"From Seki, via Qax, to Tbilisi" a Qax Travel Page by MalenaN

I have only passed Qax with bus and spent some time at the bus station.

According to the guidebook there was no easy way to go from Seki (Azerbaijan) to Tbilisi. I thought I could take a minibus to Balaken and from there a taxi to the border. If I was going to find a bus or taxi on the Georgian side I didn’t know anything about. But I was very lucky and at Karavansaray Hotel they told me to take a bus to Qax and from there a direct bus (marshrutka) to Tbilisi.

Marshrutkas to Qax is not leaving from the bus station by the market in Seki, but from another place. A taxi to the marshrutka from the hotel was 1 Manat (1 dollar was 0,87 Manat). I took the 10.30 marshrutka to Qax. It was 1 Manat and took 1 hour and 15 minutes.

In Qax they told me to buy the ticket for Tbilisi on the marshrutka, but they called to reserve a seat for me. The marshrutka for Tbilisi arrived at Qax just before 13.00, and only a few minutes later we left.

At the border the gates were closed and we had to wait for our turn. There was no problems for me on either side of the border and I got my stamps quickly. A woman asked me if I had to pay anything, but no. For everyone to cross the border it took one hour.

The landscape along the road to Tbilisi was very nice. In Tbilisi the marshrutka was going to Ortachala Bus Terminal, but the driver told me it was best for me to get of before, near Isani metro stop, at a place where there was a lot of exchange offices. In this way I could take the metro to Marjanishvili where I was going to stay.

The trip between Qax and Tbilisi took 5 hours and 45 minutes (including an hour at the border) and it was 5 Manat. According to the time table on the wall at the bus station in Qax (where the hours were not correct) there were four buses a day from Qax to Tbilisi. I don’t know anything about the opposite way, but it should be about the same.