Rugged Roads, Revolutions, and Reunions

Apologies for the long delay between posts...our heads and hearts are full of adventure so being behind a screen to capture it all has been less than desirable!  We had a 2 night, 3 day excursion back on the Harout Bus to explore another side of Armenia. 

On the Harout Bus

   We started just outside of Yerevan at Khor Virap, which delivers the best view of our dear mountain Ararat.  The Armenians feel deep pride in this mountain though the wound of its location just beyond the Turkish border is always fresh.  Sevan will explain more about this from his perspective. 

Ararat aka Massis

We then traveled beyond Khor Virap, over the hills and through the lush and rugged rocky terrain to the Independent Republic of Nagorno Karabakh.  The story of that nation is worth reading and the BBC has done a nice job of explaining the gist here:  http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-18270325.  

 None of it (or this) will capture what it feels like to live in this region, but what little we saw was gorgeous, rich, and clearly worth fighting for.  

Sign leading to Nagorno Karabakh, "Azad Artzagh Voghchumon-eh Kez" Translation: A Free Karabagh Welcomes You

Steppanakert Sunset, capital of NKR

Valley over Karabakh

Mamig and Babig Statue overlooking Steppanakert

From there we traveled another few hours to the most familiar place to me (and Chaghig and Trey) in Armenia, the 600 person village of Datev.  The road to Datev, 14 years ago, was primarily dirt with hairpin turns so tight that when you looked out the window, all you saw was the bottom of the gorge.  We lived there for 3 weeks in 2001 while on a school renovation project trip with Land and Culture Organization. 

The old crew back together again in front of the school we helped renovate in 2001

 The road has changed quite a bit, save for the last 5km, which didn't get the upgrade that the rest did. 

That windy road is the only way up on 4 (sometimes 3) wheels

 There is also an aerial tramway (the longest in the world) that saves you the hour long curvy road, if you're willing to fly 1,050 ft above the canyon for 12 minutes.  But Chaghig and I call that "cheating".  Of course, we did it on the return trip just to have the experience and it was certainly worth it! Amar will write about this in her post.

I can't describe what it felt like to be back in Datev, only to say it felt like coming home to a place that we knew so well for a brief moment in time.  Very little has changed in the village itself, though it has more commercial activity than we'd ever seen and the tramway brings daytime foot traffic and curiosity. The highlight was being hosted by Tamara and Gayane, friends we made 14 years ago and who we've been able to keep in touch with through their daughter/sister, Lena who lives in Walnut Creek and attends the same Armenian school as the Walkers. We are so fortunate to share time and space with them again in this corner of the earth that feels like you've traveled beyond the moon. Arev will explain our experience in her post. 

Gayane, Chaghig, and Tamara--so happy to see them again!!

From Datev we made our way back to Yerevan via the Areni region where we had the fortune of touring an otherwise restricted site.  Our bus driver, Harout, knows the man who guards the entrance to a famous archaeological dig site where the world's oldest shoe was discovered, leading researchers to dig up the world's oldest winery.  Read about that here: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/01/110111-oldest-wine-press-making-winery-armenia-science-ucla/

Opening to the excavation site...stay out unless you know Armenayik!

Armenayik, very affectionate and very well informed

  Armenayik was our gracious host and Dzovag our gracious translator of archaeological language.   Karek will talk about this in his post. 

 And now, let the children's voices be heard...



Shant, on swimming in Yerevan

One of the hottest days, we took a taxi to a pool at a hotel We swam a lot.  The pool felt really cold. But it was a good kind of cold. We drank milkshakes and we ate pizza!  This was the same pool we went to on Sevan's birthday when he missed it, so this was a make-up day.  The pool was kind of the same as pools at home except the baby pool was colder than the grown-up pool. The grown-up pool was deep all around without any shallow sides.  Overall it was really fun!

Swimming at the Hrazdan Hotel

Today, Armenia is wet!

Quote of the day from Mara, on Eating 
Dzovag asked Mara to check in with her tummy after asking for more food.  Mara looks down and says, "Tummy, is you hungry?"



Sevan on Seeing Ararat:

Before the Genocide, Ararat belonged within the Armenian region and when Turkey took us over, we lost the mountain to them. The Armenians still don't forgive Turkey for this. We took a drive to Khor Virap and as we were driving, I saw Ararat and said "Is that really in Turkey?" and it struck me that I could see the border of Turkey yet know that I am in a different country though it feels like just 50 feet away.  It felt like I was in the same country as Ararat, not in Armenia but also not in Turkey.  Ararat reminded me of Mount Denali in Alaska, which I went to a year before.  The snow lines up on Ararat the same way it does on Denali.  It looks like a statue of some kind in a mountain earth form.  In the hundred year anniversary march for freedom when every Armenian gathered and fought for the rights to our land back, we sang a bunch of chants like "Eastern Turkey is Western Armenia".  I saw that written in the side of the mountain which made me think, "Is this the same thing we were chanting about?".  If I could ask Ararat a question, I would ask it did you feel better in Armenia or do you now feel better in Turkey?   

Today, Armenia is beautiful.

Ararat, Khor Virab, and Medzmama

Arev, on Datev/Tatev

One of my favorite parts of the last few days was finally seeing Tatev, the village that my parents  and Tati, (Hasmig), worked at 14 years ago. They helped tear down part of the­ village school, and we got to go inside the school now and see it. The road to Tatev, (Datev to the Diasperan Armenians), is long, windy, bumpy, and hard, so that was fun(NOT). But it was definitely worth it. 

Panoramic from Datev to the other side of the moon

Tatev is located at the top of a crazy cliff overlooking the Devil’s gorge, which we got to see better from the Wings of Tatev.(More on that later).We stayed with Mama’s,(Chaghig), friend’s B&B. 

 

Selfie with Tamara

The thing about Tatev, is that basically it is exactly what I have always imagined Armenia to be. I know that is kind of mean, but you have to understand, I never hear about Yerevan being extremely technological, or Stepanakert being about as European as you can get. What I hear about is the children in orphanages we are raising money for, or the people on the outskirts of Yerevan living in abandoned boxcars. Also, Armenia is mostly villages, we just have spent way more time in the cities than the villages. Tatev is a village of 600 people, with 80 children who attend the school. 

Walking around the village

The main attraction of the village is the “Wings of Tatev”, the longest arial tramway in the world, as confirmed by Guinness Book of World Records. The other attraction is the vank(church), literally on the cliff. It is very dramatic. 

The view of the monastery from inside the village of Datev

The Arial Tramway was built 3-4 years ago by a Swiss company. It is 3 miles long, and only 12 minutes, but it feels like a lifetime. It is all glass except for the floor, and provides stunning views of rolling green hills, crazy cliffs, and windy roads. (It was particularly fun to see the road we traveled on from above, however from the sky you cannot tell the texture of the pavement, which was the reason for sore bodies the next day). 

The view from the Wings of Datev

All in all, Tatev was particularly enjoyable and hospitable. For some reason I cannot quite place, I got an interesting feeling of recognition and that feeling you get when you arrive home after a tiring day and plop down on your couch and just breath, that is the feeling I got from Tatev. Something about the cool mountain air or the settling sense of calm and quiet me wish we could have spent more time there. Why? Tatev is my couch. 

On the edge of the moon

Today, Armenia is almost gone.  

This is how we used to get our water too...one of the unchanged rituals of Datev

On our way out of town, we ran into Gago, our former host and Datev guide

Amar, on the aerial tramway:

To leave Datev, we had to walk down a path and go and wait for an aerial tramway.  It was a small clear rectangle that held 25 people.  This metal wire was holding it up. It was attached to a rope in the sky.  I felt sort of scared at the beginning and then it was more fun when we got to the middle and I was getting used to it.  I saw the giant hills and the bumpy road and we could see how curvy it was if we drove.  If I could, I would do it again.  

Today, Armenia is flying.

Aerial Tramway

 A blog break for pictures that fit nowhere else otherwise...

Climbing the stairs of Noravank

Walkers with a Sevan photo bomb at Noravank

Karahounge, Armenian Stonehenge, 7500 year old observatory

Karek, on the Areni Cave
I am writing about a cave called Areni 1 or the Bird Cave, partially because my name means rock (KAR-ek) and partially because it was the cave where the oldest winery and the oldest shoe was discovered and lots more wait to be discovered. We got a special tour sort of because Harout, our driver, was a friend of the man caretaking the cave. The cave itself is very big and the archeological dig took a year for one person to dig a four by four foot hole. There were three skeletons, all young women from the age of 14 to 20 and are thought to have been sacrificed in some sort of ritual that involved wine.   

Today, Armenia is dark.

The Areni dig site of the oldest shoe and winery

Our enthusiastic expert and translator

 

We have had more adventures than we could possibly express on this screen but these are just some snapshots of our lives as we traverse the open roads of Armenia. 

Within the next few days, we go our separate ways.  The Walkers will be home by mid-week.  Dzovag and kids will head to France, Switzerland, and Texas to see family.  Medzmama will return home to Beirut to see her mom, sister, and then continue her travels with Jim in Amsterdam. Sevan and I (Hasmig) will stay on one more week in Armenia where we'll be working at a Girls' Leadership and Empowerment camp outside of Gyumri with the NGO Nor Luyce.   

We will try to maintain the blog and add bits and pieces as we make our way out and through this land, understanding that so much of it might not sink in until we are deeply re-engaged in our own lives. 

For now we are humbled and blessed by this opportunity.  While driving the long kilometers between here and there, every so often we would see a cross on the side of the road or a grave stone to mark a tragic loss.  Reminds me of one of my favorite Indigo Girls songs, "All That We Let In":

See those crosses on the side of the road, tied with ribbons in the median; They make me grateful I can go this mile, lay me down and never wake me up again; I don't know where it all begins, and I don't know where it all will end, but we're better off for all that we let in.  

Love for Harout and the Harout bus and our many thanks for a safe delivery