Georgia, Caucasus..thru my lens.

[faris]

My wife and I traveled through two Caucasus countries this Oct and early Nov.
We spent most of our time traveling through Georgia. We visited Azerbaijan for a few days.

My wife carried the Fuji XT-1 with the 18-55 zoom.

I carried this...

It was bitterly cold in the north and the roads were blocked by snow. We tried but were unable to get through to the high Caucasus. And it rained.

Most of the images I am posting were taken by the XPRO-2 and my one Fuji lens..the 35/1.4

I used the Leica when it was not raining. I shall mark the images which are non-Fuji.

Thank you for going through our images.

 

[faris]

Georgia, first and foremost, is super friendly people, unbelievably scenic, safe
And religious.

And not far behind, I would rank it as a wine country. We don't consume alcohol. So cannot comment on what was presented as one of the best varieties of wines in the world!

The second one with Leica.

 

[faris]

It is colorful country in every respect. So let's sprinkle a bit of color...

To us, coming from the desert, this is wonderland. A cacaphony of vibrant colors.

 

[faris]

And the ever present mountains to keep us company.

 

[Joao]

Great photos ! Please show us some more...

Joao

 

[lynnb]

Really looking forward to seeing more!

 

[faris]

Joao, Lynn..thank you so very much for stopping by. Much appreciated.

History..it comes alive in this place. The Macedonians, the Persians, The Roman Empire and on and on it goes. A veritable meeting of the East and the West.

One can read the books or one can walk the streets...

The script is unchanged for thousands of years...

 

[faris]

No Man's Land. Georgia and Turkey. On your right ( not shown ) is the Black sea. Trabazon, in Turkey, not far on the other side.

Cross the border into Azerbaijan, another couple of hours from Tbilisi, and one finds oneself on the Caspian sea.

Head a little south..Armenia.
Head north..The Russian Federation.

I headed to the world famous Sulphur Baths in Tbilisi ( means warm water ! ).

The second image with the Leica.

The Persian and Ottoman influences clearly visible in the mosque in the right upper third of the image.

 

[gb hill]

Incredible country. Please post more. Thank you for posting these photographs.

 

[darya151]

beautiful color!

beautiful color!

And the ever present mountains to keep us company.

Wonderful, deep saturated color! Just beautiful!
Darya

 

[faris]

Thanks gb, Darya.

We were heading up north. We knew it was snow..
The herders were bringing their livestock to lower ground.

My wife, however, wanted to take some snapshots!!

 

[faris]

The Kakheti region of Georgia. One of the premier wine producing areas..

On a bitterly cold day.

 

[oltimer]

Faris, thank you and your wife for sharing these beautiful pic's on the trip. As they say; A picture saves a 1000 words.

 

[faris]

Thank you Oltimer ( luv ur screen name!! ), thank you so very much for the encouragement.

It was going to be a long drive. We took a break. Stretched our legs, sandwiches and coffee.

And just looked. In silence. No words were needed.

 

[faris]

The peaks rise to 4000 meters plus.

Svaneti is a hiker's and mountain climber's paradise in summer. A skier's delight in winter.

The chimney like structures are called Koshki...defensive structures where villagers would hide when attacked. They are 3/4 stories high.

Nowadays, they have been converted into B&Bs and hotels.

It was dark. It was early in the morning. We had to start very early.
We were going higher. Much higher...if the roads allowed us.

A walk in the clouds here, was just walking up a street!!

 

[oltimer]

The peaks rise to 4000 meters plus.

Svaneti is a hiker's and mountain climber's paradise in summer. A skier's delight in winter.

The chimney like structures are called Koshki...defensive structures where villagers would hide when attacked. They are 3/4 stories high.

Nowadays, they have been converted into B&Bs and hotels.

It was dark. It was early in the morning. We had to start very early.
We were going higher. Much higher...if the roads allowed us.

A walk in the clouds here, was just walking up a street!!

With all the daily war pictures in the news, and Georgia has had it's share in the past; this early morning scene adds so much peace for a morning look. I really enjoy all of the shots, and I notice on the balcony shot of the quality experience of the blacksmith. Just great art work, as you people noticed when you took the shot.

 

[Gareth Rees]

Really nice to see your images and to read your narrative.
You must have really enjoyed yourselves.
Thanks for sharing

 

[jarski]

nice! I visited Kazbegi, Svaneti, Borjomi, Batumi and ofcourse Tbilisi this summer. Georgia is beautiful country. wish they didnt let those herds of cows on streets though 🙂

 

[oftheherd]

Great photos! Thanks for sharing. The country seems very scenic.

 

[faris]

ltimer, Gareth, jarski, oftherd...thank you all for your encouragement.

It is a very scenic country indeed. We wish we could have stayed longer.

Best regards.