Day 28: First contact… 👽🛸👾
12.–13. Mai in Armenien ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C
Our hosts served up a wonderful breakfast this morning! The omelette is genuinely one of the best I’ve had - it had this kind of sausage in it that made it soooooo tasty! 🤤 Breakfast in Armenia typically comes with black or herbal tea, and they do this delicious thing where they mix (what we think are) sugared fruit preserves into the tea… This concoction, seemingly no matter the fruit flavour, is genuinely one of the best things I’ve ever encountered! I’ve never been a huge tea drinker, but pair tea with this fruit preserve stuff and I will drink an entire pot 😝 IT IS SOOOOOO YUM!!!!!!!! 😍😍😍 We will definitely be bringing this idea back to NZ and sharing it around!!
We really took our time getting ready to go this morning. Today was only going to be 12km, and the terrain wasn’t going to be arduous - aside from the first 4.5km climb out of Odzun. It’s so lovely when days like this occur, when we can really slow down and appreciate the littler moments - like the tea in our cups 🥰 Also, after doing 3 x 21km days in a row, being faced with a 12km day feels like nothing, so there was no real rush 🤣
In saying that, the climb out of Odzun did feel laborious 😅 Before we’d even left the town it started raining lightly on us, but even so it was still really warm. Halfway up the hill, I actually took off the bottom half of my pant legs, so I wore shorts for the first time since leaving NZ! My legs felt wonderfully free, and much cooler 🤗
Once that initial climb was out of the way 😮💨, our path moved into the forest. Again, this forest was very pretty and full of life! It took us almost all the way to Hagvi, but before descending to the little town we crossed a large paddock that had a group of shepherds in the middle eating lunch. We walked over and said hello, and in reply to their enquiry, let them know we were walking to Sedvi and then tomorrow to Sanahin. The shepherds asked if we had enough food and water. We assured them we had enough to continue with, and said our goodbyes. How lovely! Their lack of concern about our walk to Sedvi told us that we probably didn’t have to worry too much about sheepdogs, etc. So that was also nice!
As we were passing through Hagvi, Ben and I commented on how different the towns are in the north of Armenia compared to the south. There’s not nearly as much dilapidation here north as there is south! And a lot of the towns are paved - Odzun even sometimes had footpaths!! 🤯 Luxury!! 💅🏼
THEN, two people appeared before us - walking - who also had packs on their backs. *Jaw drop* - had we really stumbled across some other hikers?! 😱 As they got closer we called out hi, and I exclaimed “you are hiking!”, to which they said “yes!”. We then explained that they’re the first actual hikers we’ve seen in the month we’ve been in Armenia! We were so mindblown! Also it was so lovely to have a conversation in English - turns out these two guys are hiking Armenia for 10 days, 160km total, and this was their second day. How epic! We let them know we were hiking the Armenia section of the TCT, which they seemed really excited about! It’s so lovely connecting with people who “get it” 🤗 They were both really enjoying Armenia so far. Tonight they are planning to camp at the monastery ruin just below Odzun! How cool! They said there’s a young English woman a few kms back (or ahead, for us) who is solo hiking that they’d bumped into…apparently she’s really lovely, too! I don’t think I could solo hike here, but I’d love to chat with her about her experience.
Soon after that we found a picnic shelter and stopped for lunch. It had the foundations for a table, but no top, so Ben fashioned one by hauling a big flat-ish stone over. It worked pretty well! Helped us chop up our salami and tomato more easily than usual, anyway!
Then we were back into the forest again. This time there were heaps of these red beetle-like bugs, and they appeared to be engaging in what looked like orgies 😅 We saw so many groups of them just…connected together? Some of them moving, others appearing not alive. I took a photo of one of these groupings and asked google what they were up to. Apparently when it’s cold, these firebugs huddle together to keep each other warm!!!!! This behaviour is actually also an orgy, however, as this grouping thing is also done to speed up the process of fertilising the female’s eggs, so that it takes several hours as opposed to several days W h a t !!!! 🤣🤣🤣
Soon we could hear the rushing of water. Turning a corner we saw that the track ended at the bank of a river crossing. It didn’t look too deep, but the water was moving fast so it was hard to tell. The shoes came off, and we slowly made our way across, using our hiking poles to test the depth for our feet. The deepest it came to for Ben was to his knees, because he is silly 😝 I took a route where I could see shallow rocks the whole time, so the deepest it was for me was just over my ankles 🤪 so no issues there. They’re an interesting challenge, these river crossings, as the water is largely snow melt, so it’s bloody cold! This makes you want to move quickly, as the longer your feet stay in the water, the more painful it gets, but because the water is rushing so quickly, you have to go slowly so as not to lose balance! So…it’s interesting having these two instincts internally fighting with each other and all the while you’re trying to find the next best place for your foot to land! 🤪
On the other side of the river we found ourselves in a grassy meadow of dandelions, either side of which was covered in trees. It was so beautiful we delayed putting our shoes back on so we could just soak it in - I almost dozed off, it was so relaxing and warm under the sun! But we weren’t going to camp here, so it was back on with the already smelly socks and shoes and onward! 🫡
From here the path curled up and around a steep hill, at the top of which we could see the crumbling rampart of a medieval watch tower. We ascended the first slope coming to a flat area with some pretty great views up a valley to our north. Ben proposed setting up camp here, but a quick check of the map said that a little further on was a designated camping area, so we kept on. We could always come back if the other spot wasn’t as good 🤷🏼♀️
During another shoeless river crossing I had the misfortune of my bare foot stepping on some of that plant Ben has dubbed “Armenian death laser weed” because of the intense stabbing pain it causes even from just a quick brush… Perhaps because I stepped into the freezing river water straight afterwards it didn’t effect me as much as it effected Ben the other day! Phew! Would’ve been hard to walk otherwise!). Then we arrived at our designated campsite - or, rather, where it used to be. Now there’s just a collection of old little dilapidated shelters which have mostly been reclaimed by the forest. There are little fire pits strewn about, and even some concrete pits that look like they used to be ponds - or baths! All this was surrounded by fence poles with no wire.
One of the structures was in a little better shape - a raised sleeping cabin. Inside we found some ancient sleeping matresses. We considered sleeping in there rather than setting up the tent and even spent some time using big leaves to wipe away years worth of cobwebs and shoo out some moths, but despite our best efforts it wasn’t going to be a nice spot to sleep. So, we found the flattest ground around (which was not very flat) and pitched the tent.
Then it was time to explore!! Another benefit of short days is when you get to your campsite, you actually have energy to look around!! We ended up walking up to the ruined watchtower, ‘Sedvi castle’. We wandered along the path and had to cross yet another river before climbing up the final part of the slope to reach the top. It was epic! There was a big flat grassy area with a huge stone slab, and a little further along among the trees rose the tower itself - well, what’s left of it. It would’ve been an impressive tower back in its hayday! From up at the tower we had beautiful panoramic views of the area in all directions. We looked over Odzun below us across the canyon, to the mountains south east of us (our path in a few days 🫣🫣🫣🫣🫣), and way to the south more snowy peaks. As we stood around the tower, Ben and I imagined back hundreds of years ago this tower being used to help protect and guard the area. The stone slab back in the grassy meadow may have been used by medieval warriors as a table as they drank mead and traded stories…
Way below us we could make out our tent on its little patch of grass. We then decided up here was a much better spot for camping, so we walked back down, this time leaving our shoes at the riverside, picked up our bags and belongings as well as the entire tent (without packing it down), and carried everything back over the river and up the hill. This time the river crossing was even more cautious as we had some precious and very not waterproof cargo, but we made it safely and only a little while later had our tent set up in a truly spectacular position…quite possibly our coolest camp spot yet, with the ruins of a watchtower right there and panoramic views of the surrounding area…
Since then we’ve had a very cruisy evening. For a while we lay under the sun on the stone slab (which we have decided is the very same stone table that Aslan was sacrificed on in Narnia!), watching the clouds drift by and the light slowly shift into dusk. At one point a very fluffy (and therefore probably poisonous to the touch) caterpillar made its way up the side of the slab and onto the top. I applauded it - this feat it had just undertaken was probably the equivalent to us climbing up the canyon yesterday 😝 I put a leaf in front of it, and it promptly crawled under it, curled up in a ball, and seemed to go to sleep. It was sooooooo cute, but huh? Up to bro? To me this didn’t seem the smartest move for this caterpillar to have made - it was set to start raining and the leaf could be blown away, leaving this caterpillar exposed. What had I done?! I’d made the caterpillar think it was safe under thisesf So I took the leaf, got the caterpillar on to it, and placed it down on the ground, sheltered under the rock…surely it could sleep better there 🤪
We are now holed up in our tent after a downpour of rain, and we are currently being treated to a truly epic lightening show. It must be a hundred miles away, though, as we can see the lightening but can’t hear the thunder - and it’s only lighting up one part of the sky. It’s incredible! This lightening storm has been going on for over half an hour now and the lightening is happening in very very fast succession…so it must be a big one! Very glad it’s not where we are!!
Today has been another wonderful day. Ben and I have once again exclaimed to each other how lucky we are to be doing this hike - how epic it is in so many ways! It’s so so beautiful here! 🥰
Tomorrow we make our way to Sanahin. It’s another shorter day (14km), but a bit more difficult in terms of terrain. Weather is looking similar to the last couple of days - sunny cloudy with a chance of thunderstorms! 🌩️
Hope you’re all going okay! 🩵🥰👽Weiterlesen
Day 29: Old & New
13.–14. Mai in Armenien ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C
(Update mostly written by Ben today, with a few paragraphs and proofreading by Sam lol (note; all references to emotions and all emojis are authored by Sam)).
Waking up this morning at our campsite was epic. The sky was bright blue with the sun almost peaking over the mountain to the East! The storm from last night (some of which had reached us) had left everything SOAKING WET (including quite a bit of our belongings). Luckily, what we needed for the day was dry enough - the rest could be helped later.
A quick wander down to the river for water lead me to bump into a Shepherd. We’d seen him last night (at least I think it was the same guy) with a powerful torch, presumedly looking for something as they were wandering all over. Unfortunately they were still on the hunt this morning - we could only guess that one of his flock must have done a runner. Hopefully the sheep is just being cunning and isn’t in any trouble!
After breakfast it became apparent that Sam was feeling pretty queezy, and had strange pains in her upper abdomen which were also making her mid-back hurt (🧐). We hoped it would go away given time, and were thankful that we had a fairly short day ahead of us. The fact that we had to wait for our tent to dry off a bit in the sun before packing up gave us some time to see if things improved - which they did, a little. The nausea at least managed to turn down a notch.
We set off around 9:30. Our track wound it's way back down from the tower further East and through more dense forest. The views we got through the trees of the other side of the canyon, the pastures and little towns, were really cool. At all times we had butterflies and/or dragonflies fluttering about ahead of us.
About ten minutes into our hike, we bumped into the young English woman the two hikers had talked about yesterday! It seems she has based herself at a hostel and is doing day hikes around the area! She was currently on her way to the monastery just outside Odzun when we came across her. We chatted for quite some time - mostly about how scary the dogs are here in Armenia. Turns out she’d been hiking in Georgia with her friend, previous to being here in Armenia, but they’d been bitten by a dog so had to remain behind to seek vaccines and ongoing treatment 🫣😩😰
The way she described the dog attack was that they’d been far away from this dog, had done nothing to provoke it, and this massive thing had just come running up and attacked her friend. She said she gave this dog the boot with her foot. 😰 How awful and terrifying to have gone through something like that!! Hearing this has definitely made Sam and I feel nervous, as we’re just about to head up into the (now snowless but livestock-heavy) mountains where there will be those massive ferocious dogs about… 😰 Yikes! We’ve sent a few prayers up to those above to help us traverse this next part of our hike safely and without any dog bites! 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
In saying that, we’re both really enjoying the hiking (like, really!) but we’re finding that the body aches and pains are coming on a bit more quickly each day! Especially after camping overnight. Sam has been experimenting with adjusting her pack straps (and mine) to try and tease out more comfort. However, one of the biggest factors (we think) exacerbating this is the weight we have both lost over the hike - we now have much less padding to protect us from the heavy weight of our packs!
Once we’d said goodbye to the English woman and we’d wished each other well on our journeys, we meandered down the path and passed through a small village. Some of the buildings here are intriguing - they’re small shacks that are clearly hand made. They’re perched on the edges of cliffs (sometimes overhanging them), barely a straight line or right angle to be found, with odd windows and sometimes things like car doors used in place of house doors 😂 Frequently, the roof panels (sheets of corrugated iron) are held down not with nails, but with big rocks. All with million dollar views of the canyon, however! Not much else is needed, apparently 😜
It was also interesting to experience how the climate changes with elevation. We left the pine and oak forest above and entered a much warmer, lower area. Different varieties of trees surrounded us - wild fig trees, big droopy purple iris-like flowers, and red poppies all grew among tall bushes of teeny yellow or blue flowers. As beautiful as it was, I was a bit sad that none of the fruit (figs, apricots, strawberries or blackberries) were ripe this early in spring 😔
Next we dropped down onto a main highway and walked along under the sweltering heat and humidity to the town of Alaverdi. It’s quite a bustling place that follows the bottom of the canyon and river for a time. It was here that we reached our lowest point of elevation in a month: 700m above sea level. Much of the walk was past what we think used to be a smelting plant of some sort. Big concrete husks surrounded a massive chimney up on a hill overlooking the town. Upon reaching a cluster of fruit markets, Sam, being absolutely famished, insisted on stopping for strawberries, and then insisted on buying 15 of them. She was incredulous at my doubt that she’d be able to eat them all before our big climb up to Sanahin. She assured me I need not worry - the strawberries would be demolished 🫡
We found a small park by the river for lunch, just before the medieval bridge that marked the start of our 500m ascent to Sanahin. While we chowed down our sandwiches (and Sam her strawberries - which she did finish and could’ve had more of 🤪), we looked across at this beautiful stone bridge. We are amazed that it is still in tact and perfectly functional - you wouldn’t know it was so many hundreds of years old. Just to our other side was another, newer, bridge. This bridge was a few rusted metal pipes arching over the river with metal steps welded to them. We pondered when and why architecture changed from building such grand beautiful structures that last centuries, ones that become tourist attractions or heritage buildings, to building purely utilitarian and often ugly pieces of shit that after a few years of disuse will look rotten and go to waste. It is sad to see - and this isn’t just here in Armenia.
The thing that pulled us out of our discussion was the weather. While we had sat and talked, the wind had picked up a lot and we could now see dark, heavy clouds moving our way. We packed up quickly and set off. Just as we’d crossed to the other side of the bridge, a tour bus pulled up and a bunch of older people clambered out. They walked down to the park we’d just been in and started taking pictures of the bridge, ignoring the surrounding concrete and steel blocks - case in point.
Big raindrops began falling as we moved up the slow and twisting stairs, which eventually turned into road, then dirt track, then cow track (with many cow pats). It was at the cow track that we finally left the hustle and bustle of Alaverdi behind. The plants enveloped us and did a very good job of blocking the sound from below. It seemed to be just us, the trees, and the daily rumbling of thunder overhead.
We finally made it to the top of the cliff that Sanahin sits on, having just passed through a herd of cows. Then we made our way even higher to our guest house: “Sanahin old & new”. We were curious to see why it was named that. Sam suggested it is literal, perhaps the hosts try to remember the old and embrace/blend with the new. This guesthouse is located at the top of town right beside a beautiful old monastery. Sam and I agreed to explore this once our packs had been dropped off - as long as we also went for coffee 😜
We met our lovely host, were shown our room, they explained that this was the oldest house in the town (other than the church) at 150 years, and then we left to explore. Outside the monastery are a large group of street vendors with various souvenirs and other goods. I was very enticed by large piles of crystals for sale, but Sam only had eyes for COFFEEEEEEEEEEE. Given how Sam had been feeling all day, it seemed like a good pick me up for her to have. Unfortunately, the nearby cafe and street vendors only made Armenian espresso 🤢 They told us that there is only one restaurant in town and it was there that Sam could get a cappuccino. And so it was agreed that after the church we would venture to this cappuccino cafe!
The church was beautiful. It’s a large complex with huge ornately carved crosses around the courtyard - and plenty of smaller ones carved directly into the stonework of the building for good measure. Inside, big vaulted ceilings hover over large engraved slabs of stone underfoot. The amount of effort that must have gone into construction like this is just incredible. They really feel special. Sam said being inside the carved stone walls made her breathe more deeply, and that the coolness of the air felt relieving.
From here we went back to a street merchant who seemed to have taken a liking to us (she kept on giving us free things like lollies, a small cross necklace, some fragrant bees wax, and promised a free Armenian coffee or juice tomorrow if we wanted). We needed a taxi, and this woman’s husband just happened to be right there, so she promptly offered up his services for 200 AMD (about $1 NZD). With him driving and their little daughter in the passenger seat, we set off for the cafe-museum-restaurant (we paid more than $1 when we arrived).
This cafe is built right on and over the towering cliffs, and is part of a ‘cave museum’, too. We sat down, Sam got her coffee (which actually largely cured her ailments), and I got a fresh banana and watermelon juice. We also got a few yummy pastries and spent our time planning out our next few days - as well as what to do when we got back to the UK after leaving Armenia.
Afterwards we went to explore the museum. It is divided into two sections, each in different sections of a large cave network under the town. The first cave leads out to the cliff edge. This one is filled with historic household items Armenian people used to use, and showcased the various tools they had for normal everyday life. A simple museum in an epic setting! We also had a guide who told us a little of the history of the caves use itself.
The second cavern was an odd one - but also epic! There are large salt deposits on the ground and around throughout this cave, and it has been converted into the strangest bar I have ever seen - lots of multi coloured lights were covered in cotton wool (we have no idea why, except maybe to dim the brightness?) illuminated the cavern. There was a drinks bar (empty) at one end and lots of random seats placed around - some carved from the rock itself. All up it created a space for drinking and chatting (in the cold 🥶) as the cave snaked deeper into the cliff. Against the walls were large piles of salt rocks, each looking like a giant block of ice (I licked one to confirm it was indeed salt).
Leaving the cavern we emerged out and into the rain. We made our way back up into town and stopped at almost every supermarkets this place has to offer - we needed to stock up on specific supplies, and not every market has everything to offer (one had bread, another had fruit, another had cheese and salami, and so on…). We are looking at 5 days out in the wops before reaching the next town (Dilijan), so it was important we got what we needed. We slowly ticked off our list (all except for porridge 👀) before heading back to the guest house.
Looking ahead, we actually don’t know what the coming days will bring - aside from higher altitude (that we can finally traverse now that the snow is gone!), and farmer camps. We don’t know, for example, what the phone reception will be like, and we’ll have to be really careful with our phone batteries. This means we won’t be able to post to penguins each day, as that uses up a significant amount of Sam’s phone battery (with the amount of time it takes to write everything up). Sam will hopefully be able to post something to instagram each day, but that’s also reception-dependent.
Soooooo… see you on the flip side, homies! 🫡 Have a lovely rest of your week & weekend 🤗 Big love and hugs, as always! 🩵Weiterlesen
Day 30: Up
14.–15. Mai in Armenien ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
This morning we woke to the most brilliant blue sky we’ve had since arriving in Armenia. Not a cloud in sight! It was going to be a stunner (and a sweater) of a day!!!
We first climbed up through the streets of Sanahin. Along the way, we thought the tourist couple behind us might be following us, so on the pretext of having a drink (it was quite a steep road to climb already!) we stopped and Ben asked them where they’re off to. They said they’re going to the monastery, so we pointed them in the right direction, which was actually back where they’d started - unless they were climbing up to the old monastery way up on the hill! They were definitely not about to do that, so they turned and headed back 😅 We wondered what had made them think we were going to the monastery at 8:30am with big packs on our backs! 🤪
When we reached the old monastery way up on the hill, a shepherd came over and we told him we’re walking to Dilijan! He was surprised, and pointed to the Sanahin monastery, and then another monastery close by. He then arched his arms through the air over his head going “woooooaahhhhhhh” and when they reached the other side he said Dilijan - as if to say it’s very very far away! Ayo (yes in Armenian), it’s very far away!!! He looked at us in disbelief and tutted, shaking his head, as he said goodbye 😅 We loved the vote of confidence 🤣
Even at 9am the sun was b e a t i n g down! ☀️ Ben and I had worked up a solid sweat just walking up to the old monastery, and we had about 800m over 16km to go (although most of the climb was concentrated in the first half of the hike). It was a b i g hike getting up into those mountains! We zig zagged up and up and up. It was killer (and you can imagine the sweat!!!), but we really enjoyed seeing the towns disappear behind us! Goodbye civilisation! See you in 5 days! 🫡
We also really enjoyed the views becoming bigger and more expansive across the land. The higher we climbed, the more epic the views became, until we had a 360degree view of the surrounding forest, mountains, valleys, the Debed Canyon, and various towns dotted about the place. We could even see Odzun! It’s a big town, but from way up there it looked so small! We felt like we’d climbed up so high already, but even at that point we weren’t even halfway 🤪😅 bloody hell!
Alongside gasping for oxygen as we climbed all day, we also took note of the different prints in the dirt and the types of poop we saw. We saw a lot of horse and cow poo and prints, but no sign of dogs. This was strange to us - surely the dogs would go up with the cows? Unless the cows were still coming back down for the night…but surely they wouldn’t come up this high just to go back down later the same day? 🤔 When we did eventually find some massive dog prints 🫣 they were going in the opposite direction - phew! 😮💨 To us this meant we possibly didn’t need to worry too much about dogs - at least not for today, and perhaps not tomorrow either.
Just before we stopped for lunch, a fox darted away across a field - it was a ginger fox, too! Before being here in Armenia I’d never seen a fox before, and the only foxes I’d read stories about as a child tended to be ginger! Like Basil Brush, for example 🥹 So I found it quite exciting seeing a real ginger fox! 🦊🤓
As we made our way, at one point we came to a shelter. Inside we found - of course - some shot glasses! Often at water fountains, shelters, or campsites Armenians often leave behind things to make use of - string, fire lighters, cups. Here, they obviously felt shot glasses were the appropriate thing to leave! 😂
We eventually came to some horses - there were 5 of them. 2 females, 2 foals, and 1 male. The male stayed close to the track, eyeing us as we approached. We think he was standing guard to ensure we didn’t do anything silly towards them! The females with their foals were really cute! The foals were swishy and proud. It was lovely to see such healthy animals. Oftentimes, the animals which are “owned” by humans here look in need of a bit of TLC. These wild horses in comparison were gorgeous!!
After a TIME the track levelled out a bit and the uphill was less steep. This is also when we left the big views for farmland with scattered patches of oak forest. From there it was undulating terrain, but nowhere near as steep as the first 8-9km. Thank gods 😮💨 It was along one of the farm 4WD tracks that a jeep came along with a dog running behind. We actually got the bear spray ready - we’re not risking being bitten by a dog! Just a reminder, as it does seem extreme to be ready with bear spray - the dogs here are NOT friendly 99% of the time (if they’re owned by humans). They’re extremely aggressive. We weren’t taking our chances with an unleashed dog 😬 This particular dog turned out to be a beautiful and well-cared for collie who didn’t care about us at all. This was a big surprise to us! We’d expected a giant dog that would bark and snarl at us, and we expected for it to have to be called off by the people in the jeep so it didn’t attack. So that was nice. Great to have a neutral encounter with a dog every now and then 😂🙏
Soon after that we heard this engine revving sound. It sounded like a truck having a very bad time. We presumed it was probably trying to get up the very muddy and steep 4WD track beside us that went down into the forested valley. This track had grooves in it that were about a metre deep! Can’t imagine what it was like further down The truck sounded awful! Loud and struggling and revving. We also presumed it was one of those old Soviet trucks we see so often here! And whattaya know - all of our presumptions were spot on! We actually waited for it to come into view, such was our curiosity! It was reeeeeeeeeally struggling in the mud 🫣 but at the speed of a very fast snail, and with the sound of a small volcanic eruption, it finally got to the top 🫡
After yet another climb, during which an icy wind picked up and clouds came over 🥶, we finally rounded a corner and the farmer’s camp that marked our finish for the day finally came into view. THANK. HEAVENS. 🙏 At this point, there was thunder happening and the weather seemed to be packing in significantly. There was a building at this farmer’s camp that had been marked as a public shelter on the map - but upon entering the very warm, not muddy, homely room, it became clear that this was a private shelter for farmers - not for the public or tourists like us. So we put our sad tails between our legs and headed back out into the wind and cold - such a dramatic temperature change from how our day had begun!
We had a pretty challenging time just trying to find a flat, rockless, shitless, at least semi-sheltered, and snake-free place to pitch our tent (we saw a couple of little snakes 🐍 whilst looking!). Eventually we found a spot that ticked all the boxes - it was off the “main” track, too (although it was on a ledge that rolled steeply down into the valley below)! Finding this spot turned out to be a blessing, as later that night a car quite literally ZOOMED over the original spot we’d almost pitched our tent on! 🫣 Our assumption that nobody would be mental enough to drive around here at night was clearly wrong 😂 Someone up above was looking out for us 🙏
After we’d pitched our tent, the sun actually came out for its final hoorah, and this made all the difference in the world to the temperature - it made it so it was enjoyable to sit outside on the grass! ☀️ Then it was time to organise dinner. After such a big day, we decided to use 2 of our still-existing dehydrated meals. Armenia doesn’t sell these, and we never figured out how to organise a food drop to pick up during our hike, so we’ve had to be quite strategic in how we’ve used them. Our strategy has looked like saving them for the harder days, either when we really haven’t felt like doing much else after a day of hiking, or when the weather is just crap and we need an easy meal. Today fell into the “I cbf doing dishes and just want to rest” category! I actually ate my all-time favourite “roast lamb & mashed potato” meal that I’ve been saving up for the right moment! It was sooooooo goooooood! 🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤 The thought of it definitely got me through that last climb!!!
One thing we noticed today is there were barely any places where we could fill up on water. A lot of the water fountains up here aren’t yet turned on, and the little streams just felt a bit too dodgy - even with our UV cleaner thing. So that might suggest we need to be careful with water throughout this traverse! It’s about 9km to the first water fountain tomorrow, so hopefully it’s running! (We did manage to collect water today at a running fountain, and we’ve carried a LOT up with us since then! So we’re fine for now).
According to the weather info we looked at back in Sanahin, we’re in for a pretty good bout of sunny days! So that’s cool 😎 There’s no reception here to check for changes, however, so we’ll see what we wake up to!
Day 1 of this mountain hike done! 4 to go!
🫡🩵🙏Weiterlesen
Day 31: Bulls & Stallions 💅🏼
15.–16. Mai in Armenien ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
Last night, our tent was lashed with rain and at times hit by some reasonable gusts of wind. Because of this, we (particularly I) didn’t have the best sleep. It was loud, and for a time I worried that the wind might become too much. Thankfully it didn’t, and it died down some time in the early hours!
We got up this morning to weather that was very gloomy with a lot of lowwwww cloud. But…the weather report had forecast good weather??? What was going on? 😂 Everything was sssooooo w e t! Not much could be done about it, however (we were just thankful it wasn’t raining right this moment), so we went about our usual breakfast and pack down routine, hoping we’d be able to dry the tents out later 🫡
From camp, we marched up and up - further still than yesterday!!! We even went past some bits of snow 🫣 The views were beautiful, as per usual, we just had swirling ominous clouds threatening to unleash on us - until they finally did! And just as we were about to step off the 4WD track and onto a sheep’s trail that would take us around the mountain (instead of continuing up), that’s when the crazy wind started! So at that point and for quite some time after, we had horizontal rain and wind battering us on the mountain slope 😅 I didn’t much enjoy myself, but Ben had a fabulous time 😝🤪 We finally went over a ridge and found ourselves sheltered from the elements on the other side 😮💨 And then it cleared away! Almost completely! Huh? The weather really said PSYCH 🤪🤣
After that we enjoyed looking at the cloud formations around the mountain as we walked, and of course the views that were returning as the cloud lifted - so wonderful! We both had a lot of fun, then, taking epic photos, looking at the views, and enjoying the sun that had started peeking out! ⛅️
So we’d climbed up, and now we had to head back down. As we descended under the increasingly warm weather, we came to a valley-like area. All over this valley were herds of cows! We nervously made our way across the plain - watching for any signs of dogs. Eventually we came to the conclusion that there were no dogs, only cows - breathed a sigh of relief there 😮💨 Moving over the hill, we came to a group of bulls - these are the first bulls we’ve seen in Armenia. I was surprised to see so many! I thought usually farms just had a few bulls, as you don’t need many males to create many babies 🤪, but this one had about 20+ bulls! So maybe I’m wrong, and my thoughts came from seeing a smaller cattle farm 🤔 If you know, please let me know 🤗
So…bulls are a bit more temperamental than cows 😬 As we stood at the top of this hill looking over them, every single bull had stopped what they were doing and was staring at us. As they were standing on and around our path, we decided we’d give them a wide berth. They just kept staring - the whole time we were walking by - just stared and stared at us! It was a little nerve-wracking! Looking back we saw the farmer standing atop the hill we’d just departed, watching us…he was either making sure we didn’t get trampled, or he was ensuring his bulls were safe…or perhaps both 😂 We made it over to the top of the following hill, however, which is where we chose to stop and have a snack.
After that we descended further, and hiked across more farmland. We felt amazed we hadn’t come across any dogs, and wondered why they’re not with the cows? We spoke too soon, however, as we then came to a little farm village that had multiple dogs that were extremely unhappy about our arrival. The first one wasn’t too bad, as a woman came out to shoo it away pretty quickly after it started barking and growling at us. The second group of dogs, however, 😮💨 were interesting. The huge dog immediately got up and started barking and growling and snapping, but it went around to the back of us - which was confusing, as its house/village was in front of us. Did we keep moving forward? Perhaps it went back there as it was slightly uphill? Then another dog came running up, barking and snapping and snarling, too. Ohhhhhhhhmygodd 🫣 This one circled us quite a bit. We kept moving forward, but we felt really unsure what was the best thing to do, as forward was towards more barking dogs - our arrival had literally set them ALL off 🫣 Finally, another woman came out of the shack on the corner and shoo’d the dogs away 🙏🥹 they took a little motivation to go away, especially the second dog that had run over - he seemed really keen to continue the fuss 😅 Once the dogs were thankfully out of the way, we quickly scooted down the drive, said thank you to the woman, crossed the river (not minding if our shoes got wet, we just wanted to get away ASAP), climbed the hill on the other side, and got around the corner so we were out of sight. We kept up a good pace until we felt we were far enough away. Far out man! These dogs! Bloody hell! It’s extremely unpleasant being threatened by aggressive dogs SO often. What we learned from this was that it’s (at least currently) not the herds of cows we need to watch out for, it’s the little villages 😩
Eventually we came to a little shelter by the river. It had a bird carved from stone sitting atop a memorial water fountain - how interesting! We decided we’d stop here for some food, as we were coming up to another little village and we thought perhaps it would help our stress responses to any dogs if we didn’t go in hungry 😅 For lunch we enjoyed yet more lavash with salami, cheese, and tomato. We’ve taken to carrying a fresh tomato with us - it makes such a difference! The salami over here is delicious, too! Can’t get enough of it - puts NZ salami to big shame 🤣
After some food, we thought we’d better get the next village over and done with. However, while this village did have a dog, it looked at us and didn’t care that we’d arrived…huh? How unusual. We walked gingerly by, and then someone called out HELLO from inside the main shack, and a shepherd stepped out. He invited us in for coffee, which we accepted. While the black coffee is gross, it’s lovely to connect with locals and have a chat - perhaps we could even ask what to do when we come across their dogs! However, this shepherd had to go back to work pretty much as soon as we stepped inside, so we were left with his friend/colleague, who didn’t speak any English (and we had no reception so Google translate wasn’t an option), and who seemed relatively unenthused at having to entertain guests 🤣 So it was a bit of a quiet one. We were served large helpings of both coke and coffee (Ben’s soul left him 🤣🤣🤣), which was nice.
Waving goodbye we made tracks again, this time up through a beautiful forest. You really can’t beat forest! Being up on ridges with all the views is cool, but being in a forest just hits totally different. We find we breathe easier and are able to calm down a heap and just be present in the moment. The beautiful forest soon turned to beautiful flower-covered meadows, and the terrain continued undulating across the landscape. Eventually we came to a team of horses. The male horse in particular seemed to be quite defensive. He came over near the track where we were walking and stood, watching us, tail swishing. I don’t know anything about horse body language, but he seemed to be saying “make one wrong move and you’ll be sorry”. We just did our best to continue climbing up the (very steep) hillside!
Eventually, we came to the spot we’d designated as our camp on the map. However, we were so full of (coffee) beans, that we decided we’d continue on another 4km to the next water fountain. So we continued climbing up and up, past more cows. We came to another team of horses, but thankfully at this point it started raining again which drove them away into the trees - didn’t have to face any more defensive males!! Eventually we got over the hill and found a stunningly beautiful place to pitch our tent, on some ground that was mercifully flat and rockless! At this point it had stopped raining again, and the sun was trying to peek through, so it we had a good time setting up tent and readying dinner, etc, with the epic view we had before us!
Can’t believe we’ve been doing this hike thing for a month already! What a wild time.
Hope you’re all going well back home! Lots of love from us, as always! We think of you all often. 🩵Weiterlesen
Day 32: An uninspiring day
16.–17. Mai in Armenien ⋅ 🌧 8 °C
- Woke up to the rain
- Rain
- Rain
- More rain
- Even more rain
- Waiting in tent for rain to subside a little before packing up and moving on
- Got a tiny window to pack up the tent
- 5km to the shelter where we had brunch
- More rain
- In cloud
- No cows
- No dogs
- Many teams of horses
- So much mud
- Shrooms
- Two people drove past and said hello - perhaps they were doing a supply run to stock up food etc in one of the farm outposts
- Undulating terrain all day
- Up
- Down
- Up
- Down
- Farmland
- Mud
- Mud
- MUUUUUUUUD
- Rain
- Cloud
- Mud
- Views of clouds
- Cold
- Cloud
- Wind
- Final climb
- Sooooo much mud
- Too wet and muddy for a tent at the first potential camping spot so went onward a few kms
- Found a rock outcrop by a river but not super great for pegging a tent down, then found a cool garden / paddock with leafless trees and softer ground - and no mud!
- In a cloud
- Very wet
- Very cold
- Had dinner and hot tea inside the tent for the first time (instead of outside)
- It’s only 6:30pm - gonna be a long night 😝
- Not much else to say about today! 😅 Was an uninspiring day for hiking! 🤪 but we made it!Weiterlesen
Day 33: Cuckoo! 🐦
17.–18. Mai in Armenien ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
Before hiking in Armenia, I’d never seen or heard a cuckoo bird before in my life. This is something I now feel grateful for 🤣 Upon hearing the cuckoo for the first time (a few weeks back) I was overjoyed - I actually didn’t even realise the cuckoo bird was real 😅 I thought it was just in children’s stories and that cuckoo clocks were a strange human creation - woops!
So at this point, the cuckoo bird sounded pure and sweet, and brought joy to my hiking experience. After about an hour of the same sound repeated over and over and over in quick succession, never changing in tone or pitch or rhythm, and with it seemingly following us for miles, my attitude took a 180 and the cuckoo began driving me up the wall 🤪 And this, my friends, has brought to me an entirely new understanding of the cuckoo clock 🤡
So this morning, at 5am (sunrise time), when a cuckoo bird landed in one of the trees directly above our tent and began its incessant CUCKOO! CUCKOO! CUCKOO! I was about ready to throw something at it 😅😮💨😭 I swallowed this rage that had been building for weeks, however, and started cuckooing back at it - hoping to scare it off. Unfortunately, it was a clever bird and immediately saw through my plan. It just kept on cuckooing! I tried all the sounds - growling, barking, screeching (if anyone had walked by at this time it would’ve been quite the entertainment (or perhaps a bit disconcerting 👀)), but this bird was not bothered 🤔 Eventually I sighed and resigned myself to the fact that I might just have to get up and go outside 😩 The moment I began unzipping the tent, however, it flew away - THANK GODS!!!! Now I could finally get back to sleep!
A little later we woke to a beautiful blue sky. The sun hit the tent just after 7am, which meant we could set about turning the trees around us into a giant clothes line 😅 Because yesterday had been such a downpour day, a lot of our gear got soaked (the stuff that wasn’t on the inside of our packs anyway). Our tent cover was in particular need of drying, having now protected us for two nights in a row. Because of this, it was past 9am when we actually got to hiking - putting our dry feet & socks back into our still sopping shoes was not a pleasant experience 😅🫣🫠
As we set off for the day (uphill, as per usual), we watched as an eagle soared above, scouring the hillside for food. They’re such majestic creatures, with great wingspan. We hoped to see it dive for prey (perhaps it would spy a mouse or a mole), but it had no such luck at this time.
Eventually we crested the saddle and came to the structure we’d been looking enquiringly up at from our campsite - turns out it’s a gypsy-like trailer turned shelter! How cool! To our right, where our path would take us, we looked out over the Dilijan national park & forest. Woohoooo! No more farmland 🥳 - or so we thought. Soon after descending a way and crossing the boundary into the national park, we realised that there is still much cattle farming going on throughout 😒😩 As we trekked along the little pathways across more plain grassy hillsides, following hoofprints recently made by cows, I found myself feeling increasingly resentful. There was SOOOOOOOO much farmland behind us - why did they have to come into the national park?! Why can’t people respect these boundaries? Where’s the enforcement of national park regulations? Eurgh!!!!! 😡
We’d soooooo been looking forward to getting away from the farmland - not only because of the threat of dogs, but also because it does get a bit tiresome trekking over grassy hill after grassy hill, and only seeing more grassy hills ahead! Ben and I started joking that it’s a national park for cows, that there’s nowhere in Armenia that cows don’t go, and that we’d have to pay a small fee to have a cow removed from our accommodation before we could go in 🤣 - this helped to lighten the mood considerably!
As we hiked across this farmland, we came across the skull of a large animal…it took me a while to figure out which animal skull it was. I looked at it for some time like “it somehow looks different from a cow…it also doesn’t have horns…but what is it that’s different?” and then I looked at the teeth, and how the front teeth were way forward from the back ones, and then it clicked - it’s a horse skull! Omg!
It felt strange and somewhat macabre to come across a horse skull…it’s more common to see cow or sheep skulls as they’re so numerous on farms, but a horse skull? I guess they’re numerous here, too, but it felt much more grim. Perhaps this is because we’re used to the idea of sheep and cows dying - which is also grim 🫤 Ben and I wondered what might’ve happened to cause this horses death. Had it been chased and killed by wolves? Had it died of old age? We found more pieces of its skeleton scattered around the hillside, meaning it had at least been scavenged after death.
After that we trekked along a hillside looking wistfully down at the beautiful forest below, wishing we were in it. Turns out we were actually supposed to be in it 🤣 woops! We’d somehow taken the higher path, so we dropped down the hillside as quickly as possible to join the trees 🌲 How refreshing it was to walk through forest for a time! There was a creek gurgling a bit further down, and listening to the birdsong was peaceful.
Before long we came to the top of yet another ridge. Looking down we could see a few farm buildings and we could hear multiple barking dogs. We actually groaned! We’re feeling pretty over the aggressive and reactive behaviour of dogs here in Armenia. It’s truly taxing being threatened by them almost every day. We continually wish the dogs could differentiate between what is actually a threat (I.e., a bear) and what isn’t (I.e., us!).
As we descended we watched as heaps of people made their way up and past the farmhouses where the barking dogs were. Huh? What was going on? Was there some kind of celebration happening? Eventually we came to a signpost, and not long later were joined by a group of Armenians. We asked them what was happening - they said they’re walking up to Dimatz (pronounced “deematz”), which is a beautiful mountain ridge / line of cliffs. Ben and I had actually been looking across at this line of cliffs all day!
Upon hearing we’d been hiking for a month, this group of Armenians asked us what we liked and didn’t like about Armenia. We said we like the people and Armenian hospitality very much, and that we really didn’t like the behaviour of their dogs. Hearing this, they were confused - “what do you mean? Are there no dogs in NZ?” they asked. We explained that there are many dogs in NZ, but they’re friendly and people like them. At this they were even more confused! So we tried to explain further about the farm dogs and being chased and facing aggression almost everyday, and how it’s not the same in NZ on the everyday level - we generally don’t need to be afraid of dogs in NZ.
Still, this group of Armenians just seemed so confused! Perhaps dog aggression is so normal here they don’t know otherwise and therefore haven’t really thought about how unpleasant it is? Although the strays are nice and they’re aware of this… We don’t know why they don’t see the dog aggression as a valid problem 🤷🏼♀️ We’re told by locals to be careful of the farmdogs in particular, but we’re then questioned as to why we don’t like the behaviour of their dogs 🤣🤣🤣 The math ain’t mathing!
Anyway. 5 minutes later a young Hungarian woman came along, and almost immediately asked us if there are any dogs ahead on the way to Dimatz! She seemed really nervous - probably because of the dogs she’d just walked past. Every encounter we’ve had with someone who isn’t Armenian while hiking has talked about how scary the dogs are and whether or not we know if there are any where they’re going… so… I guess it’s only Armenians who don’t see the dogs as a problem 😅 It’s very interesting.
We slowly made our way down to the hysterical barking (chained) dogs. One of them had basically lost its voice from having barked so much for so long. But it still did its absolute best to do a nut when we went past! The other dog growled at us, and then as we got further away started barking - wtf? 🙄 We’re so over it. Although one thing that’s happened because of our experience with dogs here, is we can now tell the difference between a dog barking that is a stray vs. farmdog, and whether it’s chained or unchained. Stray dogs tend to bark less consistently and at a higher pitch, whereas farmdogs bark like they mean business. An unchained dog barks at slower and seemingly calmer (or perhaps “more calculated” is the right way to put it) intervals, whereas a chained dog is likely to sound more hysterical. Which, when you think about it, all makes complete sense.
After we’d got that over and done with, our thoughts turned to the main event of our day - which was soon coming up. ✨The bakery✨😲🤭🤤 Today we’d pass by Harghartsin Monastery, beside which was a bakery we’d heard much about - it’s well known for its delicious gata, an Armenian dessert thing. After 4 days of camp food, we were sooooooo excited for this bakery!!!!! 🧁 We intended to feast on this gata 🤭🤪
However, we still had a fair few kms to kill plus a waterfall to see before getting there. As we hastily made our way closer to the bakery, we passed through gorgeous forest with big trees. There were many streams flowing through, and much new growth. The path we were following was now well maintained and clearly signposted, which was a welcomed mental break after days of having the complete opposite!
The waterfall is called “the hidden waterfall” - we joked that it’s so hidden it needs a signpost! Then we reached the area where it was supposed to be and there was no waterfall…huh? 🤔 Eventually we found a tiny track (if you could call it that) carved around the rock-side of the river. We followed it around and voila - it really is a hidden waterfall! In the summer it’s said to be a great place for swimming - we didn’t know why it wouldn’t also be good in spring, so we hoped we’d be able to swim, but upon arrival we saw that the waterfall was MAD with the amount of water pumping down it! Really powerful and just smashing the “swimming pool” below - so that’s why it’s not for swimming in spring 💁♀️ Was a bit of a “duh!” moment 🤪
We then hiked an incredibly fast 2km the rest of the way to the bakery. When we came out of the forest we found ourselves almost instantly surrounded by people and cars - woah! After 4 days of not really seeing anyone, this felt quite overwhelming! 😅 We also once again became the sore thumbs that stuck out from the crowd - as muddy and unkempt as we were, this was even more pronounced 🤣🤣🤣 Nonetheless, we joined the queue for the bakery and eventually put in our order. Ben got a fig and walnut gata, with a quince compot, and I got a Brie & apricot jam gata, with a coffee 🤤
Upon taking the first bite of my Brie & apricot jam gata, I basically cried with joy! It was the most delicious thing my tastebuds had experienced in DAAAAAAYS!!! There is no way I can write this that will make any of you understand just how extremely mouth-wateringly delicious this gata is! All of you have to come to Armenia, go to this bakery, and order this gata! IT IS THAT GOOD!!!!! HOLY GATAMOLE!!!!!!!!!! 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯 Gata is a soft biscuit-like cake thing, and my one had a whole circle of Brie freshly baked inside of it, and the apricot jam, which you can put however much of over the top, just perfectly tops it off 💁♀️ oh wow! I shall endeavour to recreate this when back home, but I think the real deal is at this bakery!!!
After eating our fill of gata (Ben actually got 2 and felt sick after 🥴), our focus turned to the massive climb we had left to end the day. It was a 3.5km section up to our campsite, across which we’d gain 470m of altitude 😮💨 She was gonna be STEEP!!! Surprisingly, perhaps because we were armoured with gata (and me with coffee), we absolutely crushed this climb! We booked it up that slope and made it to camp in what felt like no time! And what a beautiful campsite it was, situated on a flat meadow piece of land, mid-mountain (the rest of which we climb first thing tomorrow - we can see our track and it goes up and over the ridge 😮💨).
As we looked around and took in the vast views surrounding us (think layers of mountains, masses of forest, and severe cliffs), on the ridge to our north we could see a little familiar box 🧐. We soon realised it was the Gypsy trailer from this morning! And it’s RIGHT!!! THERE!!! 😅 The trail obviously had us do a loop-de-loop instead of just down and up 🤪 but oh well - this way we got to meet a heap of people, visit an epic monastery, AND enjoy a delicious bakery 😈💁♀️💪
This evening we sat amongst the flowers and cow pats, enjoyed our last mountain dinner (at least for this section), and watched as intense and localised storms passed over the region. At one point I saw a huge bolt of lightning strike a ridge over to the north, leaving a big plumb of smoke or dust rising into the air! 😱 W O W! It was incredible! If it had struck a tree, what tree? There’d only be cinders left. My only hope was that the wind didn’t blow that storm our way 🫣
Shortly after dinner it started to rain - it’s almost like clockwork, now! (With the exception of yesterday 🫣). The mornings are sunny, afternoons cloudy with patches of rain, and it will typically rain harder at night. So we crawled into our tent and called it a day - a very good day! Until… that dang cuckoo bird started up yet AGAIN 🫠 gee-whizz! I think I have an arch nemesis on the rise.
🫡Weiterlesen
ReisenderGet any pics of the bakery treats? Can you show us what your meals look like on an average day?
Day 34: Dilijan Day!
18.–20. Mai in Armenien ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C
This morning we woke to another gorgeous sunrise. Because we were so high up, we could see the whole valley and across to the mountains on the other side. The sky was blue, and the sun rose over the ridge to our left. Witnessing sunrise always feels like such a privilege. Perhaps this is because it’s less common to be awake at this time; it’s more of an effort to be present and welcome in a new day with the sun. It’s special!
Amazingly, everything was dry when we woke up, even at sunrise - we must have climbed above the dew point. This was actually such a relief - waking up to everything being wet from dew generally hasn’t been a huge deal, but waking to everything being dry and warm did make us realise what we’d been missing! 🤪
Also - it’s Dilijan day! 🥳 Our last hike day for this remote section! Today we hike into the city of Dilijan where we’ve booked ourselves into a spa hotel! 🤩 WOOP WOOP!!! 🥳🥳🥳
The first part of our hike this morning was - of course - a big climb up to a ridge at 2200m. To motivate ourselves, Ben and I ended up singing “I would walk 500 miles” by Kenny and the Scots. Well, we tried to sing - we managed to at least wheeze out every other word between desperate gasps for oxygen! Our muscles and lungs burned as we climbed up and up and up! We even went past bits of snow! 😮💨 whew!! Armenia is not a flat country!!! But where did this song come from? For whatever reason, it was stuck in my head from the moment I woke up. But hey - at least it was relevant to our situation!! 🤣
The final push to the top of this ridge was mighty, but finally reaching the top was rewarding! We found ourselves enjoying panoramic views of the surrounding mountains - some of which still have significant amounts of snow on them! Behind us we could see where we’d come from, with Dimatz in the background, and ahead of us - quite a way down in the distance - we could see the city of Dilijan! WOOP!!! The spa awaits! 🙌
Just after we started descending, we bumped into an Australian man called Rhys! How bizarre - we were up a mountain in the middle of nowhere and here’s this Australian just tracking up in his jeans! Rhys said he’d come from Dilijan. Bear in mind, it was only 10am at this point and Dilijan was a solid 13km away from where we were, ALL of which was steeply uphill…he must’ve been hiking with the bears when he left!!! He did mention it probably wasn’t his smartest move to get going so early…HARD AGREE! He didn’t have bear spray or anything! Just his jeans, a cotton shirt, and a satchel that assumedly held some food and water! 🤯
Anyway, aside from this perceivedly large lack of awareness for his own safety, Rhys was really lovely and is currently taking a few months to travel while he’s in between jobs. So far he’s been to Morocco, Kurdistan, Georgia, and is soon off to a friend’s wedding in Greece! How epic! We ended up asking Rhys if there are any unchained dogs between where we were standing and Dilijan. He said there were some dogs a bit further down, and that he’d had to run away into the forest as they’d chased him…we wondered if they were strays or farm dogs (Rhys didn’t know). Running from strays might be acceptable (probably?) but it’s advised to not run from farmdogs and instead appear confident and large…good thing he got away alright and found his way back to the track…I found myself wondering how could someone come hiking in a different country and not research what safety hazards there might be? Farm-dogs come up every time as one of the major ones! But alas - Aussies! No surprises there 😜
Soon after that we spied some shack-like buildings, and felt confident that’s where the dogs Rhys had mentioned would be. Eeek! It’s interesting, because even though we know being stealthy isn’t the way to go, it’s a natural instinct - Ben and I couldn’t help staying quiet as we hiked toward and through the various farm shacks. We saw some sheep, but miraculously - no dogs! So we kept going, crossed a couple of rivers, and came to a longer building with a house in front of it. I had a feeling this is probably where the dogs would be, so Ben and I decided to give this place a bit of a wide berth (this wasn’t so possible higher up). We followed a river down for a while, and then crossed what seemed to be an old vegetable patch. So far so good! And then we seemed to be in the clear 😮💨 boy, did we feel stressed!!!
As we attempted to cross yet another river, a woman walked by on the track up behind us - heading toward the farm shacks. This made us realise we weren’t meant to be crossing this river, and that our path was where she’d just come from. She was too fast for us to catch and warn about the dogs, however, as we were halfway over a bigger river, balancing on rocks! And sure enough - a few minutes later we heard dogs barking as she went past the big long building. No dogs chased her, however, so perhaps they’d been chained since Rhys had gone through! Thank goodness for that - I’d been wondering why farm dogs would be left unchained on a path that seems quite highly used by the public! So again, perhaps it was because Rhys had started walking so early.
After that, we had 599 more river crossings and extremely muddy paths for a while. At one point we came to a rusted old water mill. It’s so interesting to see old machinery/tools people used to use in their daily lives! And to just come across them randomly every now and then - how cool!
We then climbed up a small but relatively steep (and muddy) hill, and at the top we could see Dilijan was right there!!!! We were getting closer and closer to that spa and sauna!!! 😈 It was here that we decided to stop for lunch, and give my dad a call. Whilst chatting, we enjoyed our classic salami, cheese, and tomato on lavash wrap - even after 5 days of this for lunch, it’s still yummy!
It was lovely chatting with Dad for a while! He’s currently in at the Awaroa Hut (he works as a hut ranger for DOC on the Abel Tasman and Heaphy tracks down south), and has recently been on what sounds like an epic kayaking expedition with a group of his local friends! He described some of what they saw as what NZ may have looked like before Europeans arrived and cut/burned all the bush down. Wow! Hopefully he can take Ben and I on this kayak route one day so we can also see that seemingly untouched, beautiful, thick and vibrant New Zealand bush! 🤩
As we talked with Dad, we reached the outskirts of Dilijan. We were immediately accosted by a (thankfully) friendly stray dog! And not very long after that, we came across two unfriendly farm-dogs - they seemed to be guarding a couple of calves. One of these big dogs was thankfully inside a fenced area, but the other was out yoloing on the road 🫠 If it wasn’t for their aggression, they’d have been beautiful dogs, but instead they just looked nasty! So we turned back the way we’d come and found another road to go down. It was here that we said goodbye to my dad, promising to let him know when we’d made it to our hotel so he’d know we were safe 🙏
As we moved further into Dilijan there were no more farm-dogs (thank gods!) but unfortunately there were plenty of sad looking strays 🥺 We were barked at a lot as we went by various dogs owned by humans - they bark so suddenly and unexpectedly, it always makes me jump out of my skin, with adrenaline rushing to my fingertips! 😣
We found Dilijan to be an obviously much wealthier area (possibly the most wealthy we’ve been in). It seems a popular place for both Armenians and tourists to visit. Apparently Dilijan is the “Switzerland of Armenia”, as many of the buildings are designed like Swiss ones! It’s a big place, and our hotel was a fair few kms in - at least it was all downhill! Well, until it wasn’t 😅 turns out we just walked to the bottom of the big hill only for our hotel to be up the top of another one 🤪 Psyyyyyych!!!! 🤪 Many a curse came from me as we hiked painfully up to our hotel. I was ready to put my feet up.
We f i n a l l y saw the resort, walked the last few hundred meters and in through the doors! BIG hallelujah!!!!!! We had just hiked over 100km of big country in 5 days whilst out in the wops… a cool accomplishment! 🥳
Upon entering our hotel room we realised how filthy and smelly we actually were 🫣 We immediately put all of our belongings out on the balcony and we each had a solid 30+ minute shower (Ben had the immense pleasure of showering first). Omg, it felt soooooo good to be properly clean! And to stand under hot water - it felt incredible 🤩
Although we were obviously tired, we did not dare sit down - we still had a grand plan to tackle for the afternoon! So as soon as we were ready we headed back out and jumped into a taxi for a very bumpy ride to the bakery- I mean the Haghartsin Monastery (that is conveniently located right beside the bakery 🤪😈) Yes, we went back to the Gata bakery so we could enjoy yet another delicious Brie & apricot jam gata! This time Ben also got the Brie one - it’s MILES better than any of the others! And this time I actually had the foresight to take a video of what this gata looks like before demolishing it! 🤣 The other day we’d been so overwhelmed with excitement and drooling with anticipation to eat something other than salami, porridge, or noodles, that we’d just gobbled the gata up without a second thought 🤣 Now, however, we had the capacity to capture the finer details 😌 We can confirm that although our tastebuds had been sated the day prior, this gata was still just as mouth wateringly delicious as it had been the first time!!! And- I repeat- all of you must come to Armenia just for this gata!!!!!! 😝😝😝
We explored the inside of the monastery a bit before booking another taxi. It’s a magnificent building that has had some intense repair and maintenance done - as it would need, being so old! Ben wasn’t allowed inside, unfortunately, as he’d worn shorts. Shorts are perceived as disrespectful in the functioning monasteries and churches here - unsure if this is a worldwide Christian thing, or just here in Armenia 🤔
On the way home we stopped at a store so I could pick up some togs to later wear in the spa. I was very surprised any store had togs to sell - I’d expected to have to get a pair of shorts and tee and make do! I got lucky I guess 😋 It’s an obvious Nike rip-off bikini, but it’ll do the job 🤪
Upon entering the spa centre in the hotel, we found there are multiple swimming pools (indoor and outdoor), a couple of spas, and then a line of rooms that have differing functions. There’s a tea room, where we were welcome to make and drink as much tea as we wanted! YUM!!! This is to help prevent dehydration whilst using their spa facilities. There’s a salt room, where the walls are lined with salt lamps and there are comfy chairs to sit on in the middle. There’s a cold plunge pool, a hot spa (that wasn’t working), two steam saunas - one infused with herbs and the other with essential oils, a Roman bath (a very hot steam sauna), and a dry sauna. There are also two rooms where you can order a massage. 😳 wow!!!! We made ourselves some tea and sat in the salt room for a time before moving to the steam saunas, then the cold plunge pool, then the spa, then back to the sauna and a final cold plunge before we thought we’d better think about dinner!
We decided to have dinner at the hotel restaurant. And a very delicious dinner it was! We enjoyed caramelised eggplant & capsicum, chicken soup, baked salmon with asparagus and potato, and a platter of fruit, all complimented by basil lemonade and a hot chocolate ☕️ A delicious end to a delicious day!!!! 🤩
We’ve now retired back to our room which has a huge and comfortable bed! We are well ready to fall into deep slumber 😴 Mmmm… we’re really missing our tent right now…
Tomorrow (May 19) is my birthday, which is why we’ve come to this big fancy spa resort hotel. We are taking tomorrow as a rest day, and we’re literally just planning to spend the day flipping through the spa and sauna complex. We have a couple of massages booked in the afternoon, and a restaurant down in the centre of Dilijan has been booked for dinner. Ben, lovely and thoughtful as ever, has organised all of this! How lucky and blessed am I to be doing life with someone so wonderful and loving 🥹🥰
So our remote mountain stint has come to an end. We actually only have 4 more hiking days to go, and then we’re all finished!! W h a t! 🤯 Crazy that it’s almost that time already!!!
Anyway. We hope you’re all going well - sending you all love and hugs, as always 🤗🩵
PS: We’ve been asked what we typically eat on a hike / camp day…
Breakfast is usually porridge with muesli & scroggin added
Morning tea is usually scroggin, some biscuits, and a few lollies
Lunch is salami cheese and tomato on lavash
Afternoon tea is more biscuits and lollies
Dinner is some kind of noodles or pasta with herbs we’ve foraged (thyme, dill, mint), some spices/seasoning, etc (as we’re now out of dehydrated meals)
🫡Weiterlesen
ReisenderOmg that spa sounds amazing after all your tramping. Well deserved and a big happy birthday. Thanks for getting the pic of the Gaza. I’m going to try and make it as found a recipe online.
ReisenderThank you! It was wonderful! And please let us know how it turns out 🙏🤩
ReisenderOurs was baked in a pizza oven type thing!!! So hopefully it turns out the same in an electric one!
Day 35: Spa & Sauna
19. Mai in Armenien ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C
What a day!!!! What an epically relaxing and restorative day! For those who don’t know, today was my birthday 🤪
It began with a buffet breakfast, which included a pavlova-type cake - but it wasn’t quite pavlova. It was more solid and a bit biscuity somehow, and also included basil! YUM!
For the morning Ben and I chilled around, doing some writing, chatting, we had a game of foozball (best of 3, Ben won 😣), went to the gym (or well, Ben did - I bounced on a yoga ball and continued writing up the previous hike day!). It was so lovely, just milling about and doing as we pleased inside this huge and luxuriously warm hotel! How lucky and happy we felt! 🥰
At one point a birthday cake was delivered to our room, and I had to pretend I didn’t see 🫣🤣 how sweet! Then, I got a surprise phone call from three of my favourite humans all at once on the same line - Nelz, Jessie, and Paola!! Their faces appeared on the screen and I was like 😱😱😱😱😱😱😱 so surprised! Ben had organised for them to call me on my birthday to have a chat 😭🥹🩵 BLESS HIS HEART!!!!! THEN, Ben light the candle and brought the little sponge cake over! Everyone sang a very chaotic and remixed version of happy birthday, and we all cheered 🤣🤣🤣🤣 It was sooooo lovely chatting with them and sharing various hiking experiences Ben and I have had over the last month 🤩 I think they were each relieved to hear we only have 4 hike days left… 🤣🤣 Tbh, I’m also a bit relieved!
After that we went and enjoyed the spas and saunas again! And soon enough, it was time for our first round of massages to begin - my first one was a face and head massage. I’d never had a face massage before, so I wondered what I’d be in for 🤣 It was interesting having someone else’s hands smoosh my face again and again 🤣 It’s meant to be really good for lymphatic drainage, but I’m not sure I’ll go for the face massage option again 🤔 the head massage was epic, though! Oh man, that felt sooooo good!!!!! I think she probably pulled half my hair out (my hair seems to break easily), but it was worth the loss 🤣🤣🤣
Next up was the full body massage. This was also epic! It was amazing to have the various tight spots on my back and shoulders kneaded out! Obviously that’s where my pack sits everyday, so…it was lovely having those parts of my body receiving support for the work they’re doing through this period of my life 🤗 When the masseuse massaged my legs, that was a whole other story 🤣 OMG I am apparently unbelievably ticklish down my hamstrings, calf muscles, and feet! It was soooo hard to not move 🤣 It was a relief to turn over so she could move on to my quads, etc 🤣 maaaaaaan!!!!! It was funny 😁
Ben enjoyed his massages as well - he went for the back massage, and then the face and head massage. He also felt very relaxed and loose afterwards!
Coming back together after our massages was lovely. We had about an hour before we had to go and get changed for dinner, so we sat in the steam saunas for a while before heading to the Roman bath (I felt like it was melting my eyeballs), then did a cold plunge, and then went to sit in the salt room - all with our cups of mint and thyme tea that we kept refilling as needed.
Needless to say, we were extremely relaxed as we headed out to dinner! The restaurant Ben had booked was delicious (as all Armenian restaurants we’ve dined in have been!). This time we had trout with seabuckthorn sauce for a starter (neither of us really liked this, surprisingly!), then bread with cheese on a fire which I fully worshipped whilst demolishing - it was so incredible! 🔥 We then shared fried eggplant with capsicum, roasted rabbit, and potatoes with garlic. All very delicious!!! 🤤
After we’d eaten all we could, we set off back to our hotel where we almost immediately passed out 😵🤣
What a great birthday! A massive thank you to Ben for making it so incredibly wonderful - he still managed to include an element of surprise, even whilst hiking in Armenia! Big claps to him 🤗🩵
😘Weiterlesen
Day 36: “My Good Tourists”
20.–21. Mai in Armenien ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
Packing up to leave a spa and sauna centre is never fun! However, we were excited to get hiking again. After another buffet breakfast, sorting our laundry, visiting the supermarket, and getting a taxi to the other side of town, we were ready to hike! And of course, we started with a climb!
Some way up we met two people who appeared to be day-walking. We said we were going to Lake Parz and then continuing on, and they then asked if they could follow us. We said okay, and let them know it was a big climb up - we felt uncertain they knew what to expect as they weren’t really dressed to hike. We needn’t have worried, however, as 2 minutes later we came to a giant mud creek and they decided that was enough for them so we parted ways 🤣
After a time of weaving steadily up through bright green forest and many fallen leaves, we came across some forest cows! How wonderful! Some of them were wearing bells - Ben said this is probably so the farmers don’t lose them. They were beautiful cows! Very good looking 🤠 We also crossed many rivers in this section - just little ones that gurgled happily along.
Then we came to a steep section of the trail. Some of these hills are just killer 🤪 I wouldn’t mind a bit more zig zag, even though it means you do walk a bit further! As we crested the hill, we came out of the forest and into this big open flowery meadow. It was beautiful, but I had the biggest stitch from bombing it up that patch of incline trying to keep up with Ben - I succeeded in this endeavour but the cost was a whole lung 🤪 Whilst I was fighting for my life in that field of flowers, a family of 4 came along and said hello. Worst. Timing. Ever. I tried to smile at them, I really did, but holy moly I just needed a minute to regrow my lungs 🤣
Once I’d stopped gasping, I went over to say hello to this family who were now chatting with Ben. Turns out they’ve just arrived in Armenia, but they’re coming to the end of their gap-year of travelling the world as a family! Their girls are 11 and 9 years old - they all did the Pyrenees! W h a t! That’s so amazing!! They’ve also been to countries like Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Spain, France… one of the Stan’s that we can’t remember (Kazakhstan?). Just wow! Ben and I have vowed to do the same when we have kids in ten years time! Just incredible. What an epic experience for those kids - and for them as a family! Today they’re off to Dilijan for the day. So cool!
We chatted for quite some time, and they mentioned they’re staying at a guesthouse in a town called Gosh. They apparently have a bonfire every night where they toast marshmallows and barbecue potatoes! At the mentioning of toasted marshmallows, we were sold - say no more! We will see you there! What’s an extra 8km?! 🤣 Do it for the mallows! Just kidding. We actually thought it would be really cool to have a social evening around a bonfire, as that’s something that hasn’t really happened on our travels too much yet! And this family was really lovely, so it seemed worth the extra effort 🤗
From the meadow it was down through more forest, eventually coming to the intersection with the turn off for the lake. We chose not to go and see the lake, considering the extra kms we now had ahead of us! (We’d also been told it was average anyway…😅). Soon after this we took a wrong turn which lead to a steep detour - always check the map!! 😮💨 As we climbed back up the valley from there, we kept seeing these biiiiig trees that looked as though they’d exploded mid-trunk and fallen over 🤔 It was really odd! We can’t figure out what would cause this to happen…I wondered if a wood pigeon made a big hole and over time this weakened the structural integrity of the tree until it snapped and fell…Ben doesn’t think that’s a likely cause, however 🤔 I guess we’ll have to do some research when we have time & reception.
Speaking of trees - the forest here is truly beautiful. It’s so lush! And the trees in this area are so tall with big bright leaves. In this way it’s quite different to NZ bush, which tends to be very dark green with dense foliage! Anyway. Eventually we left the trees and came to another field - this marked the very top of our climbing for today! Woohoo! Now all we had left was the (steep) descent to Gosh. But first - we snack! 🥨
Arriving in Gosh, we walked around a corner and came face to face with a big monastery with a glass roof - Goshavank. How extraordinary that such a grand building can just appear upon turning a corner 🤪 Armenia is full of surprises!
After snapping a few pics, we wandered towards the guesthouse - DiliVita. On the way, we watched as some cows were harassed by farm dogs as they came down the hill - the cows really took one for the team there! Those dogs looked at Ben and I as we came into sight, but they chose to harass the cows instead, meaning we were able to pass without stress or fear 🙏
At the guesthouse we were greeted with Thyme Tea, and a tour of the grounds. We were also told that if we wanted dinner, we had to order it an hour before we wanted to eat it. So, feeling hungry, we ordered dinner right then and there 😅 We ordered some eggplant rolls, pelmeni, clenenki, rosemina, DiliVita special (not a clue what this was but it was yum), pumpkin soup, and a blackberry compote! Mmmm 🥰
Around this time, Max and Shaina arrived back with their children, Aria and Finley! They’d had a lovely day in Dilijan, and were ready to put their feet up. Later, at 9pm, we all gathered around the bonfire, drinking wine, cognac, and/or tea! We were addressed and toasted many times by the owner of this guesthouse as “my good tourists”! “My good tourists, thank you for coming to my home, to my country, let’s toast to this moment, to peace, to our families”. We also followed a 1500 year old Armenian tradition, of each being given a stick of wood to place on the fire - but before placing it on the fire, you had to think of a little problem you had, imagine the stick was that problem, and then place it in the flames ☄️🔥🙏
It was a lovely, lovely evening! Ben and I enjoyed roasting marshmallows, meeting the other guests, and chatting some more with Max and Shaina 🤗 It was sooooo refreshing having a conversation with people who speak English fluently 🤪 We actually got to use our voice boxes instead of communicating via google translate 🤣 We rate it!!! 😜 And then it was somehow 11pm already, so we’ve headed to bed 😴😴😴😴😴😴
Tomorrow we hike to an (apparently) abandoned town called “Geghatap”. We’ve read that this little village was Azerbaijani, back when the two countries were more intermingled (pre early 90s). But when the war broke out, the people of Geghatap had to leave. We’re not trusting it’s abandoned, however- it’s likely been turned into a place for farmers to stay. However, that’s where the flattest ground is that we can find between here in Gosh and where the track really starts to incline as we head over the mountain range to Sevan! We have our fingers crossed that nobody is yet staying there, as it will be tricky to find a back-up spot to pitch a tent 🤪
Goodnight!!!
🤗🩵🥳😎Weiterlesen
Day 37: Muddy trails
21.–22. Mai in Armenien ⋅ 🌧 14 °C
We had a bit of a sleepy start this morning! After having a bigger hiking day yesterday and then staying up much later than usual, it was after 10am when we woke up! So we sprung out of bed and readied ourselves for the buffet breakfast 🍳
We were warmly welcomed into the breakfast area by the guesthouse owner, and then we saw Max, Shaina, Aria, and Finley sitting at a breakfast table. They were in the middle of some crosswords, which seems to be another of their activities they’re keen on. Their plan for today was to enjoy the sauna, and have a “homework day” with their girls. This sounded lovely - particularly the sauna part - but this wasn’t something we could enjoy, as we had too many kms to conquer 🫡
Breakfast itself was as usual, amazing! Omelettes, crepes (which I covered in sugar hehehe), lots of different armenian goods, fresh fruit and vegetables, bread, and to our delight, apricots in syrup! I took some of this syrup and promptly poured it into my tea - YUM 😈
A short time later, packed and ready, we left to check out. As we were leaving, we were again stopped by our host who reiterated how happy we was to have hosted us (we were his first ever NZ guests!!). He asked us very earnestly how he could help us now. After we explained that we were hiking, he looked at our maps and said he was unfamiliar with the town we were planning on camping at. He also said that the weather today would be rainy, so why not just stay another night here? 🤷🏼♀️🤣 We thanked him profusely but declined; we wanted to continue the hike, rain, hail, or shine!
Turned out our host was very right about the weather! We hadn't even made it 10 meters before our rain covers and jackets were being hastily put on! We then walked back up to the monastery where we’d first entered Gosh, this time taking a left, and headed for Gosh lake, our first stop (and first big climb) 4km away.
The American family at the guesthouse had warned us that the route to Gosh lake was very muddy. We were keen to see how it stacked up to some of the other quagmires we had trudged through. In all honesty, we’d say it had a normal amount of mud for a forest hike in spring, and it wasn’t sticky mud, so it wasn’t too bothersome.
At one point we came to a picnic shelter. We had passed plenty of these by now, but this one made us laugh - someone had carried a fridge up here and set it up alongside some kitchen cabinets. It didn't work of course, but points for entertainment!
Entering the forest provided some cover from the increasingly heavy rain. It was beautiful to look ahead, and see the clouds and mountains poking through the curtain of vibrant green and dark brown that surrounded us. As per usual, we had a few wrong turns and detours along the way. One of these detours meant we passed some wicked gnarly trees! The type where the whole inside has rotted away but the outer layers are still growing, making it look like some fantastic beast. 🧌
We then came across a large group of pigs and piglets rooting around in the leaf litter along the path. The piglets among them were extremely cute and highly curious. Their parents kept a very close eye on us when we walked close by their young! As we went deeper into the forest the trees grew bigger (AND BIGGERRRR! #Binklebonk, iykyk). It was epic standing under such a massive canopy of trees, their trunks like the pillars of a cathedral.
By the time we made it to the lake, it was raining hard. The lake was full of loud frogs and very picturesque. It had tall reeds growing on the edges and big trees overhanging it, and there were millions of ripples from the raindrops on its surface. We had only gone about 4 of our 17km for the day, but as this was going to be our only shelter from the rain, we stopped for our usual lunch of salami, cheese and tomato sandwiches.
Thankfully, over the course of lunch the rain eased up a fair bit (not what the forecast had said), and by the time we were ready to continue onwards a small layer of fog had started drifting over the lake - and it was getting cold! Hoping to avoid any approaching dementors, we left!
It was actually from here onwards that the real mud trails began. The ruts in the track from 4WDs were huge and full of squelchy mud, and if it wasn’t squelchy it was thick, tacky mud that sticks to the soles of your shoes and builds up into heavy clumps. Needless to say, it was pretty slow going for a while there!
Over time we ascended and started coming out of the dense forest. Here, we gained views of the nearby mountains and an old ruined village, and although it was no longer raining, the sky was still a heavy grey above it all.
Ahead a little ways and across more infuriatingly sticky mud, we spied a ruined arch on a hill. We immediately threw our bags to the ground and bounded up to it. We say we “bounded” because after dropping such heavy packs, we felt so light, but our legs still thought the extra weight would be there, so we felt as if we were bouncing through clouds!
Turns out the arch on hill is the ruins of an old church. It pretty much only has that single wall left standing, but it still has that special aura that holy buildings seem to emanate - even long after they stop being used. We stayed there for a while, looking at the surrounding forest, chatting, and admiring the mountain views. We were in such a beautiful area, within a beautiful country.
After another hour of hiking, and another wrong turn with a STEEP correction (I think roads that steep are illegal in NZ - thank heavens!), we were getting close to the town of Geghatap. This was where we were hoping to set up camp - that’s if it hadn't been claimed by farmers. We hoped, with no farmers present, maybe a building was still standing with a solid roof? Or at least some flat ground for our tent - we were moving through a big valley and there was nothing flat in sight!
We examined the ground as we walked looking for car, cow, dog or human tracks that might indicate locals. There were some, but it wasnt very conclusive. Then, turning a corner we saw the beginnings of the town...we sighed. There were cows everywhere - all over the flat ground we’d hoped to pitch our tent on. Moving further into Geghatap, it was obvious this was now a farming outpost. One shed was clearly more modern, and we both thought we could catch the whiff of cow-pat fuelled smoke... What we had expected, but not what we had hoped.
We walked on slowly, the cows were on and around the track and didn't seem in the mood to move out of the way for us. Getting closer we saw there were also heaps of pigs amongst the cows. The calves and piglets (all very cute) looked at us with intense curiosity, and the adults again with weary eyes.
At one point a young bull stopped on the path in front of us and stared us down. We stopped and waited to see if he would let us continue. He continued staring and then decided to show his dominance by urinating - he stood and peed for what seemed like an age, never breaking eye contact! Then, once he felt as though he had impressed us enough, he turned his head and walked off.
Aproaching a house-shack, we saw some smoke rising from the chimney. We then saw the big dog at the same as they saw us. Oh! Crap! He stood up and barked a bit, but thankfully (and very surprisingly) didn't seem interested in doing more than alerting everyone to our presence.
We slowly walked on past, eventually seeing a farmer and another dog down a hill. We waved at each other, and he called off the other dog who had started making it's way towards us barking and growling. Thank you! 🙏
So with no chance of pitching tent there, we kept on going, now hunting for a suitable camping spot. Unfortunately for us, it did seem like the location of Geghatap was chosen for it being the only flat land in the area. As we walked on, we started pointing out potential candidates. A flat patch of the 4x4 track we were on (not ideal, but if we had to…). A small flat area of stones (which we would have to clear). We weren’t coming up with any winning options! Checking the map we saw that we were getting close to the next big climb section, so we were running out of space 😣
Just before the climb, we came to a side track that led town to the nearby river. Further down was another path leading to a lovely sheltered and flat-enough area... perfect! Literally what we’d been hoping for! It was a little bit sloped, but we angled our tent so our heads were at the top, and made do!
As rain was threatening to bucket down once again, pitching the tent and making dinner was a hurried affair. The rain never reached us, however, so we got to enjoy watching the sky darken as the air cooled around us! Then, Ben whipped the second half of my birthday cake out of his bag! What! 🤣 FEAST!!!!! We also boiled some more water for some of the delicious mint and thyme tea I’d got from the hotel back in Dilijan. What a time to be alive!
After this we attempted to catch up on the last few days of writing for penguins - we’d fallen so behind! There was no reception at camp, however, so we trundled back up the path towards Geghatap until we found a little 3G. We tried to upload the post, praying to the cellphone gods to grant us a steady stream of reception. They didn't really oblige, or at least not with much speed, but it did eventually upload. Thank goodness for that!
As we stood there with the sky growing ever darker, a long white shape slowly crept along the valley. It was a low fog cloud snaking it's way up the river - beautiful, but unsettling to watch. It was like watching the ghost of a giant dragon drift past. As we made our way back to our little tent, we wondered if it would cloud over much more or stay clear. We hoped for some cloud, as that meant we’d be warmer overnight! ☁️
Wow. Only 2 days left to hike! We are now only 30km from Sevan 😳 It feels strange to be at this end of the hike, but we are both looking forward to the adventures that will come after 🥳🩵🫡Weiterlesen
Day 38: The Penultimate Hike
22.–23. Mai in Armenien ⋅ 🌧 6 °C
Ben and I have our morning camp routine down pat! Hanging tent flies from trees to dry, preparing scroggin infused porridge, packing bags, bla bla bla. This morning was no different to the rest, and we set off under a cloudy but dry sky. As always, we started with an uphill climb 🤪
Our trail initially wound up the valley, following a rushing river heavy with the now fast-melting remaining snow. As we climbed we passed by some of these patches of melting snow - it’s amazing it’s still around this late into spring (at that point we were only around 17/1800m in altitude). One side effect of this was the river we were following had flooded the track a lot, so it was difficult to follow - we kept having to climb up the sides to avoid the water for extended periods. It also meant we had a few more serious river crossings to undertake!
During this stage of our trek, we came across yet more cool rocks, chunks of obsidian, bits of interesting granite, malachite, and other cool shaped or coloured pieces. Ben, who is now turning his thoughts to more intense forms of Ironman training 😅, insisted on picking up and carrying LOTS of them, adding more and more weight to his already bulging pack. His pack actually jingles as he walks due to the volume of rocks in it 😅 I have offered m a n y times to carry more, often resorting to sneaking equipment/food into my pack to try and lessen his load 😅 but he insists on loading up to try and work his muscles as much as possible. He has a stubborn streak, and won’t be dissuaded! 🤪
After a while we came to a gate that signaled the edge of the Dilijan national park. Although there had been farm animals within the park, there had also been much more forest and differing terrain. Our leaving the park meant we were now back to the plain and grassy farmland hills - and a greater possibility of facing dogs guarding herds of cows. 😮💨 It was at this point that the cloud that had been chasing us up the valley finally overtook us and unleashed the first rainstorm of the day on us - my feelings exactly!!! 😤
Pack covers and jackets were whipped out, and we trudged on across the now muddy jeep tracks. Maybe it was the rain and wind, and/or maybe it was our jacket hoods, but neither of us heard the flock of sheep to our right - nor did we hear the dogs barking!!! So we were very startled when beside us some big dogs appeared, barking. The shephard was right there, however, and called them off whilst waving to us enthusiastically. Phew! 😮💨
This section of the track seemed to go on for e v e r. It slowly meandered higher and higher through treeless farmland - we passed more herds of cows and teams of horses, and the rain petered out just as we reached the top. Nestled down in the valley below, we could see the little town of Semyonovka. It actually had a paved road (wow), and we could see a bunch of locals wandering around the streets with their umbrellas. Our maps said there was a shelter in the town with drinking water, so that was our target 🎯
When we arrived we found the water fountain was a memorial to WWII. It had a large arch enscribed with what we presumed to be the names of local fallen soldiers. There was an older man there filling up his water bottles, and although we had no shared language we had a little conversation, trying to convey some meaning/understanding to the other.
After setting our bags down at the shelter, Ben went further into town to try and find a store selling basic food. We weren’t desperate by any means, but we were hoping to find something to add to our pasta for dinner (e.g., sausage, onion, etc). Ben returned a while later having found the store to be closed, but that the same older man we’d met earlier had offered to drive him to the next town to the grocery store there. How kind Armenians are with their time and energy! Their hospitality is endless and unmatched! 🙏
During lunch we were joined by a very shy stray dog. I “accidentally” dropped a few bits of our food, which later (when we had gone a safe distance away), they hurriedly gobbled up 🥹 We just can’t believe how many strays there are here, and how starved they are of both food and affection. Every time we meet a stray, I think of Shya and how much his life has changed for the better since he chose to follow us to Bardzravan!! 🥹🙏🩵 We’re actually going to see him again next week and can’t wait! 🤩
Leaving the town we were straight back to the grassy hills and (very) muddy slopes. Upon cresting a hill we saw that our track ahead was gone It had been quarried away and was now a pile of stones in a construction yard! Ehhh? 🤔 After having a look around and planning an alternative route, we yolo’d our way down the hillside towards the base of the quarry and carried on along the river. It was here that we were, for the second time today, surprised (scared is a more accurate word!) by a dog when we walked past their well-concealed kennel. A big dog suddenly jumped out and barked at us! I think they were as surprised as we were, tbh! Thankfully that’s all that happened 😮💨 These dogs, omg!
Nevertheless, we continued along the big, fast-flowing river for some time. We passed more foals, calves, and even a donkey before the map said we needed to cross the river... The river here was deep (above our waists), very cold, and moving fast. Not ideal to walk across with our packs!
After a significant amount of scouting for a place to cross this river, Ben found a spot that looked alright - it was wider and shallower. We continued up river for a while, however, hoping we might get lucky and come by an actual crossing or even a bridge (even a misshapen bridge would’ve been welcome 🤪). But no such luck was to be had (I mean, we should’ve known…this is Armenia!). We then heard an engine and turning back saw a car pull up to the wider river spot Ben had identified. Four guys got out and two of them (still wearing their shoes and one without even rolling up their pants) waded across the river while the other two stayed behind and had a smoke in wait...
Well, that must be how it is done. We walked over, said hello, and then motioned to the other side. They pointed out the best way to cross the river, just as their friends had - a sort of zig zag that must have kept to the most shallow points. Thank you for turning up when you did, kind Armenians! The world does at times tend to give you what you need, when you need it… 🙏
So, for what felt like the 10th river crossing of the day, we again took off our shoes and started wading. The men would whistle and then point to us if they thought we were going off course. w
When we made it to the other side, we turned and yelled SPASIBO (thank you in Russian - we still can’t say it in Armenian 😭) back at them and they waved!
We were now into the final stretch of the hike for today - a gentle uphill beside yet another river (about 6km from our planned campsite, which was then only a stones throw (11km) away from Sevan Lake and the end of our hike 😳). Once again we had to climb up the sides of the valley to avoid the flooded plains below! Eventually, however, the track dried out a lot and the landscape widened until it was just a flat plain in-between somewhat snowy hills. It was a gorgeous part of the walk, and although it felt long, it was also peaceful and easy-going. The sun had come out, making the grass glisten and the patches of snow seem whiter than ever. Ben and I enjoyed chatting about the various plans we have coming up with my family in Manchester and then in London with Ben’s family (we’re going to the Harry Potter studios 😈 I haven’t been since 2016, so I’m excited to see what’s been added and improved / changed!! 🤩).
At one point we walked past some ruined buildings and even a half-collapsed concrete bridge. We commented on how weird it is that so much of Armenia seems like it used to be more built up with higher levels of infrastructure than it has now. It’s a reminder, I guess, that societal living conditions can drastically change for any number of reasons. With the world being and feeling so tumultuous and evil at the moment, it also seems a relevant reminder that we can’t take for granted what we currently have in NZ. Especially not when some politicians and businessmen are pushing forward bills that undermine the rights and voices of the public as well as the environment. Eurgh! 😡 Our current government makes us sick!! Literally. Vote them out!!
Anyway, that’s my one imploring plug 😅
As we crossed through this basin, eventually we could see our path winding its way up the far end. Enjoying the sun, we walked quite slowly, looking at the different coloured beetles and insects (some with epic red wings, golden lady bugs with white spots, and the black and white beetles we see so often) and the cool fluttering birds around.
We then saw a black shape come over the hill ahead of us. Was it a cow? No, it looked dog shaped…it was definitely behaving like a dog, though it wasn’t barking. Then a white one appeared. Definitely dogs, but even from a distance we could tell they were friendly. Up behind them then came a human walking with a stick and wearing a pack. Clearly a hiker with some strays.
The dogs bounded towards us - Ben was more than happy to oblige and cuddle them! The human eventually arrived, and we said hello - he was a young man dressed in immaculately pristine hiking clothes and a relatively small but top-notch looking pack. Definitely an ultralight hiker! Basically Ben’s opposite 🤣🤣🤣 We chatted and learned that this was their first day of doing the TCT. They’d started this morning in Sevan and were walking up to the border at Lake Arpi and then all the way down to the bottom of Georgia. Wow!! We explained a little about what he could expect in the next few weeks at different places. He then talked about Sevan town, which he explained was not very nice. Hmmm, I think we’ll be the judge of that - we feel certain we’ve been to places in Armenia that would easily make Sevan look like the Canary Islands 🤣🤣🤣 He’ll find out!!!!
After he (and the dogs) left, we stopped for a quick snack before embarking on the final leg of the day. We were yet to climb up to 2280m where we were told there was some flat ground for a tent. So, feeling keen for a proper meal, and seeing the weather closing in behind us, we boosted the last 3km to our tent spot. Seeing as it was up so high, we weren’t surprised to find it has amazing views all around! Behind us we could see the snowy hills we had walked between this afternoon (and the storm clouds), and ahead we could see the track for tomorrow winding around steep rocky slopes - and then even higher still! To the south we could see some of the Gegham Mountains still massively covered in deep snow - a good 1000m higher than we stood! And down far below we thought we could see the outskirts of Sevan town.
We actually pitched our tent in the nick of time! Just as we’d got it all up and sorted, heavy rain began pelting us and we dived into our tent! Only after that had passed (about 20 mins later) could we make a start on dinner. For our final camping meal we’d carried up some pasta and a jar of sauce! To this we added the last of our salami, tomato, cheese, spices, and Ben went around the field to find some thyme. It. Was. Glorious. It was so delicious, it did not taste like a camp meal at all! How blessed we felt sitting at the top of a mountain, sucking up spaghetti pasta whilst overlooking the Geghams!!
With it being our last night, we also made a big pot of tea, because as beautiful as our spot was, it was a little more exposed than we’d have liked, and it was already cold (there was a big pile of snow a few meters away). So as we drank hot tea, cupping our hands around the warmth of the pot, we talked about the hike and some of the highlights. We also mentioned that while it has been an incredible experience, we are both feeling okay to finish. We’re mostly looking forward to seeing Shya again! Shya is actually freshly no-nuts ball-less, as of today. He’s also had some x-rays and blood tests done - it seems like everything went well and that he is a relatively healthy boy (aside from a bit of low iron, most likely from living on the street for so long 🥺). We hope he is feeling okay after having his balls removed - we can’t wait to give him a big snuggle!
It has now started raining heavily again. We hope it doesn’t get too cold overnight! We haven’t camped this high before. It should be alright, as long as the cloud remains! The forecast for tomorrow morning is good (cloudy with some sun), so, if that is accurate, that will be a great way to finish off this hike. One day to go!!! Sevan Monastery, here we come! 🫡
🩵🩵🩵Weiterlesen
Day 39: The end of the road
23.–24. Mai in Armenien ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C
Last night was a cold one, not surprising given there were snow piles nearby our tent. Because of this we both slept lightly and woke around 4:30 when the birds started chattering. Soon after that, Ben decided it was time to get up to watch sunrise and disappeared out into the predawn. It was about an hour before he returned, and when he did his hands were like ice. Turns out he had climbed the nearby mountain (about another 250m higher) and had given his parents a ring, as it was far too cloudy for a good sunrise.
I, on the other hand, stayed snuggled in my sleeping bag and did a bit of writing whilst waiting for Ben’s return. When he returned we promptly fell back to sleep for a couple more hours, until the morning sun had slooooowly warmed and brightened around us.
We then got up and set about packing down the tent for the last time in Armenia. As we were doing this we could hear a car driving up and down the slopes nearby - looking down it seemed to be a white Lada. Every now and then the driver would get out and forage for what we assumed to be mushrooms.
Then, the car came and pulled up nearby us. The man got out and walked over carrying a bucket of mushrooms - huge ones. He smiled and greeted us in Armenian, then proceeded to gesture to his shrooms and to us. We got the gist, and hurriedly using Google translate said that we had enough food, but thank you. However, in typical Armenian fashion, his hospitality would not be denied. He wandered over to what was our rubbish bag 😅 Shaking his head, he gestured for Ben to find a suitable bag. So with an inward sigh and and an outward smile (we unfortunately hate mushrooms), Ben produced a large ziplock bag into which the man put a HUGE pile of his massive shrooms before bidding us farewell and driving away to continue his morning foraging mission. Ben and I turned to each other, laughing at the slightly absurd encounter. Neither of us enjoy mushrooms and we now had a massive pile of them to carry down with us 😅
As we readied up and began our last hike day, we felt excited, but also a bit preemptively sad. What do you mean we won’t be setting up our tent this evening and boiling water for noodles? What do you mean we won’t be climbing up to high ridges and seeing epic views like this after today? We’d become quite attached to our tent and hiking ways of life!
Our track to Sevanavanq started with us following along the slope of the mountain heading east (technically towards the lake, but it remained hidden behind mountains). After a short while we came to a very tall and very wide patch of snow that was completely blocking our path forward. It stretched both to the left and right about a hundred meters - the side of it across from us ended in a fairly steep 3m drop onto the edge of our track below. The English guy had warned us about this yesterday, and we could now see how this would pose a significant obstacle for someone coming up from Sevan.
For us, though, gravity would do all the work in helping us to get down - stopping and not continuing down the grassy slope below would be our only challenge! Excitedly, Ben sat down and shuffled to the edge using his poles like probing sticks to ensure the ice was hard, then WOOSH! He slid down and reached the dirt track with a big slap (the sound was comical!) and then continued sliding over the grass (leaving a big muddy wake behind him) before eventually coming to a stop, standing, and giggling.
My turn! I decided to send my bag down first which Ben caught and moved to the side. Then... WOOSH! I slid down and over the track at speed - I would’ve continued down the grass a lot further had Ben not been there to stop me 😅 What fun! I did hurt my shoulder a little, as my poles hit the ground upon arrival which jerked my arm back, but other than that our backsides were now just covered in mud and grit 🤣
We then turned our focus back to the track, which was about to start inclining up and up and UP to over 2400m (we hadn’t been this high since our original alpine day!). Maybe it was that it was our last day, maybe it was the double helping of porridge we’d had for breakfast, or maybe it was that we had a partial icy tailwind blowing us up the mountain, but we quite literally flew up that path! We’d done over 3/4 of the climb in less than 15mins. It felt so good! Even when we crested the steepest part, only to find another behind it (instead of a view of the epic lake we’d had in mind) it didn't dampen out spirits or slow our stride, we just kept boosting it up and up and UP! 🏃🏻🏃🏽♀️
Then, finally, we caught sight of Sevan Lake. How can a lake so massive remain so hidden from sight? Is what I’d been wondering the entire time. Though the weather was cloudy and visibility wasn’t great, we could see how massive it truly is - much bigger than Lake Taupō! Armenians call it an inland sea, and we could now see why - even from our vantage point, 500+m above the surface of the lake, we couldn't see the end of it it stretched on for so long! Mountain ranges disappeared into the distance on either side, and down below to our south we could make out Sevan town, as well as a peninsula jutting into the lake - on this peninsula stood Sevanavanq, the Sevan Monestary, which marked the end of our epic hike.
We now had a decision to make: From this point, the TCT track turned south along the ridge and then steeply dropped into the town of Sevan. Sevan town is a fair few km from the peninsula (the TCT doesn’t actually go to Sevanavanq, we’d marked the monastery as our own personal end point). If we followed the TCT we would have an easy track but we would have a few extra miles of walking through town and along the motorway to the peninsula. Alternatively, we could take the more rugged but more direct “make it up as you go” route down to the peninsula.
We decided to finish with a bang, and opted to stay up in the highlands away from the motorway. As Hayk had inspiringly said to us back in Gomk, “In Armenia, if you can see it in a straight line, you can go there!” (In other words, no land is out of bounds). So we eyed up the route we thought would be best and stepped off the track.
As we hiked along the ridge, the sky overhead started clearing. Yay!!! The weather forecast for the last month had been a bit hit and miss, but we had been hoping today's would be spot on - we’d been promised a beautiful day with little showers in the afternoon. So far it had been totally wrong, but we’d settle for a better late than never blue sky!
We took this sunny opportunity to sit down and have a snack while it was warmer. Ben and I each took out something we had been saving (for today) since day 1. For me this was a Twix bar in almost perfect condition, and for Ben this was a tiny and now very squashed and melted biscoff chocolate. We sat and happily chowed down our chocolate, and chatted about some of our highlights from the hike (day 2 with the epic canyon, Noravanq, Gnishik, Gomk, meeting the trail workers, basalt arches and cliffs, the cave church, Horadis monastery, the totally different landscape, rocks, and insects, Tatev, Shya, the forest around Old Bardzravan, the route to Old Khot, Old Khot itself, the Debed Canyon and the monasteries along the way, more forest, the people we’ve met, the bonfire at DiliVita guesthouse, both Anahit Guesthouses, Armenian food, buffet breakfasts, the tea, the spa day, camping with epic views, the intense localised thunderstorms, and most of all, doing all of this together and enjoying it thoroughly! It’s all been SO incredible! This hike had been such an incredible experience, and although it wasn’t quite over yet, we were already feeling nostalgic.
After that, we heaved our packs back on and continued picking our way amongst the boulders, around the hills, and down the steep slopes, only to then go around and up another hill! Eventually, and surprisingly, we came to a signpost. It declared that the peninsula was 3km away - down a valley, through some trees, and across that motorway we’d largely avoided. Wooohoooo! We’d almost made it!
But first - a final summit! The signpost also pointed to the neighbouring hill and called it “Armenian dream peak”. That was good enough for us! We dropped our packs and made for the high point. When we got there, because the sun was now coming out more and more, the views of the lake were awesome. We even found a stone chair to sit on that looked out over the water. Not yet ready for the day to finish, we stayed there for quite some time, watching the shadows of the clouds move over the lake.
Sevanavanq was waiting for us, however, so we eventually moved off the summit and back to our packs. Once more, we started down the path. The path here was a muddy jeep track, so progress slowed a bit. After a time we saw two people on the hill to our left who also appeared to be shrooming. This gave us an idea - we could repay some of the Armenian hospitality AND dispose of our mushrooms in one go! So we again dropped our bags, took out the bag of mushrooms, prepared a Google translate message, and began making our way up the hill. Just then the eco-police drove past. Though we were sure mushroom picking was fine and legal, there’s just something about seeing the police that makes you think you are doing something wrong - what if it actually wasn’t allowed and we got busted with these mountain shrooms?! 🤪 It almost looked to us as though the people we’d seen were hiding from the car, too...
Assuring ourselves it was fine we continued up to the man, greeted him, showed him our message, and held out the bag. He read it, looked at the bag, did the thumbs up, and then clearly gestured that we should keep them. This was not going to plan... I typed up another message on Google translate, saying “we don’t like mushrooms”. He read this, paused, and then looked at us pityingly, as if to say “really?!” 😅😅😅 After that, he took the bag, shook our hands, and insisted to come and have coffee 🤣 I could hear Ben internally groaning 🤣🤣
We followed the man back towards an old soviet van parked nearby. As he went he pointed at other mushrooms on the ground, saying “Zunk!”. We think this meant “junk” in Armenian. This seemed to make sense as some of the shrooms he pointed at were growing out of a cow pat!
Reaching the van he pointed at a sticker logo on the door that read “Sevan National Park”. He then pointed to himself and said “Director” Whaaaaat!!!! No way had we just bumped into the director of the whole national park! Whilst he was out picking mushrooms! And what's more, we thought he was hiding from the eco police when he is actually the big boss of the eco police (at least in this area)... 🤣🤣🤣 What a moment!! 🤪
Inside the van, a woman (obviously this man's wife) was there. They exchanged a few words before she invited us in and got out coffee cups and some cake. We all had a great conversation without being able to say much. At one point the man called someone who was able to speak English and could act as a bit of a translator. We explained about our thru-hike, talked about how wonderful the national parks are here, and thanked them for their work. While we were in the van it started pouring down with rain. Uh-oh! We hoped our bags were okay - we’d left them out in the open.
After some time the rain eased and we bade the couple farewell. As a parting gift, they handed us some apples and waved us off. Once again - and probably for the last time this hike - packs went back on. Now for the big finale! We hiked down the road, passed through a small tunnel under a railway, and came to the side of the motorway with cars flying either direction. When there was a clear patch we scurried over the lanes and climbed over the barrier. Then we waited to do the same over the other side. Then we started walking to the entrance of the peninsula.
Just as we turned down onto the peninsula, a cyclist stopped nearby. He was clearly a tourist doing a long-haul cycle trip, as his bike was loaded up with plenty of bags. We chatted with him for a time, sharing experiences and plans! He was from France and was cycling across lots of countries. Starting in Greece he’d been through Turkey, Georgia, and now Armenia. He was new to Armenia and didn't yet have a full plan, so we listed out some places for him to visit that had good roads (by Armenian standards). This dude was also headed to the Sevan monastery, so we’d probably see him there.
The path to Sevanavanq was long and straight - we could see it perched on top of a big hill at the end of the road. We could also make out a line of kiosks and stalls zigzagging up the staircase - this was to be our final climb. All around there were other tourists - very differently dressed and all very clean, and as per usual, we seemed to draw stares, giggles, and second glances as we walked by 🤪
The steep staircase up to the monastery was surprisingly easy, even with our packs! I guess we really have got fit over the last 5-6 weeks of hiking!!! 🤪 Finally, we reached the top - and there was Sevanavanq. We’d made it! We couldn’t quite believe it… it didn’t feel real 😅 It was over, we’d finished, the end had arrived! Wow! What the helly?! What now?!
We snapped a few pics, took in the view, and then headed for the beach. As with most of Armenia, there seems to be a heap of abandoned, crumbling, and rotting old buildings with new ones built right beside them here on the peninsula. It’s baffling! Perhaps it’s a “it’s cheaper to build new than to demolish and rebuild” issue? Armenia has huge potential to be an extremely beautiful country all over, but the rotting buildings left to fall over and the amount of rubbish strewn about here, really detract from it!
We had a bit of trouble finding an actual beach, as most of the lakeside is either a construction site or a bunch of jetties. We finally came to a nice stretch of beach, and Ben promptly went for his “I’ve finished the hike” swim! He found the lake to be really shallow, however, so he didn’t quite get the mermaid dive moment he was after 🤣 It was, however, most importantly - a refreshing and well-earned dip! 👏👏👏
We then headed over to our accommodation, unpacked, had showers, set a load of washing going, and headed back into town for an early, delicious Armenian dinner. We had a chicken kebab, a beef kebab, a basket of bread, roasted pork with roast potatoes, and a tomato-based chicken dish, all complimented by hot chocolate and seabuckthorn juice! Afterwards we mooched about the stalls for a while and ended up getting an ice cream for dessert - yum! We walked back to our room under the evening sun, licking our ice creams contentedly. Later, Ben went back out for a run (is anyone surprised?! 🤣).
So… what now? Tomorrow we are heading into Sevan town to check out the tea house and various sights there, before catching the train back to Yerevan. During our time in Yerevan (two nights) we are going to see Shya and attempt to clean all of our gear so it’s all ready to head back into the UK. We then plan to find somewhere else to visit for our final couple of days, until our flight to Manchester where we’re going to see my family for the weekend 🥰 and then to London to meet up with Jon, Wendy, and Richard!! 🤩 Good times ahead!
And that brings us to the end of this findpenguins trip! Ben and I are thinking we’ll continue writing in findpenguins throughout our time overseas, but not nearly as consistently 🤣 Writing every day across the span of our hike has been enjoyable, and it’s also been a massive undertaking. It’ll be awesome to read back on in the future, and it’s probably been cool for you all to read about our Armenian adventures as they’ve happened, but yeah… we’ll be chilling out on the writing front a lot from now on 🤣
Churrrrrr!
Thank you to all who have followed along and for all of your support! I’m sure you’ve all carried an amount of stress as we’ve navigated the more hairy aspects of hiking in Armenia 🤣 (most notably the dogs…) so…thanks for sticking with us through the mountains and valleys that have come with this thru-hike. We appreciate you! 🙏🩵
Next stop, Yerevan - we’ll be going straight to see our gorgeous Shya boy 👏🏃🏽♀️🏃🏻🐕🫡🤗🤩🎯🤪🙏🥳Weiterlesen
ReisenderGreat video of the lightning. You guys are living the dream
ReisenderIt was spectacular !!!! ⚡️⚡️⚡️
Reisender
wow! cool video
ReisenderIt was so epic!!!