Türkiye & Georgia through my perspective: many emotions, not perfect but enough to have memories
I just had a trip to Türkiye and Georgia during Tet. Initially it was only supposed to be 15 days, but on the day of the return flight to transit in Bahrain, Iran "gave" Bahrain one, so I was stuck for another 6 days waiting for another flight. Now I'm safe in Saigon eating broken rice. Türkiye is a country located between Europe and Asia, standing out with a clear mix of East and West culture. Georgia is a small country, neighboring Turkey, notable for its beautiful mountain landscapes, ancient culture and quite pleasant pace of life.
All the pictures in this post were taken with a Xiaomi 17 Ultra phone. This is the first time I took a photo with an Android phone. I really fell in love with the first few photos. The color is lovely, warm, very nice.
Visa online
In both of these two countries, applying for an e-Visa is very easy and simple: just enter basic information and pay via Visa card and you're done (no need to prepare hotel booking, air tickets, labor contract or account statement, they don't require it). Visa results will be sent to email. Türkiye gets it almost immediately, while Georgia takes about 5-7 days. Once you have your visa, you can print it out and bring it with you when you enter the country.
Entering Türkiye is the easiest place I've ever been to among all the countries I've been to. They didn't even ask for return tickets, hotels or anything, they just looked, stamped and let it go.
As for Georgia, it's a bit difficult, guys. They separated themselves to meet a police officer alone. He asked quite carefully everything from return tickets, hotel booking, travel itinerary, to what I did in Vietnam, what company I worked for, and where I lived. The best part was that he asked me to open my wallet to see how much money I was carrying. After presenting everything, I was then allowed back in line to get my immigration stamp. So in Georgia, although when applying for a visa online, they do not ask to submit anything, but when you go, remember to prepare all the files I just mentioned above, print them out and present them when you enter the country.
The visa application links for our two countries are here. Remember to use the correct link to avoid losing money if you get a fake link: Türkiye and Georgia.
Airline tickets
You can fly to Türkiye and then go to Georgia or vice versa. There are many options for tickets from Vietnam to these two countries from different airlines. I often check in advance on Skyscanner to see flights, then choose the flight that suits my budget and time and then go directly to the airline's website to book.
Most of my flights fly with Turkish airline.
Hotel
Similar to airline tickets, I refer to Tripadvisor, then choose according to my feelings and appropriate price. Luckily, all the places I chose were okay, only the breakfast was quite similar and a bit unsuitable, so the following days I skipped hotel breakfast and bought instant noodles to eat quickly.
The hotels I have stayed at include: Taksim Nis Hotel (Istanbul - Turkey), Casa Alegre Hotel (Alaçatı - Turkey), ibis budget Tbilisi Center (Tbilisi - Georgia). You can book directly with the hotel or through intermediary sites. If you come to Alaçatı, I think you should consider Casa Alegre Hotel, because the owner couple is very nice, the location is right in the old village, very convenient to get around.
Sightseeing spot
Please refer to the places in Turkey and Georgia according to the link I attached. If you see a place that suits your interests and taste, choose it. I won't tell you my itinerary in detail because everyone has their own style. I go quite spontaneously and like quiet places. I don't like crowded places so I don't go to many famous spots, so there's nothing to talk about in too much detail.
Personally, I don't like Turkey very much. Maybe it's because I was "deified" by reviews and pictures online so my expectations were high, but when I actually experienced it, I was a bit disappointed because it wasn't as beautiful as I thought. For example, the Hagia Sophia Cathedral, the ticket price is quite high (more than 1.5 million/person) but is being restored, for me the general feeling is that it is not as beautiful as similar buildings I have been to in other countries. Or the ancient village in Alaçatı, currently about 50% of the shops are closed, there is no longer the chill vibe like I saw online, it's a bit sad now, the landscape is not taken care of much so it doesn't feel as beautiful as before.
On the contrary, I like Georgia more. The capital Tbilisi is beautiful, both ancient and modern, mixed with a bit of old color. The pace of life here is not too slow but not in a hurry either, steady and pleasant. In general, Georgia is exactly my style 😄
Chronicle of Georgia - built from 1985 to about 2003, depicting kings, queens, heroes, poets and mainly scenes from the life of Jesus
Mother of Georgia - one of the famous symbols of Georgia, built in 1958, about 20 meters high, depicting the image of a woman wearing traditional clothes. The left hand holds a cup of wine to welcome friends, the right hand holds a sword to fight bad guys.
Huge bicycle in Tbilisi - A work of public art.
Move
In both of these countries, don't take taxis (expensive and detours), just take Metro and Bus, cheap and convenient, easy connections. Just go to Google Maps to find your way and choose the vehicle you want to take. It will give you very specific instructions on what bus number to take and how to connect, clearly and correctly. I've used it so you can rest assured about this, it's both cost-effective and fun. Many times, when I get off a connecting flight, I accidentally see some cute neighborhoods, so I stop and play a bit before continuing on.
In addition, you can use the Uber app in Turkey and the Yandex Go app in Georgia. Using the app, you will know the price in advance so you don't have to worry. The last way to move is to walk. The weather when I went was cold so I shivered a bit as I walked.
Note that Metro and Bus in both countries do not use cash. In Turkey, when in Istanbul, I use the Istanbulkart card (bought at train stations) to take public transportation, but when I go to the province, the Istanbulkart card cannot be used, so I pay directly with a Visa card.
In Tbilisi - Georgia, I use my Visa card entirely for public transportation, it's very convenient, just get in the car, take my Visa card, touch it and hear the "beep" sound on the machine.
Eat and drink
I stayed for a total of 3 weeks, their food is basically bread, rice and meat (chicken, beef, lamb), vegetables are somewhat expensive, salads are mainly cucumbers and tomatoes. No soup, only soup. In Turkey, the price is quite expensive compared to Vietnam. On average, a simple meal per day in Turkey is about 1 million/person, and a slightly more luxurious meal is 2 million which is also normal.
In Georgia, the prices are very good, on par with Saigon, so here I have a lot of fun, going out for beer and that every night. The restaurant I chose was also very unlucky. I didn't do any research in advance, but when I passed by and saw a pretty restaurant with a nice sign, I walked in, or simply stopped by if it was convenient.
Khachapuri - traditional Georgian dish, cheese bread, in the middle there are many types of fillings to choose from such as mushrooms, chicken, beef, fatty. I feel delicious.
Khinkali - also a traditional Georgian dish, style of water dumplings, inside there is meat and broth, you have to bite and absorb the water first before eating the rest, there are also many types of fillings to choose from such as cheese or meat.
In Georgia, wine is very famous, considered one of the oldest wine cradles in the world. I advise you to visit these two restaurants, clean, beautiful, good prices, delicious food: Istanbul is İBB Haliç Sosyal Teéisleri restaurant, and Tbilisi is Lolita.
This Lolita restaurant in Tbilisi is suitable for a few drinks, crowded, delicious and cheap.
İBB Haliç Sosyal Teéisleri Restaurant in Istanbul, nice, polite restaurant, delicious food, good prices compared to similar restaurants in Istanbul.
Safety and friendliness
Both countries are safe, I don't see anything unstable. The most basic thing is that no matter where you are, you should not follow anyone or listen to anyone who does anything unusual.
Regarding friendliness, how do I feel in Tho, or maybe it's because I'm unlucky to meet friendly and happy people. During more than a week in Turkey, I was fortunate to encounter the most obvious sincere friendliness from the couple who owned the hotel in Alaçatı, the rest... However, everywhere with me there was this person and that person, maybe it's just because I'm unlucky 😁
Georgia is lucky that she meets all the lovely people. As soon as I got to the airport and was struggling to find the metro to get to the hotel, a girl proactively came and showed me which line to take to get to the station I needed to get off at. After that, most people were happy, or just ignored it, but no one was upset.
Expense
The cost of airfare is the most expensive item, round trip ticket + ticket from Turkey to Georgia + domestic round trip ticket, then plus new tickets arising due to being "stuck" in the middle of the Trump - Iran war, my total ticket cost is hundreds of millions.
Hotel, dining, and other expenses are about 60 million. I don't remember each specific item clearly. In general, due to unexpected events, the total cost of this trip was about ~ 170 million (2 people - 3 weeks), while originally expected to only be about 100-110 million.
Tea is a popular drink in Turkey, I saw on the menu it says Çay. For me, whether it's expensive or cheap depends on each person, because it depends on which airline you choose, how you stay at the hotel, and how you eat. So guys, just research and be bold. If you have a lot, play more, if you have a lot, go luxury, if you have a little, eat Doner kebab (in Vietnam, kebab bread), you can completely decide this cost yourself.
On the day I returned to Vietnam with a new ticket (the old ticket was canceled due to the Trumb-Iran war on February 28), I transited in Turkey for 1 day, which was also the day that Nato blocked an Iranian "projectile" fired into Turkey. The airport is deserted, there are more police, I sit very quietly but I don't know why 😄
In addition, Istalbul is also characterized by "wild cats", I wrote a separate article about cats in Istalbul, you can read more if you love cats: https://tinhte.vn/thread/meo-hoang-o-tho-nhi-ky-khong-chi-la-meo-hoang-ma-la-su-gan-lien-lich-su-cua-van-hoa-ton- Giao.4100013/
Other images in Tho
Other images in Georgia
