mad_atta

You got your fix of LH F, and I got my fix of ironmanjt adventuring in wilfully weird places. It's a win-win!

Calchas

Just read this. Love it. :-)

Richardson132

Actually for those who are considering having a trip to this region I would recommend to travel through Georgia, rather then visiting Russian-occupied territories. Especially there are plenty of ways to spend your time in Georgia with joy, and with convenient car trafficing that you can experience for example using this service https://gotrip.ge/ru/
So think twice what you actually want - confortable trip or dealing with corrupted Abkhazian authorities.

MA330

How exactly is this region "Russian-occupied"? In terms of corruption - always depends on who you are and which passport you have -> I just had a super fun story at the Bulgarian/Macedonian border last week (almost involved corruption in a EU country )...more to follow.

ironmanjt

My trip was incredibly comfortable and enjoyable, but thanks for injecting politics into my TR

warakorn

Georgia has also a big problem with corruption.

helvetic

For my own counting, I've come up with a list of "distinct places" that numbers 247. For distinct places, I count separately any place that has its own ISO code, which maps generally to places that have their own administration and identity. A few notable "places" that would be counted independently here are Hong Kong & Macau, which have their own administration, currency, immigration controls, domain names, passports, and identities. Also: Taiwan, which is a country that's not recognized by the UN. Also: Antarctica. Various islands (like the Falklands) and territories with their own administration like Guam and Puerto Rico.

Here is my list (I'm only at 40… unfortunately, still a long way to go):

Afghanistan
Aland Islands
Albania
Algeria
American Samoa
Andorra
Angola
Anguilla
Antarctica
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Armenia
Aruba
Australia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Bahamas
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belarus
Belgium
Belize
Benin
Bermuda
Bhutan
Bolivia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
Bouvet Island
Brazil
British Virgin Islands
British Indian Ocean Territory
Brunei Darussalam
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cambodia
Cameroon
Canada
Cape Verde
Cayman Islands
Central African Republic
Chad
Chile
China
Hong Kong, SAR China
Macao, SAR China
Christmas Island
Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Colombia
Comoros
Congo (Brazzaville)
Congo, (Kinshasa)
Cook Islands
Costa Rica
Côte d'Ivoire
Croatia
Cuba
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Estonia
Ethiopia
Falkland Islands (Malvinas)
Faroe Islands
Fiji
Finland
France
French Guiana
French Polynesia
French Southern Territories
Gabon
Gambia
Georgia
Germany
Ghana
Gibraltar
Greece
Greenland
Grenada
Guadeloupe
Guam
Guatemala
Guernsey
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Guyana
Haiti
Heard and Mcdonald Islands
Holy See (Vatican City State)
Honduras
Hungary
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Iran, Islamic Republic of
Iraq
Ireland
Isle of Man
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Jersey
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kiribati
Korea (North)
Korea (South)
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Lao PDR
Latvia
Lebanon
Lesotho
Liberia
Libya
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macedonia, Republic of
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives
Mali
Malta
Marshall Islands
Martinique
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mayotte
Mexico
Micronesia, Federated States of
Moldova
Monaco
Mongolia
Montenegro
Montserrat
Morocco
Mozambique
Myanmar
Namibia
Nauru
Nepal
Netherlands
Netherlands Antilles
New Caledonia
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria
Niue
Norfolk Island
Northern Mariana Islands
Norway
Oman
Pakistan
Palau
Palestinian Territory
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Pitcairn
Poland
Portugal
Puerto Rico
Qatar
Réunion
Romania
Russian Federation
Rwanda
Saint-Barthélemy
Saint Helena
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint-Martin (French part)
Saint Pierre and Miquelon
Saint Vincent and Grenadines
Samoa
San Marino
Sao Tome and Principe
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Serbia
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
Solomon Islands
Somalia
South Africa
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
South Sudan
Spain
Sri Lanka
Sudan
Suriname
Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands
Swaziland
Sweden
Switzerland
Syrian Arab Republic (Syria)
Taiwan, Republic of China
Tajikistan
Tanzania, United Republic of
Thailand
Timor-Leste
Togo
Tokelau
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Turks and Caicos Islands
Tuvalu
Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom
United States of America
US Minor Outlying Islands
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic)
Viet Nam
Virgin Islands, US
Wallis and Futuna Islands
Western Sahara
Yemen
Zambia
Zimbabwe

cedric

Who knew it would take so long to find a replacement dog in DC?

Great report!

dazed_and_confused

Nice trip report.

It's actually not 'incredibly difficult' to enter Abkhazia from Georgia, though a bit more convoluted than via Russia. You fill in an online form, the permission comes back by email, usually 5 days later. Print this, take it to the border at Zugdidi, enter Abkhazia and then you have 3 (working) days to take the permission letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs where it is exchanged for a visa. In theory you have to pay for the visa at a bank somewhere in town but I just paid at the ministry instead.

Going via 'Georgia proper' you pass through the south of Abkhazia, which is mostly populated by ethnic Georgians from Gali until near Ochamchire. The war damage here is much more evident than in Sukhum and northern Abkhazia- abandoned/ruined buildings everywhere. Once you reach Ochamchire, things look somewhat less decrepit.

If you have a Russian visa, you can then exit Abkhazia at Psou; however this is regarded as illegal by Georgia. Inguri (i.e. on the Georgian/Abkhazia border) is the only legal crossing point according to the Georgians.

In 2012 I saw a lion lying on a park bench in Gagra. You could pay to have photos taken with it.

There is also a (very depressing) colony of monkeys on the hill outside Sukhumi; the monkeys sent into space by the USSR were reared here. Conditions are awful and it's nowhere for animal lovers; tourists pay a few Roubles to buy fruit to feed the monkeys and baboons.