Family Time in Yerevan.

Family selfie.  Gurgen, Arshak, Pat, me, and Anush.

One of the things that made our trip to Armenia so special and memorable was the fact that we spent a great deal of time with a very lovely family.

We first met the family patriach, Arshak and his son, Gurgen when they met us in Tbilisi.  They had driven all the way from Yerevan to Tbilisi, waited for a hour before we could leave and drove us all the way back to Yerevan.

Last Views of Yerevan. The Cascade.

View of Yerevan, looking towards the Opera Theatre, from the 2nd tier of The Cascade.

Pat and I started our last day in Yerevan (and Armenia) with breakfast at a small cafe called Crumbs, located on Mashtots Avenue, maybe about 50 feet away from our apartment.  It's a nice little place.  We had stepped inside yesterday and decided this would be a nice place for a light meal.

Sevanvank.

Sevanvank.

Today was our last day of sightseeing with Gurgen. I am sad because we've really enjoyed our time with him and it will soon come to an end - we leave for home day after tomorrow.

Sevanvank  was on my list of places to see in Armenia and I was able to cross it off my list today.

It was another overcast day as we set out from Yerevan this morning.  Raindrops occasionally hit the windshield.  Not an ideal day for sightseeing.  I was grateful is was still cool weather.

An Hour at the Theatre.

The Armenian State Dance Ensemble "Barekamutyun" in performance at the Opera Theatre in Yerevan.

We ended our long day back at the Opera Theatre in Yerevan for a dance performance.  Bless his heart, Gurgen got us the tickets.  They were only available for purchase in person so he called on one of his friends to get the tickets for him.

More about that in a bit but for now, we flash back earlier in the afternoon.

Tatev Monastery.

Gurgen, standing in front of the mausoleum of Grigor Tatevatsi, at Tatev Monastery

I'm sure it was sad for Gurgen and Anush to leave Papi and Artsvanik behind. They don't see Papi often and this was far too short a visit for them. I'm sure he felt the same. I'm thankful to them for introducing him to us as I leave with great admiration for the man.

By nightfall today, we were back in Yerevan.  It was a long journey and we had quite a few stops along the way, including one at Tatev Monastery.

Family Time in Artsvanik.

Pat and I with *Papi* and Anush.

If you are blessed in life, you are born into a family, hopefully a loving one. Sometimes you marry into one. Sometimes, one adopts you. Today, we were in a way, adopted, by a warm and loving Armenian family.

Years ago, on the occasion that I mentioned to my friend, Areg, that I wanted to visit Armenia, she immediately told me that I had to visit her father in his village.  "Oh yes, I must", I replied but never really believing that it would happen.  I figured she would have forgotten that conversation but she hadn't.  Days before I left on this trip, she told me she would tell her nephew, Gurgen, to take us to visit her father.

The Sound of Beauty, Strength and Melancholy. The Duduk.

"Still-Life with Armenian Musical Instruments Duduk Thar and Qyamancha" by Meruzhan Khachatryan

I left Artsakh with a piece of music running through my head - it's been continuously looping in my hours for days now!  It's because of an instrument that I was introduced a few days ago when I was in Garni.

Walking towards Garni Temple, I heard the melancholic strains of a musical instrument that I had never heard before. It was such a beautiful sound, I literally stopped walking to listen to it.  I asked Arshak what produced the sounds and he told me that the instrument was a duduk.  I had never heard of the instrument before so I did some reading on Wikipedia.  It's a 3,000 year old woodwind instrument that is indigenous to Armenia and it produces such a rich sound that gives me chills every time I listen to it being played.

A Day in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh).

"We Are Our Mountains", by Sargis Baghdasaryan, 1967 is widely regarded as a symbol of the Armenian heritage of Nagorno-Karabakh.

We spent today visiting a part of the world that few people outside of this region know exists and if they've heard of the place, they unlikely know anything about it.

I created this blog with the sole intention of documenting my travels so I that in my old age, I could recall the places I've been so lucky to travel to.  I deliberately have avoided making any political statements about the places I've been to as I do not want to state my views for the world to see.  I prefer to discuss politics rather than write about them.

Ancient Cave Dwellings. Old Khndzoresk.

Old Khndzoresk.

It always amazes me where and how people build their homes. This afternoon, we made a stop to gaze out, over a narrow gorge to see some very ancient cave dwellings in a place called Khndzoresk.

Flash back a couple hours before arriving into Khndzoresk.  With our bellies full from a wonderful lunch, we continued our journey.  By days end, we would be in the small city of Shushi in the region known to Armenians as Artsakh but to the rest of the world as Nagorno-Karabakh.

Armenian Roadtrip. Khor Virap and Noravank.

Khachkars in the cemetery at Noravank.

G
urgen swung by our street bright and early at 9a this morning. Pat and I had both gotten up early and had our breakfast. We were well ready to leave when he arrived. The nice surprise was that his mom, Anush, was seated in the back.  He had said that he would ask her and I was hoping she would love to come along.  My first impression when I met her two days ago was that she's a very warm and friendly woman, a bit shy when you first meet her.  She's very different from her feisty younger sister, Areg who is a former colleague of mine.

A City of Culture. Yerevan

The Cascade Complex.

After three weeks of non-stop go, go, go, we finally had a down day. Today is Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day. I don't know how you greet anyone today. Happy Genocide Day just does not sound appropriate. I think I'll just stick to the simple, "Hello, how are you?". In any case, today is a National Holiday and figuring that most places will be closed, Pat and I just opted to spend the day relaxing, reading....doing whatever.  The only thing we did commit to was going with Gurgen for an hour long walk around the city.  Apparently, he had to come into the city to meet up with some friends and so he came a bit early to be with us.  Very considerate of him as most certainly Pat and I could have wandered about on our own.  Of course, it's always nice to have a local person take you around.

Candle Light Vigil.

Candle light march through the streets of Yerevan.

When I planned the timing of this trip, it all revolved around the order in which we had to visit the three Caucasus countries.  It had not even dawned on me that we would be in Armenia on Genocide Day, more formally known as Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, which falls on April 24 each year.  That's tomorrow.

Medieval Geghard Monastery.

Khachkars at Geghard Monastery.

We headed to Geghard Monastery after visiting the Hellenistic Temple at Garni. Our drive took us through a part of the village of Garni.  The countryside was dotted with fruit trees in bloom.  It was so pretty.  I'm so glad we decided to come to the Caucasus in April.  We had a similar experience traveling through Central Asia at this time last year and we enjoyed the spring time scenery so much.

A Cathedral and a Temple. Etchmiadzin and Garni.

Looking up at the domed ceiling in the portico at Etchmiadzin Cathedral.

Today was our first full day in Armenia and it was long but very enjoyable and interesting.

I woke up this morning at 7:30a. Pat was still asleep so I headed quietly into the living room and kept busy with my iPad. In due time, she woke up and we got down to making breakfast which was a simple affair.

Packing List. The Caucasus.

Advertisement for for Louis Vuitton July 1898.
From from Villanova Digital Library.
 Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

I wasn't planning on putting together my packing list for the Caucasus until I got home from my Thailand and Myanmar trip but now that I'm sidelined with a sprained ankle, I might as well use the time to come up with the list.

Pat and I are headed to the Caucasus pretty much around the same time that we went to Central Asia in 2015.  The one thing we learned from that trip was that we were not well prepared for the cold weather that faced us.  It was 23 degrees Fahrenheit the morning after we arrived into Tashkent!

With El Niño affecting weather world wide this year, it's going to be more difficult than usual to predict what the temperatures will be like when we are in the Caucasus.  I've been keeping watch and  even in February, there are days that the temps are unseasonably warm, some days unseasonably cold.  So, I think I will err on the side of cold than warm meaning packing in more long sleeve shirts than short, bringing along a down vest and my lightweight down jacket.  Good thing is that shirt wise, Pat and I are the same size so we can borrow clothing from each other if need be.

Luckily, with the exception of our time in Azerbaijan where we will be staying in hotels and guesthouses, our accommodations in Georgia and Armenia will be mainly Airbnb apartments, all of which are equipped with washers so we can do laundry.  This will lighten the load of the clothes we need to bring along with us.  Otherwise, I will pretty much follow my Central Asia packing list.

Money Matters.

Photo by Veronidae.  Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

The trips to Thailand and Myanmar and the Caucasus are pretty happening back to back so while I was reading up the currency and money issues for Thailand and Myanmar, I decided I would just read up for the three Caucasus countries at the same time.

The Food of Armenia.

This could easily be my plate of Armenian food.  It all looks very familiar and tasty!
(Photo by Ketone16.  Licensed under CC-BY-SA-3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.)

Like so many global cuisines, Armenian food reflects its history, traditional cultures and geography. Although the food of Armenia has its unique tastes, it is very closely related to eastern and Mediterranean cuisine - a big reason why so much of it looks familiar to me.

The main characteristics of Armenian cuisine are a reliance on the quality of the ingredients rather than heavily spicing food, the use of herbs, the use of wheat in a variety of forms, pearl barley, legumes, nuts, and fruit (as a main ingredient as well as to sour food), and the stuffing of a wide variety of leaves. The pomegranate, which features in many a dish has a symbolic association with fertility that represents that nation. The apricot is the national fruit.

Introducing Armenia.

Central Yerevan view from the Cascade.  Snow capped Mount Ararat in the background.
(Photo by Raffi Kojian.  Licensed under CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.)

A few weeks ago, I also spent an afternoon with my friend and former colleague, Areg.  Areg is Armenian and she was keen to bake some gata cookies for me, especially since I had never had them before. They are a traditional Armenian filled cookie made from flour, tons of butter and sugar and eggs, yogurt and a bit of yeast. Areg made two versions of the gata cookie.  One that was filled with just butter and sugar and the other with nuts.  She told me she found her recipe on YouTube but I found a few on the web with very easy to follow instructions:  A recipe from plain gata from The Armenian Kitchen and nut filled gata from Food'n'Chef.

The Caucasus. Itinerary and Cost Comparison.

Azerbaijan Landscape.  Photo by Matthew Hadley. Licensed under CC BY 1.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

It's hard to believe that at the same time that I am planning a trip to Myanmar and Thailand, I'm also planning a trip to the Caucusus! 

It's been crazy juggling the load of keeping destinations, travel dates, local guides, and flights all in order but I've gotten good at it having done it for so many other trips now.  Last year, I was handling Turkey and Greece and the five Central Asia countries all at the same time and before we even left for Central Asia, I already had Madagascar in the works!   Hi, my name is Julee and I am a travel addict :-)

The Caucasus. Armenia, Georgia & Azerbaijan.

Tatev Monastery, Armenia.  (Photo by Alexander Naumov)

Atrip to the Caucasus was something that my Central Asian travel partner, Pat, and I had talked quite a bit about when we were traveling through those countries this past spring.  Like me, she has a love for going to places that are off the beaten tourist path and most certainly, Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan fit that bill to a tee.

Both Pat and I will be busy for the next couple of months but starting mid October, we'll be hunkering down and planning out the details of this trip which is slated to happen early next year, 2016.