Saka Baptist Church

28 March, 2016 | Churches and Monasteries | 11 seen

An interesting church I discovered driving Aizpute - Pāvilosta road, back at the Summer 2015 - Meet Saka Baptist church in the middle of nowhere. Thus the church was closed, I was amazed of how well the territory around Saka Baptist church was landscaped. 

Saka Baptist church

There is an inscription plate above the main entrance doors at church saying this church was built in 1888, although there is written in strange (old?) Latvian - Bap.Basniza, which would translate as Baptist church, thus there is no such  word as Basniza in modern Latvian, instead there is Baznīca.

Priest's house at Saka church

We didn't met any people here today, but as I told above, I was really surprised of seeing very well landscaped territory, freshly cut lawn, flower garden and more.

Mole repeller

Awakening garden in Aizpute

28 March, 2016 | Tourism objects | 8 seen

Almost in the city center of Aizpute, on Atmodas street is located Awakening garden (Atmodas dārzs, in Latvian). It's created by group of people from cross-art organization 'Serde' ('Core')

The second life is given to empty water bottles in which tomatoes, cabbage, strawberries, mint and many other popular plants are grown. 

Awakening garden in Aizpute

I really love such sustainable development ideas, Less is more. Some time ago we planted veggies at our rural house in wooden boxes and got really good harvest.

Veggies in plastic bottles

Dirt cheap way to have a mini garden. Each plastic bottle is with a little tube at the bottom, making it effective way to water plants and save resources. Love it.

Svetiskhoveli cathedral in Mtskheta

27 March, 2016 | Churches and Monasteries | 70 seen

Svetitskhoveli Cathedral is an another must have tourist attraction site not to miss when traveling to Georgia. Located in historical and picturesque town of Mtskheta some 20 km from nation's capital Tbilisi.

It is the second largest church building in the country, after the Holy Trinity Cathedral of Tbilisi (Sameba), and is listed as an UNESCO World Heritage Site along with other historical monuments of Mtskheta.

Rumor has it - Jesus robe (mantle) is buried exactly here - well, there are at least three official church versions of Jesus robe destiny, and among them Svetitskhoveli stands out as well:

According to the tradition of the Georgian Orthodox Church, the chiton was acquired by a Jewish Rabbi from Georgia named Elioz (Elias), who was present in Jerusalem at the time of the crucifixion and bought the robe from a soldier. He brought it with him when he returned to his native town of Mtskheta, Georgia, where it is preserved to this day beneath a crypt in the Patriarchal Svetitskhoveli Cathedral. 

There is even an official holiday dedicated to this event, and is named Mtskhetoba (Svetitskovloba), which happens on October 14.

Svetitskhoveli cathedral in Mtskheta

Together with Jvari monastery Svetitskoveli cathedral are one of the main sights in Mtksheta.

Cathedral has been built in the 4th century, but has been damaged several times during history, notably by the invasions of Arabs, Persians, and Timur and latterly during Russian subjugation and the Soviet period. The building has also been damaged by earthquakes. In the 11th century, the present Svetitskhoveli Cathedral was rebuilt (from 1010 to 1029) in the Cross-Dome style.

The cathedral is surrounded by a defensive wall, built of stone and brick during the reign of King Erekle II (Heraclius) in 1787. 

Svetitskhoveli Cathedral

The interior walls are painted with frescoes, most of which have not survived in their original state. In the 1830s, when Czar Nicholas I was scheduled to visit Mskheta, the frescoes were all whitewashed, although in the end the Czar never came. Today, after much careful restoration, some few remnants survive including fragments of a 13th-century Beast of the Apocalypse and figures of the Zodiac.

The walls are decorated with many Christian Orthodox icons, most of which are not original (the originals being in the national museums of Georgia). The decoration of the church stonework also features carved grapes (as in many churches of Georgia), reflecting the country's ancient wine-making traditions. The large figure of Jesus at the altar was painted by Russian artist in the 19th century. The majority of the icons here date to the 20th century. Some are copies of older icons and frescoes from other churches throughout Georgia.

Panorama of Svetitskhoveli Cathedral

Tips for getting here - if you don't have your own vehicle and you are not traveling with a tour guide - you should take a taxi from Tbilisi (I recommend using Taxify app, so it will be cheaper, faster and safier) and the price should be around 15-20 GEL. For me getting here I took a marshurtka to Tbilisi Mall at first and then from there I negotiated a taxi for 7 GEL to Mtksheta. For getting back to Tbilisi - again - taxi's or local marshrutkas (there are some going to Didube station, and the price is just one lari (as of 2016)

Plaza Hotel in Batumi

27 March, 2016 | Hotel reviews | 33 seen

Are you looking for a budget friendly hotel in Batumi? I can highly recommend one -  Plaza hotel, located next to the Batumi bay.

Plaza Hotel is located close to Batumi Port and in very short distance from city center. We booked Plaza hotel using local Georgian coupon site - hotsale.ge and got a lovely room with balcony and access to the Olympic swimming pool for just 50 GEL per night (with breakfast included). 

We stayed here for two nights at the start of March 2016.

It was already late night when we arrived to Batumi (with rail from Tbilisi) - and just shortly we checked in to our room I decided to make a lovely night photography - so I installed a tripod (on balcony) and got following night scenery from our room:

Batumi by night

By now I felt super tired and went to sleep, next morning I repeated the same scene.

Batumi in day

Now it was time to try in the rooftop pool

Rooftop swimming pool at Plaza Hotel in Batumi

Wow- an Olympic swimming pool offering great views to Batumi

​

View towards Batumi bay from roof

From here you can take Batumi aerial tram and enjoy even more spectacular views.

Floor plan at Plaza hotel

Plaza hotel is located in the upper floors in shopping mall. Well speaking of shopping here - nothing fancy or interesting here - some barber shops, iPhone store, cheap watches e.t.c. For the price they are offering stay at this hotel here - I would convert all building into a hotel - and it would rock. Why they have decided to run a small boutique stores in first floors - I have no idea, on the other hand - there were a lot of folks wandering to buy next generation iPhone or at least a cheap watches.

Simple but tasty breakfast at Plaza hotel

It was the same thing for two mornings - eggs, sausages, cottage cheese, tea, coffee, some flakes.. for additional 3 lari you can order a cappuccino, but it tastes the same as the free coffee. Regular stuff.

Our room in Plaza hotel

It featured a balcony, flat screen TV, a queen size bed, air conditioner and decent bathroom (shower)

Plaza hotel building in Batumi

About Plaza hotel

Located in the city centre of Batumi, a 2-minute walk from Batumi Bay, Plaza Hotel features an indoor swimming pool, a spa and wellness centre, a sauna, massage services, and free Wi-Fi access throughout the property. The modern and air-conditioned rooms here are equipped with a flat-screen TV with cable channels, a balcony, and a private bathroom with a bath or shower. Other hotel facilities include a fitness centre, a bicycle rental, a 24-hour front desk, an on-site mini-market, a bar, and a beauty shop. Tbilisi Square is a 2-minute walk away, Batumi Art Museum is a 12-minute walk, and the Statue of Medea is a 10-minute walk from the hotel. Plaza Hotel is a 10-minute walk from Batumi bus station, 3.5 km from Batumi Train Station, and 6.5 km from Batumi Airport. 

Book now on Booking.com

Day Trip to Kakheti in Georgia

26 March, 2016 | Travel guides | 15 seen

Day trips to the region of Kakheti in Georgia are quite possible and I would actually recommend taking one if you have a chance. I have explored the region of Kakheti in different ways (mostly by marshrutka and car). I prefer a personal car with a driver. If you feel you are indie or rough traveler you might try marshrukta leaving from Tbilisi.

Today I'll show you one of my favorite Kakheti day trip routes which is accessible by car.

This route will take you from Tbilisi to Telavi, then to nearby Kvareli and in the evening back to Tbilisi. (You should plan this day trip as early as possible)

It might seem like an easy route, but it will take all your day (especially if you will take your time to take pictures at these sites). You will visit a few really interesting Georgian Orthodox Churches (Nekresi monastery complex is among my favorite), a wine tunnel (you can have a wine tasting here, for additional money), you will see a Giant Plane Tree (more than 900 years old and about 12 meters wide/ 46 meters high). I would suggest trying local Telavi khinkali at Zodiako bar, and if you will be lucky enough (the day won't be over yet) you could make a stop at David Gareja Monastery complex.

I was able to manage such day trip for about GEL 80 + gas and food expenses for my driver.​

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Enjoy your travels in Georgia!

Meet the New Roof (Pictures Before and After)

26 March, 2016 | Home Remodeling | 12 seen

Yesterday we told Goodbye's to our old roof by setting up a large bonfire. Today we are saying hi to the new roof. Although officially major roof works were done a few days before - today is the day when final images of new roofing appear.

We still have some unfinished roof related works to do, but the final roof construction is here. To make a better understanding what's going out - see before and after.

What we got (before)

Moss covering the roof

Not only moss is covering roof, the construction is skew and what's major the right side of roofing is leaky. For a complete photo story of what we got, please see: home remodeling - how it all starts

What we turned to (After)

Metal roof installed

Yes, we lost one chimney, see:replacing roof - part 3: removing the old roofing (losing chimney) . The new roof is not only almost linear, but gives a much attractive and lively overall view.

What we got (Before)

Back view of the house

What we turned to (After)

New roofing

OK, I agree, with that uncut crosswind sheet it looks a bit ugly, but you got the idea. 

Speaking of second floor for this house, were gray planks can be see now,  I'm planing to install a huge window stretching full height and maximum weight (plenty of daylight inside). A huge outdoor terrace is planed back at the house. Will see, how it gone work out. There is still a lot of work to do - like changing bearing beams inside house and replacing walls. Yes, I know it's going to be a lot of hard work to do. Let's say this -  house is safe now, it's protected from rain water and future works can be started soon.

How to Make Traditional Italian Pizza

25 March, 2016 | Food blogger | 42 seen

An Italian pizza was the reason for our latest travels to Italy, it was at the start of November 2015, I was kneading dough for pizza, when my beloved told me - hey, we should visit Italy and try real Italian Pizza. So we did - we spent about a week in Italy, traveling a lot and trying real Italian cuisine. 

Speaking of Italian pizza in Italy, here is the craziest pizza topped with a lot of prosciutto I ever have tried - Restaurant Antica Drogheria in Lucca, Italy, those guys just rock, if you are in vicinity of Lucca (the most famous landmark of that area probably is the leaning tower of Pisa), make sure you check this place out. 

We returned home back to Georgia with a lot of new ingredients, including salami, prosciutto and many cheeses. In today's food bloger series I will show my perfect Italian pizza recipe.  

Making pizza is not hard at all, the hardest to make ideal dough for pizza (you could of course buy already made dough, but that wouldn't be the same - I really love and enjoy dough creating and kneading process - it's mind freeing hobby - clear your thoughts and focus on things that matter - pizza)

Here are ingredients for my perfect pizza dough:

For making one large pizza in standard large pan

• 8 tablespoons flour;
• 6 tablespoons of warm water;
• 2 tablespoons olive oil;
• 1/2 teaspoon salt;
• 1 teaspoon sugar;
• 1 teaspoon dry yeast.

Take a large bowl, and all dry ingredients at first, I start by adding flour, salt, sugar, yeast and just at the end wet ingredients - water and olive oil

Ingredients for pizza dough

If you love to take photos of your kitchen experiments I suggest using 100mm lens for taking interesting food photography. See - Digital photography school

Now, the fun part starts here - kneading the dough - at start it took me some 40 minutes to get it right, but for know I have mastered my kneading skills and usually I make perfect dough in 10 minutes. 

Once kneading process is finished and your dough is ready, cover bowl with a kitchen towel and put in the warm place for some 40 minutes, so the dough can rise up.

Dough rolling

I must admit it took some time for me to learn how properly roll out ideal round pizza, I had a good chef giving me a nice tip - roll dough from three sides - first move rolling pin forward, then to the right side and the to the left side. Repeat until you have nice round flattened pizza base. 

Don’t take shaping your pizza dough too much seriously, let the shape just kind of end up the way it naturally should have been. See: How to Roll & Shape Pizza Dough

Toppings for pizza

Before adding actual toppings to pizza I daub base with a tomato pasta or sometimes (when it's the season) with blended tomatoes. Speaking of toppings - it's all about your taste and imagination - you can add as pizza topping literally anything. But for standard use - I would recommend cheese, salami, ham, mushrooms, pineapples e.t.c. 

Today I prepared salami/prosciutto pizzas from ingredients we brought back from Italy.

Now, preheat your oven (~180C) and put your pizza to oven for some 5-7 minutes.

Freshly baked pizza straight from the oven, sliced with pizza knife

Mmm, yummy...

Vake Park in Tbilisi

25 March, 2016 | Tourism objects | 68 seen

Nestled in the Vake district of Tbilisi, Georgia, lies a historic recreational area known as Vake Park. Since its opening to the public in 1946, the park has undergone numerous transformations, becoming a popular destination for both ex-pats and locals.

Visitors can enjoy various free and paid kids playgrounds, carousels, ice cream shops, upper-end restaurants, and cafes located near the park.

 Vake Park is home to significant landmarks, such as a monument of Victory built during Soviet times and a beautiful staircase with cascading fountains. The park's beautiful landscapes, including hundreds of thousands of conifers, fruit trees, and shrubs, make it a green oasis in the heart of Tbilisi.

First opened to the public in 1946, it was built in the former wastelands. The park has gone through many reconstructions ever since

Designed by architect K. Dgebuadze and dendrologist N. Tsitsishvili a lot of work on the drainage and landscaping with the use of blasting was carried out, created soil, planted hundreds of thousands of conifers, deciduous fruit trees (successful experience of mass transplanting adult specimens) and shrubs. The creation of the park was the largest tree-planting project in Tbilisi back at the time.

If you had traveled to Yerevan, Armenia, you will find some similarities with Yerevan Cascade

Seems these gazebos are popular place for birthday events or just for old-timers playing chess.

From Chavchavadze avenue, overlooking the park at 7 meters, the park conducted a monumental staircase with cascading fountains, theater, restaurant, park pavilions.

Vake park is popular among expats and locals. Popular place to visit with kids or dogs. There are many children playgrounds located in the Vake park. Some are free some are paid.

I'm not very enthusiatcis about such paid playgrounds in public spaces, but at least they exsist. The fee GEL 15/h per 1 kid (price as of 2023)

Statue of Victory

In Soviet times, park was called Victory Park. Glory memorial complex was created with a 28-meter statue of Victory (1981, architects V. Alexi-Meskhishvili, K. Nakhutsrishvili, sculptor G. Ochiauri).

At Vake Park

In the vicinity of the park on one of the peaks of the Trialeti Range is located Turtle Lake

Fire, Water, Burn - Goodbye Old Roof!

24 March, 2016 | Home Remodeling | 11 seen

It was time to make a bonfire and burn wood shingle (what use to be a roof cover). At the end of Summer (2015) our bonfire place ready to be set on fire, also it was very large. I still decided to wait for a rainy day, to minimize fire risks.

I negotiated with our construction worker, who turned out to be a semiprofessional industrial burner (10 years in forestry), called to the local fire station and asked for permission, informing about precise location. They have local watch towers, and just to make sure there is no misunderstanding it's good to inform local authorities (it might be even requested by law).

For me, it seemed like a simple task - pour with petrol that large pile of shingle and it's done. My burner told me - that instead of pouring all pile you need to start small and direct fire to the rest of pile, or more correctly transship the pile to the bonfire. I trusted him and meanwhile built a doghouse for Bob.

Bonfire place

Located next to the small pond, set on fire on rainy day

Start small

Instead of starting to burn that large pile all at once, burner did set a fire on much smaller bonfire, latter he took coals and inserted at the end of larger pile, and then from the other end of pile moved shingle to burning side. 

Done

At the end of the day - it was done. Thus continued to smolder for couple of days.

Building a Dog house

24 March, 2016 | DIY | 11 seen

Recently we inherited not only a bad managed rural house, but also got a German shepherd dog Bob. I have posted a lot about our home remodeling works, and in one article you can see Bob.

Bob is very scared dog, he doesn't trust people, as his owner passed away, he haven't approached any people, even me. After a summer spent in our rural house, the best we could achieve - Bob laying in front of house and observing us. We feed Bob well and during our absence we have negotiated good people to help us out to take care of Bob, thus Bob doesn't approves any help, just a daily dose of dog food. 

The real owner of our house is Bob. To make at least some better life conditions for our stubborn Bob, I decided to build a dog house for him, here is how:

Base for a doghouse

The pallet is ideal for base, by nailing additional planks I was able to shape the basic concept of doghouse

Chainsaw

With help of chainsaw I was able to saw up the edges (Gosh, after a few months of rebuilding our house I'm not afraid of chainsaw anymore)

Roof for a doghouse

I used a cross wind sheet from our roof to better thermo isolate inside of this doghouse, so Bob wont freeze in cold winter nights

Roofing for doghouse

Yes, Bob got the same roof as our house did. See: The Roof Works are Done (Almost)

I hope we will be able to take care of Bob this Summer, get him to the Vet and make him trust in people again! 

Shooting Hanheld HDR Photography

23 March, 2016 | Digital Photography School | 6 seen

As some of you already know lately I'm a lot into HDR photography. For most of the times I'm shooting from a tripod, but sometimes (just sometimes) I'm lazy enough to take tripod with me. In most cases I end up damning myself for not taking tripod this time and most often avoid HDR shooting. Also in a lot of popular tourist spots (churches,cathedrals) it's forbidden to use a tripod - so you are left with handheld and no flashlight photography.

Thus, that doesn't mean you cannot shoot HDR without a tripod, you can actually make really striking HDR photography handheld. You don't need flash neither.

Here’s a three-exposure shot with bracketing set to +/- 2 increment.

Canon Rebel T5 with kit 18-55mm lens f/11 three brackets merged with Photomatix, ISO 100

​A few months ago I did a similar HDR photography but with a tripod - the scene was pretty much the same - some interesting architectural element, blue sky and cool clouds. 

Here is how I did above shot handheld:

Photomatix can do miracles with handheld photography - when importing your pictures in Photomatix make sure you check box under hand-held minimal or auto (In most cases I go for hand-held minimal). Ok great - if there is a plenty of daylight you can most probably make a decent HDR photography, but what to do in really low light resolution, for example a HDR photography in the cave? Not a problem

HDR in Low light 

Another  three-exposure shot with bracketing set to +/- 2 increment.

Canon Rebel T5 with kit 18-55mm lens f/5.0 three brackets merged with Photomatix, ISO 3200

Shot in the Prometheus Cave, Republic of Georgia - this one actually is one of my first HDR images. Probably I was not following any photography rules or advices- and figured this shooting technique by my own - how to get story telling pictures from this cave. You can read an article about this cave here: Prometheus Cave near Kutaisi (Georgia)

Here is how I did above shot handheld:

I hope this technique will help you next time wanting to do HDR photography, when it's forbidden to use a tripod or you are traveling without a gear.

Otium Restaurant in Tbilisi

23 March, 2016 | Restaurant reviews | 36 seen

Otium restaurant is a very stylish, but what's interesting not at all expensive venue, located in neighborhood of Vake in Tbilisi (uphill on the Turtle lake road).

I have dozen of times passed by this restaurant during some of mine hiking trips around here (See: Hiking in Tbilisi - Turtle lake (Kus Tba) - Vake Park) but I always refused to visit it, because I thought it should be out of my league (all those SUV cars parked in front of the entrance, with CD number plates). I usually avoid too much extravagant places, but I was wrong - I really enjoyed Otium restaurant, and as said - I was surprised of relatively low price for their lunch menu.

In short - Otium rocks, their lunch menu offer is high end restaurant meal for budget price

Entrance doors at Otium restaurant in Tbilisi

Yup, that huge red/mirror construction is actually an entrance doors and stairways down to the Otium kingdom. I remember a few years ago, when construction works were held at this site, I was a bit pissed of, because down there was an abandoned garden from which I took a hike just inside the Vake park.

Probably that's the reason I avoided to step-in into this restaurant for a very long period of time, it was an obstacle for my hiking adventures,thus frankly said, I believe I could take that trail again (I just need to find it once more), but what's important - I believe a restaurant in this place is much better than just an abandoned garden. Though this place (as most places in Georgia is lacking a parking lot)

Spacious dining hall at Otium

​

Huge outdoor territory

They had even an ice rink for kids installed at one corner. 

Now we decided to take 11GEL lunch menu, which consists of three meals - salads or soup, fish or meat and dessert + drinks. 11 GEL - you must be kidding me??!! - but that's how it works here, every work day from 12PM until 3PM - they serve a lunch menu here. Now this is a deal!

Mushroom cream soup

Wow, that soup was something special - one of the best mushroom soups I have tried (and I really love mushroom cream soups, but this one was a masterpiece)

Something cool

Sorry, cant remember name for this.

Neither for this

...or this

The bottom line

Lunch menu at Otium is a restaurant meal for a budget price. We paid in total 33GEL for our lunch meal for two persons, we ordered some additional tea and coffee. Otium rocks - I will return here without doubts, sorry environmental friends.

Invest in Georgia - Peer-to-Peer (P2P) lending - Mintos.com

22 March, 2016 | Living in Georgia | 18 seen

After almost five years spent as an ex-pat and passive investor (savings accounts only) in Republic of Georgia, time after time I'm looking for some other liquid investment opportunities in Georgia. Mostly I end up with stock exchange, but for now Georgian Stock Exchange market doesn't seems transparent enough and easy accessible.

By saying - not enough transparent I mean - I haven't find yet a broker offering real-time stats. 

Time after time I end up in official Invest in Georgia website www.investingeorgia.org, there are good information provided for investment opportunities in this country. If you have spare few millions you might end up investing in energy, hospitality & real estate, manufacturing, logistics or agriculture & food processing. If you still feel you don't have such much money and you call yourself a small investor with funds less than $10,000 to invest in this gorgeous country - you are left with savings accounts or opening your small business. And this is what I would recommend - a small business. That's what I'm doing here - I'm a freelance programmer working 80% overseas. 

During my stay in Georgia I have met some successful businessmen operating in fish farming and diary sectors, see: South African fish farms in Georgia (Sagarejo, Sartichala) and "Piena Ceļš Georgia" - visit of dairy farm

If I would have to invest more than USD 100,000 in Georgia I would without doubt look on agriculture or food processing (thus you might end short with $100,000). 

I was googling for ideas like investment ideas for small investors avoiding stock market and I ended up in some article about Peer-to-Peer lending.

About Peer-to-Peer lending

Peer-to-peer lending, sometimes abbreviated P2P lending, is the practice of lending money to individuals or businesses through online services that match lenders directly with borrowers. Since the peer-to-peer lending companies offering these services operate entirely online, they can run with lower overhead and provide the service more cheaply than traditional financial institutions. As a result, lenders often earn higher returns compared to savings and investment products offered by banks, while borrowers can borrow money at lower interest rates, even after the P2P lending company has taken a fee for providing the match-making platform and credit checking the borrower.

Soon I found mintos.com platform offering to lend money to borrowers in Georgia (and not only).

Both individuals and entities can invest through Mintos. Individual investors must be at least 18 years old, have a bank account in the European Union or third countries currently considered to have AML/CFT systems equivalent to the EU, and have their identity successfully verified by Mintos. At the moment, US citizens or taxpayers cannot register as investors at Mintos.

Affiliate link here: Signup to Mintos.com here. By using this affiliate link for registration both you and I will receive — 1% of our average daily balance which should be paid in 3 installments for the first 90 days.

Screenshot of Mintos homepage

Mintos promises 12.59% average net annual return for investors and offers to start investing with as low as EUR 10 per loan. 

12.59% annual return for me sounds a lot (and risky too), in Georgian banks you could get return of 1.5%-2% (for savings in USD or EUR). At this moment Mintos is not taking service fees for investors. In case for opting to go with Mintos or any other P2P lending company I would not invest more than 10-20% from my total assets. Your investment style might differ. Always remember - your capital is at risk and you might lose all your capital.

Getting started with Mintos seems simple:

To start investing at Mintos, you need to register as an investor. This is a simple process that will take less than 5 minutes. Once you have registered with Mintos, transfer the desired amount of money from your bank account to your Mintos investor account. Once the money is added to your Mintos investor account, you can begin building your investment portfolio, either by using Auto Invest tool or by browsing loan listings.Each month, you will receive payments from borrowers consisting of both the principal and interest payments. You can choose to reinvest these funds in other loans or transfer them to your bank account.

Georgian loan primary market

For now it seems in Georgia just short term (one month) personal loans are issued with maximum amount of EUR 577 offering 11.7% annual interest rate. 

I decided to calculate how much it would be per month in optimistic scenario (the loans is replayed and investors gets interest rate). Let's say I have built a portfolio from EUR 1000 and it's invested in ten loans EUR 100 in each for 30 days and borrowers repays on time.

To calculate monthly interest rate let's divide the annual interest rate expressed as a percentage by 12 to calculate the monthly interest rate expressed as a percentage. For example, if you have an annual interest rate of 11.7 percent, divide 11.7 by 12 to find the monthly interest rate is .975 percent. It's almost one percent monthly.

Let's add that interest rate to our initial capital, and see what is our return here: 1000EUR + 0.975%= 1009.75 EUR.

After one month you have earned additional 9.75 EUR. It's much better rate a savings account can offer to you, but still - I just made a best positive scenario, you might end loosing your money.. So it's pretty risky investment. I believe when investing in such loans you should consider to invest for at least a year. But before actually starting investing, do your homework, research, make optimistic, pessimistic and realistic scenario excel tables to better understand is it worth to invest in P2P loans at all.

About Mintos.com

Mintos is a Latvia owned peer-to-peer lending marketplace that connects investors with borrowers of non-bank lenders. It is an easy and transparent alternative to the traditional banking system. At Mintos both retail and institutional investors can invest in fractions of loans originated across Europe. Currently, we serve mortgage loans, personal unsecured loans, secured car loans, and small business loans. The minimum investment in one loan is EUR 10. Loan originators, on the other hand, by connecting to the Mintos platform get an instant access to investors that are looking to purchase loans.

Since I have heard of many Latvian owned lending companies in Georgia, it's not a surprise of seeing Mintos partnered with some of them. After browsing through Mintos webpage I found with whom - Creamfinance. There is really interesting article on Mintos blog, I will take few excerpts from interview with Matiss Ansviesulis, Co-founder and CEO of Creamfinance, you can read full article here: An interview with Co-founder and CEO of Creamfinance

....

What is your experience in the industry? How many countries does Creamfinance work in?

Our national platforms are operated by an international team, consisting of over 200 employees from 9 countries, currently operating across six markets – Latvia, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria and Georgia. The company has been operating for nearly four years since the beginning of 2012.

.....

Currently on the Mintos platform you have listed loans issued in Georgia. Do you plan to add other countries as well?

Yes, we are exploring the legal frameworks in other countries where Creamfinance operates to verify whether such a business model could work.

Please share the latest financial results. What are your development plans?

Our business in Georgia operates with a high growth. In 2015, a 9 month revenue equaled €3.2 million, compared to the whole year 2014 revenue of €0.7 million. Georgian business is expected to double next year.

...

I did my homework and researched for other P2P lending companies, and seems Latvians are not the only Baltic nation experts in lending business, I found another P2P lending company Bondora in Estonia.

What''s even most interesting (at least for me) I found other finance bloggers covering their experience with P2P lending. I quickly started to read what others are saying and for now - P2P, thus a bit frightening (everything new is a bit frightening), seems really tempting to try. And since I have found one operating in Georgia (and I'm looking exclusively on investment opportunities in Georgia, because I call it my home market) - Mintos seems a good answer. I probably will end up by investing smaller amount (EUR 1000) to test how it works, but before actually investing I will prepare some revenue/loss excel table, to better understand this system. 

Here are few articles on Estonian P2P lending Bondora:

• Year End Review of My Bondora Portfolio
• My Bondora portfolio, 3 years

Remember your capital is at risk.

The Bottom Line

P2P lending is not a get rich quick scheme, it takes a lot of research and dedication, and it involves a steel nerves too, as you might end up actually loosing your money. For me P2P lending seems an interesting alternative to savings at bank account, but I wouldn't go 100% for P2P lending exclusively. Speaking of loan market in Georgia, yes, that is a misery and brilliance - it's sad to see half country being in debts, but on the other hand it gives a really lucrative income for lenders. As I have seen reports some lenders make even 375% return on small debts issued. 11.7% for investors is not much compared to that, but is still more than banks can offer.

Do you have an experience working with Mintos or any other P2P lending platform? Readers and me would love to hear, drop a comment!

The Roof Works are Done (Almost)

22 March, 2016 | Home Remodeling | 7 seen

That August, 2015 day was a huge day - we finished roof covering works in our rural country house. It took us about a month as we launched roofing works, and it will take us few more days to complete roofing completely.

I didn't photographed today much, or day before (when most covering were done), in fact I didn't photographed at all, my better part did. Here is what we got:

Almost done here

Just three more roof plates (int total for both sides its 26 plates) and the large roof works are officially done

Couple of hours latter

Its done!

Few more bolts

Now, its time to add roof ridge,  wind boards and chimney ridge. More on that in upcoming posts in home remodeling.

Aerial photos from rooftop

22 March, 2016 | Home Remodeling | 4 seen

Today we continued covering roof with metal plates, in a short break I took my DSRL camera a top on the roof and made some aerial photos.

You won't get here views as nice as you could get from Tbilisi or Batumi aerial trams, but taking into consideration that we are speaking of an old rural house - these views are as much great.

Roof masters a top on the roof (Edgars and Guntars)

Aerial view to our veggie garden

Few months ago we planted some goodies in the wooden boxes - and look what a harvest we have. Yes the new roof cover looks great as well.

Skewed barn

One day I will fix this too

At the edge of roof

view towards apple orchard