July 19, 2011
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The Silk Road Overland
Tuesday 19 July 2011
I didn’t sleep that well last night as the group of Welcome Home to Armenia volunteers kept increasing, with a group of bubbly newcomers arriving around 3.00 AM and me discovering five of them sleeping on the sofas in the lobby when I got up in the morning. I spoke to one of the volunteers at breakfast time and he told me the group was from the US, Canada, France and the UK. Apparently their project is to restore an old church that has been destroyed by an earthquake.Today, Bahrom and I went on another brilliant tour organised by Envoy Tours. This tour took us to the UNESCO heritage listed sights of Sanahin and Haghbat near the Georgian border. Both of these sites are monasteries founded in the tenth century and both are very atmospheric, with amazing architecture. If I had to choose which one I liked the most I would probably say Sanahin, but both sites are absolutely amazing.
Lunch this time was a BBQ with another Armenian family, but what really impressed me was that they made a proper stop for elevenses at a village called Aparan, where we could see how they made lavash, the typical Armenian bread, and also get a hot drink. I do get a bit grumpy if a proper break for mid-morning coffee is skipped.
On the way back to Yerevan, we stopped by Akhtala Church, which is claimed to be the oldest frescoed church in the world. Stunning old frescoes on all walls. I particularly liked seeing St Antony from Egypt and St Simeon the Stylite (Syria) in very prominent places.
Our very last stop was next was Dilijan, Armenia’s Little Switzerland.
Once back at the hostel, the contrast couldn’t have been greater to the chaos of the morning. All the diaspora volunteers were gone and there was only one single guy staying at the hostel! Eerie.
I’m writing this in the departure lounge at Yerevan Airport. My plane to Aktau is 50 minutes late, and should now take off around 1.00 AM. The flight across the Caspian Sea is about one hour and replaces my original plan of talking a ferry between Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. I guess it’s difficult to argue that taking a flight across the Caspian Sea is “overland”, but so it is with my original plan of taking the ferry across. Considering the problems caused by the Azerbaijan visa mess, this is a pretty good option.
It’s midnight and soon it’s time to switch my iPhone and iPad to flight mode.
Comments (1)
St. Antony (Anthony) is my patron saint!! I think you were wise in taking the flight instead of the ferry. I love monastaries! I stay at a Franciscan Monastery in Maine each summer. They are from Lithuania.
I watched an interesting program on an ancient site near Libya and it is pristine. It is called Serene and had been occupied by the Saracens, Egyptians, and Rome. I would so love to see that.
I am anxiously awaiting your next post!!
Hugs,
Bev