8 to 10 august 2007, alaverdi

arrived at the armenian border on this taxi... we were ready to walk across into Georgia soon.

sk really loved this little boy (Adam) in the neigbourhood because of his hairstyle.

the old folks

armenian boys

Hagphat Monastery perched on the tip of the Dubed Canyon

a cable car ride to the town from the place where we lived

sleeping in mud... they couldnt be bothered with us at all

Sanahin Monastery - the oldest church that i have seen so far

a nice family who stopped to give us a free ride to Sanahin Monastery.

we lived with Ella's (the girl in black) grandmother for 2 nights. i met Ella on the van and she gladly took us to her granny's place where we paid like 5000 dram per person which included 2 meals a day, a place to sleep and a feel of Armenian culture. the locals in this neighbourhood were very friendly with us foreigners. balev szez...

a rest point on our way to Alaverdi

5 to 8 august 2007, yerevan (the capital city of Armenia)

a view of Yerevan from the top of Cascade

the Cascade

a very sad music was played here...

the fire was kept burning in memory of the victims of the genocide.

this is Tsitsernakaberd Museum, the museum of the Armenian Genocide.
i didn't know that Armenians had such a sad history in 1915 until i arrived in Armenia. the museum displayed many gory photographs of how Armenians were arrested and murdered at lonely areas by the Turks of the Ottoman Empire. millions were forcely deported, exiled and death marched into the killing fields of the Syrian desert.
there was a diary written by a Dutch missionary put up in the museum where one can verify this history...

a monument showing a woman trying to protect her child from the Turks

a cinema house. all the films were either in armenian or russian language.

brandy wine and vodka factory.
free alcohol tasting if one pays a small fee (maybe less than usd 10) to have a tour in this factory.

a free city tour offered by our hostel (Envoy). the man in front was our tour leader. he said it was his second time organising such tour.

light offerings in a church

the opera house

a fruit and vegetable market

the treasury in this church was closed on mondays and therefore, we did not get to see the 1700 years of treasure which includes the Holy Lance (the weapon used by a Roman soldier to pierce the side of Christ on his way to Calvary) and a small piece of Noah's Ark.

Echmiadzin church

4 to 5 august 2007, agarak (the armenian border town)

Ararat mountain which belonged to Armenia but now it is part of Turkey.

this water bottle was for washing hands.
how it works: uncap a little and the water flows out slowly... good invention!

Avor negotiating for a good price for a watermelon to be shared by all of us.

one of the many memorials one will see in the Cacusus.
this man might have been killed in a road accident as his memorial was by the roadside.

Avor stopped many times along the journey to refresh himself with splashes of water. i think the journey was quite trying for him...

beware of bear hunters?

we plucked berries along the journey to refresh ourselves. Avor loves them but they were too sour for my tastebud...

here we go...

big smiles after a fantastic breakfast!

this is Avor... i really miss him!

Avor's handmade chair outside his house

Avor's son (17) and wife (43)

it was darkness after the crossing but we found a family-run motel (Inter Motel) not far from the Agarak border. the motel was a good shelter but there were too many mosquitoes and had no shower facilities. i havent taken shower for the past 3 nights.

the next morning, Hamlet, the sleepy-eyed owner with a deep and manly voice, managed to get us a Kangoo-like van to Yerevan. at first, we were quite wary about Avor, the van driver, as he looked like one of the many touts at the border... but he turned out to be a kind and fatherly man who took great care of us on our way to Yerevan. first, he drove us to his house for a BIG breakfast before setting off for the 8 hours journey together with his son. this photograph was taken while we were having breakfast at the patio of his place.