Armenia June 29th

Last Day - walk in the basalt canyon - church in the cliff

We meet Arara Tours for a beer

This is our final day of our wonderful holiday. Tonight at 2 a.m. the taxi will be waiting to take us to the airport. I am glad that we are out of the town today and a (very) short walk is planned. However, pretty (or not) Yerevan is, it is always an anti-climax to be "waiting around" for your flight home. We will be leaving with heavy hearts and with the intention of returning. But more of that (maybe) in a final blog report.

Pick up and first bad news for Mher; Renate has been reading her guide book over breakfast and there is a short description of an artist, Sergey Paradjanov, and we want to visit the museum of his life and works instead of the National Museum! Two phone calls later and all arranged.

We drove out to the Azat River and its canyon. The destination was the Geghard Monastery and the hellenistic Garni Temple at the village of Garni (which happens to be a German word for a small hotel!). After a photoshoot to admire the wonderful Ararat Mountain we drove on. Ararat is the big cloud in the middle of the picture!!!! 10 points if you can spot it. Sorry Ekrem! (See below for the solution!)

Arriving in Garni (road closed but Mehr found a diversion suitable only for a 4-wheel drive like ours) we made a 40 minute walk, first to the canyon. Again: breathtaking. It is a basalt gorge like Fingals Caves in Ireland., but I reckon far bigger from the photos of it that I have seen. On one side of the canyon this massive cliff towering over you, then the racing river, and on the other side a totally different rock formation. So beautiful. Then the orchestra and choir; the rushing of the river below, and millions of house martins and swallows singing above you as the fly in and out of their nests in the crevices. And the silent players: the magnificent silver washed fritillary.

  At the end of the gorge a short break to take on water.

Water is freely available in Armenia (and Georgia). There are water fountains in so many corners and here the water is freely provided at every corner as here at the tourist car park. On the walk I saw two lizards and three snakes. I only saw the tails of the biggest snakes (1 meter) but a 20 cm snake was sunning itself on the wall before a jeep frightened it. Back in Garni we visited the hellenistic temple: completed about 100/200 BC and not ruined by invading marauders. Largely reconstructed using materials found on site it is quite impressive: More impressive are the views into the Arat Gorge. (Sorry the selfies are for Mirko - he will understand.)

A short break with fruit juice (honestly) and then to Geghard. Another eye-opener. A monastery in the cliff. The original church dates back to the second century and Gregory the Illuminator and was built entirely into the cliff. Later a building or two were added onto the face of the cliff when invasion was thought not to be an issue. Supposedly, the lance used at the crucifixion was stored here but is now at the Cathedral (see yesterday´s blog).

Back into town and our revised museum schedule. WOW! I had seen some work like it before (please tell me whose work, I have forgotten) but this was just WOW. I have always been a fan of Dali, interested in the Dada movement, disliked Picasso because of his ordinariness, and supporter of Marcel Duchamp. My loo is a work of art in itself! But this! (And I saw another sewing machine!)

   

After an hour in this lovely small museum we made our way to one of Yerevan´s hidden secrets (although if we found it, it can´t be so hidden); they have many small cafes or restaurants hidden behind the buildings in the main street. You have to know that down that passage between two houses there is a sort of "secret garden" at the back. Usually full of trees and a small oasis for guests. Here we finally met Tatev. She was so helpful and understanding when we initially made enquiries and then Putin made his next step to take over the world. Arara Tours were understanding and never pushed us; we finally paid (after 4 changes to the original itinerary) only a week or two before the tour. 

 We have had so many extra wishes during the tour and both Tazo and Mher have been so obliging, that this has been one of the most memorable of holidays. A big Thank You to all three (and those behind the scenes)!!!