Category: Armenia

I am going to keep this relatively short as the 3 countries I visited in the Caucasus's were pretty much westernized. First up Azerbaijan with it's wealth from oil and all the glamorous designer label boutiques and expensive car dealerships in the capital Baku. Architecturally imaginative buildings & skyscrapers, interesting old walled city, the city is situated next to the Caspian sea. Nothing else, that I found, is of much interest. Next. Lahic is a small town nestled in the mountains. Renowned for it's metal workshops that produce knick knacks as well as plates, cups, bowls etc. The village itself is nice with cobble stone streets and walking through the countryside very pleasant (even if many of the trees branches were frozen white). My main memories (or lack of) will be from the over drinking of cognac (a costly $3 bottle from Turkmenistan), beer and wine. I had met 2 travellers (Kay & Lea) and although they were quite adamant that they weren't bad influences two nights here and one night later were very blurry experiences. Uno was their game, it definitely wasn't mine. Next up our last stop in Azerbaijan was Sheki. Again nice surrounding mountains and hills, traditional buildings, an aggressive hotel manageress who continually barked at you to take your shoes off (hey lady, telling us once was enough) but, although pretty, overall not overly exciting. It was time to move on.

Georgia is renowned for it's food and wine and both were an excellent highlight. Sighnaghi was our first stop with its wonderful views over the valley below and beautiful churches scattered in and around the town. The cemetery was interesting as like Uzbekistan the pictures of the loved ones below were etched into the tombstones. Unlike Uzbekistan, Georgian people seem to add a bit more personality into their pictures. One guy had his sunglasses etched on top of his head, one had his Adidas tracksuit on. I liked the idea and it definitely made us contemplate the deceased for a much longer time. While here we took a day long tour to a monastery close to the Azerbaijan border, Davit Gareja. Border tensions between the two countries meant what we could see was really restricted, so much so it really wasn't worth the effort to make the trip. Back in Sighnaghi there was that other 'messy' day. I have drunk hardly at all during my whole trip, at least not much at any one sitting. But again with Lea & Kay a flagon of homemade wine quickly turned into three and it all went downhill from there. Lea was walking around our hosts house (whom we had met in the street) with the lady's shower cap on. Our host was trying to persuade us it was nice to visit and buy her wine but maybe it was time to go. Kay and me were relatively subdued, still playing Uno, but still drinking. Eventually, the other two wandered off into the mist but I never made it out of the lady's communal area as I started chatting to a Donald Trump loving American and his Russian wife. They too had wine and were very happy to give me more while I tried to remain diplomatic about his beloved president. Finally, I stumbled back to our hotel to more wine and dinner. Kay had a bit of a run in with our hotel manager who you could best describe as rough around the edges. He had this thing about his people's customs and heritage and by the way he talked it felt like we were intruders into their history. For some reason though he seemed to like me and he opened more of his beloved family's brew and so after more wine and a very late night (maybe 3am, maybe later) listening to Rammstein (his choice not mine) I eventually made it to bed. True hangovers are a very rare occurrence in my life but not this next day.

My last stop in Georgia was it's capital, Tbilisi. Pleasant enough city and I enjoyed walking around it. I stayed a few days awaiting a visa and visited churches and the Wendy's fast food restaurant (too often). But despite everyone I'd met previously raving on about Georgia and having been given the mandatory 12 month visa, winter ensured my time ended here after a couple weeks. Time to follow the remaining sun and head south. Off to Armenia.

I only visited the capital, Yerevan, in Armenia but I liked it the most of all in this region. The sombre experience of visiting the genocide memorial and museum was particularly moving. Recounting the persecution, forced movement and brutality in and around 1915 against these people made me contemplate how lucky I (we?) have been throughout our lives and how we should never take the liberties others have fought for for granted. Was it a genocide? The Turkish government says no but even with a probable biased commentary in the museum I lean towards the affirmative. 1915 is a long time ago to still hold a grudge, would be nice if they could find a solution. Talking of grudges, I forgot to mention the grilling I received upon entering the country. Having an Azerbaijan visa stamp in your passport definitely attracted some attention. Mr.Immigration was very curious and somewhat direct with questions being fired like the guns they used in their war in the early 1990's. The main reason for this antagonistic approach is a country (that is not recognised internationally) that lies to the east of Armenia called Nagorno-Karabakh which is partly contested by the foes (and primarily controlled by Armenia). A ceasefire holds for now but the rhetoric between the sides hasn't abated. I want to mention a few other things about Yerevan. If you are into quirky and eccentric the Sergei Parajanov museum is a must. Sergei was a film maker (now deceased) and seemed to be very creative with, let's say, a healthy dose of abnormality. I loved this museum which is rare for me. Keeping on the theme of strange, I was in a shopping mall where I wanted to go upstairs only to be confused by the signs leading me to a single escalator which had people coming down to my level. Wandering around trying to find a way up I kept coming back to this escalator only to find at some point it had changed direction and was now going up. Weird, never before maybe never again. Next, in city park laden with a number of sculptures I found one of a blue Kiwi bird with what looks like a ball bearing in it's mouth. Also a rather plump nude lady having a smoke and finally a plump (there's a theme happening here) Roman centurion baring all, well sort of. Other than that I went on a daytrip to the pretty and worthwhile Geghard Monastery and the Garni temple. Finally I left Yerevan in a gears grinding shared taxi heading for my next destination, Iran.

PS. This post wasn't short after all.