cheers RnP, will get the 4 days supplies on thur afternoonQuote:
Originally Posted by RodgenotPodge
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cheers RnP, will get the 4 days supplies on thur afternoonQuote:
Originally Posted by RodgenotPodge
Surely is it not the other way around. If the Kick off is 8pm in Georgia that is 5pm in Ireland. I reckon it will be along those lines.
Yes, of course, my mistake:confused:
I would of thought that any 'Irish' TV company would want a 7 or 8 pm kick off Irish time for max viewers although I recall watching some of Georgia v Scotland before Cyprus game in Croker ?Quote:
Originally Posted by RodgenotPodge
Thanks for that GT, thats very kind of you. I'll send an email to the hotel this afternoon to try and sort something out. I'm leaving London on the Wednesday (arriving on the Thursday). Thought i'd go a day or two early so i can do a tour of the city before the game as i may never be in Georgia again :D I've actuctally booked Thursday to Sunday in the hotel but i'm probably much better off booking Wednesday to Saturday and hoping that they'll allow me to check out late on the Sat.Quote:
Originally Posted by Green Tribe
Newryrep & AidoM - thanks for your advice too.
I'm pretty sure that last time Ireland played Georgia it kicked off at 3pm in this part of the world. I remember that well as i was under 18 at the time and i missed nearly all of the game going from pub to pub in north London trying to find somewhere that would serve me :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Newryrep
Lads there is no way it will be a 8pm kick of in Ireland as that would mean an 11pm kick of in Georgia. Scotland kicked off 6pm Irish Time last time and was a 5pm kick of time the last time too so it will be a late afternoon early evening kick off in Ireland or an 8pm or 9pm kick of in Georgia.
Given the regular electricity problems in Georgia, they might go for a 5 or 6 pm kick-off. A few years ago a game against Russia was abandoned because the lights failed. As usual, there were conspiracy theories about the plug being pulled but Georgia depends on Russia for its energy and the Ruskies have the squeeze on them. That plus clapped out equipment means that the lights go out regularly!
Is Georgia not 4 hours ahead of here :confused:
For years it was 4 hours ahead, then they changed it to 3 (after the "Rose Revolution" in 2004. But they seem to move it around -some years they have daylight saving and others they don't. Don't ask me why.
It could well be 4 hours next September, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was 3 - or 5!
Was in tblisi the last time we played and the game started in daylight. I am sure it was 5.30pm kick off. A great city to visit and the locals were really curious about why we were there.
I always ask myself the same question?;)Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperDub
It's 4 hours ahead in September, and 5 during winter time, so it will be about a 2pm ko here, like last time. (6pm local).Quote:
Originally Posted by RodgenotPodge
Thank God they don't do 3pm Saturday ko's there, our players would melt in that heat.
Finally finished booking my ridiculous trip to Georgia/Montenegro.
Route as follows:
Dublin - Basel(Ryanair) - Istanbul(Easyjet) - Kars[Eastern Turkey] (sleeper train) - Batumi(minibuses) - Tbilisi(train) - Batumi(train) - Istanbul(Turkish Airlines) - Nis(train) - Podgorica (train)
Everything really needs to go to plan in order to make the games but fook it should be interesting.
Only cost €180 for flights, bargain!:D
are you gonna come home ??? :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Beavis
Fair play mate, sounds like an adventure!Quote:
Originally Posted by Beavis
I see one travel agent is advertising trips for Georgia and seperately for Montenegro. Is there any travel agent doing a combined trip (besides pilgrams abroad) for us lazy folk?
have booked to go by riga myslef on way out ...can you give me more details on gettin from there to Podgorica Beavis ...when train leaves tbilisi and when get into PodgoricaQuote:
Originally Posted by Beavis
Cheers!
No probQuote:
Originally Posted by galah
Tbilisi Central 10.00(07/09)/19.40/21.10
Batumi 17.55/05.55(08/09)/07.40
Batumi Airport 11.15 08/09
Istanbul Ataturk Airport 12.25 08/09
- Turkish Airlines (total €82.50)
Istanbul (Sirkeci station) 22.00 08/09
Edirne 02.34 09/09
Kapikule 02.54 09/09
Svilengrad 05.05 09/09
Plovdiv 09.11 09/09
Sofia 11.40 09/09
Nis 16.24 09/09[
(tickets can't be purchased online-final destination is Belgrade)
Nis 19.00 09/09
Pozega 01.10 10/09
(change trains here)
Pozega 01.47 10/09
Podgorica 07.14 10/09
Ar se I forgot bout that. I'll have left work so in no rush,maybe ferry to Italy and mosie from there:)Quote:
Originally Posted by aidz1
Beavis any idea how much for train tickets?Quote:
Originally Posted by Beavis
Ps bet you stink by the time of kick off.:D
Tbilisi - BatumiQuote:
Originally Posted by Kingdom
Second Class 23 Lari (€10)
First Class 40 Lari (€17.50)
Price for Istanbul-Belgrade
43 euros one-way 2nd class, 65 euros one-way 1st class.
Add a sleeper supplement to this, about 12 euros for a bed in 3-bed compartment (with 2nd class fare) or 20 euros for a bed in 2-bed compartment (with 1st class fare) or 40 euros for sole occupancy of a single bed compartment (with 1st class fare).
I'll be going 2nd class sleeper, Nis is the stop before Belgrad so may be a bit cheaper lets say €50 total.
Havent been able to get the exact price for Nis-Podgorica but Nis-Bar (further on than Podgorica) is less than €15 for a sleeper car.
I'll estimate a total of about €85-€90 if you go cheapo, no accomodation needed either if you can manage get enough kip on the trains.
Yes I’d advise anyone to avoid the unshaven bloke with the flies swarming overhead, he may be drunk and irritable and have lost all concept of time and clothing:DQuote:
Originally Posted by KINGDOM
Good stuff, however from the place you're coming from I reckon there will be a few unshaven smelly blokes. We'll have to keep an eye out for the palest one.Quote:
Originally Posted by Beavis
Quote:
Originally Posted by soylent green
not that i know of, and if they are, they'll be charging loads...
I think I saw an ad from Abbey Travel the other day doing the double.Quote:
Originally Posted by soylent green
About €1600 is what they advised. Still not finalised yet. Anyone use them before.Quote:
Originally Posted by zenokelly
Cheers lad! looks like they could be a convoy of us doing that route ...as for the trip home ....have u seen the women out that way ....might be tempted to stay!Quote:
Originally Posted by Beavis
yeah, keep away, pile of shiite rip off merchants..you will be staying in hotels 100km outside of the cities and doing about 20 flight transfers..pack of jokers + lots of dublin chavs travel with themQuote:
Originally Posted by Kingdom
Thanks for the advice Citizen. Always good to know.Quote:
Originally Posted by citizenerased
I've sort of lost track of the various itineraries doing the rounds. Some of them are ambitious (a polite word for verging on nuts). Trains and Planes in this part of the world are notoriously unreliable. The airlines are getting a bit better but internal flights on local airlines are very hit and miss. Trains are eevn worse; I took the Tbilisi -Batumi sleeper once. I didn't sleep because it keep shuddering to a stop and rattled in the meantime. I also arrived about 4 hours late, although that was in the days when Batumi was in a self-declared indpendent region of Georgia and they pretended to have immigration and customs (they left you alone for a small fee) but it still took about 2 hours for them to frisk all the passengers.
My advice is to trade up to First Class at least; the extra few Euro will look like a very good investment. Did you check the Tbilisi-Batumi flights? Much better.
The train from\Istanbul to Ns should be a classic and again get the best accomodation posible.
The connection times allow a good margin which is very wise of you. Nis is where they make Montenegro's best beer so you wll have something to do.
Nice 1 for the info. I do intend to see a bit of each of the cities between the trains and shall certainly avail of a beer or two in Nis.Quote:
Originally Posted by RodgenotPodge
Couple of questions seeing as you seem to have some experience of the area.
You say its advisable to trade up to first class, is 2nd class unbearable?is the problem with comfort or security?
Is there a real threat of attack on trains and around train stations given that I'll be traveling alone and Georgians/Turks/etc wont understand that I'm a Dub and naturally not to be messed with;)
The only part of the trip with any ambiguity is between Kars, where I arrive at 22.00 on the Thursday, hoping to head immediately towards Batumi, where I need to be preferably for 8.00 but can be later.Is there any problem getting minibuses through the night in Eastern Turkey or is this journey unfeasible at this hour, and I presume there is no problem crossing the border at any hour?
Any help would be appreciated because I havent yet been able to source this info elsewhere on tinter.
beavis i'll post your query up on the tartan forum as they travelled there last oct, they might have an idea.... :D Will get back to ya
You'd do that for me:oQuote:
Originally Posted by Green Tribe
Cheers, I'll probably post on Lonely Planet aswell, usually someone there can help.
First Class is for comfort and privacy. The small (for us) price difference is a lot for locals so the extra is well worth it. Safety shouldn't be an issue; locals will be falling over each other to show off their English and help. Just don't accept any invites to visit their cousin's shop but that's just to avoid rip-off.
Turkey travels by bus and mostly at night. Very well organised and again, a few bob extra makes a difference. Be careful to check if your bus is smoking or non-smoking.
What's taking you to Kars? Its not on the way from Tbilisi to Batumi - or anywhere else.
The border at Batumi is a busy freight route and I'd be surprised if it closed at night but check with Lonely Planet or the like.
Actually Virtual Tourist is good too, post gone up on tartan army forum :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Beavis
Beavis, check out the tartan army thread, few replies already (my post is at the bottom of page 4), expect more replies over the next few days when more people notice it....
http://taboard.com/forum/index.php?s...ic=71678&st=45
Thanks for the help.Quote:
Originally Posted by RodgenotPodge
Kars is the last stop on the train to eastern Turkey and the closest train station to Batumi, even if its still nearly 150 miles. I'd prefer train to bus, and by all the accounts I've read the scenery along the train line after Ankara, along the Euphrates, is spectacular.
Thats a great help GT. It seems from RodgenotPodge's and the Tartan Army's experience, safety won't be an issue, providing suitable vigilance.:)Quote:
Originally Posted by Green Tribe
OK; I hadn't realised yu were going to Tbilisi that way also (I miust have confused you with someone who is flying via Riga). That is one hell of a journey you have given yourself; my main advice is to use the biggest and best coach company you can find. The good ones are excellent but the cheaper ones are miserable and dangerous - the roads in that part of Turkey are pretty scary and the driving in Turkey (and Georgia) is wild.
Have heard the taxi drivers in Georgia are mental....!
No.....who's it by?;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Green Tribe