Lovely encounters

There are not many options to cycle further down south. In fact, there are only two main roads. One of them was recently paved and is thus in great condition. And yet it is very busy for it is mainly used by trucks driving back and forth from Yerevan to Iran.
On my way down south, I met Toni from Germany who is working for the embassy in Yerevan. He was so kind and offered me water out of the car and he stopped a few hundred meters later to take some photos.
Also, I had my very first encounter with two Iranian truck drivers. They were having breakfast at the side of the road and invited me to join. I guess this will happen more frequently once I have crossed the border to Iran.

On Saturday, I arrived in the city of Karajan which is located at an altitude of 1750 meters. Some locals started talking to me. One of them was Garik. Garik was not so happy about my plan cycling further up the mountain and spending the night there. More or less he insisted that I would stay in Karajan where it’s safe. So, I followed him through some sort of jungle. (Fun fact: Earlier, he told me that I should be careful with snakes in this region. But I should not worry too much because some antidote would do it in case I got bitten. Well, thanks for that!) When I asked him if there are no snakes here in this overgrown backyard, he just said: „Nono not here.“ Luckily, it was me walking in the front. After some bushwhacking, we arrived at a little garden house with a spectacular view of the city and mountains. This was going to be my place for the night. Lucky me! Garik ordered one of his close relatives Rafo to get us some food, beer and tea. In the meantime, he was preparing a fire. Of course, I was not allowed to help. My role was just to sit and rest. Yes, sir!
We shared some stories and talked about the differences and similarities of our countries. He then told me that he used to be a soldier and was stationed in the Karabakh region some years ago. Garik showed me his leg where he got hit by a shrapnel. Luckily, he has physically recovered. Ever since this incident, he has not been involved in the fight anymore. No words needed.
The next morning, he came up to the garden house together with Rafo and some breakfast to say goodbye. After we visited his mom in the local bakery, it was then afterwards time for me to move on.En savoir plus