Georgia

I am quite new to this site (Hello Peter ;)) and I wonder what a "forum post" is - it almost looks like a blog entry. But then again, there is no RSS etc.

I want to talk a bit about Georgia, this country that lies south-west of Chechnya and borders to Turkey, Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. I went there last month in connection with the parliamentary elections there, and I also held a seminar there. In total I stayed there for a bit over two weeks.

What I liked about Georgia was the diversity of it. You can one day be hiking in the Kazbegi mountains (part of the Caucasus mountain range), and the next you can be on the beaches of the Black Sea.

The food was good, the people very friendly, and the economy is slowly building up after the ousting of ex-Soviet foreign minister Shevardnaze in 2004 (The Rose Revolution)

I will be travelling back to the south Caucasus - maybe to Azerbaijan in October. Unfortunately, Azerbaijan is more of a police state currently, and I wonder how the tourism would be there. The impression I have now is that most foreigners there are working in the oil business.

Georgia has quite some tourists, most of whom are Asian I think. Quite a few asian tourists have figured out about the Kazbegi area. But is there potential for Georgia as a tourist destination? I definitely think so, but the region needs a bit more infrastructure - and then there is also the Georgia-Russia standoff over the break-away regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

I hope to make it back to Georgia soon - and then to have a bit more time to explore the country as a visitor.

I place this in off topic because - well - I don't know where else to put it :)

By dltq on Jun 30, 2008, 03:03 in Off Topic.

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