Kazbegi trip / Offroad version

6 August, 2021 | Travel guides | 50 seen

I've been traveling to Kazbegi and the region several times, but just recently I started discovering other cool places like Juta or Truso valley.

It was at the end of July 2021 we just returned from Latvia, when an ex-pat German friend offered to take an easy weekend trip to Kazbegi together. As we had done the Vashlovani trip together a few weeks earlier I agreed. We installed our baby's child seat in his Nissan Xtra SUV car and the trip begun.

We left at 9 AM from Tbilisi, and our first stop was in Gudauri, we hoped to find a working cable car and maybe take a ride, but they were not working on that July day. Next stop Russia-Georgia Friendship monument. Made a few awesome Facebook photos here. 

Next, we are moving towards Kobi, and we had an idea maybe to take a cable car ride and have our picnic somewhere in the hills. We learned that the ride in a cable car is about GEL 30 (round trip)  to the highest peak (but there are several other options). Anyhow we decided head better to Truso valley this time and have our picnic there and maybe take a cable car on our way back or in the other day (after all, we didn't take it)

From here starts our offroad, with very very spectacular scenes, gorges, waterfalls, meadows, the smell of sulfur. Finally, we reach our destination along the Terek river and I can see a hot pool. I take out a drone, make some nice videos and photos

From here we move to the town of Stepatsminda (Kazbegi) and book online a guest house, I was using Booking.com and booked just the cheapest available one, it has a price of about EUR 14, per room. The hotel was located on Vazha Pshavela street 52 and had all the basic necessities. Good for a one-night stay. Paid GEL 125 for two separate rooms.

After checking in at the guest house, I invite everyone to go to the city and have some coffee. We chose Hotel Stancia restaurant with a great view towards Gergeti church. Our bil here GEL 125, for a few Americanos with milk, pasta carbonara, some chicken barbecue e.t.c

It's agreed to head towards Darial gorge, near the border of Russia. We actually reach it, but mistakenly thought that the Terek Valley viewpoint was already in the Darial Gorge (turns out it is not). 

Last but not least we head for some additional offroad driving just to reach Gveleti waterwalls just shortly before it starts raining. Now we head back to the hotel, but before that order for takeaway some grilled meat and salads at another awesome Kazbegi restaurant (and again bill is GEL 125) and have a nice evening at our small guesthouse on Vazha Pshavela.

The next morning it lightly rains and the Gergeti church is fully covered in clouds, we still decide to drive up, but there comes another obstacle, turns out there have been some landslide and the main road is closed, local point to some offroad road and say - offroad. Ralph is happy for taking another offroad and we go up the offroad. At the church, it rains, but we still managed to take a few awesome photos and drone footage and now we return back to Tbilisi.

Just shortly before Tbilisi, we stop at one of our favorite restaurants - Chashnagiri Natakhtari and again spend here GEL 125.

See some of the best moments from this trip in this short video

Gveleti Small Waterfalls

5 August, 2021 | Tourism objects | 26 seen

Gveleti waterfalls are located in the region of  Kazbegi region near the small village Gveleti.

Outdoor lovers and hikers will enjoy this little waterfall a lot .

I first discovered this place at the end of July 2021, during a weekend trip to Kazbegi. As we were driving with a 4x4 SUV car, we drove most of the unpaved road to the waterfall and left our car parked some 30-minute walk from the waterfall. 

 The path to the waterfall starts from the semi-abandoned village Gveleti. You will go through the picturesque countryside and climb

The water here falls from the deep gorge of Mount Kazbek from the height of 25 meters and is divided into two streams. The width of the upper stream is 2 m and the lower – 4 m. This place is considered one of the most popular among tourists. 

Terek Valley Viewpoint

3 August, 2021 | Tourism objects | 77 seen

Terek Valley viewpoint is located along the Georgian military road, close to the border with Russia. Maybe not as impressive as Georgia - Russia Friendship monument located near the Gudauri, still, if you happen to be in this area of the world, give it a try, views are still quite spectacular.

There is a little altar of sacrifice built at the viewpoint

At the start I mistakenly thought this is a Darial gorge, just later thanks to the drone's built-in GPS I was able to narrow down this place on the map and learn that this place is called Terek Valley Viewpoint and the actual Darial gorge is located on the border between Georgia and Russia a few kilometers further away.

Andrejsala

2 August, 2021 | Tourism objects | 63 seen

Andrejsala is an area located in the Pētersala-Andrejsala neighborhood of Riga, Latvia within a former territory of an industrial port next to the city center.

Andrejsala is a chich, urban place to visit. 

It is currently developed into a significant art, culture, and entertainment center featuring exhibition halls, clubs, workshops, studios, a cafe, and a hotel.

As the Riga passenger port is in a close proximity, Andrejsala is popular destination for alko tourists, as there are several liquor stores

Could be a nice dininig with a view.

Kazbegi Trip 2021

30 July, 2021 | Living in Georgia | 11 seen

Kazbegi trip - or searching for hot pools at Truso Valley, wandering at Darial gorge near the Georgian - Russian border, reaching Gveleti waterfall, walk in the clouds at Gergeti..

and of course a lot of offroad driving. Thanks, Ralph Schmidt and Rosemarie Rivera for making this trip happen.

July 24-25, 2021

About Tbilisi - Batumi Flight by Vanilla Sky

29 July, 2021 | Living in Georgia | 60 seen

At the end of May 2021, we traveled Tbilisi - Batumi (and back) for the first time with an airplane. And let me say  - this is the best option to travel between these two Georgian cities. In the past, I've tried a train, marshrutka, and private vehicle.

Flight is only 50 minutes and you don't feel tired not at all. i first hear about Vanilla Sky (back then it was called Service air) back in the Summer of 2014, when planned a trip to Mestia, but at the end in that year we traveled to Yerevan in Armenia instead of Mestia, because I find it complicated to book tickets online.

Now it was much easier and we were able to book flight some 2 weeks advance, paying GEL 125 per person one way (kids up to 3 year travel for free, if no seat is taken)

Tbilisi - Batumi flight by Vanilla sky with Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia

The Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia is a twin-turboprop commuter airliner, produced by Embraer of Brazil.

We booked a flight to Batumi Friday morning, left via Tbilisi international airport and returned back in Monday morning. Excellet. Great. Awesome. We had an awesome weekend in Batumi, with staying at 5-star Hilton hotel. 

Vanilla Sky (also known as Service Air or AK-Air Georgia) is a privately owned airline headquartered in Tbilisi, Georgia, and based at Natakhtari, which was founded in 2008. The airline is part of "Service Air" Company, a subsidiary of Vanilla Sky International Tour Operator. Flights are subsidized by the state to increase mobility and tourism in Georgia with US$5.3 million as the reported amount that the airline was offered by the Georgian Airport Union.

Book your tickets online here

Ērģeme Castle Ruins

28 July, 2021 | Military Heritage | 43 seen

Ērģeme castle is located in the parish of Ērģeme, Valka county, some 170 km north from the capital of Riga.

Ērģeme castle served as a powerful fortress for the protection of the Livonian Holy Order eastern border and as a castle-front for the Cēsis castle of the Livonian Holy Order master. The castle was mentioned in 1422 but it was built already around year 1320 under the ordinance of the Order master Gerhard von Jocke. Masters used castle as a storehouse, point of support and shelter for the night. Planning of the castle is clearly legible. Nowadays still quite impressive castle ruins with the round corner tower in the height of five stories can be viewed.

Outside stone wall of the castle forms a regular quadrangle (it is so-called convent type castle) with two big fortification towers. Moats filled with water were around the castle. Drawbridge united the castle-front with the central part. Castle of Ērģeme was in the district of the master of Holy Order, ancillary castle of the Komturei of Cēsis. In 15th century castle was significantly rebuilt. In 1575 Ērģeme was conquered by the Livonian duke Magnuss who sold the castle to Polish in 1578. In 1621 Swedish king Gustav Adolph occupied the castle and in 1625 it was loaned to the major-general de la Barre whose family owned the castle till 1795. In 1658 again castle was conquered by Polish. In 1670 fire started in the castle of Ērģeme and there are no data that afterwards castle was inhabited.

In the 5th of July 1702 during the Livonian war castle was blown up. Up to the 1853 castle was used as a grain storehouse of the parish. In 1986 castle ruins were conserved but works were not finalized, therefore castle ruins gradually are perishing. During the summer period cultural events take place in the open-air stage of the castle ruins.

SEB-Active 3rd Pillar Pension Plan Review 2021

27 July, 2021 | Investments | 12 seen

I opted for a 3rd pension pillar pension plan at SEB bank Latvia back in May 2019. I've been saving additional funds for old age for already two years. Time flies. 

On the day, when I opted to save for old age,  my dad turned 65. Kind of average age in Latvia for retirement. 

I started small, saving EUR 33/mo for the first four-month, then increased it to EUR 43/mo for the next 4 months, and again increased monthly contributions to EUR 58/mo for the next 4 months. Right now I'm investing EUR 128/mo to the 3rd pension pillar plan (I tend to increase my contributions every 4 months)

SEB Active Pension Plan 2019-2021

In total, during the past 2 years, I have contributed EUR 1,740  (average EUR 72.5/mo) to the pension fund.

After the first two years with SEB Active pension plan, I've made EUR 108.18 or +6.21% capital gain. I find this quite a good result.

I believe 3rd pension pillar won't take more than 5-10% from my million dollar retirement savings account (which I plan to enter in 2045), on the other hand, the earliest I will be able to withdraw funds from a 3rd pension fund is in 2040 or 19 years to go. 19 years is plenty of time to build up some serious wealth.

Truso Valley

26 July, 2021 | Tourism objects | 27 seen

 Truso Valley is known for its mineral water springs, white/yellow travertines, mineral lake with bubbles, towers of middle ages, -most notably Zakagori castle, villages on a very high altitude such as Resi (2350m), tasty cheese and Ossetian Khabidzginas (khachapuri with cheese and potatoes) and nice people.

I first visited this area during a weekend trip to Kazbegi (Stepatsminda) at the end oh July 2021.  To get there, we took a left turn in Kobi village, passing Kobi Cable car station. The road is very much an offorad, but not extremely complicated.

It's said the area is nice for hiking, and that what I would advice, but we actually traveled here by a Nissan Xtra SUV car and had a nice picknic along the Terek river in front of as I believe a hot pool

I'm not completely sure the water is actually hot/warm at this little natural pool, but there seem to have some bubles comming out of it

Unfortunately, conflict between Ossetians and Georgians and border closure by Russian government (Locals had winter pastures in the lowlands of northern Ossetia) made this gorge abandoned.

The Terek is a major river in the Northern Caucasus. It originates in the Mtskheta-Mtianeti region of Georgia and flows through North Caucasus region of Russia into the Caspian Sea. It rises near the juncture of the Greater Caucasus Mountain Range and the Khokh Range, to the southwest of Mount Kazbek, winding north in a white torrent between the town of Stepantsminda and the village of Gergeti toward the Russian region North Ossetia and the city of Vladikavkaz. It turns east to flow through Chechnya and Dagestan before dividing into two branches which empty into the Caspian Sea. Below the city of Kizlyar it forms a swampy river delta around 100 kilometres (62 mi) wide. The river is a key natural asset in the region, providing irrigation and hydroelectric power in its upper reaches.

Once a blog reader conctacted me and asked - is there a snow in Georgia in July? Now I know the answer - there is!

Laidi manor / Valtaiķi church / Rudbārži manor

23 July, 2021 | Tourism objects | 18 seen

November has started with some cool 4K cinematic drone videography at Laidi manor / Valtaiķi church / Rudbārži manor.

All places are great and highly recommended to visit, all places share some great history, starting Baltic - German nobleman Manteuffel at Laidi Manor, or some of the most beautiful stained glass windows in Latvia at Valtaiķu church, made in Italy at the beginning of the 20th century according to sketches by Vilhelms Purvītis.

Or Rudbārži manor, about a century ago, back in January 1919 Colonel Oskars Kalpaks "started" Latvian War of Independence / no wonder there is planned to establish a cadet school at Rudbārži manor soon

Filmed with DJI Mavic AIR 2 / post-processed in Adobe Premiere Pro

Royalty-Free Music from Bensound: Memories

My RSI+STOCH Stategy Settings for Trality Crypto Trading bot XLM, ADA

22 July, 2021 | Crypto | 35 seen

In this article, I will share details on how I configured Trality crypto trading bot for trading ADA and XLM coins with RSI and STOCH indicators

This is my algo trading bot I originally launched in mid-May 2021, by setting it up to sell EUR-XLM pair based on RSI strategy, bit latter I added ADA coin to this setup, but then I noticed that bot has used all buying power to purchase only ADA coins, which is not what I actually wanted and here I decided I need to fine-tune some settings, defining that say only 50% can go in purchasing one coin, And then I remembered during the day I played with BTC RSI+STOCH indicators and decided it would be smart adding STOCH to this bot also.

What Is a Stochastic Oscillator?

A stochastic oscillator is a momentum indicator comparing a particular closing price of a security to a range of its prices over a certain period of time. The sensitivity of the oscillator to market movements is reducible by adjusting that time period or by taking a moving average of the result. It is used to generate overbought and oversold trading signals, utilizing a 0–100 bounded range of values.

without further ado, here are settings and a few backtests from my Trality crypto trading bot for EUR-ADA and EUR-XLM coins

Trality settings

Here I did some little fine-tuning, setting the buy amount to 90% from the total portfolio. I just want to keep some 10% for opportunity

Also, I set the maximum buy Amount to 45%, as I have 2 coins for trading I want them to be split evenly. Frankly, this part is a bit confusing, and I will keep testing

RSI Settings + Backtesting

here are my RSI settings for trading XLM and ADA coins against EUR

• Action: BUY RSI Candle size 1h, oversold 38
• Action: SELL RSI Candle size 1h, overbought 45

BackTesting RSI strategy on Trality

The bot did in total 56 trades and generated 17.47% against 14.45% buy and hold. though there were a thing concerning me - RSI is a good indicator but it can give false true, and when looking through the chart I noticed there were a few situations when bot bought, but the price continued to drop and then sold with a loss (minimal bur loss). 

I decided to add STOCHI indicator to the trades

• Action: BUY STOCH Candle size 1h, oversold 30
• Action: SELL STOCH Candle size 1h, overbought 80

here is backtested result

Backtestng RSI+STOCH strategy on Trality

The little fine-tuning in the bot gives a small boost and increases the number of trades to 70. 

Now it was all about restarting the bot and wait for the first results and keep finetuning. 

Georgia - Russia Friendship monument near Gudauri

16 July, 2021 | Tourism objects | 34 seen

Georgia - the land of many wonders

A drone flight around Georgia - Russia Friendship Monument near Gudauri

• DJI Mavic mini, August 16th, 2020
• Music by Scott Holmes - Epic Cinematographic

Backtesting BTC-EUR RSI Strategy with Trality

15 July, 2021 | Crypto | 15 seen

For the past couple of days, I've been testing Trality crypto trading bot a lot, executing a few trades.  I must say - I feel very impressed with what this bot can do, if you are new to Trality, see my brief review here: Simple Crypto Trading Bot From Trality

As I like testing and implementing ideas, in today's article I'm going to talk about the Relative Strength Index (RSI) and its usage in crypto trades. I believe RSI is one of the easiest ways to trade crypto. Not 100% proof, but a good starting point for sure. In fact, this is the one and only I understand the most. 

See my previous article about backtesting RSI with XLM (and ADA) coins: Backtesting XLM-EUR RSI Strategy with Trality

Disclosure: I'm not a financial advisor and I don't give you any advice, I'm just sharing my own experience. Investments in stocks, funds, bonds, or cryptos are risk investments and you could lose some or all of your money. Do your due diligence before investing in any kind of asset. 

The relative strength index (RSI) is a momentum indicator developed by noted technical analyst Welles Wilder, that compares the magnitude of recent gains and losses over a specified time period to measure speed and change of price movements of a security. It is primarily used to attempt to identify overbought or oversold conditions in the trading of an asset.

Backtesting BTC-EUR RSI

I decided to build my trading universe with one coin only, the BTC king of the crypto. As I recovered some "lost bitcoins" from Coinbase vault, I thought it would be a good idea to test how trading algorithms could help us avoid a sharp decline in price (there was a sharp 30% BTC price drop recently)

Here are my strategy settings:

• Action: BUY RSI Candle size 1h, oversold 35 
• Action: SELL RSI Candle size 1h, overbought 45

Let's start backtesting for the last 24 hours (1d) (05/19/2021 - 05/20/2021)

Backtesting BTC-EUR RSI strategy 24 hours

2 trades and a loss of -0.95%, while the total market dropped more than -38%.. quite good results I guess. you would save your ass.

now let's see how this algorithm would react in 3 days (05/17/2021-05/20/2021)

Backtesting BTC-EUR RSI strategy 3 days

Now, this is quite awesome, we were able to generate 8.23% return in just 3 days, while buy and hold was losing -38.15% meantime

Let's have data for the past 7 days (05/13/2021-05/20/2021)

Backtesting BTC-EUR RSI strategy 7 days

10 trades in 7 days and 5.44% return vs -34.46% if just holding. I like it.

Let's roll for 2 weeks (05/06/2021-05/20/2021)

Backtesting BTC-EUR RSI strategy 14 days

14 trades in 14 days and a negative -1.82% return vs -35.54%.  bot was not able to catch the sharp drop, instead, it bought shortly before the drop. RSI dropped under 16 on May 12, while we bought BTC when RSI was 31.02 (which is a bit strange as our entry point is 35)

Let's try 30 days (04/20/2021-05/20/2021)

Backtesting BTC-EUR RSI strategy 30 days

Good, we are back on the track, 28 trades and a decent 7.8% gain in a failing market. BTC lost 41% meantime. ouch.

How about 3-month testing (02/19/2021-05/20/2021)

Backtesting BTC-EUR RSI strategy 3 month

Alright, despite the bot gave better results than just buying and holding, I guess it's time to stop here. further testing can be done but is not needed, instead, we should focus on fine-tuning our algorithm to get better results. But that already another story

What can we learn from this?

A simple trading algorithm based on RSI could help us if not make money, then at least not lose it significantly. Our bot did a good job in the backtesting. the most we were losing was -5.42% in 90 days, while BTC fell 40% at its highest.

The bot showed better results in a failing market than just buying and holding coins.

For the next 30 days, I've decided to launch a real trading bot with the above-listed setting, and let's see. All findings will be shared and possible improvements will be discussed. 

Khertvisi Fortress

12 July, 2021 | Military Heritage | 23 seen

Khertvisi fortress is one of the oldest fortresses in Georgia and was functional throughout the Georgian feudal period. It is situated in Khertvisi village of Aspindza Municipality, Southern Georgia, in Meskheti region. The fortress was first mentioned in the 10th-11th centuries.

The church was built in 985, and the present walls were built in 1354. According to a local legend, Khertvisi was once destroyed by Alexander the Great, though it has then been reconstructed and invaded on numerous occasions through the centuries.

I first discovered this gem back in 2014, when Khertvisi was used as a starting point for our two-day rafting trip, see: Rafting in Georgia - Khertvisi - Aspindza - Borjomi, it took me a few more years to return here and flew a drone around

Khertvisi Fortress in Georgia

In the 10th-11th centuries it was the center of Meskheti region. During the 12th century it became a town. In the 13th century Mongols destroyed it and until the 15th century it lost its power. According the inscription on a stone, found in the fortress, significant reconstruction was made by Zakari Kamkamishvili in 1354-1356. From the end of the 13th up to the 15th century it was owned by Meskheti landlords from Jakeli family. In the 16th century the southern region of Georgia was invaded by Turks. During next 300 years they have owned Khertvisi too. In 1624 the fortress was temporarily taken by Giorgi Saakadze. Another successful though again temporary attempt was made by the King Irekle II in 1771.

Khertvisi was finally set free from Turks in 1828. At the end of the 19th century Georgian and Russian army returned the lost territories and Khertvisi became the military base for Russian and Georgian troops.

Khertvisi fortress is situated on the high rocky hill in the narrow canyon at the confluence of the rivers Mtkvari and Paravani.

It is composed of the citadel with towers and the lower yard, surrounding the citadel from the south and east. The citadel, resting on the mountain top, is itself made of smaller separate parts. Two tunnels from the north lead down to the river.

Orbeliani square Tbilisi

9 July, 2021 | Tourism objects | 10 seen

Autumn feeling or fun with a drone near Oberliani square / Alexander Garden in Tbilisi. (The former and famous Hotel 'London' is located in this area) Music by David Hilowitz - Equilibrium I Cello version