In Baku

Georgia was just fantastic, we had 9 days there all together and the whole time we were joined by Zaza, who with so much love and enthusiasm for the country was a superb guide. Since my last post in Tbilisi, we spent two days in the main wine growing area of Georgia (south-east). One particular day included 3 winerys starting at 10:30 in the morning. The wine in Georgia is like nothing i've tasted before in England. It tastes like it is so good for you, and I never felt rough the next morning despite the copious volumes consumed.

Unfortunately, we left Georgia and Zaza on Thursday, and now we are in Azerbaijan. We had an interesting nght staying in a converted caravanserai in northern Azerbaijan, then a bushcamp in the middle of a field with the most number of crickets I have ever seen or heard. Now, we are in Baku (the capital) which is a centre of commerce and expats all due to the oil in the Caspian Sea. Today, we went to sea an active mud volcano and a fire temple - both quite different and weird.

Tomorrow we are leaving on a "ferry" to go across the Caspian Sea to Turkmenistan. We are not sure when the boat will be leaving, whether we get a cabin or if we can get into Daphne or not once aboard and the crossing can take anywhere between 16 and 26 hours. So it should be quite an experience in itself. Once in Turkmenistan, things could be quite a lot different suddenly. Photographs of any buildings, statues, or actually pretty much anything because of the strict regime. I also dont think I will be able to update the blog much for a while.

When we first arrive in Turkmenistan we have 2 nights bushcamping wiht the nomads in the Karakorum desert and then to the capital Ashgabat.

Hope everyone is well at home. I have just discovered Skype- which is just a phenomenal invention for ringing across the road. If you have an account, then email me and the next time I'm online, I'll give you a ring.

xx