Our accommodation was …interesting. Stately room with lots of marble and ornate furniture. Typically Russian. The food was nicely presented.
Our appointment at the Skyway, Wings of Tatev is at 10am. First of all I wanted to revisit the amazing rock formations, Jen photographed in dying light, last night. To capture the true majesty the light needed to come from in front of them. However there was little improvement in the morning.
Goris would be the nicest town we have experienced, in Armenia. At one time it was part of Iran and now is 70k to the Iran border. It was clearly a town/city of influence in earlier times due to a predominance of impressive stone structures. Local population of approx 17,000.
It’s a 35k drive from Goris to Tatev, where the Skyway gondola’s operate, and we did it in plenty of time for the 10am departure. It’s reputed the longest double track, non-stop ariel skyway in the world at 5.7k’s. Built by a Swiss company and operated to help fund the restoration of the Tatev monetary close to the end of the skyway.
I’m not going to put any photo’s in of the monastery. It’s amazing, but not dissimilar to all the others, just some representations of exquisite stone art. Broken pieces from several major earthquakes that had devastated the monastery over the centuries.
Play the video below, volume up loud!. Unfortunately the video has loaded on it’s side, but the music is sublime.
Beautiful national costume. Two models there to do a promotional video.
A Russian version of the Hillman Imp!
The drive to Yerevan.
Armenia is quite close in size, to Belgium. The population, 2.9m. Yerevan, the capital has a a population of 1.4m almost half.
It’s a beautiful drive from Tatev. Approx 220k’s over and through mountain ranges And small villages. The fertile valleys are cultivated with endless orchards. Fortunately most of the traffic was going the opposite way but we still experienced maniacs passing 3 wide and coming into sharp bends. They must have a death wish!! Mt Ararat in the distant haze.
Armenia is bordered by Iran, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey. Sadly, we are not going to be able to visit Azerbaijan. Maybe another time? There has been a recent thawing in relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, but the land borders remain closed for now. Unfortunately the clock is ticking fast…:) It seems you cant even fly from Armenia to Azerbaijan without stopping in another country en route!!
Jen has booked us into a guest house on the fringe of the city, for two nights. After cooking a great meal in Poki, parked outside in the street, we wandered the nearby streets to get an understanding of what is available, food shop wise. The only point of interest, a wonderful food market with individuals selling their wares.
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