Blogs from Yerevan, West, Armenia, Asia - page 6

We took a shared taxi with from Tbilisi all the way to Armenia’s capital, Yerevan. The route took us along nicely paved roads to the border, where crossing took about an hour, and then continued on the other side on not-so-nicely paved roads! After a year in Azerbaijan it felt a little like tasting forbidden fruit as we queued for our visas which, incidentally, are now available on the border for just US$10 for 12 days. The road wound its way through the green mountain gorges in Northern Armenia where we saw such sights as the derelict industrial factories, smoke-belching chimneys from those still functioning, the rebuilt village which was the epicentre of the dreadful 1988 earthquake and the town of Spitak with its curious boat standing before the earthquake memorial. Apparently the boat was built ... read more

Tomorrow I fly! Katie will join me on Saturday morning. My first week is supposed to be vacation time to visit with friends. I have told Gohar Palyan the Armenia Coordinator that I would be willing to work during that time if there is work top be done. We shall see.... read more

Just some general comments and pictures about how village houses are built around Yerevan, Armenia. The basic ingredients for foundation, walls, and floors are concrete and tufa (a calcium carbonate deposit). Fortunately for Armenia tufa is common, cheap, and comes in many colors, giving their towns and villages a much greater range in color and variety than other soviet style buildings in other parts of the world. The foundation is laid as a perimeter about 2 feet wide. The outside and the inside of the foundation are laid with some sort of course broken rock with at least one flat face. These are mortared together and the interior between is filled with concrete as the walls go up. They usually build the foundation up about 2-4 feet above the ground and then fill the interior of ... read more

Hi All, Gayle here posting for the first time. Today was yet another extraordinary day full of adventure and amazement. We began by going to Levon's chambers of wonders, in a nearby village outside of Yerevan. Levon has spent the last 23 years digging, what was supposed to be a root cellar beneath his house, but has turned into an inspired response to visions sent to him in his dreams. He now spends (20 hours a day till recently) 12 hours a day digging tunnels and chambers through rock and tufa (the local pumice stone). It most resembles a subterranean grotto -- and it is quite a feat! According to our sources he has only left the site to attend his 4 daughters weddings. Levon says that he is to dig for 27 more years, until ... read more

Hi All: (started this yesterday...finishing today) Sam again. 100F+ today at the work site. Everyone seems to be aclimatized though. Both Wren, Anna, and Stuart work out in the sun much of the day. Stuart shovels cement about 70% of the time and Wren has taken turns too. Anna does bucket line without complaint. Pretty standard day for us. All the cement floors in the house are now complete except for the top of the stairs. Tonight after eating at a small Aremenian restaurant. Gayle, Nadya, and I went to a nightclub to watch the Armenian Navy Band. Very hot band, a mix of Sun Ra, Taj Mahal, and New York jazz band. About 15 in the group, nice brass section, traditional Armenian section, rock drummer, and nice keyboardist. Good blend of rock and Near East ... read more