First day out

Yesterday, we left Yerevan proper for the first time and made a day trip to Garni and Geghard.

We'd been suffering from a little bit of cabin fever. We haven't yet found a nice play park for the kids, so we mostly hang around our house and the garden on the weekends. This has turned out to be less than ideal. So now that we have rented a car, we decided to go forth and explore.

Garni is a little town about 30 km (18 miles) from Yerevan. It takes almost an hour to get there from our house, which is a good indication of the road condition. It varies from "quite good, actually" to "practically non-existent". It’s the same road… but sometimes it’s smooth and fast, while in other places the asphalt just disappears and a mud track, washed out and filled with water from the recent rain falls, is all that is left. But you drive slowly and carefully and it will get you to Garni.

Garni is quite old, even for European standards. How old? Oh, four, five thousand years? Yep, you read that right. Garni has been inhabited almost continuously since the third millenium B.C. That is old. It's gone through a lot, has been destroyed numerous times, not least by earthquakes, has been sacked, plundered, burnt to the ground. The current population, our guide book tells us, comes from Persia - a big people swap back in the 1820s, when you could still do that kind of thing. We indeed spotted many "old Persian" faces, the kind you see in old scrolls from Baghdad.

Now, Garni itself isn't much to behold. It looks, at least to the casual eye, just like any other rural Armenian town. Run down, bits of garbage everywhere, men hanging out by the roadside (what do they do there all day long? It's a mystery to me.) There are three little churches from Medieval times which we need to check out some time. We haven't yet, so I cannot tell you anything about those.

But Garni has two things that make it special.

One, it sits on the top of a giant gorge, aptly named the Garni Gorge. It's a dizzying drop to the river Azat which churns down the valley with lots of white water. The mountains rise on either side, there are fruit trees blossoming in abundance, a sheet of green covers the slopes. Seduced by all the blossoms (white for cherries, pink for almonds) and the sweet mountain air, we made the mistake of hiking down to the river. That required climbing down a steep path for a kilometer or so, losing maybe 200 meters of altitude on the way. Well, that part was great, but it then required climbing 200 meters back again. Add an "I’m very tired, Mommy" 4-year-old and an even more tired 2-year-old, and a baby, and you can see where that leads. If you ever find yourself in Garni, though, and are not burdened down by children who need to go up on your shoulders, it's a dramatic and scenic hike that will delight your soul.

Mind you, anything "scenic" in Armenia seems to come along with - garbage. Plastic bags and plastic bottles can be found everywhere. Avert your eyes, learn to ignore it, because the attitude towards public space in Armenia can be described as negligent. People, you have a beautiful country. Clean the damn place up! (OK, that's a post in its own right. One day.)

Second, Garni has an old Hellenistic fortress which sits on top of an outcrop in the basalt mountain, right over the gorge. You know the motto of real estate agents? "Location, location, location!" This fortress has indeed quite a location. The oldest parts of the fortress have been built in the 3rd or 2nd century B.C. and the entire thing has been flattened in an earthquake in 1679. However, in the 1970s, the Greco-Roman style temple from 77 A.D. was painstakingly rebuilt, using mostly original stones that were still lying around.

There is also the remainder of an old bath house which sports a beautiful mosaic floor, and the foundation of a church next to the temple. It's impressive in its own right, and a great playground for kids. Also, the jams and pickles sold by the old women in front of the entrance are really yummy.

Next, we continued up the gorge to the monastery of Geghard. It assumedly once housed the spear that was used to wound Christ in his side during the crucifixion. The spear-shaped object is now at the treasury at Echmiadzin (the Vatican of the Armenian Apostolic Church) but the monastery is well worth a visit. The church is partly freestanding and partly carved into the rock, with a number of little side rooms deep in the cliff, complete with the chilly air and water dripping from the rocks. Next to the monastery is the more contained, now seriously whitewater river Azat. A little bridge leads over the river to a cave and along the path to that cave, the trees sport hundreds of pieces of cloth tied onto the branches. It's an old believe that a wish you make while tying a piece of cloth to a tree branch there will be granted. Unfortunately, we didn't bring anything cloth-like with us. Maybe next time.

We came home happy and tired. Well worth another trip or two one day.

Comments

[Lorraine]

What lovely pictures, Claudia! After your post so well describing Garni, I feel like I went with you! If you ever make it back, would it be possible to photograph the mosaic floor? I am enchanted by mosaics.

Today, on NPR, there was a brief discussion on the ongoing hostilities between Azerbijian and Armenia. Are these anywhere near where you're housed?

The boys look very well! How's the littlest?

[Traveller]

Dearest Claudia: This truly was a wonderful travelog. I know it takes time and effort to put something like this together...I want you to know that it is appreciated.

Interestingly, the image of your little boy with his head poking his head over the stone wall was also perfect. It is difficult to make an image like this work or be effective. In this instance, the picture was just great.

Thanks again,

Best Wishes,

Traveller

[Bernard Guerrero]

Thirded. Very nice shots and description. Makes me want to visit...when the girls are 14+ or something.

Bernard Guerrero, who gets tired carrying them around the AMNH, much less mountains

[Mike Ralls]

Very nice pictures Claudia. Your kids are getting cuter every day.

[filkferengi]

Great pictures, and vivid descriptions! Thank you for sharing this.