Looking Ahead

Some of the early feedback has made me think it would make sense to map out where we're going and how we plan to get there.

Our original plan was a Stan-focused tour, starting in Baku, Azerbaijan, and taking the ferry across to the Caspian Sea to Turkmenistan, then traveling across the rest of Central Asia in a counter-clockwise direction. But this plan was foiled because I never got an Uzbek visa - they didn't reject me, it seems that they're just holding on to the application until it's no longer valid - which means we couldn't get a Turkmen transit visa, which means the plan was shot. The reason for the Uzbek troubles is my status as a foreign journalist, a type currently unwelcome in Uzbekistan due to the bad press the country gets, even though I applied as a tourist and was not planning to write anything about the place. And even if I did, what negative words could I have to say about such a progressive, enlightened, prosperous nation? (Hope you're reading this, Gulnora.)

Instead, we flew to Yerevan to go around the Caucasus, and now we're starting our Central Asia tour in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, which we have to fly to via Sharjah, in the United Arab Emirates. The detour spoils the narrative cohesion of a purely Silk-Road/former-USSR/peoples-of-the-Turkic-world-themed trip, but at least the beaches are supposed to be nice.

In Tajikistan, we're going to visit some ruins and take the scenic Pamir highway through the mountains to Kyrgyzstan, where we will ride horseback and stay in yurts. Then there's a stop in Almaty, Kazakhstan's Soviet-era capital and biggest city, en route to China, where we plan to take in a Tibetan monastery that's not in Tibet and the army of terra cotta warriors in Xian en route to Beijing. From there, Liz heads back to the US to start her job, but I'll keep going, to Moscow on the train via Mongolia and Siberia.

A Few Days on the Black Sea

As luck would have it, George, a friend of mine from New York was in Georgia with his family at the same time we were (he is originally from Georgia). We met up with him in Gonio, a beautiful beach town on the Black Sea, just north of the Turkish border.


On our second day in Gonio, we took a ride with George and his fam up into the mountains of Adjara to check out a monastery.

Bite It, Russia

Seen on the streets of Tbilisi...

Grandma Crazy

When we arrived in Tbilisi after spending the night on the Georgia-Armenia border, we rented a room in a big house on a hill, recommended by the driver. Besides the other transient guests, a group of Italian journalists, the building housed four generations of Georgians, with an 80+ matriarch. She seemed nice, if a bit senile, when she greeted us with a big hug and a kiss on the forearm (she’s a bit hunched over) but the Italian photographer warned us not to get to close to her. "She's crazy," he whispered.

Grandma Crazy snuck up on us when we were exploring the kitchen and bathroom facilities, and gave us an unsolicited explanation for her hunched back. "When there was the earthquake, I fell down," she said. "My back – broken!" She grabbed my hand and placed it firmly on her right buttock, then dragged it up along a paunch of wrinkly flesh so I could get a good feel for the fracture.

The lady seems to get little attention from her daughter and grand-daughter, and once while we were showering her great-grandsons pushed her on the floor and stole her money. No wonder she takes every chance she gets to hug us, kiss us, and make us touch her in intimate places.

There's really no escaping her. Since our room has a window that opens onto the common area, she can just stick her head in and talk at us whenever she wants.



Look out! It’s Grandma Crazy.

Jesus 'gnac

Armenia's two favorite things - Christ and cognac - together at last.

One Good Thing About Armenia

Armenia as a country left us unimpressed (blame it on our domineering and cloying guide, Sam) but there was one great thing about it.



Smooth, refreshing Kotayk beer. Don't embark on a cross-country drive without it.

Tbilisi: The Capital of Georgia? No, the Capital of Chillax

Note to Selves: Never Spend the Night on a CIS Border

For our last night in Armenia, we had planned on staying the picturesque town of Alaverdi (see below), nestled in the Debed Canyon.


Instead, we somehow let our driver talk us into staying here:



Yes, we spent the night in a motel in the nether regions between the Armenian and Georgian borders. While at first I were taken by the twinge of the exotic that is a CIS border motel, when we were awoken at 1 am by blaring Armenian music, I felt a little differently. We did manage to find a quaint little BYOB joint on the border called the Karavan Cafe:

Coffee or shashlik, anyone?

Haghpat and Sanahin

Before crossing the border into Georgia, we took a detour in Northern Armenia to the Debed Canyon. Sitting high in the hills overlooking the canyon are two monasteries - Haghpat and Sanahin.

It Means Snow

Barf tent in Yerevan

Shootin' Sam

On our second full day in Armenia, we got in a car with Sam, who rented us our apartment, and set off for the countryside to see some ancient hilltop churches: Khor Virap, which offers a view of Mt. Ararat (Armenians say Noah’s Ark went aground there), and Novarkand. As we were crossing Yerevan city limits, Sam confided that he brought his gun and gun license along on the trip, as he does whenever he leaves the city and has a chance to shoot. “I’m crazy about shooting,” he said. “I’m crazy!”

At some point on the way to Novarkand, he spotted eagles perching on the power lines and knew it was time to prove his craziness. He loaded the gun and climbed out of the car.



He cocks the rifle, but the bird flies away from its perch on the power line before he can shoot.

“When I leave car he is flight. I cannot shoot his flight! He is clever.”

This happens three times, at 10 minute intervals. After the third miss Liz whispers: “He’s not very good at this, is he?”

But Sam has a trick up his sleeve.




“When I do not leave car, he not know I am shooting.”

Sam shoots. The eagle tumbles from the power line.



“He not clever – I am clever!”



“Hey! I am killer!”

BAD

Head for the Hills

Truth be told, Brian and I were not huge fans of Yerevan. However, once we got out of the city, we found many reasons to heart this southern bulwark of Christianity. Exhibit 1: Khor Virap. The birthplace of Christianity in Armenia, Khor Vimp is a picturesque monastery set high atop a hill with a breathtaking view of Mount Ararat.

Unfortunately, it was a hazy day and the view of Mt. Ararat was obscured...

Later that day we headed farther south for Noravank, a monastery set high in the rugged canyons of southern Armenia.

And what day of touring various houses of the lord would be complete without a visit to a winery for a little sampling of Jesus's beverage of choice?