Blog Archive: January 2015
How Amazon Associates Receives Their Checks in Republic of Georgia - Part 2
Welcome to the 2 part of my blog series on how Amazon Associates receives checks and gets them redeemed in the Republic of Georgia.
How participants of the Amazon Associates program are getting paid in the Republic of Georgia by a bank check is a blog series I originally made at the end of 2014 / start of 2015 while struggling to redeem my first bank check issued by Amazon,
Although it's still technically possible to withdraw bank checks in Georgia, at the end of 2016, I flew to the US and opened a bank account there, see: How To Open A Bank Account in the U.S., As A Non-resident Non-citizen, Wells Fargo Bank
For complete series of my adventures while living in Georgia with…
'Bank Republic' Georgia Offers Check Redemption
Some time ago I made a post about how Amazon Associates are getting paid in the Republic of Georgia, I was wise enough to call that article "Part 1" because I knew there will be a long and probably complicated procedure of "cashing" a check sent by Amazon Associates here in Georgia.
Again, some time ago I wrote a post about how to open a banking account in the Republic of Georgia for foreigners, in that post I suggested sticking with ProCredit bank.
Update: TBC bank took over the Bank Republic a few years ago. I currently do not hold an account with the Bank Republic or TBC. For the time I was using Bank Republic - one of the best banking experiences here in Georgia.
If you…
Veterinary Clinic Natia Beridze in Tbilisi
In case you are looking for a veterinary clinic for your pet, I can suggest you Natia Beridze on Nutsubidze street in Tbilisi. Natia is a fantastic person, she just loves animals so you shouldn't be worried that of your pet wont be taken care properly.
You (your pet) can get here all possible animal vaccinations, blood tests, surgery and even all paperwork regarding travel documents.
Logo and address details for Natia Beridze veterinary clinic
Pay attention to Town Musicians of Bremen in logo - I really love it!
Inside at Veterinary Clinic
Animal photos
Kote - Sheriff of this veterinary
Kote is a friendly cat, who will like to take a tap in your lap, while Natia and…
Drupal 8 Configuration for Nginx Server Blocks, Ubuntu 14.04
After a long period of doubts should I start testing and developing with Drupal 8, which stable version is not yet released, yesterday I decided to give a try for a Drupal 8 beta release.
I bought a new Linode VPS, quickly deployed there Ubuntu 14.04, and installed Nginx as a web server. I did it because my current server is PHP 5.2, and Drupal 8 is asking for at least PHP 5.3. So - not to mess up with my existing server configuration, a new Linode seemed the best option.
All went pretty smoothly, I had some problems configuring Nginx virtual server blocks, but after a couple of hours of investigation all went right (I forget to do the server restart a few times, to apply new…
Kopala Bowling Review in Tskneti
Kopala Bowling is a bowling center located in the suburbs of Tbilisi, the mountainous village of Tskneti.
This is one of the few places in Tbilisi and the neighborhood to play bowling.
We have been familiar with this place for ages, as in the past we came here quite often.
Kopola is not only a place where to play bowling, actually Kopola is a hotel with bowling and other entertainment facilities inside.
We actually booked one night stay at the start of Septemebr 2022, and enjoyed both playing bowling + having indoor swimming pool.
Prices:
For bowling 1 hour working days: 20GEL*
For bowling 1 hour weekends: 40GEL*
Turkish coffee at cafeteria: 3 GEL*
*Prices are as of…
The Dezerter Bazaar (Market) in Tbilisi - Day Before New Year's Eve
In this article, I have listed a few photos from the visit to the Tbilisi Dezerteer market on December 30, 2014 (
Warning - Some of the images may be inappropriate for some users, on few of them are pictured slaughtered animals.
I'm not a vegetarian but I must admit, there are times when walking through this market I have considered becoming one.
Georgian version of Christmas trees
Well, to explain this version of a Christmas tree I would need to wrap up another blog post, but in short - I have no idea why Georgians make such Christmas trees.
Pumpkins for sale at Tbilisi Dezerter market
Mandarins at Tbilisi Dezerter market
Tbilisi Dezerter Bazaar
Piglets for sale at…
South African Fish Farms in Georgia (Sagarejo, Sartichala)
The other day I was contacted on my blog's contact form by locally living foreigner in Georgia originally coming from South Africa. It turned out Afrikaner guy (Johann Kritzinger) is a manager of South African owned fish farms here in Georgia.
Since I'm open to almost anything new and unknown for me, I asked is it possible to arrange some sightseeing tour in his properties.
I'm a complete noob in a fishery, fish farms e.t.c. I could barely find any difference between a carp and a salmon, so it's always interesting to learn new things.
My new friend agreed to showcase fish farms in Sartichala and Sagarejo (both located in Georgian province of Kakheti).
On a lovely Tuesday…
Travellers from Poland, Germany and Greece Among Top countries from European Union visiting Georgia - EU From Total Just 4.21%
According to Georgian National Tourism Administration in 2014 there was a total of 5 493 492 international travelers arriving to Georgia, what is a increase of 1.9% compared to previous year (2013)Most of the travelers arrive from following 5 countries - Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia and Ukraine, if counted together international travelers from those 5 countries makes 4 992 934 or saying in percentage - makes 90.88% of total travelers, leaving the rest of the World travelers with 500, 588 (9,22%)I decided to count - how many travelers arrives to Georgia from European Union member states 20132014% ChangePoland36,94646,02419.72%Germany30,81533,3157.50%Greece22,02421,408…
Rabati Fortress Complex in Akhaltsikhe, Georgia
Georgia will never end to surprise you (at least - me).Few years ago a major tourist attraction was renovated and opened to the public, some would call it a Jewel in the Crown, while others would call it a Georgian Disneyland (appealing that like in Disney land, everything here is a butaforie).My subjective opinion will stay somewhere in middle. Yes it's kinda of butaforie, built from lightweight materials in less than 15 month almost from scratch, but still, it's a jewel in the crown.First time I visited the Rabati Fortress complex back in July 2014, during 2 day rafting trip. Back then we had our minds focused more on rafting than exploring Rabati Fortress. We decided to come back…
Hotel Rabath & Gino Wellness Review in Akhaltsikhe
Back in summer of 2014, we took a 2 day rafting trip, during which we visited Rabati Castle Complex for about an hour. in such short time we hadn't much chance to explore the so called "Jewel in the Crown" - Rabati Castle complex, renovated just couple of years ago, and aimed to become as one of the most popular tourist attractions in Georgia.
Back then (in summer of 2014) we noticed a hotel located at the heart of Rabati castle complex, and we decided we should come back again, stay at local hotel and explore this charming place.
Our second trip to Akhaltsikhe happened at start of January 2015, using one of the cheapest travel options in Georgia - minibus, we reached Akhatlsikhe in…
Blog Income Report 2014 - $3,334.20
Yesterday I published a round-up post for the total blog traffic in 2014. It turns out my blog has attracted more than 40,000 unique visitors last year.
Today I decided to wrap up a blog income report for the whole of 2014.
I have been publishing my blog online income reports starting in January 2014, so by today, I have 12 reports for the previous twelve months.
In total, my blog in 2014 has earned $3,334.2, what is around $277.85 per month or $9.13 in a day.
Blog Income Report 2014
As you can see from the above chart - first months of 2014 (January, February, March, April, and May) are not even visible on this chart. Starting August there is a…
Hotel Trialeti Palace in Bakuriani Review
Welcome to another photo review article, this time I will photo-review Hotel Trialeti Palace hotel in Bakuriani.For a prelude - this was my second stay at this hotel during Christmas time second year in a row. You might find interesting my post - White Christmas in Bakuriani.Though, I didn't find a way to book this hotel on booking.com, as usual we used local groupon clone site - hotsale.ge or vovovo.ge (search in both for deals, use Google Translate if needed). So we bought coupons on of the groupon clone sites and get a nice discount, in total making to pay 50GEL per person per day.This hotel offer included in price 3 meals per day (Swedish table), they claim they have sauna (they do have…
Hiking in Tbilisi - Turtle lake (Kus Tba) - Vake Park
On a lovely and sunny Saturday morning, we decided to take hiking from Turtle's Lake down to Vake Park.
First thing first.
How to get to Turtle Lake?
Catch a Taxi, or call a taxi company. Personally, I prefer the taxi company with number 2 155 155.
Drive to Turtle lake should cost you around 5 GEL. If you prefer to catch a taxi on street - the price may go up to 10 Lari, but I wouldn't pay more than 8 Lari.
Update: Use taxi ride companies like Bolt
Actually, Turtle Lake or Kus Tba is one of the best attractions of Tbilisi (my subjective opinion) - so you can stay there all day along without any need to hike or trek somewhere else.
You can enjoy a lovely meal at coffee Intelligentsia…