Caucasus with Kutrubes

My husband, Gerald Liedl, and I made a trip to Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, Oct. 5-15, 2016, with Kutrubes Travel (Boston, MA; 800/878-8566, www.kutrubestravel.com). 

For our private tour, we each paid $2,999 (plus airfare, which we arranged, ourselves, through United). The cost covered a car, driver and guide throughout, as well as hotels, all meals, transfers, entrance fees and even bottled water each day.

Food was abundant and tasty and served family-style, so we could eat as much as we wanted. 

When we crossed from Azerbaijan to Georgia and from Georgia to Armenia, we went through Customs and Immigration and changed drivers and guides; the transfers went smoothly. We needed a visa only for Azerbaijan, which was arranged by Kutrubes.

All three of these countries are interesting, with long histories, ancient architectural sites and scenic beauty, especially in October, when hazelnut orchards, vineyards and the mountainsides are lemon and gold with autumn color.

A caveat for Azerbaijan — outside the major cities, toilets are the “squat” type, so don’t drink that extra cup of coffee!

Azerbaijan Airlines from Paris to Baku (the capital of Azerbaijan) was clean, modern and luxurious in business class, but its terminal (in 2J) was hard to find, a bus ride away from our point of arrival at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport.

We returned from Yerevan, Armenia, via Austrian Airlines. When our flight was delayed, causing us to miss our connection in Vienna, our guide, Andrei, stayed with us to make sure we were rebooked on a flight that would get us home. We arrived back only two hours later than our original flight.

EMILEE HINES CANTIERI

Hendersonville, NC