Barev yntanik’ yev ynkerner!
(Armenian for Hello Family & Friends)
You may have guessed by now that these Caucasus dispatches you’ve received have been sent since we returned home at the end of May! There was no time to put them together with the schedule we had. This is the final Caucasus report, where we learned even more about Russian intrusions, territorial warfare, human suffering, gracious and resilient peoples and excellent cuisine. Oh, and enjoying the company of interesting fellow travelers.
Mid-morning on May 21, we left Tbilisi, Georgia, for a 1.5 hour drive to the Georgia/Armenia border at Sadakhlo, where we encountered some chaos with ill-defined lines into the border crossing station house, creating shoving and crowding. I managed to mildly shove one such invader, who pulled out his official border agent I.D., and to whom I promptly apologized (he was on his way to work). He laughed, understanding the dilemma we all were in. In the station there was a cacophony of sounds/languages, which were exacerbated by the low ceilings, aggravating one of the officials who finally screamed out, in English, “If you don’t quiet down, we will shut down for the day and you’ll have to come back tomorrow”. Silence immediately prevailed! Even with the help of our newest guide, Armine, who introduced herself to us midway through this exasperating experience, it took nearly 2 hours to get through this border crossing.
Climbing aboard our Armenian transport vehicle, we met our newest driver, Aram (no Chacha this time!!). Armenia has a long history going back to 3,500 B.C.E. as “Ancient Armenia”. History lessons started early in the drive toward Armenia’s capital, Yerevan, where we would stay 4 nights. 3 million people live in Armenia today, with another 7 million Armenians living elsewhere in the world, largely as a result of the diaspora created by the genocide we would learn more about along the journey. Taking a shortcut on a dirt road, we passed by the area of their 1st copper smelter (1771) which became almost nothing after the Soviet collapse of 1991, now only having part time production due to pollution concerns.
We arrived at our first major Armenian ‘tourist’ spot, the 976 A.D. Haghpat Monastery in the Lori Province, which remains mostly intact today even after earthquakes and armed forces attacks, its history etched upon its exterior walls and its religious roots being in the Armenian Apostolic Church, one of the most ancient Christian communities. Haghpat (whose name literally means ‘all wall’, being constructed from basalt stones) was the religious and science centre of Lori. We proceeded to be dazzled by cross stones (khachkars) that we would also encounter later at other sites. Here, the Holy Savior cross stone (1273) is believed to possess holy powers. One room we entered had at least 2 dozen holes in the floor, used for hiding manuscripts and food back in the day. At this juncture, we were introduced to color schemes of Armenian culture: Blue & Gold being church colors, symbolizing heavenly paradise; the Armenian flag: Red at the top, signifying wars/blood; Blue in the middle, live peacefully under the sky; Orange at the bottom, apricot (the country’s fruit) and hard work. Before leaving the grounds, we were shown the entrance to a secret passageway that goes down to the Debed River 800 meters below from the edge of this high bluff.
Continuing on to the unique community of Fioletovo, we came across huge boulders and beehives dotting the landscape along this unmarked road, as well as more dystopian hamlets, abandoned homes with pane-less windows. Fioletovo, is a predominantly Molokan village of 1,300, at an elevation of 4,000 feet. Their roots are in Eastern Christianity in the East Slavic lands, “original” Christianity. They are descendants of a sect exiled from tsarist Russia for rejecting Orthodox beliefs, e.g., worshipping icons and not consuming dairy products during fasts (which means no dairy products 200/365 days a year). They are strict adherents of the Bible and have become known sardonically as the “Milk Drinkers”, or “The People Who Drink Too Much Milk”.
We were guests at the home of Natasha (a friendly matronly peasant with head scarf) and her husband, Mikhail (bright blue eyes, smiley face, showing amazing strength in doing pull ups from a bar in the home, which Natasha proudly had him demonstrate). I thought I could match him and failed miserably…not even 1 pull up! Their children have returned to Russia for work, with this couple’s 7 grandchildren. Natasha poured us tea from her Samovar, offering tasty sweet treats concocted at home. The Molokans’ main business is agriculture (e.g., carrots, potatoes, cabbages), so we ventured into their yard, to see 5 beehives (10,000 bees in each), nearby planted fields, the lush and verdant landscape and a bubbling, lazy stream, spanned by a small bridge, and sporting a swing on which Armine was sitting, pushed by its architect and builder, Mikhail.
One attraction we were looking forward to was beautiful Lake Sevan and the 9th Century Sevanavank Church, but clouds and darkness precluded us from viewing clearly or taking meaningful photos at this mountainous location. However, we did have a view of Mt Aragats, the highest mountain in Armenia, at 13,500 feet. We eventually arrived in Yerevan, situated alongside the Hrazdan River, and dubbed the “pink” city due to the shades of Tufa stones used in buildings. Pretty late dinner (10:30 PM, see what I mean about time to write dispatches???) at a restaurant with Armenian folk dancing, very loud music and lots of smoking!!! 7 of us had midnight nightcaps and were in bed by 1:00 AM.
The next morning found us on a driving tour of Yerevan, a city established 29 years before Rome, in 782 B.C.E. We passed a statue of Andrei Sakharov, a Russian Nobel physicist, beloved by Armenians as a promoter of peace and human rights. Another statue celebrated the architect of ‘modern’ Yerevan, Alexander Tamanian (Tamanyan), who reconstructed the city to resemble the neoclassical styles of Paris and St. Petersburg. We climbed the 570+ steps to the top of the Cascade Complex Center for the Arts, at the top of which we captured a great photo of Mt. Ararat above the clouds, in Eastern Turkey, at 16,850 feet, displaying the proximity to Turkey. At the base of the Complex were sculptures, including several by Colombian sculptor Fernando Botero, whose figures in large, exaggerated volume we fell in love with when we were in Bogota.
On the way to the Tsitsernakaberd Genocide Memorial Complex, we were told of the mandate for chess education starting in the 2nd grade…and the focus on IT skills training across the board, which we would discover firsthand at the end of our tour. We would also learn about futbol (soccer)…’born in England, raised in Brazil, died in Armenia’, as Armenia is very bad at this sport... theirs is wrestling!). At the Genocide Complex, we learned of the horrific atrocities of 1915-1922, where 1.5 million Armenians were slaughtered by the Ottomans, resulting in a 38% population reduction. This history appears to have emboldened Hitler, as a quote by him, from 1939, was on display, of his plan to annihilate the Polish people, saying “Who after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?” On our exit from this memorial, was the eternal flame and haunting wailings piped throughout the groves of trees, which were planted by foreign leaders.
Lunch in the afternoon was at a home in the countryside, owned by a woman who hosts a televised cooking show. We learned how to create Dolmas (Maggie rolling the dough with a wooden rolling pin; Stan & Keith cutting meat, placing them in leaves for folding and rolling, along with laughter and animated moves with knives!
Our next stop this day was Vagharshapat, to visit the Etchmiadzin Cathedral, important in that the Kingdom of Armenia was the 1st nation to adopt Chrisitianity as the state religion. This facility was undergoing renovation, beginning 2 years ago, and we could not enter. We were relegated to seeing the treasures in a separate facility, where we saw more of what we had seen elsewhere, e.g., crowns, tapestries, Priest robes and Bishop hats (mitres).
Late in the afternoon we drove south to walk around the ruins of the Zvartnots Temple/Cathedral, a 7th Century, one-time 49 meters tall (160 feet, or 16 stories) edifice, which stood until the end of the 10th century. The decimation of this site is still a question mark…earthquake? Arab invasion removing building cornerstones? It was here we were serenaded by the Zvartnots Quartet, a woman soprano and 3 men (1 of which played a Duduk, an ancient Armenian double reed woodwind made of apricot wood, the fruit of Armenia, and the other men, a tenor and a basso). We bought their CD. It was a bit magical, what with swallows flying around us in the background, amidst grand pillars still standing in the rubble. Finally, back in Yerevan, half of us walked from having happy hour drinks at the hotel to Dargett Craft Beer for our evening meal to cap off a very full day.
Early the next day, we were off on another long day, to the Sergei Parajanov Museum, opening early for us, spending an hour touring this 2 story, cottage-like facility. This turned out to be one of the highlights of this whole trip for Maggie and me, captivated by the almost-Dali-like works of this Armenian icon (1924-1990), showing a few of his collages (one depicting Seattle’s own Space Needle) that he was relegated to making, as he was banned for 15 years from his true passion, film making, which included a 5 years stint in a hard labor camp, starting in 1973, by the Soviets, for “subversive” activities, mostly related to his sexual orientation. During this 15 year ban, Sergei diverted his artistic abilities to producing over 1,400 drawings, collages, and dolls, etc. He resumed film making in 1982. We were so impressed and overwhelmed, we purchased a book of his works (instead of trying to photograph everything displayed in this museum).
Off to the Garni Temple site, 45 minutes SE, passing through one of several landslide areas with destroyed homes (more earthquake remnants), traveling through a walnut-growing area at 5,300 feet. Early afternoon found us at our destination, the 1st Century A.D. Garni Temple, used as a summer residence of the Kings. It had collapsed in 1679 from, hold it, an earthquake!! We walked through reconstructed remnants of the palace bathhouse, off to the side of the temple. 4 rooms, the 1st for hot water, the 2nd for warm water, the 3rd for cold water and the 4th for dressing. We climbed up 15” riser stone stairs to hear the haunting sounds again of Duduk music. Continuing to explore this area, we made our own way down to the Azat River, with the hexagonal rock strips known as the Symphony of Stones and proceeded to drink fresh water from inside the walls and then walked back up this steep grade, working up an appetite.
An hour later we were watching the making of an Armenian diet staple, Lavash (Flatbread), watching the women rolling out the dough, draping it over pillows, then peeling it off, slapping it onto the inside walls of the vertical cylindrical ovens, for 2 minutes. Along with dining on flatbread, we had a delicious sandwich with greens, parsley, tarragon, green onions, fresh herbs and cheese, in addition to trout, potatoes, coffee and small sweet cakes. Sumptuous!!! Today’s drive was a SE counterclockwise journey from Yerevan, whereas the day previous had been a SW one. So, next was a turn eastward to the 4th Century Monastery of Geghard (Armenian for ‘spear’, referencing the spear Jesus was pierced by). This structure resides in the Kotayk Province and is part of the Azat River Gorge, having been partially carved out of a mountain over a period of 40 years. It was founded by Gregory the Illuminator after a ‘sacred’ spring was found inside a nearby cave. The main chapel was built in 1215, through which we accessed a spring-fed pool, sampling the water and moving among small intricately-carved rooms which echoed our voices, showing the great acoustics for acapella singing of Armenian songs! Carvings of lions, bulls, birds and goats along with tiny lit candles casting eerie shadows in a room with a hole at the dome top, reflecting cracks from the aforementioned 1679 earthquake. These candles could also be seen when we were peering through an opening from above on our way out.
This day of touring ended at the Yerevan Brandy Factory (founded in 1887), whose brandies are authentic Armenian, using only local grape varieties that are grown in the unique Ararat Valley microclimate. The tour here ended up at a very long table for the grand finale…a ‘degustation’ of various brandies! Following this, a few of us went to dinner at The Olde House, within walking distance of our hotel…dining on the BBQ platter, wine and enjoying the folk music of a local quartet.
Heading out of Yerevan on our last full day in the Caucasus we saw stork nests on poles along the way, much as Maggie and I had seen in Andalusia Spain and Morocco. Two hours due south from Yerevan would be the Khor Virap Monastery (from Virap nerk’in, meaning deep dungeon or bottom-most pit) on the border with Turkey, with a panoramic view of the Great & Little Mount Ararats to the west (7 miles apart, 4,000 feet difference in height with the Great at 16, 850 feet in elevation). These 2 mountains are of great sentiment for Armenians since they dwelt within the western borders of Armenia until 100 years ago (1/3 of Turkey was originally Armenian) when boundaries changed with the Treaty of Kars. We found out that Khor Virap is where Gregory Lusavorich (AKA, Gregory the Illuminator of Geghard fame) was imprisoned for 13 years for refusing to put flowers at the feet of a pagan idol. This prison was a deep pit with poisonous snakes and some of us descended into it down a 20 foot iron ladder into a 4.5 foot wide space, but alas, no snakes!! From the promontory of this edifice we could see the Turkish-Armenian closed border, 300 feet away, with barbed wire fencing and a manned watchtower. The border with Azerbaijan is also closed.
This touring across 3 different countries, with 3 different guides and languages was quite a challenge for us, with their different accents and pronunciations of the English language…this included our own internal challenges with the Brits (and maybe vice-versa)!
Ending this interesting journey, Armine regaled us with stories of courtship and marriage in Armenia, e.g., traditionally the bride moves in to the home of the groom’s parents at the time of marriage. Our ‘good-bye’ dinner at Dolmama, which was highlighted in one of Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown episodes and had helped in attracting us to this region of the world before Dick put this tour in front of us for consideration. Here, the owner picked his favorites for us; Maggie and I put the entire bill on the last allowed usage of our remaining credit card, to get cash from the others to carry us the next 5 days, as we would end this trip in Honolulu to celebrate Jordan’s 38th birthday. We had had all our credit cards compromised after our 2nd day in Yerevan, as were our checking accounts with BECU and both our email accounts, which left us in the lurch. Come to find out later that Armenia is known for its underground schools of electronic hacking!!! They have an excellent program. We can attest to that!!!
We visited the National Museum of Armenia on our last day in the Caucasus, where Maggie and I were held in awe by the following poem from Hovhannes Tumanyan (Toumaniah), a noted Armenian Poet (1869-1923) that encapsulated the hopefulness and resilience of nations under the thumb of oppressors:
“The way was heavy and the night was dark
And yet we survived
Both sorrow and gloom.
Through the ages we go and gaze at the
Stark steep heights of our land –The Armenian Highlands.
And we gaze with dolorous, longing eyes
At the earth in its gloom, at the distant
Stars; Ah, when will the dawn break at last over our green Armenian Highlands?”
On this note, here’s to our future, Stan & Maggie