All Churched out in Armenia

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Day 9 Georgia and Armenia. Sunday 18th Sept.

All churched out in Armenia



I can’t remember why I ended up booking a private tour for today’s trip to Armenia, maybe it wasn’t much more expensive than a group tour, maybe only a private tour was available or maybe I just couldn’t be bothered to mix with other people every day. Who knows!

Either way Irakli, our guide for the day, was on time this morning and we were soon heading to the border. We passed some washing powder shops on the way where Armenians stock up as it is so much cheaper here. We also heard stories of mixing between Georgians, Armenians and Azerbijanis. Apparently the latter not drinking is a problem…..and their not eating pork….. Not sure how he’s going to take to having a teetotal vegan on his trip….let’s cross that bridge later!

The weather is sunny again by the way. I realised I haven’t mentioned it for a few days and I bet you were wondering. There is a slight chance of rain later in the week but this appears to be an ideal time to visit Georgia. It’s hot for us Stokies now but is even hotter in the Summer. They even close the nightclubs in the Summer but are starting to open up now. Might give them a miss though….I’m not sure they’d play the same music I like. Imagine if they played Britney Spears or Harry Styles….uuurrrgghhh!!!!

Anyway, today’s driving seems quite sedate which now feels a bit odd as we are not racing past every vehicle in front. I’m starting to become a bit Georgian I think as I’m willing Irakli to get a jog on! Forget what I said yesterday, give me the wheel….let me drive!

Onwards to the border. We must be nearly there now.

And getting through wasn’t too bad. The Georgian side was a breeze, a bit of a queue but nothing to compare with Brits in the EU since Brexit. We then got back in the car and drove to the Armenian side. This time we had to take all our stuff.

At passport control we had our pictures taken and the guy was asking me the registration number of our car. How the hell should I know?? I said it was blue and he said is it a Toyoto so I said yes and I think so. I presume he could see outside on a screen or something as he soon let me in after that. We also had to put us and our bags through scanners.

We then had to wait for Irakli as he had to get some paperwork. It didn’t take him long and he told us that once he had to wait for three hours with a friend of his once waiting for four. You’d think they would make it easier for tour guides to get through so tourists can come in and spend money. A weird way of working and thank goodness we weren’t waiting for three hours.

Over the border we changed some lari into drams and headed into country number 59 for me. The drivers seem very sedate here and just plod along but nothing so far looks very different from Georgia. The cars are a bit older though and there are lots of old Ladas tootling around.

In fact we have just stopped at a Georgian church as this part of Armenia once belonged to Georgia. It was then given to Armenia, by Russia, as a present. They have made some changes to the church to make it Armenian inside but outside remains the same.

There was a service happening inside so that was interesting. Apparently they go on for tnree hours but people seem to come and go rather than sit on hard wooden benches for that long. Mind you Georgians stand up in church so that must be even worse! People seem to mill around while the priest, altar boys and singers do their thing with seemingly nothing for the congregation to join in. It was okay to take pictures as well: so we did.

Note: Georgians generally don’t eat breakfast as they are usually running late. In fact getting something on the go for breakfast in Georgia is nigh on impossible. Our guide usually doesn’t eat lunch either and usually only has one meal a day. A big meal thankfully! I’d be passed out on the floor without eating for that long!

He says if he does eat something early on he then gets hungry at lunchtime but he doesn’t if he has nothing. He bought some bread earlier for his Armenian friends and has been tucking into that so he will be starving soon! He did share the bread by the way and it is really nice. We could see it being freshly made through the window.

Apparently Irakli sometimes forgets to offer guests a stop for lunch as he doesn’t eat it himself. Don’t worry, I’ve booked us in after our next stop!

The next stop was a more Armenian style church but there were Georgian and Persian influences. Quite a few buildings in this one and Irakli pointed out the differences between the didferent styles. No service going on at this one so their three hours must be up….maybe there’s an evening service though…..

Irakli handed over the Georgian bread to some lady souvenir sellers who seemed over the moon to get it. He says he doesn’t expect anything in return but they gave him a big bag of sweet cherries when we left.

It’s very hot today but I can’t tell you how hot without internet. Luckily our car has air conditioning for a change.

And onto the restaurant for our included meal…..maybe this is why I booked a private tour…? Vegetarian/vegan food is not very common here but they rustled up some really nice dishes and gave us some fresh bread, which isn’t as nice as Georgian bread I might add.

The juice was made from the aforementioned sweet cherries which were a new kind of berry for us. The only description they had was sweet cherries so I’m sticking with that. The juice and hot drinks were included too so we left quite full and ready for a nap. I mean to move onto the next place!

The next stop was an abandoned cable car station. The cables are still there, as are two of the cars which are suspended a bit apart to balance out the weight. It was closed in 2016 as whoever was financing it didn’t want to stump up the money any more. The people are pushing for renovation but that doesn’t look likely given the state of things. The people would protest if it was dismantled though so here it remains. Our guide found a few marijuana plants in the yard which he hadn’t spotted before (he says!). We have decided not to take any back through customs….. he also scrumped some plums off a tree and very nice they were too.

Our next stop was another none-church stop, hurray! I’m getting a bit churched out to be honest so something diffferent was good. Even better , this was an areroplane, a MIG21 to be precise. It was part of a museum dedicated to its designer but you could see the plane without having to go inside. It was set under a low roof and there was a sign that looked like there was no ballet dancing allowed on it. Damn!

Our final stop was another church and Irakli pointed out the differences between the different churches we have seen. I know this tour was billed as three religious places but it would be a bit much if that’s all there was. We are in the north of Armenia and the most interesting things here are religious buildings apparently. The scenery is good but obviously not as good as yesterday in Kazbegi.

This is just a taster of Armenia and it’s been interesting but, in the parts we’ve been to, not a lot different than Georgia. At this point I’d go to other places before going on a full holiday to Armenia. And yes I know this was just a quick shufty, and reading up about other things that are there may change my mind, but that’s my opinion at the moment.

The border crossing on the way back was even easier than the other way with no papers required and they didn’t even scan our luggage. The drive back to Tiblisi was sedate and we wrote our blogs and stuff. We got back not too late, after another great trip, my least favourite but still great, plus another country visited!

When we got back to the guesthouse at about 19:20 Claire was concerned that she hadn’t hit her move goal so we went for a quick walk. We took some photos, including a sneaky one through a window of someone making tomorrow’s katchaburi. Tomorrow…..we are not setting alarms!!

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Comments

[Alan Rust]

Cable for Mr Wade........... Cable for Mr Wade
Looked like you were close to the edge for the shot of the cables going downhill Glyn. Not my cup of tea at all, but the view is great.

[Wadey1966]

Thanks!