Beautiful Armenia
Tbilisi,
Georgia
Monday, June 29, 2009
We thought we'd get to an internet place a couple of days ago, and then yesterday, and somehow the time whizzes by and it's time for bed! Those of you that are also traveling can sympathize! We both really like Armenia; it's one of the most beautiful places I've ever been for gorgeous mountain scenery and wildflowers; and there is no shortage of either one here; it's a VERY mountaineous country with pretty valleys in between and wonderful carpets of wildflowers in abundance. The people are great here, too. Kid's in particular, like to say hello and ask our names. We also find that people are curious about our ages, and ask us how old we are.
We visited Sanahin and Haghpat monasteries while in northern Armenia. Both about 1,000 years old, and as is true in Georgia, the Armenian's also has a knack for picking exceptionally pretty and high places for placing their monasteries and churches. From nothern Armenia, we headed southwest to Yerevan, the capital. From what we'd read in our Lonely Planet guidebook, we were sure that we'd like Tbilisi the best, but our experience has been just the opposite. We're glad to have spent a day plus in Tbilisi, but neither of us has any desire to spend any more time there. Yerevan, on the other hand, we really like. There aren't a lot of really super "wow" things to see (my opinion), in the way of buildings, etc., but it's a great place to hang out. It has an extensive outdoor cafe life (a number of which have their own little fountains), some interesting sculptures around town, flowers growing in public areas and so much of it looks and feels much more prosperous than Tbilisi. Armenia in general is a much cleaner country, and that holds true for Yerevan as well. Also, the streets, sidewalks and buildings in the capital are in better shape. As our guidebook says, the best part is people watching; there is an amazing variety of faces and skin colors here, and it's just fun to sit in an outdoor cafe and watch people. The people here are into dressing, strolling at a leisurly pace (totally unlike their driving; anyone that comes here should be forewarned to REALLY watch closely when crossing streets; a green walk light doesn't mean much here!!!) and hanging out in the outdoor cafes. We did go to a museum with some very interesting old religious manuscripts, many of which were nicely illustrated. We took a short sidetrip to Echmiadzin, the Holy See of Armenia; the most beautiful part is the carved and painted entrance to the main cathedral. Another short sidetrip was to Garni, where there is a reconstructed Greek temple that goes back to the 1st or 2nd century ( I think). Beautifully located at the edge of a gorge. We spent 3 nights in the southern part of Armenia, taking a long 5.5 hours to get to; lots of hills and curvy roads with a number of potholes thrown in for good measure, but gorgeous scenery most of the way, so it was seldom boring. The route takes you quite close to Mt. Ararat which is in Turkey and a beautiful snow covered mountain standing over 17K feet tall. Next to it and cone-shaped is Little Mt. Ararat. We spend a couple of nights in Goris which is very pretty except for the abundance of trash. There are formations that remind me of Cappadocia in Turkey, except that they are surrounded by green. We met 2 fun fellow travelers at our B&B (that had linked up in Yerevan) and the 4 of us went over a very bumpy, potholed road with lots of curves and a sheer drop off most of the time, to another monastery at Tatev. Again, beautiful setting, high above a gorge. The 4 of us went on to Sisian yesterday to see some ancient stone "teeth", 204 of them, some with holes in them, that are believed to have played a part in ancient astronomical observations. Great views walking up there and VERY windy. Luckily, we got back to our hotels just as it started to rain very heavily. We're now back in Yerevan where we'll spend 2 nights. Day after tomorrow we head back to Mtskhet, Georgia, another of our favorite place. We'll be there July 1 and 2 @ the Tamarindi Hotel and on the 3rd fly from Tbilisi to Istanbul. We'll be in Turkey for a week before flying to Bangkok on the 10th. Note: some of this I'm including just so someone knows where we are. although we've felt absolutely safe in both countries.
Love,
Cathleen
