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Date of purchase: 04 may 2017 Written: 26 july 2017 |
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Travel agency: I Travel (Dnipro) Service type: экскурсионный тур |
Tour from 13 to 23.07.17 "Megatour in Batumi"
I’ll say right away when buying a tour that I “bought” a transformer bus, because on such long journeys the opportunity to sleep is a salvation (I speak from experience), but alas ...
So it all started with a pretty nice communication, stories about how everything will be fine, which led to the purchase of the specified tour.
However, already upon receipt of the information sheet, "problems" began - the departure was postponed to another time. A couple of days before the departure, they rescheduled it again (and again for later), and at the time of my boarding the bus to Kharkov, they even called that the departure would not be at 21.30, but already at 23.30 ... In total, the departure was postponed by 8 hours! !! But this is not the limit either. the bus came only at 00.15. As a result, we (with my wife) waited at the point of departure for more than 2.5 hours in by no means the most "European" place in Kharkov.
Moreover, such a delay was due to the alleged maintenance that delayed our bus (it's nice to realize that the company is worried about our safety ... but then it will be clear that this is a banal lie).
Because we left very late on the tour, then having arrived at the border we "unexpectedly" (although quite predictably) sat in our chairs for 5 hours in order to pass the border of the Russian Federation by the morning of July 14 ... and this is all in the complete absence of information "what is happening" from our "guide" Valeria (more on her later). Although according to information from "acquaintances" - "in general, in the Russian Federation, buses are not allowed to pass at night" (true or not, I will not judge, but in reality we stood without traffic until the morning).
Then began a long journey across the Russian Federation. And then the (already visible) problems with our guide began. She didn't have a movement plan. We stopped randomly. There was no understanding when there would be a stop for the toilet, when "to eat" ... we simply had to run into the bushes, buy water in "diners", etc. because no one knew when the next situation would be. To all the questions, our miracle "guide" only smiled ...
Next was Rostov ... This is a separate song when we all ride around the city, it is not clear why, and only to my remark that "you are lost" our "guide" said that we are looking for tourists ... It's just great when the bus rides around the city and they are looking for tourists ( Director of the company Do you even know how much money you have lost because of such searches? I'm already silent for us tourists).
But it didn’t end there either ... In the middle of the night (hooray - they let me lie down in the transformer, though I’ll keep silent about the half-hour swearing of tourists about who will sleep where - our “guide” didn’t have a plan how to spread us out !!!) woke up that we stand for a long time. It turns out - we landed the passengers whom we "drove to visit"!!! And this is in a tourist bus! Some kind of minibus ... By the way, this happened more than once: we took climbers, picked up someone in Batumi, again picked up climbers and again took away "guest workers" ... And all this expectation and inconvenience (but who cares about us, the main thing is earnings ... right Director ??)
By virtue of everything described in Tbilisi, we arrived almost at the “night excursion” ... As in other things, we arrived in Batumi just as exhausted (why a night move ??! if we arrived at 5 in the morning and we were driven around the city until we received confirmation of the settlement !) and Gudauri (generally a trash scheme - take you to Kutaisi, spend the whole day there to bring you to the hotel at 3 a.m. !!!) ... late / late / late ... and all against the background of "smiles" of our "guide" .
On the way back, everything was repeated one on one. Problems with "suspension passengers" (didn't you forget the minibus?) and as a result we again arrived late in Kharkov.
Further on points.
"Bus" is a real transformer, which makes it possible to somehow "stretch out", but! given that the "guide" did not have an established layout of tourists and the presence of "passengers", it is a reality to sleep with "tight legs", which is no better than sitting sleep. The bus itself was "dirty", especially when the seats were unfolded. They cleaned the tour already once, which did not add any comfort. And despite the MOT (although I’m sure it wasn’t), the bus constantly broke down. Special thanks to the drivers for the prompt elimination of breakdowns, tk. standing on a mountain serpentine at 2 am was, to put it mildly, scary.
"Excursions". Complete ... (except perhaps for an overview of Batumi). You can't hear the guides, no one is watching the group... just serving. (Director, finally buy audio guides like in Europe!!!)
Of the paid ones, only the tour to Bagrationi was remembered and only thanks to Ekaterina and her sincerity!
The promoted tour "Georgian night" is a complete scam, because we were obviously not brought to the beginning, because. the same Poles were there a lot earlier (judging by their tables for our arrival)!
It is better to go to Mtskheta by yourself. Cheaper and taking into account the guide will not lose anything.
"Guide" This is complete ... There is no movement plan, understanding when to stop, when to eat, why there are no thematic films, why there is no information on the places where we are going and in general in Georgia, what is happening and what we will do. For any problem, she simply hid from us! (Director, do you need such a "guide"?)
"Hotels". (judging by my numbers)
Irmeni (Tbilisi): +) close to the center; good breakfasts -) a room on the 4th floor where a steep spiral staircase leads, it's a big problem to walk with a suitcase (I pulled on outstretched arms in front of me); very small room
Premier Palace (Batumi): +) spacious room -) far from the center; "wild" beach near the hotel; very poor breakfast; the room is in a state of "repair" (no sockets, constantly fading light, etc.)
Edelweiss (Gudauri): +) good number; beautiful location; great breakfast. It’s a pity it was impossible to especially evaluate - due to the late graying (instead of 20.00, they arrived only at 2.30)
P / s / Georgia is beautiful in its own way, "wonderful" in its own way, but we are glad that we were here. Yes we basically made ourselves a "mood", but it's worth a visit, but!!! without ITravel!