Travel notes 2021

  39.5 kms, Sept 20, 2012 Today the Traveler has decided to move on, and bid Yerevan farewell. Yes, he knows he could stay here much, much longer and be happy. But he's finally getting that “call of the wild”... the urge to head out into the unexpected and unknown every day. And he's going to respond to that call. He packs his bags, bids farewell to his friends at the hostel... enjoys one more delicious fruit smoothie... and heads down the road. Part of him does want to take the shortest route north, and continue on to the next country. It is still very hot, and trudging across the open plains in the heat does not appeal to him. But there are a number of things in the east that are drawing him that direction. Like the oldest church in the world. And, even more intriguing, one of the world's only Yazidi temples—right here in Armenia. Seems like a place worthy of a pilgrimage on foot. So east it is. As he is walking along, he comes across a run of the mill statue, ...

  5.3 kms, Sept 19, 2012 After a week of walking through around Greater Yerevan, the Traveler opts to take a break from hiking and hop on a minivan to the nearby city of Ashkarat. Here, down from the sleepy main street, the ground suddenly disappears and there's an impressive canyon running right through the city. The Traveler can't pass up the opportunity to climb to the bottom and take a swim in the refreshingly cool stream below. It's a beautiful moment... immersing himself in water in an intriguing place, an isolated canyon in the middle of a city that he'd never heard of before this day. Somehow, water immersion takes "discovering a new place" to a new level. I'll have to do this more often, he tells himself He continues on down the gorge, hoping to find a way out. Sure enough, there's an ancient bridge that looks like it could be from way back in Roman times, and beyond a tiny chapel/shrine high up on a hilltop. He figures that a tour of Ash...

  25.6 kms, Sept 19, 2012 The Traveler is excited about his destination today. Today he is going to finish his pilgrimage to the largest Yazidi temple in the world. What is so special about this? He wonders to himself, as he trudges across the wide open highway heading east. He has already visited many temples, churches and mosques on his Journey. Why is this so different? It strikes him that, all through Africa, the Middle East—and on through Europe, almost every religious structure belongs to one of two religions: Christianity or Islam. These are the two religions that set out on a global conquest to dominate the world some 1,700 years ago. And it sort of started right here in Armenia, the first kingdom to declare Christianity as its “official” religion. Now, most of the globe has come under the dominance of these two mega-cultures/faiths, with the exception of Southern and Eastern Asia. While the Traveler has seen some positive sides to these global religious empires and d...

  44.9 kms, July 2, 2021 Up ahead is a stretch of road that, for the first time in his hike through Armenia, the Traveler is really not looking forward to. It looks pretty flat, hot, without a lot of of towns along the way or lodging for the next 100 kilometers. So far he's managed to sleep in a comfortable bed every night and usually is able to find a nice restaurant to pamper himself every day, helping to balance out the long stretches of hiking in the merciless sun. Now... he has to choose between looping back towards Yerevan once again, or a 100 kilometer stretch of relative emptiness to the northwestern city of Gyumri. He choose the latter, heading out early in the morning, grabbing a coffee from the vending machine, and keeping a quick pace to take advantage of the cooler hours of the morning. As the highway crosses a viaduct over the railway, he gazes back one last time at Mt Ararat and the wide open plains that surround it... a region that has felt like home to him... Bu...