Day 125 - 127 Yerevan

If you just want to make a quick stop in Yerevan, better not go to Envoy Hostel - this is such a nice and cosy place where you can meet such great people, that I stayed 4 nights (instead of 2 that were planned).
In Yerevan I:
- slept&ate&slept&ate
- successfully shopped for new warm underwear
- partied seriously
- met very inspiring people
- visited some sights I had not seen last time
- was promised by several girls that they would join me cycling (but eventually none showed up when I left, tssss)
- relaxed profoundly
- planned my way to Iran: it will get cold!

Day 124 Aragatsavan - Yerevan

Me are inklisch teetscha! Yep, I joined Sam for his morning english classes and talked (very basically) about my trip, answered (very basic) questions, wrote autographs and posed for pictures. This was a really great experience ! Still I know I would never become a teacher. The english level of most students was very low - most probably because the english level of the most english teachers was very low. Once again: respect to Sam for what he is doing! When I set off for the ride to Yerevan I could not spot Ararat though I knew it must have been there. Most important rule for spotting Ararat: if you don't see it, look higher! Aaaah, there it was, its snowtopped peak stickig out of the clouds. It is really an incredible beautiful and incredible high looking mountain. Looking at it the biblical story of Noahs Arc landing on Ararat seems completely reasonable.
The ride was easy, only later in the day when approaching Yerevan the road got a bit crowded - still far better than the ride in and out of Izmir! I made a short stop at tve Holy See of Echmiadzin - the Vatican City of the Armenian church. The only difference I noticed from 2 years ago was a tower at the entrance which was still under construction back then and was nearly finished now. In Yerevan I found a very pleasant hostel: Envoy Hostel. Perfect place for relaxing, planning and meeting other travellers.

Day 123 Gjumri - Aragatsavan

I knew there would not be any accomodation option between Gyumri and Yerevan. I also knew it was to far for one day. Camping might have been an option if I would get low enough. Fortunately
couchsurfing helped, yeah! Sam, an American Peace Corps volunteer answered me within one hour.
Knowing that I would have a safe & warm place to stay I started the day late and relaxed. Rolling out of Gyumri I spotted a huge statue on a nearby hill - probably Mother Armenia. I rode up there and enjoyed the view over Gyumri and the surrounding mountains. The ride went all along turkish border - still closed. When I was in Armenia 2 years ago there were talks about opening it, but it did not work out - most probably because of Azerbaijanian intervention - at least according to Wikileaks.
Somewhere on the way I found some great ruins beside the road, not signposted. There was a reconstructed church, another ruined church, and a half ruined structure which I interpreted as a caravanserai?
Shortly after I got very close to the border - to the Ani viewpoint. Ani was once the splendid capital of a great Armenian kingdom. Now it lies in ruins on Turkish territory just behind the border. If the coin would have decided for going to Eastern Turkey instead of Armenia I would certainly have visited Ani. Now I could only watch it in the distance - from about 6km away only few structures were recognisable. It was still a very nice place.
Back on the main road I saw the top of Ararat hovering above the nearby hills. This was very special to me: after all it was the first thing I had seen before since Budapest !
When I was about 1 hour from arriving in Aragatsavan I heard someone shouting my name and saw an American guy approaching me on a bicycle. Wow, I have never been picked up so far away on this trip. Sam and me rode together to his place. He lives in a typical soviet style block in a once splendid apartment which obviously was not taken care of for a decade or so before he moved in. It did not have running water - all the water had to be carried up in buckets from the downstairs neighbour. Sam is teaching english in a nearby school. He is now well into ther second half of his two year program - I really have to pay my respect to this guy for his endurance !

Day 122 Akhalkalaki - Gyumri

It was cold when I woke up but soon the sun made the day very enjoyable. Most of the day I cycled across a high plain offering sublime views over snow topped mountain ranges. A wonderful farewell to Georgia! On the border everyone was extremely nice - maybe except for a couple of dogs who chased me through no man's land. Getting the Armenian visa was easy: fill some form, change money, pay (3000 Dram = 6 € for 21 days) and off I went. Armenia again ! I have been here before - 2 years ago, travelling with my dad. Back then we did not go to the northwestern corner, so it will take me a bit more time until I am on known ground. The first thing I realized about Armenia: in that corner it is an very empty country - big distances between the villages and inbetween only hills covered with stones and yellowish brownish grass. But it was really nice - along with the clear cold air and the sunshine it really felt like ultimate freedom. In Gyumri I had since accomodation problems: the two hotels I found were full - but I also did not feel like camping at -6°. Fortunately I found another one: Hotel Golden Apricot - the
most expensive hotel on that trip, but it was worth it: Very nice room and I even got served a Golden Apricot Cake and Tea, mmmhhhh.

Day 121 Akhalcikhe - Akhalkalaki

The coin had decided: more of Georgia and all through Armenia.
I started in sunshine along the way that made me think about cycling through more of Georgia. Basically the whole day was the same: cycling along a river through a deep gorge. But even though there was not much change throughout the day it was utterly beautiful. Most of the trees on the river wore their yellow autumn dress and some bushes on the slopes stood out with a bright red. Temperatures were close to freezing, but most times the sun saved me from feeling the cold.Only in late afternoon it got cloudy and about 2km before arriving in Akhalkalaki some snow began to fall. I found shelter under the roof of a defunct gas station and used the time to clean my bicycle - very much necessary after the wild ride over the mountains some days ago. 2 truckers joined me under the roof and offered me a place in the warmth of their truck - as the snow had stopped I refused and cycled up to Akhalkalaki. The city itself is not very impressive but the location is stunning: on the edge of a high plain with views to snowtopped mountains on all sides. After skipping an overpriced russian owned hotel with unfriendly staff I found a place at Hotel Ararat - as the names suggests run by an very hospitable Armenian and offering views to a particularly beautiful mountain.

Day 120 Akhalcikhe - Vardzia - Akhalcikhe

Georgia won't let me go.
I started early for a taxi trip to nearby monasteries, castles and the cave city of Vardzia with Ivan. After 30+ years of travelling to 160+ countries he is quite experienced in negotiating in unknown languages. We had the names of the places we wanted to see written down in Georgian script and soon found a taxi driver who would drive us there for a reasonable price.
It was foggy when we started but soon the sun came out. And a thought started to develop in my mind: The road looked like a very nice road for cycling... Along a wild river in a beautiful gorge, very good road, not much traffic, nowhere too steep. But it was the way to Armenia. However Armenia also has a border with Iran. Mmmmhhh, but if I would take this way I would miss Turkish Kurdistan. I decided to postpone the decision until the evening.
The first stop was Khertvisi castle.
We had the castle for ourselves (not counting some goats) and I was surprised to find a nearby sign showing cycle paths ! In the end these turned out to be the normal roads, but it is still great that cyclists were thought of.
We continued to the cave city of Vardzia. I was wrong yesterday: it is not an underground city but a city of caves dug into a cliff. After just coming from cappadocia and seeing places like Petra (Jordan) and Lalibela (Ethiopia) some years ago it did not look overly impressive to me on first sight but it turned out to be a nice place which was fun to explore. In the splendidly painted main church a baptism was prepared but we felt a bit like intruders and did not stay for the ceremony. An italian women, also a seasoned traveller crossed our path and we offered her a lift to a nearby nunnery. The taxi stopped at a gate and we saw two nuns working guarded by a huge white dog. They waved us in and the dog turned out to be a very bad watchdog - just happily befriending every stranger. A short walk up the hill the main nunnery appeared and we were shown the way to the church. I was amazed to rediscover some symbolism I know from Ethiopian churches: 3 windows depicting the crucifixion of Jesus and the guy to his right going up to heaven while the guy to his right went down to hell for eternal suffering. Inside the church featured some magnificant frescoes. However I was more impressed by the nuns - in the rare case of seeing a nun in Germany she is always very old. Here the nuns were mostly young and some really beautyful. I know that their dress is supposed to make them unattractive but it did not work in my case - real beauty is in the movement of the body, in a look, in a smile and this cannot be hidden (ok, a burka might work for some of this, but that's nothing I would recommend).
On the way back we visited another small cave dwelling before we took the bumpy dirt road up to a monastery hidden in the woods. When we arrived a bunch of novices were playing volleyball. After coming from Turkey it is nice to see such old christian places being alive. The monastery was a very peaceful place, especially in the late afternoon when we arrived. Once again it offered a beautifully painted church but the most beautiful aspect was the location high in the mountains, in the woods, offering great views into the valleys and snowtopped mountains far away.

When we got back to Akhalcikhe I checked the way through Armenia in the Internet and found out that it is very well possible. Mmmmh, how to decide ? There is only one way: Toss a coin. I still had a Turkish 1 lira coin left, so: "1" for Armenia, Ataturk for Turkey. And the winner was: "1" !!!