Thor's Outdoors!: Visit to Caucasus

Crossing the border to behold the mighty Ararat - July 11th

After a full nights sleep we had a relaxing morning and after some breakfast all was set for our trip down to Armenia. The front bumper of the car had been removed to be repainted after some scratches, but it was replaced onto the car again in time for our trip. We didn’t want to risk any questions about if we’d had an accident, when crossing the border. Our start was delayed a bit, someone decided quite late to take a shower (cough cough) so we didn’t leave the apartment until about 12:30. We drove through town and I realised there was a lot of Tbilisi I had yet to see, but that would have to be another day. The road took us past Rustavi and after about an hour we were at the border. Before crossing the border we stopped to buy some fruit at a roadside stand, and I tried a very strange fruit that the seller called a Georgian pomegranate. It was bright orange and very warty, and when opened it had bright red sticky seeds inside to be eaten. Found out later that it is a sour gourd, but to me it looked like it was from outer space! We had to get out of the car and first go through a Georgian checkpoint getting an exit stamp, then over the bridge into Armenia and stand in line again for the entrance stamp. The lines were long, the sun was hot, everyone seemed a bit frustrated. And it took even longer for my father driving the car through, because once in Armenia you had to not only register the car as being in the country, but also arrange local insurance which took a long time. We must have spent nearly 2 hours at the checkpoint. At last we could continue and the first hour or so we traveled along a river through a narrow valley with towns dominated by old steel mills and abandoned ten story factory buildings with broken windows. These were strong reminders of the Soviet era, when ore would be transported enormous distances to be processed into steel far away from the mines, it seems on purpose to ensure that no one region was self-sufficient and would remain dependant on the union. My father told a story about his first job and how his life was affected by cheap step. He was working for AEG putting together a tender for a project in Iceland, but a competing offer from the USSR won because they were much cheaper. They could not set an appropriate value on steel because steel in the USSR had no real price. And thus the project wasn’t given to AEG and my father did not move home to Iceland and instead started his nomadic lifestyle living abroad. We eventually made it up and out of the valley to Spitak where we stopped for some delicious kebabs in a small cafe. I tried the Armenian Tarragon soda there but it was nowhere near as good as the one in Georgia. It was cool watching the bakers in the town making the traditional flat bread too, working in an assembly line, tossing the dough in the air and through special ovens.

Fresh hazelnuts for sale at the border!

The crazy fruit (sour gourd) that the salesman tried to tell us was a 'Georgian pomegranate'

Armenians know how to pack their cars effectively!

Crummy photo of what looks like an old Soviet era steel mill - with strange ore chute at the top of the mountain

Shortly after Spitak we got to the Spitak pass and beyond there the landscape changed quite drastically. In front of us was a vast plain, all green from the fields and with smaller hills here and there. It was quite stunning! We continued on as evening was drawing close, and passed the giant Mt. Aragats which unfortunately was obscured by clouds. It provided some foreshadowing though, because as we got closer to Yerevan, through the haze we suddenly were able to see the outline of the absolutely massive Mt. Ararat! The mythic mountain from the biblical story of Noah, that completely dominates the horizon and without much surprise is featured in a lot of Armenian logos, product names etc. Yerevan was really fantastic! A modern, organised, bustling city. After checking into the hotel it was already quite late but we had time for a walk, some drinks outside and then dinner. One astonishing thing though was the abundance of references to the Armenian genocide of 1915. There were banners and posters everywhere, even people wearing t-shirts like a fashion statement. Everything in English as well. Gave me the feeling that some powerful force is behind all this, and given all the merchandise, the uneasy feeling that people may be profiting off of this tragic event.

The beautiful open plain beyond Spitak pass

Cattle blocking the roads in Armenia

Armenian waterfights! - July 12th

I woke up early and finally went out for a run after several days off. The streets were quiet and mostly empty as I headed north and climbed the stairs of the cascade complex that dominates the northern area of downtown Yerevan. There were all kinds of sculptures, including several by the Colombian artist Botero, and a series of fountains not yet in use, but which definitely will be a sight to behold once complete. As I ran to the top I looked forward to the view of Ararat, but unfortunately the smog and haze did not allow for any such view. Later, after a leisurely breakfast the four of us packed up, checked out, and went out for a walk before leaving the city. It quickly became apparent that there was some kind of water throwing festival exactly this day when we happened to be in town! Turns out this is a ancient pagan festival called Vardavar held every year 14 weeks after Easter. People were emptying buckets of water from their balconies, and teenagers were prowling the streets with super soakers. We sought refuge at a cafe to have some fresh juice (which turned out to be quite terrible) and then when the coast was clear got all the way back to the cascade stairs with minimal drenching. Turns out the cascade complex had an interior part also, with a music hall, exhibit spaces and a gift shop. Amanda bought a beautiful necklace with a pendant shaped like a pomegranate. Now it was midday and since it was midsummer also quite hot. So all the city seemed to be out looking to get others wet. As obvious tourists, everyone was excited to spray us and after some early evasive manoeuvres we eventually had to resign to the reality that we would get soaked. The central square was just mayhem, as firemen had filled a pool with water and people were everywhere spraying each other. If only we’d known and been better prepared! We had to get going though and finally made it to the car, quickly changing out of our wet clothes before driving out. We took the road north east this time, and passed endless stands selling swimsuits and blowup toys, as this was the road to Lake Sevan. This is the place people from Yerevan go on the weekends to swim, camp, and eat on the shore of what must be the largest lake in the Caucasus region. We stopped there for lunch and had another delicious meal, but it was devoured quickly as the wind was strong and cold by the lake. We hit the road again, and this time a tunnel brought us through the mountains back away from the arid south-central section of Armenia to the wooded cooler north. After a couple of hours more we approached the border to Azerbaijan and stopped at an outlook where there recently had been built a military outlook point where soldiers could point their weapons directly at the border. The drive was longer than expected and we had to keep going, getting back to the border which again took nearly two hours. It was getting dark as we approached Tbilisi and once in the city poor lighting, road construction, and crazy macho drivers made the drive a bit less than comfortable. We were even pulled over for some apparent infraction, but allowed to continue on after protesting about the state of the roads! The police were calm, respectful and rather kind though, leaving a very good impression. As we finally arrived back at the apartment, it was time to pack up again as the flight back was already leaving in a few hours.

The cascade complex in northern downtown Yerevan

Unfortunately no sight of Ararat in this panorama of Yerevan

Armenians HEART PT cruisers!

There's Ararat!

Only photo I got of the water throwing people - it was mayhem though!

Local beer at Lake Sevan

Delicious fish kebab at lake sevan!

Military pillbox looking out towards Azerbaijan

Adventures in Sigulda - July 13th

After perhaps two hours of sleep, we drove off to the airport and had to say goodbye to my father and Maia. Next time we’ll see each other is… October maybe? Or next spring? The flight to Riga was full of Zzzzs, and thankfully so as I had another full days layover to spend in Latvia. This time I took the bus into town and then after some delicious pierogis for breakfast jumped on another bus due east for about an hour to the town of Sigulda next to the Gaujas national park. The sun was shining, and the town seemed extremely well prepared for tourists! Right across from the station was a bike shop with the awesome name ‘Okej’ where I rented another bike for the day. After rolling through town for a bit, I rode down and across the gorge where the river Gaujas flows, into the national park. I was eager to see the cave I’d been reading about, but the Gutmanis cave, apparently the largest in the Baltics was quite disappointing. I wouldn’t even call it a real cave, it was more like a dent in the cliff where perhaps 20 people could shelter from the rain if the weather was bad. I got back on the bike and followed a trail along the river, through dense woods, fields and cute little farms. The trails were a bit confusing though and I soon found I’d gone a bit too far but made my own route than instead of the one on the map I had picked up at the tourist information office. This was a lot more fun as the trails would vary from broad bumpy tractor roads to super narrow single track paths and back to smooth hiking trails. My favourite part was the ghostly illuminated tree in a small clearing with branches every which way and no leaves. I soon returned to Sigulda and saw some more sights like the zip line park, a couple of castles and even saw the Russian luge team getting into the team bus after practicing at the local bob sled arena. After a pizza for lunch/dinner and some reading in a park I got back on the bus to Riga. The evening was quite beautiful and I was able to walk around and appreciate the city a lot better this time around! I was still amazed though by how oddly similar Latvian sounded to Swedish, not the actual words but just some of the sounds and melody of the way people spoke. After an hour or so of strolling through the old town, I walked across the main bridge over the river Daugava, and got on the bus to the airport in front of the large pyramid shaped building that is the national library. I was soon back at the airport and safely on my way home to good ole Göteborg!