After driving for many hours to Tbilisi we then headed south to Yerevan. We got to the border around 2200. Leaving Georgia was a quick process. The Armenian border was slightly more complex. Our passports were scrutinised closely as we had been to Azerbaijan. They wanted to know why. In the meantime we noticed that one of the customs officers was playing Candy Crush on his computer!
Once our passports were returned we tried to leave but were turned back as we had not paid the entry tax and the ecological tax. Alex and Vova walked into an office where everyone was smoking and there were lots of wires all over the place. Somehow Vova had accumulated a stash of 500 Dram coins and proceeded to pay the taxes with these much to the amusement of the bank clerk. The cashier's office had been knocked up out of plasterboard and had a window which had no security features although the staff at the Custom's Broker Office did say that it took the most money out of all the branches of Araratbank. They then took the forms to a man who was chain smoking and playing Spider Solitaire. He proceed to stamp the forms with six different stamps and sat down to continue his game. They asked how long it would take to drive to Yerevan. We were told three and a half hours. We asked if it could be done quicker and everyone laughed at us. Slightly puzzled we commenced our drive to Yerevan.
At this point we understood why everyone had laughed at us. To say the road was bad would be the understatement of the century. There were no lights and the potholes were such that we had to constantly slalom to avoid them. Tunnels had no lights and the roads were like freshly ploughed fields. We latched onto the back of some locals and proceeded to follow them as they seemed to know where the potholes were. What made it worse was that we realised that the scenery was stunning and we were really annoyed that we couldn't see it as it was pitch black outside. Armenia is beautiful and very mountainous. At one point we climbed to 2,200 metres above sea level. It was however easily the most challenging drive of all.
Four hours later we arrived in Yerevan. A friend of ours, Gegham had arranged for us to stay with his parents. We were very embarrassed to turn up at 0230 in the morning but they were very magnanimous. We woke up in the morning at 0800 to the smells of a wonderful breakfast being cooked for us. Gegham's mother was cooking Kjavar Kufte. I quote Gegham's father:
"It is a special dish. It is made from beef and it must be from meat that is still warm from the carcass. It is then beaten on a stone with a wooden mallet. Only an Armenian has the patience to beat the meat until each single strand has become detached from the other and there are no tendons or sinews left. To prepare a couple of kilos takes 40 minutes of non-stop beating. Once you have the meat you then add onions, some hand ground wheat flour and a drop of cognac. You shape it into balls and then boil them for 40 minutes"
It was heavenly. Some home made sausages and home made Bastirma, home made white wine and we were in love with Armenia already. Add in their wonderful company and we wanted to stay for ever. This was before we had even left the house!
After running a couple of errands in town we drove to Geghard Monastery. This was a monastery that was cleft out of rock and on the side of a mountain.
As we pulled into the parking lot for the monastery, we noticed two land cruisers with Dutch plates. Intrigued, and of course very supportive of their car choice, we stopped to say hello. They desperately needed a water pump and we told them where they could get one in London and have it FedExed over. Thankful, we talked briefly about our journeys and took the obligatory photo. Turns out they were on an expedition to Singapore!
Our car with one of the Dutch Land Cruisers
After seeing the beautiful monastery, it was time to head back to Yerevan. On the way back from the monastery, we stopped at the Temple of Garni, a Hellenistic temple from the first century. Like everything in Armenia, it is set among a stunning mountain backdrop. After exploring for a bit, we continued on to Yerevan to drop Vova off and for Mike and Alex to head to continue to Goris, about halfway to the border. After an excellent dinner made by Gegham's mother we made our way on the winding mountain roads.
The view from the Temple of Gori.
Our car against a beautiful Armenian landscape.
A BMW missing a few parts....
This was not a simple winding mountain road drive however. First, we had to get to a round about and avoid going straight on. If you do that, and not go left, you enter the exclave of Azerbaijan and risk getting shot, as Armenia and Azerbaijan are still technically at war.
Avoiding the first potential deadly issue, we still had one more to deal with. Part way through our drive, we encountered fog so dense, we could see only 2-3 meters in front of our car. After 15 or 20 minutes of white knuckle 10km/hr driving, we were through, and arrived at our hotel around 2:30AM
Getting almost no sleep, we left for the border the next day at 6am sharp. It was through another set of equally challenging mountain roads. There was some fog, but luckily it was during the day. On this leg we set our altitude record - 2535m! It was all downhill from there, both literally and figuratively.
Mehgri Pass - Our altitude record!
We had to descend to the border, which was around 800m above sea level. Normally not a problem, unless towards the end your brake master cylinder decides it doesn't want to work properly any more. After giving it a bit of a rest, and driving cautiously, we limped to the Armenia-Iran border.