MOBY GOES TO TURKEY. A tam and pups adventure.

[nicholsong]

Without the communist state there would have been no oligarchs and Chelsea would not have won anything

So?

The world would not have stopped.

 

[Northernraider]

A bit more exploration this morning

Met a family of puppies too and a few adult strays .

 

[Mikey RV]

Love that old building, can imagine it full of life.

 

[bigtwin]

Great shots again Tam.

Ian

 

[Helen Ariel]

What's the story there? Very cool exploring somewhere like that. Faded grandeur. Imagine the parties.

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[Lenny HB]

Those building must have been truly beautiful in their day.

 

[Barclaybasher]

What's the story there? Very cool exploring somewhere like that. Faded grandeur. Imagine the parties.

As someone said - only available to the party members......read Animal Farm...

 

[bigtwin]

What's the story there? Very cool exploring somewhere like that. Faded grandeur. Imagine the parties.

This from an earlier post.

When georgia was part of the soviet Union (USSR) the state guaranteed its workers the right to rest, as a result more than 180 health spa's were built,where the working class could re-energise on a two week state funded vacation. Tskaltubo was one of those Spa resorts on the so called Russian riviera. Construction on its 22 sanatorium began in the 1920's and by 1980 4 trains per day brought 1500 visitors daily 100,000 annually from Moscow to bathe in the radon carbonate springs that in essence could cure anything from eczema to infertility. Stalin himself chose tskaltubo as his holiday destination and favoured bathhouse number 5. After the breakup of the ussr the sanatoriums were forcefully abandoned and as such fell in to disrepair ,

Ian

 

[Boldly]

Will be a shame if noone saves those buildings. We only associate austere concrete buildings with the USSR. They must have had some talented architects and very skilled builders to produce them.

 

[Barclaybasher]

Will be a shame if noone saves those buildings. We only associate austere concrete buildings with the USSR. They must have had some talented architects and very skilled builders to produce them.

The only 'nice' stuff was for party members and supporters - the rest lived in crap apartments - if they were lucky...

Take off the rose tinted glasses

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[Manic]

Seen these type of building on Abandoned Engineering and I ways surprised by them.

 

[nicholsong]

Georgia was a satellite of the USSR, as were many countries, like Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Czech, etc. (I am not including ex-Yugoslavian countries because to some extent Tito protected that country from total Soviet control)

From Tam's report of Georgia so far, e.g. roads, buildings etc. it has lagged far behind those other countries. Why?

 

[Helen Ariel]

This from an earlier post.



Ian

Ah didn't think it looked like a spa more a grand mansion.

 

[Boldly]

The only 'nice' stuff was for party members and supporters - the rest lived in crap apartments - if they were lucky...

Take off the rose tinted glasses

Wasn't condoning the treatment of the masses merely commenting on the quality of the buildings. Would be a shame if we lost Buckingham palace or Windsor castle too. And these won't be used for housing the poor anytime soon either.

 

[Northernraider]

Around that one town there were 22 spa hotel complexes and 9 bathhouses located in the central park. Many of the spa hotels were quite bland ...just looked like square hotel buildings, but 4 or 5 of them were quite grand and good architecture, some if the plainer ones have been repurposed and renovated, a few of the bigger ones are currently undergoing renovation. Sadly the most beautiful ones are In a right state and I'm not sure they will ever be saved. The main problem being that now the area only gets an average of 700 tourists a year to the 2 spa's that have been reopened. So compared to the 100-125000 that came in the 80's I don't think it's a moneymaker. There's nothing else in the immediate vicinity to entice tourists either. Georgia has some beautiful parts to visit ....but in general its very dated and very run down. Unlike Turkey too it isn't a cheap country to visit. The fuel is cheap..under €1 per litre , but food shopping is quite expensive...its dearer than Greece to buy food etc. For vanlife and touring round to see the sites its worth visiting but even the travel guides online say 10-14 days is enough to see what's on offer in georgia. I would come here again for sure , I'd also like to visit Armenia and Azerbaijan at somepoint too. But even georgia has an application in to join the EU and it was fastracked a little due to the war with Russia and Ukraine although there are many of both here escaping the war. I was talking to 2 Russian guys the other day who have been moving around between georgia Turkey etc the last 2 years trying to stay out of Russia and avoid being called up to the army etc. It seems many Russians do not support the war but escaping Russia isn't easy .

It's an interesting place

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[monzer]

I find the soviet era stuff really interesting. Those abandoned buildings are amazing.

I travelled much of Estonia/Latvia visiting all the abandoned missile silos and nuclear sub bases and of course the KGB prisons/killing houses were a real eye opener.

 

[CaptainPaul]

Morocco is lovely and all that but its hard to beat County Donegal on a beautiful good Friday morning!

 

[Northernraider]

I find the soviet era stuff really interesting. Those abandoned buildings are amazing.

I travelled much of Estonia/Latvia visiting all the abandoned missile silos and nuclear sub bases and of course the KGB prisons/killing houses were a real eye opener.

If it wasn't for the time and distance I'd have loved to get up as far as Latvia and Estonia on this trip but I think Poland will be my limit I think. But you never know

 

[Langtoftlad]

It's an interesting place

That's one of the motivators to travel - to find & explore 'interesting' places...





...and pick up more puppy dogs

 

[mackeellan]

If it wasn't for the time and distance I'd have loved to get up as far as Latvia and Estonia on this trip but I think Poland will be my limit I think. But you never know

You have done so well this far Tam. You don't need to rush anything. The motorhome appears to be doing well too, although I shouldn't speak too soon just in case! Good luck to you all pal.

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[Northernraider]

You have done so well this far Tam. You don't need to rush anything. The motorhome appears to be doing well too, although I shouldn't speak too soon just in case! Good luck to you all pal.

Well I'm still having issues with the brakes at times but otherwise it's going OK most of the time . Sometimes I think I'd be quicker pushing it up hills too lol

 

[Northernraider]

I said goodbye to the belgian couple astrid and jaron yesterday as we left tskaltubo...they were heading to a campsite for a few days to do 2 months of laundry lol , and then they will be heading for Armenia . A cute couple 25, 26 years old and theyve been together for 9 years , 2 of those fulltime in their campervan ... childhood sweethearts lol , you dont see that much these days.
But really nice couple.

I then went to kutaisi and Had a quick visit to bagratis cathedral yesterday .. Once again I had the dogs so couldn't go inside. But I prefer outside anyway .


There were no information boards so here's the link for Wikipedia, it was destroyed by ottoman cannonball and lay in ruins for a long long time .. it was listed on unesco as being endangered and it was restored between 1950 and present day

Bagrati Cathedral - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

As always the drone gives better photos but there was an angry nun in a habit and hi viz making tracks towards me in the end so I had to make a dash for it

 

[15edward]

Such an interesting trip…

 

[monzer]

If it wasn't for the time and distance I'd have loved to get up as far as Latvia and Estonia on this trip but I think Poland will be my limit I think. But you never know

Pencil them in for your next trip. I think the dogs would love it more than you as their forestry walks are brilliant.

You must have a fair old country hit list now, what number you up to?

 

[Northernraider]

Pencil them in for your next trip. I think the dogs would love it more than you as their forestry walks are brilliant.

You must have a fair old country hit list now, what number you up to?

Well it depends how you view it.

Polarsteps says 24 , but I didn't have it on my first 2 trips with the frankia or hymer it also doesn't count UK as 4 separate countries .

So going by my stickers on the back I'm counting 29

But if you count the UK as 4 different countries then its really 32

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[scotzsue]

Can't see a Morocco one Tam, loving the photos and history and geography lessons too, have learned more from your travels than I ever did at school, did give up Geography but did all right in history, was sick of the Tudors by the end of it.
Glad you met up with your friends too good to have someone to chat to.

 

[Northernraider]

Can't see a Morocco one Tam, loving the photos and history and geography lessons too, have learned more from your travels than I ever did at school, did give up Geography but did all right in history, was sick of the Tudors by the end of it.
Glad you met up with your friends too good to have someone to chat to.

Yes you're right ...the pack I bought didn't include Morocco only Europe and some of Asia

 

[Northernraider]

I'm choked up with the cold so feeling lousy today , sore throat and a bit of a temperature, it started 2 days ago but today's been the worst so far. I reckon I caught it from the sulphur pools . We stayed overnight approximately 6 km east of kutaisi parked near a small monestary, motsameta. And went for a look around it this morning

And again I put the drone up for a few airiel shots .

I then headed off to another monestary further on the Same road. Stopped for a bit of georgian fast food lunch .

These are delicious....its bread made with an egg inside before cooked ...so a bit like a fried egg sandwich only it's much much tastier...and costs £1.50

 

[mark49]

can you buy antibiotic over the counter where you are, if so, stock up, one of the best buys I make when possible. Saves a whole lot of suffering!

 

[Mullet Man]

can you buy antibiotic over the counter where you are, if so, stock up, one of the best buys I make when possible. Saves a whole lot of suffering!

Antibiotics won't work on what is likely to be a virus.They only work on bacterial infections.Very silly to be shovelling them down indiscriminately.Antibiotic resistant super bugs are one of the biggest threats to our survival.

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