So much happened in one week that we don’t know what to write. A summery wouldn’t do this week justice but an in dept journal would stop you from reading. So, we’ll try to share our week with you as a combination of photos and text.
Let’s start at the beginning, but not the very beginning cause who cares about a flight right? Ok except for the pilots and all who work in and around a plane and airport. But for us it’s the most boring and less loved thing about travelling. So we skip that.
We only knew about Beirut from the crisis it has experienced in the past. A civil war dividing not only the city and its people but also the religions which before lived peacefully together. Then there was the Beirut blast last year, destroying many buildings and killing many people in downtown Beirut. And the people that survived are now suffering from guilt and other psychological traumas. We know about the poverty in the city, Hezbollah being very present and the good food. Cause we always believe there is more good than bad.
So we make our way through the somewhat chaotic streets of Beirut in search of food, what else!? And food we find. We honestly don’t get why they don’t have bigger tables in restaurants here. All the meze we order hardly fit. We attack our food like a hungry lion does it’s prey. The meze is incredible, we try as much as we can as if we didn’t eat anything the past months. From hummus to baba ghanous and from muhamarra to kebbeh.
Why are we writing instead of showing you this? Because we often devoured the food before a photo could be taken. Sorry, not so sorry, for that.
Crisis!
Lebanon is in yet another crisis at the moment. Ever since the blast and civil war it doesn’t have a government, but it does have a shortage of … everything? There is no fuel, no medicine, no electricity, no money. People get fired, wait for 10 hours in front of gas stations and if you’re ill your waiting for a miracle. As we are here to work we went to a medical clinic to drop medicines and have a talk with the director. He tells us about the political situation in the country, about the government providing for only 4 hours of electricity a day and the challenges he faces. They are giving medical care for free to people who can’t afford to go to a doctor. They are not a hospital so no surgeries are done here but they do provide some dental care, a gynaecologist and many more things we can write down but it’s just a list of the many things they do.
So, after we get a tour through the building, meet some people and take some photos we are on the streets of Bourj Hammoud. This is the Armenian district of the city. Lots of Armenians live in Lebanon and this area is filled with them. You find Armenian food, gold and flags here. The Armenian language is written on walls as is “genocide graffiti”. From ‘Stop Azeri Violence’ to ‘Turkey is guilty of genocide’. It’s a nice hectic and a bit chaotic area of Beirut. While looking up one has difficulty of seeing the sky through all the electricity cables. It’s a bit ironic, all those cables reminding you of the electricity you do not have.
We talk to people on the street who cannot work due to the economic crisis. The hyperinflation made everything ten times as expensive, the only thing that didn’t increase are the salaries. People now pay 10 times what they used to for diesel, bread and a taxi ride. However, their salary has stayed the same. Thus many people end up not being able to pay for the basics: home, food, health.
2019 – civil war, 2020 – Beirut Blast, 2021 – hyperinflation. Every year another crisis. Maybe that’s why the people are so resilient. They lived through many wars to be able to overcome this as well.
After a couple of days working we decided to head out of Beirut to Byblos. Byblos is one of the oldest cities of the world and the word ‘bible’ deprives from Byblos. It normally takes 30 minutes from Beirut but now with the crisis – thus traffic jams at gasstation that have diesel – it takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes. But we make it and happily so because the town is pretty!
So there’s an ancient sight with lots of beautiful ruins, a souk with mostly souvenirs for the few tourists that roam the streets and lots of cute cafes and restaurants.
Time to go to Beqaa Valley
We are going to Beqaa valley for several reasons.
One – it’s beautiful! We visit the most beautiful ancient city we’ve ever seen: Baalbek. Its temple of wine is still standing and part of the temple of Jupiter as well.
Two – Anjar, an almost completely Armenian village, celebrates its beating of the Turks in 1915. So, that’s the genocide Turkey – and many other countries – do not want to talk about. Millions of Armenians were killed in death camps or during the death marches through the desert to Syria. In Musa dagi some villages gave some resistance. They were able to fight the Turks for 40 days until a French warship came to their rescue. Most of the descendants of these heroes live in Anjar today. Thus yearly they celebrate this heroic act.
Three – because Milene has to work for an NGO working in the refugee camps here. There are about 1.5 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon. Most live in houses but there is still a big group living in tents scattered through the area. 60% of the children do not go to school and there is not enough money to go to a doctor. So Milene followed a medical NGO for a day, to see their work first hand.
We also visited two Syrian families Milene got into contact with. One living in a previously abandoned building. While we were sipping our mint tea the police entered ordering the people to get out within a week. He took a photo of our passports but didn’t dare to put the family on the street while we were there. 8 kids, 3 adults without a proper job. Where should they go?
The other family finally found a house of a good Lebanese man. He is living in Turkey for a year and told them they could stay in his house for free during the year. The father has a heart disease and can’t work. The oldest son is 22 and tries to work by installing air conditioners. Payment isn’t good but it’s better than nothing. As a present the family gave us the holy Quran. There is no higher gift from a Muslim than this. We will cherish their holy book.
Long story short: it was an amazing week!
Want to know more about Lebanon? Let us know in the comments below.
We are staying at a caravanserai tonight. A hotel / restaurant where travellers would spend the night, giving their camels and horses some rest and catch up with other travellers about the way ahead. This Caravanserai is the best preserved one in Armenia and was built in 1332. That’s almost 700 years ago!
We take a zip of our wine and look at the thousand of stars in the big black sky. Almost 700 years ago travellers like Marco Polo would take shelter here, maybe they looked at the same stars as we are. The wind is cold. And probably that hasn’t changed as well. The caravanserai is built without a courtyard so it would keep the people and animals warm during the icy nights. Marco Polo never got to see this marvellous place, he travelled the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295.
It’s impressive that after 700 years this building is still standing! And in comparison to the Anatolian caravanserais this one isn’t converted into a hip restaurant or hotel. It is still like it was 700 years ago, and that’s why history is still alive here.
While we walked through the building we imagine merchants and travellers getting together here like in nowadays hostels. Where camels and horses stood drinking, eating and happy to take a rest. Where men slept in the same area without knowing each other while the fire kept them warm. Stories, cultures and knowledge were exchanged, goods were traded and all were equal.
We see some stars falling through our atmosphere, a chill down the spine because of the cold wind and in the distance we see the lights of the nearby village twinkle. Yes, some things have changed in 700 years. There are now villages in the gorge, as there is internet on the pass and in the day one can find a lovely couple with their mobile market (lada full with goods) selling their goods day in day out.
How awesome is it that 700 years after the building of this incredible place we stay here for the night and in the day a merchant couple comes to sell their goods. We also met a young priest and his friend and exchanged stories. It doesn’t matter where your from, it doesn’t matter in which time you live, humans are humans. This place was built to bring people together and that’s what it still does 700 years later.
The morning sun is a welcoming guest high up in the mountains. We are now at almost 2500 meters above sea level and the wind carries the cold air into the van. Great for sleeping, a little less for cooking and living outside. But, we are Dutchies, thus no cold air can prevent us from living our life’s outside. And the sun is shining so what are we complaining about?!
Today we’ll be looking back at the past few days. They were intense, a lot of driving, visiting new places and finding spots to sleep.
Visiting the most famous Armenian monastery
We visited Tatev monastery. Probably the most famous monastery of Armenia, not the most pretty one though. But, at Tatev monastery you can walk through the ancient bishop chambers and that’s a lot of fun! The church itself is not that interesting so we didn’t stay too long. We slept on the parking lot of the ‘wings of Tatev’, the longest cable car of the world, thus holds a Guinness book of records. Even though parking lots aren’t that idyllic, we did have a toilet we could use and in the night they closed the gates so no visitors. Except for some dogs, cats and horses.
The next day we continued our route in the direction of Goris and beyond. Driving towards Azerbaijan, but just before we visited Old Khndzoresk, a cave city. The main interesting part of the city is that is was last inhabited in 1975 – as a local told us. The government didn’t think it would be good for the people to continue living in caves so they were moved to the top of the gorge. There isn’t much to see what we didn’t already see elsewhere but we had a good hike up and down the village and crossing a huge handmade hanging bridge.
We returned to the car and moved towards a waterfall. A pretty nice and rather big waterfall, the first one we’ve seen in Armenia. It’s quite dry here in the south, the landscape is bare and rocky. Trees can be found in the gorges but most of the landscape looks like the Wild West of the USA (never been there but we’re comparing it to movies and series we’ve seen). Actually it does feel a bit like driving through the scene of Westworld. But this ain’t a game where people can experience the wild west. Or maybe it is.
Dispute over land kills people
A couple of days ago an Armenian soldier got shot by an Azerbaijani sniper in an area where we just drove through. It feels surreal, enjoying the beautiful landscape, driving from highlight to highlight while soldiers are being killed because of a war over land. It’s the same story over and over again. Whether it’s in Israël/Palestina, the Krim/Russia or Armenia/Azerbaijan. We fight over land and what’s below it. People die, people become homeless and we keep discussing who was first on the land that should be home to everyone.
We’ve visited churches centuries old, a caravanserai from 1332, standing stones dating back to 7.500 years… Often we see Armenian inscriptions on these man made sights. The first Armenian state was established in 860 BC. Azerbaijan being founded in 1918, you can imagine to whom the land truly belongs. Apparently it’s too easy to look at it this way. Anyway, the interference of the USSR and especially the fall of the Soviet Union didn’t help in the dispute over land. The people lived rather peacefully together during the Soviet Union, after the fall wars broke out. Newly erected governments wanted more land for themselves, not thinking about the people living there. All over the pre Soviet states war started. In most cases it ended quickly, but in some like Armenia and Azerbaijan it didn’t. And we’re not sure it ever will.
Not something we can solve in this blog post so let’s continue for now. Can’t promise it won’t come back in another blog though.
We found a very nice place to stay for the night near the waterfall. Though we did have to clean the area and after collecting three bags of waste in 15 minutes we thought it clean enough to relax.
The problem of waste
Waste is another big problem. It might kill more living things than war does. And it can be found everywhere. Seriously, since we left The Netherlands we’ve seen so much waste lying around. It’s so sad, sometimes we hardly see the flowers through the waste. When we camp in the wild we often need to clean the area to be able to enjoy nature and not be surrounded by so much waste. So we decided to make waste collecting cool. Though we don’t know how yet. Any ideas?
After five days at the beautiful campsite of Sandra and Marty (3Gs – check it out) we got waaaaay to comfortable with the swimming pool, two kitchens and a washing machine. Not to mention the showers, toilets and incredible wifi. You can imagine, it was time to go.
Churches!
With over 4.000 churches we’re sure Armenia must be in the top country of churches. Especially per squared kilometre. We are doing our best to visit some of the most famous, least known and the ones with the prettiest views. The later was on the program for today.
After 1.5 hours we arrived at a small monastery ‘Chor Virap’ with Mount Ararat as a backdrop. Can it get better than that? Maybe, maybe not.
The church itself wasn’t that spectacular, however we did manage to crawl down some stairs into the deep where we arrived at the church dungeon. Here they had built another chapel. God knows why. But it was fun to climb under a church for a change.
Red red wine
As the church and wine are inseparable we decided to continue our trip today to the wine region of Armenia, Areni. Not as big as that of Georgia but maybe nicer?
On the way there we drove alongside the Armenian / Turkish border where we saw many many watchtowers. A bit further we drove alongside the Armenian / Azerbaijani border. Yeah, Azerbaijan has some enclave in the South West of Armenia, bordering Turkey. That’s why Azerbaijan is so keen on creating this corridor through Armenia. The whole road was protected by a big pile of stones and sand. Every 50 metres (I think, I’m not good at measuring this) was a dug out place where a soldier could fit. He would be surrounded by tires as protection. Than these dug out places changed into tiny, two men bunkers. On the other side we saw the same on the Azerbaijan side. Looks a little hostile of course. But even more so when we saw the dug out trench for soldiers to walk across. And then of course we passed the Russian peace keepers chilling in their tent, visible because of the flag fluttering through the air.
We drove a little further and actually had to cross an enclave of Azerbaijan. So small only one village fits in it and it didn’t seem like another country to us. The highway just went through, there were no flags and the landscape was the same. The only difference was the road. It’s like driving from The Netherlands into Belgium. The nice beautiful tarmac roads make place for old roads with some cracks. But other than that you wouldn’t notice you would drive through an enclave.
A little bit further we drove into a gorge which is best known as the wine region Areni. We looked for a nice wine cave restaurant (got good reviews on Google) but when arriving it felt like an intrusion. “Are you open?” “We certainly are!” So we parked the car, got inside and ordered a wine tasting. After five minutes she opened a bottle of wine, gave us some glasses and walked away. Her daughter came back with some bread and cheese, smiled friendly and told us to ring a bell when we need her. The door closed and we were alone in the wine cellar with a bottle of wine without name.
Well we know very well what to do with that bottle, that bread and that cheese. The wine was delicious. The cheese not so much but that’s kind of what we are used to now. For good cheese one has to stay in Western Europe. Nothing beats the French, Swiss and Dutch cheese.
Half way through the bottle we decided it was time for the main course: Harissa. That’s something I, Milene, make a lot at home. Moroccan Harissa is my favourite! So I was pretty curious what the Armenians make of that. Well, it’s nothing alike. It’s totally different, even the colour doesn’t look the same. It was nice though.
Sleeping under a thousand stars at the church
We continued our adventure to Noravank monastery, which is about 15 minutes from Areni. To get to the church you’ll drive through a magnificent gorge with mountains (and caves) all around. And then after some curves through the gorge you’ll hit a straight road and head towards red rocky mountains. Amazing!!! After seeing mainly dry desert like land today, this was a very welcome change of landscape.
In Armenian Noravank means ‘new monastery’. A name that doesn’t really fit a monastery that’s seven centuries old. So it was built in the 13th century, above the Amaghu River, near the city of Yeghegnadzor. In 2002 it became a UNESCO heritage sight.
Funny story about the church. Apparently the Armenian alphabet was designed so that a single swastika was a monogram of the alphabet: every letter could be found in its shape. This saved space, so that more could be written. During the unstable times, when invasions and destruction were common, Armenian history was written carved into the church walls, and words were written as monograms, with all the letters stacked on top of each other, in order to save space.
The church sits at the end of the gorge, on the most beautiful place of course! We arrived quite late so it was very quiet in and around the church, which we love. And as the sun dropped in the ocean somewhere in the world, the wind took over and one by one stars appears. We could see thousands if not millions of stars in the dark sky. No light pollution so it was all very visible. The Milky Way showed its grandeur and was almost as white as a single cloud on a clear day. Not long after the darkness set in, the few cars that had been here left and we were all alone.
Quietly we watched more stars stealing the show and the contours of the mountains only slightly visible against the sky that darkened even more. We saw stars falling and satellites moving. It made us dream of far away places that now seem unreachable. But, when this church was built the priests would certainly not imagine that we would be travelling to the universe one day. Let alone step on the moon! So, even though we seem so tiny under that big black sky we can do things unimaginable. Things that some people think impossible. Like reaching Armenia with a 45 year old Volkswagen van.
And that, our dear reader, gives us reassurance and trust in the future of this journey. It might not continue exactly as we planned but every day on the road is a unknown advanture and we take them as they come.
Finally exploring again. We love visiting cities and staying in a hotel, guesthouse, airbnb for a while but we love it even more to explore the roads with Alexine and drive towards unknown destinations. Not knowing where we will sleep that night, but enjoying the wind rushing through the van, while Alexine crosses mountains.
The only Pagan Temple of Armenia
This time we wouldn’t drive too far. Armenia is small so most places are not that far from each other, which we like and Alexine even more. It means she doesn’t heath up too much. Anyway, after 50 minutes we arrived in Garni. Famous for the Pagan Temple and the Symphony of Stones. We visited both, but first the Pagan Temple.
The Garni Pagan Temple was once a pagan temple dedicated to the Armenian sun god Mihr. Built in the middle of the 1st century CE, the Temple of Garni remarkably survived the destruction of pagan temples following Armenia’s conversion to Christianity in the 4th century CE, and countless invasions and earthquakes until its collapse in 1679 CE.
Today, it is the only free-standing Greco-Roman structure in Armenia and seen by many as a potent symbol of Armenia’s classical past as well as its deep historical ties to the civilizations of Greece and Rome. We love when histories of different countries come together in yet another country.
The Temple of Garni is situated in a very strategic location, on a cliff, overlooking a range of the Geghama mountains as well as the Azat River (meaning; freedom river) near the Ararat Plain. The site was inhabited in prehistoric times, and there is evidence that it was also used by the Urartians between the 8th-6th centuries BCE.
A very nice place to visit, although also very crowded with people not interested in all of the above. They are mainly visiting to take a selfie in various positions. Along our trip we’ve seen so many people being more occupied with themselves by taking selfies all the time, in various positions, than absorbing the stories, the culture and the incredible architecture of a place like this. The Pagan temple was not any different from a bridge in Rome or a Svan tower in Ushguli. It’s annoying, yet understanding. The time we are living in is all about individualism, social media is built on it. A selfie on Instagram gets a lot more likes due to the algorithm than a beautiful photo of the temple without persons in it. Sad, but true.
Thus, after getting a bit annoyed but the selfie bombs of people we decided it was time to move on.
Symphony of Stones
Not far from the village Garni we found one of the most well-known and beautiful natural monuments of Armenia: Symphony of Stones. It is said, like the Giant’s Causeway in Ireland & Scotland, that this natural monument is the result of the collapse of the volcanic rocks. And yeah, it looks very similar. Though the difference is the amount. The whole Garni Gorge is filled with these volcanic rocks.
The basalt columns (some nearly 50 meters high) hang against gravity of which some resemble an organ; thus, symphony of stones. We decided this was a good place to park the van, have diner and watch the stars, of which there were many. The moon shone on the symphony and while the last picnic group was gone silence returned. Except for the river and birds of pray flying over.
Visiting Geghard Monastery, UNESCO sight
After a very good night sleep we headed towards another monastery and several churches. It would also be the day that we visited a UNESCO sight, and ate one!
The monastery of Geghard contains a number of churches and tombs, most of them cut into the rock, which illustrate the very peak of Armenian medieval architecture. The complex of medieval buildings is set into a landscape of great natural beauty, surrounded by towering cliffs at the entrance to the Azat Valley. – UNESCO
Read more about the monastery via the link above. It was quite busy when we got here but it was doable. So, the first church we visited is the main church. Upon entering we found that the church is built upon a spring. Of course, many then think it’s holy water but it didn’t taste any different than mountain water so that’s debatable. Anyway, there were some people taking it very serious. One lady was standing at the foot of the spring, mumbling some words and making a cross on her chest without stopping. We went to check all the other rooms, went outside to check some thumbs, even went to visit one other church before coming back to see what was happening inside the spring room. She was still standing there, making crosses and mumbling words. You gotta love the dedication. She did get angry at other people filling their water bottles with holy mountain spring water.
However, the real gem of Geghard is not actually the biggest church but the one on top of it. While entering there a man was singing. Not quietly, not in himself but out loud. It filled the church with his voice and the echo and gave me a chill down my spine. I, Milene, was alone with this man and I almost felt a bit spiritual, which I’m truly not. You understand that when he left and Yuri arrived, he took his place. Not singing like him but humming. It sounded even better! I love it when places are built to make sounds become music and when the voices are magnified so that everyone listens. Even though one cannot understand.
After our private concert we left. We climbed up a little bit to an old church cut in the mountain and left right after it.
On the way to a campsite (yep!) we saw ladies baking bread. Not just any bread but Lavash!!
Finally eating UNESCO bread: Lavash
Lavash is a soft and flat bread that can be folded easily to make sandwiches and wraps. It’s popular in countries such as Armenia, Iran, Azerbaijan and Turkey. Traditionally, lavash is made in tanoor (brick or wood oven) or on saj Tava. Lavash can be preserved for about 6 months. The ladies showed us how they make the bread. Let’s share it:
A simple dough made of wheat flour and water is kneaded and formed into balls, which are then rolled into thin layers and stretched over a special oval cushion that is then slapped against the wall of a traditional conical clay oven. After thirty seconds to a minute, the baked bread is pulled from the oven wall.
Of course we bought some of the bread and tasted it, delicious! It’s not that different from Turkish, Iranian or other Middle Eastern bread but it’s Unesco so it’s cool.
Lavash is included in UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The nomination was submitted by The Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Armenia and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia in 2013. “Lavash, the preparation, meaning and appearance of traditional bread as an expression of culture in Armenia”.
With UNESCO bread in our pocket we knocked on the door of Campsite 3Gs. On Instagram many people told us we should go here so why ask if you don’t listen right? Thus, we arrived here and were welcomed by Sandra, one of the owners. Sandra and her husband Marty are from The Netherlands and started the campsite in 2015. They call it campsite, we think it’s more a combination of glamping, camping & b&b. And that’s exactly what it is. With two kitchens, three toilets, showers, a washing machine and wonderful swimming pool this place has it all. We will stay here a couple of nights to relax, do some work and plan the rest of our trip because if Iran doesn’t open it’s borders and other borders might close we have to consider different options.
Hi there! We are Milene & Yuri. We are travelling the world together since 2015. Our endless curiosity and will to explore has resulted in many cool, and somewhat extreme, adventures. On MYgrations you'll read all about our adventures, you'll find lots of information about the countries we visit you won't find anywhere else and more. Enjoy!
We’re also grammin’
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