Saturday, October 11, 2014

A QUICK WORD FROM THE CAUCASUS

Greetings from the Caucasus. When I last wrote I was in Azerbaijan. Now, have a couple of days in Tbilisi, I'm in Yerevan, capital of Armenia. The battles between Azerbaijan and Armenia mean that there is no border crossing between the two, so it's necessary to go via Georgia. And that is not a hardship, of course!
After days of cold and rain or cloud, things started to clear two days ago and today is warm and sunny. I saw Mount Ararat clearly for this first time this morning, on a drive out of town to Garni...and it floated like a mirage, well over 5000 metres, in the eastern sky, its little brother mountain, a perfect volcanic cone, to the south.
There's so much to say, but somehow, in the middle of being astonished at everything from the History Museum to the landscape, to the generous hospitality of a village family I met yesterday, I don't know where to start. After a mere two days here I feel overloaded with impressions, including music, art, food and drink (some incredible home made cognac last night, and homemade mulberry vodka too), as well as history, politics, and layers of language.
So I'll just keep this short, for now, and say that if you are thinking of travel, do consider a trip to Armenia and Georgia, and to Azerbaijan too...

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