From the nomadic steppes of Kazakhstan to the frenetic streets of Hanoi, Asia is a continent so full of intrigue, adventure, solace, and spirituality that it has fixated and confounded travelers for centuries.
We entered Georgia through Bavra / Ninotsminda border crossing. There was nobody on Friday afternoon, so we crossed the border fast, with easy procedures on both sides. We bought the compulsory insurance in a booth in front of Ninotsminda town. The next day we decided to continue to...
A dirty, bumpy road brought us deep into a river valley to Marmashen Monastery. It is quite an unusual location for the monastery because medieval monasteries in Armenia were almost always constructed in elevated locations. Three churches hewn from lovely orange-colored tuff clustered...
We did our last shopping in Armenia in Gyumri. On our way from the city, we stopped below the “Black Fortress.” Russians completed the stronghold to defend the land from the Turks in 1834 to protect the city of Alexandropol, now called Gyumri. Hans Karl von Diebitsch...
Our last stop today was a quite depressive half-abandoned village of Harich. There is located still-functioning Harichavank Monastery. It has a chapel built in the 7th or 8th century. Later it was dramatically expanded with a gavit (antechamber) and domes in the 13th century. There is...