Holiday in the Caucasus (14): more Armenia
July 20th, 2023 by Roger Darlington
It was a very long day (almost 12 hours) and very hot (up to 34C), but it was much more interesting than yesterday. If only our guide could talk less and plan more.
We commenced the day by driving south to the Noratus Cemetery. Located at a height of around 2,000 metres (some 6,500 feet), this location has around 900 khachkars which are outdoor steles carved from stone by craftsmen in Armenia. Dating back as far as the 10th century, the central motif is a cross but, over time, khachkars have become more ornate and symbolic.
We then drove through the Selim Pass in glorious weather with stunning scenery. Eventually we came to a special caravanserai. This used to be on the Black Sea Silk Route and it was built into the side of a hill and totally unrestored. One of our group, Stephen, spotted me sitting on a rock with the mountainside behind me, decided that this would make a good photograph, and started a succession of shots of various members of the group.
Lunch was in a small village called Areni where a family had converted their home into a small restaurant for tourist groups. The food was delicious and the service friendly.
It was about 24 hours since we had seen a monastery – but this absence was soon corrected. Nearby was the Noravank Monastery. Founded in 1205 and sensitively renovated in the 1990s, this is regarded as one of the most spectacular sites in the country. We had great weather for our viewing of this impressive collection of buildings set among stunning red cliffs.
We had to travel further – westwards – to visit our second monastery of the day: the Khor Virap Monastery overlooking Mount Ararat which is actually in today’s Turkey. We looked carefully, but there was no sign of Noah and his Ark.
We had set off at 8.30 am and it was 8.15 pm before we rolled up to our next (and last) hotel: the Tufenkian in the capital Yerevan.
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Holiday in the Caucasus (13): Tsaghkadzor, Armenia
July 19th, 2023 by Roger Darlington
Our second day in Armenia involved very little travel as we stayed in and out the town of Tsaghkadzor. Our minivan was a slightly larger one with three more seats providing a bit more room. At this height, the temperature was a comfortable 22C. Our problem was our guide who seemed to have improvisation as his guiding principle.
It was only an half hour drive to Lake Sevan. Set some 1,900 metres above sea level and covering 1,240 sq km (some 5% of the nation’s territory), this is the largest lake in the Caucasus and and one of the largest freshwater high-altitude lakes in the world. The impact of local development and climate change means that, in recent years, the level has fallen significantly. In the north-west corner of the lake, we went on an 30-minute boat ride – the first time on our holiday that we had been on water.
Afterwards the programme would have had us visiting a monastery on a hill by the side of the lake (Sevanavank Monastery), but some of the group were not keen on the 227 steps that would have been required to reach the top. So instead our guide took us to a nearby seminary, only for us to find that it was closed.
This enabled an early lunch back in Tsaghkadzor in a restaurant called “Zanazan”. Bizarrely I was served with my dessert first, then the wrong main course came along, and finally the correct main course arrived – but the food was good.
Even more bizarrely, we were then introduced to a friend of our guide who was an Armenian from Iran who had managed to fight in the Iraq/Iran war and both the recent Armenia/Azerbaijan wars. In Azerbaijan, our guide had described the wars as involving the Armenians as the aggressors. Here we were told that Azerbaijan had no claim to the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Next we visited another ecclesiastical site: the town’s Catholic Kecharis Monastery Complex where we were soon joined by a bride and groom plus photographer and drone. Our last activity was to use the ski lift to ascend Mount Teghenis where winter activities are very popular. There was nothing to see but the rides up and down were exciting. For once, we were back at our hotel at a time (4.15 pm) which gave us a decent time to relax before dinner in the hotel.
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Holiday in the Caucasus (12): into Armenia
July 18th, 2023 by Roger Darlington
The tour moved on to Armenia, the third and last country of the holiday and the 88th nation that I have visited.
Armenia is the smallest of the three countries in the Caucasus. It is just under half the size of the other two nations. With just 3M people, it is also the least populated nation in the region, but only a little less than Georgia. However, proportionately Georgians have a huge diaspora with three or four times as many living outside the country as inside.
Like Georgia, the people are overwhelmingly Christian. Indeed the country has over 50 medieval monasteries. The currency is the Dram which is about 500 to the pound.
In 2018, the country had a “Velvet Revolution” when it overthrew the decade-long rule of Serzh Sargsyan, shortly after he had become prime minister for a second time. However, the country is probably the one in the region with the most economic challenges as it faces low growth, unemployment and poverty plus the constant tension with neighbouring Azerbaijan.
Leaving Tibilisi at 9am, we were at the border in just over an hour and then it took another hour to complete border formalities in both Georgia and Armenia. The three of us who had been in Azerbaijan were questioned especially about why we had been in ‘enemy’ territory.
Our Armenian guide was Garick who, compared to our guides in Azerbaijan and Georgia, was much less cheerful and much less proficient in English but, of course, immensely knowledgeable. We were packed into a minivan with just enough seats for the group and cries of “We’re gonna need a bigger bus”.
Sightseeing started immediately as we dashed off to Haghpat Monastery which is a UNESCO World Heritage site located just east of the town of Alaverdi. The monastery was founded in 976 but most of the plain-designed buildings date from the 12th and 13th century.
Next stop was a most unusual community in a village up at an elevation of 1,730 metres (almost 5,700 feet). The village is called Fioletovo and it is inhabited by a community of Molokans who are Russians that split from the Russian Orthodox Church in the 17th century. They drive motorised vehicles, but do not drink alcohol, watch television, or marry outside the community. In one of the homes, we had a light lunch of local delicacies.
A nearby third destination was a small town called Dilijan. Set in the mountains, this is billed as ‘the Switzerland of Armenia’. During Soviet times, it was a popular place for artists.
Our hotel was an almost deserted Marriott at a place called Tsaghkadzor which normally caters to winter skiers.
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Holiday in the Caucasus (11): Sighnaghi, Georgia
July 17th, 2023 by Roger Darlington
It was a slower day with less travelling but still quite a long day. Again the weather was milder with a maximum of 28C. We left Tbilisi and spent the day in the eastern region of Kakheti which is Georgia’s premier wine-growing area.
First, we visited the Tsminda Nino Monastery where the female Saint Nino is buried but no photographs are allowed Then we spent all afternoon in Sighnaghi which many regard as the most attractive town in the country. I went there in 2017 and I was very happy to return.
The town is perched on a hilltop overlooking the vast Alazni valley with some glorious views. Much of the town’s architecture is 18th and 19th century with many attractive balconies. We had a multi-course lunch with wine at a place called “Pinch Of Salt” before visiting a small winery called Mtevani which involved more consumption of local wine.
Since the town is located in the far east of Georgia, quite close to Azerbaijan, getting there and back with toilet stops and having a several hours there meant that we were not back at the hotel until 6.20 pm.
These days, one of the challenges of travelling abroad is the charging of one’s electronic and electrical apparatus. I travel with an iPhone, an iPad, an Apple watch plus electrical shaver and toothbrush and sometimes it is a struggle to keep everything fully charged.
Today, for some reason, I could not charge my iPhone in my room and had to seek the help of the young female receptionists. But this meant that I made two new Georgian friends: Tako and Mariam. They charged my mobile while I taught them some English phrases and palindromes. We will now keep in touch via Facebook and my Thought For The Week.
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Holiday in the Caucasus (10): Gori, Georgia
July 16th, 2023 by Roger Darlington
Next day was a long one with a lot of travel, but the weather was milder. We set off at 9 am and travelled south on the same winding road that had brought us to this part of the country yesterday. At first, the mountain tops were capped with white clouds and the hillsides were bright green but, as we descended further south, the terrain became flatter and browner.
Our guide Nick continued his mini lectures about different aspects of Georgia with microphone sessions on education, welfare and politics. It was noticeable how sympathetic he was to the Georgian leader Mikheil Saakashvili who served as president from 2004-2013. Our destination was the city of Gori which we reached at 1.20 pm. Time for a much-desired lunch.
Gori’s claim to infamy is that it was the birthplace of Communist revolutionary and Soviet leader Stalin. In the war of 2008 between Russia and Georgia over the territory of South Ossetia, the Russians actually occupied Gori for nine days.
The city houses the Stalin Museum which was built in 1957 and I went to it in 2017. This time, we had a museum guide who spoke very fast in very accented English who, like the museum itself, had little to say about the atrocities committed by Stalin. In fact now, as in 2017, only two small rooms tucked away from the main displays mentioned the purges and gulags. Outside this bizarre celebration of 20th century dictatorship is Stalin’s childhood home and his wartime train.
Just to the east of Gori is Uplistsikhe which, between the 6th century BC and 1st century AD, was an enormous cave city that, at its peak, housed 20,000. Not everyone in the group could manage the steep and uneven climb to the top where our guide regaled us with lots of ancient history. The trouble with history is that it’s one damn thing after another!
After a night away from Tbilisi, we were back for two more nights in the same hotel (the Mercure) which we only reached at 7.40 pm – almost 10 hours after we left our previous accommodation.
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Holiday in the Caucasus (9): Georgian churches
July 15th, 2023 by Roger Darlington
After two nights in Tblisi, we were out of the capital for a night (we will return to Tbilisi for another two nights). It was very much a church day as we visited no less than four such locations.
First, we travelled north to the town of Mtskheta where two rivers join for a scenic location. The town has been known as the spiritual heart of Georgia since Christianity came to the country about 327. On the hill above the town, there is the 6th century Jvari Church. In the town itself, there is the 11th century Svetitskhoveli Cathedral where King Erekle II is buried.
Then we drove further north to Ananuri where we had time in the 17th century Church of the Annunciation which overlooks the Zhinvali Reservoir. After some lunch nearby, we ploughed on northwards on the Georgian Military Highway, over the Jvari Pass, and down into the Tergi Valley. At our highest, we were 2,400 metres (which is almost 8,000 feet).
When we reached the town of Stepantsminda (formerly called Kazbegi), we had to transfer to four-wheel drive vehicles to reach the 14th century Tsminda Sameba Church which is located at a height of 2,200 metres (over 7,000 feet). Unfortunately the site was blanketed by black clouds and there was a splattering of rain. Furthermore one is not allowed to take photographs inside the church.
So the visit was literally something of a washout. But we were told that there will be thunderstorms in the next two days which will make the road to Stepantsminda unusable, so I guess we were lucky.
The day was not quite over and it was something of a relief that we did not have another church on the programme. Instead, down in Stepantsminda, we called into a private home to receive instruction in how to make (and eat) Georgian dumplings called khinkali and consume a Georgian spirit called pirali.
Our accommodation for the night was a resort hotel situated somewhere between nowhere and anywhere close to the border with the North Ossetia region of Russia.
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Holiday in Caucasus (8): Tbilisi, Georgia
July 14th, 2023 by Roger Darlington
The capital of Georgia is Tblisi – the name means ‘the place of warm springs’ – which has a population of about 1.5 million that is 40% of the country’s entire population. The city lines the banks of the Mtkvari River. Since the main VJV group was recovering from an overnight flight, I spent two and a half hours on a sunny morning wandering round the south side of the river, exploring mainly the Old City. It is utterly unlike the clean and modern Baku: the Old City is a rambling mixture of charm and mess with lots of graffiti and a great deal of renovation still to be done.
At 2 pm, all the group members – now 14 – convened in the hotel lobby for a quick briefing by our guide Nick before we drove in a coach to the National History Museum. I was here in 2017 and now, as then, I concentrated on the section covering the Soviet occupation of 1920-1991. The total number of victims is claimed to be approximately 400,000 killed in the Second World War, 400,000 deported (most of whom were eventually shot), and around 80,000 who were summarily shot.
After almost an hour and a half at the museum, we spent another near two and a half hours walking around looking at sights and stopping for refreshments which was the first chance for all of us to talk to one another.
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Holiday in the Caucasus (7): into Georgia
July 13th, 2023 by Roger Darlington
It was a second consecutive travelling day because our holiday moved from Azerbaijan to Georgia. Leaving our hotel in Sheki at 8 am, it was a two hour drive to the border crossing at Postbina. We had to carry our luggage up a long passageway to the Azerbaijan crossing and then down a similar length passage to the Georgian crossing, but it was quickly done and we were in a new country.
Georgia is a bit smaller than Scotland. The population is only 3.7M which is a little larger than that of Wales and a third of them live in the capital. The people are overwhelmingly Christian. But ethnically Georgia is more diverse than the other two countries in the region: some 11% are Armenians or Azerbaijanis. The currency is the Lari which is a bit over three to the pound.
One of Georgia’s greatest claims to fame is that it has been growing wine for 8,000 years, so the country insists that it is the birthplace of the drink. Georgia has a particularly interesting modern history since, from 1918-1921, it had a popular and successful social democrat government. This experience is well-described in “The Experiment” written by my good friend Eric Lee.
Following its new occasion of independence, Soviet-era Eduardo Shevardnadze was overthrown in a peaceful Rose Revolution of 2003. The new President Mikheil Saakashvili was initially popular but fell from favour with his disastrous attempt to retake South Ossetia in 2008. The Saakashvili era came to an end with the victory of the rival Georgian Dream coalition in the elections of 2012 and 2013. However, the government has increased control over the media and the judiciary and it is positioning itself as closer to Russia.
Once in Georgia, we met our guide Nick Mazanishvili and we were immediately off visiting cultural sites. First was the nearby Nekresi Monastery. This is set on a hill which can only be mounted comfortably by a special bus. The location and the interiors are really atmospheric. Then we drove the short distance to the Gremi Fortress. Inside this citadel is the Church of the Archangels which was built in 1655.
It was now 31C and we were ready for refreshment. Lunch was in the town of Tevali where we sat outside at a restaurant called “Kapiloni”. The afternoon journey to the capital Tbilisi should have taken two hours, but the shorter and more scenic route was closed during the day for repairs and the longer and less scenic route took a full three hours.
The Voyages Jules Verne group for the main tour was not due in Tbilisi until the early hours of next morning, so we three now had the evening and following morning free.
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Holiday in the Caucasus (6): on to Sheki, Azerbaijan
July 12th, 2023 by Roger Darlington
Our fifth day in Azerbaijan was largely a travelling day, positioning us to enter Georgia tomorrow. So we travelled north-east from Baku to Sheki, a journey of 300 km (almost 200 miles) in pleasant weather. There was one major and two minor stops during a day of green countryside and our first view of the Caucasus.
The main halt was at Shamakhy to see the Juma Mosque. The location dates back to 743, but it was seriously damaged in the earthquakes of 1859 and 1902. Then, in 1918, Armenians set the place on fire. It was extensively restored between 2010-2013. A distinguishing feature is an unusually large mihrab (the niche facing Mecca).
Later we had a couple of refreshments stops: one at a winery called “Abqora” for coffee and the other in a wooded district called Vandam for an open air lunch of a local savoury pancake.
Sheki is a very historic town that was once the royal capital and, at its peak, it housed five caravanserai. The Soviets destroyed the khanate’s Winter Place, but the gorgeously ornate Summer Palace of 1762 survives and indeed today is a UNESCO World Heritage site. This palace was the most beautiful place that we visited in our time in Azerbaijan, but annoyingly and inexplicably photographs of the interior are prohibited. Afterwards we viewed the remaining caravanserai which is now largely a hotel.
We reached our hotel in Sheki, the Macara, eight hours after we left our hotel in Baku but, after just half an hour to unwind, we went out for dinner at a popular place called “Calabi Xan” where it was still warm enough to eat outside.
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Holiday in the Caucasus (5): more out of and in Baku, Azerbaijan
July 11th, 2023 by Roger Darlington
Our fourth day in Azerbaijan was a mixture of out of Baku locations and a couple of Baku museums. Again the temperature was not excessive (28C) with a cooling wind.
First, we drove due south to Gobustan. This is the site of a wonderful collection of petroglyphs which has received UNESCO World Heritage status. Before viewing the petroglyphs, though, we visited an excellent museum which provides a good deal of useful content. Walking round the petroglyphs themselves was much aided by having our guide with us because he knew exactly what each scene represented and could point out the figures and animals with his laser.
I have seen petroglyphs before on a recent visit to Namibia, but these were better presented.
A short drive away was Dasgil Hill where we were treated to the sight of so-called mud volcanoes. This is not quite as dramatic as it sounds: there are around ten hillocks with tops about the size of a bicycle wheel that gurgle gas through cold, thick mud. Since there has been no rain for months, activity was undramatic, but the whole setting has a weird, other-planet type feeling.
It reminded me a little of the geysers that I saw in New Zealand and Iceland.
We returned to Baku to see the site of the world’s first industrially drilled oil well (1846) and to have a quick lunch at a place called “”Turco Burrito”.
Then we went to see the Historical Museum that we had been unable to visit on Sunday morning. This is located in the former home of a man unknown to most foreigners but revered by Azerbaijanis as ‘the Father of the Nation’: Haji Zeynalabdin Taghiyev. He was an incredibly rich oil baron and philanthropist who lived from 1838-1924 and lived in this building from 1895-1920.
In fact, the only part of this building currently open to the public is the section where Taghiyev himself lived which is splendidly ornate.
The tour for the day was now over, but the three of us decided that we would like to see the Carpet Museum which, since 2014, has been housed in a striking building shaped like a rolled up carpet. We walked back to the hotel, a half-hour stroll past an area known as Little Venice and along the pleasant promenade.
So far on this holiday, only breakfasts have been included in the package but, for our final evening in Baku, we were taken to a huge establishment called “Sirvansah Muzey-Restoran” which was once a 19th century bathhouse and is now almost as much an ethnographic museum as a restaurant serving classic Azerbaijani food and offering traditional Azerbaijani music and dancing.
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