East transit: Qatar Airways connects to Doha and Emirates Airlines connects to Dubai. Usually, the prices are relatively high, and there is often no Georgia in the promotion. But you can take an open flight.
I bought a round-trip ticket from Chongqing to Tbilisi via Urumqi at 23 in the middle of March when China Southern Airlines promoted it. If you have enough time, you can also consider flying to Azerbaijan-Baku, Turkey-Istanbul around Georgia to play in 2-3 countries at one time.
visa
E-VISA is commonly known as electronic sign and portal (the upper right corner can be changed to Chinese. Similar to ENTRI in Malaysia, only a scanned passport information page and a bareheaded photo on a white or blue background are needed. The photo requires 472x61 pixels and 3DPI resolution. Unqualified photos are the biggest factor in refusing visas. The visa is valid for 12 days, and you can choose the effective time, and you can enter and leave Georgia many times within 3 days. The fee is US$ 2 plus US$ .5 handling fee, and only VISA and MasterCard can be used for payment. Five work sunrise signs. Taobao agent is about 18 grandpa Mao. Just print a copy, fold it and clip it in your passport.
In addition, if you hold valid multiple-entry visas for 5 countries, such as US visa, additional visa, Japanese visa and Schengen visa, you can enter and leave the country for 9 days without a visa.
The best tourist season
April-May is rainy, and July-August is hot in cities, but it is often accompanied by thunderstorms. From November to April of the following year, the weather gradually became cold, and it began to snow at high altitude. If you want to see the snow-capped mountains, you can go in spring and autumn if you are afraid of heat, and you can go skiing in winter if you want. Those who are afraid of cold and heat like me have to go in summer. June-September is the tourist season in Georgia, and November to April is the off-season.
main scenic spots
The scenic spots in Georgia are scattered, and most tourists will choose to transit in Tbilisi, the capital, many times, instead of taking the Great Ring Road as in China. Fortunately, Georgia itself has a small land area. Even if you choose land transportation, the time consumption is within the acceptable range. There are three world cultural heritages in Georgia, namely, the old capital Mtskheta, Ushguli, the hometown of Wushu, and a monastery near Kutaisi city in Kutaisi. The most important point is that all of them don't need tickets! ! ! No tickets! ! ! Tickets! ! ! Tickets! ! !
my travel route: I cut off the old capital mtskheta, the wine town of Segnaji Sighnaghi, Stalin's hometown of Gorgori, and three scenic spots that are not (shi Gan (jian Xing) (bu Qu (Gori). I deliberately chose two small planes (Tbilisi to Mestia, Mestia to Kutaisi. One is to save time by not going back and forth, and the other is to save time and avoid car sickness on mountain roads. The circuit diagram actually feels like a loop. However, because the flight from Mestia to Kutaisi was cancelled, it had to be transferred to Zugdidi by land to Kutaisi.
local transportation
minibuses going to mountainous areas usually put their luggage on the roof, but their backpacks are usually stuffed in the trunk. Large suitcases are best left in big cities. Or you'll cry if it rains.
train tickets to official website can be booked 4 days in advance. But the actual ticket release speed is not that fast. Generally, it is enough to book 2-3 days in advance. If you can't use official website's valuable friends, you can also make a reservation on a third-party website. Both official website and the third party will charge a handling fee of about 1-2G. Give you two third-party portals, number one and number two. Attached is a map of Georgia's railway network. It should be noted that some cities may have two railway stations, such as Batumi and Kutaisi. Don't make the wrong stop.
small plane portal. Vanillasky operates small planes from Tbilisi to Mestia, Kutaisi to Mestia and Tbilisi to Batumi. You can save a lot of time on the road. Avoid the torture of mountain roads for hours. Tickets are usually released two months in advance. Due to the government's approval, tickets are sometimes released one or two days in advance. Small plane consignment+carry-on baggage 15KG, overweight consignment is not supported. Due to the bad weather conditions in mountainous areas, flights to Mestia are often cancelled. Tbilisi's flights to and from Mestia are the most popular, but as long as the ticketing time is well grasped, it is nothing to China people who have been snapping up all the year round.
this moment is limited to September 31st, after which the number of off-season flights will be reduced appropriately, and the date is not different.
Tbilisi subway runs from 6: a.m. to 12: a.m. (Saburtalo line seems to close at 1: , and the time interval between trains varies from 2.5 minutes during peak hours to 1 minutes during off-peak hours. All announcements and direction signs are in Georgian and English. You need a subway card to take the subway, and Tbilisi bus and cable car are available. The cost of production is 2G, and the subway charges .5G each time. One card can be used by many people. The subway card can enjoy unlimited transfers in one hour.
ask if there is a service charge. You can also get a debit card with no handling fee and withdraw cash at the ATM in Georgia. Service fee reference of domestic banks: portal. The remote Mestia and Kazbek all have ATMs and bank currency exchange points, and some ATMs also support Chinese. Mobile phone card
has three operators: purple Geocell, red magticom and Beeline. Although there is a bee counter at the airport, you can't get a card. Buying a package card is similar in price for G family and M family. There are more packages to choose from in the urban area. M family needs to open a card fee, but G family and B family don't. The traffic price of the three families is almost 1GB=5 lari, 2GB=7 lari and 4GB=1 lari, which is relatively the cheapest for B family. It is also recommended that you set up a mobile card for G or B without calling. You can save half the money for a package card at the airport. I had to buy a card at the airport because of my itinerary. Shop around and choose the Geocell in the corner. 3.2G traffic, 3-minute international calls, unlimited local calls and short messages, with a time limit of 15 days and a price of 25G.
Eat
Here are 2 kinds of Georgian food. The service speed in Georgia is slow. If it takes too long, you will be reminded when ordering. There is no need to rush, just wait patiently.
Besides, Tbilisi also has takeout to order. The types of meals you can choose are also quite rich. Portal. The most important thing is that there are pictures, which is also a good menu for reference. From then on, I will bid farewell to the Buddhist order.
APP
Wikiloc professional hiking software, which can query information such as route, hiking distance, time-consuming, difficulty and altitude, as well as photos uploaded by hikers along the way. In addition, you can also use offline maps, which can also be used in areas without networks. Perfect for walking in Mestia and Kazbegi, Kazbek. The picture shows the hiking route from Kazbek town to Kazbek camp.
Y.Taxi(Yadextaxi software, similar to Didi. Tbilisi and Batumi are available. You can pay in cash or by credit card. The domestic mobile phone number can be registered. The picture shows the cost from Tbilisi airport to downtown.
Other
European-style (German socket; There are many thunderstorms in August, so remember to bring an umbrella or raincoat. Houses in mountainous areas such as Mestia are mostly wooden structures with poor sound insulation, so you can bring a pair of earplugs; Carrefour sells domestic products such as hot pot bottom materials and Laoganma, but the price is about three times that of domestic products.