Just some two kilometers off the main road surviving pieces of an ancient aqueduct may have fed into the lost Hanging Gardens of Babylon. The muddy road is only for off-road vehicles. The aqueduct is part of the larger Atrush Canal built by the Assyrian king Sennacherib between 703 and...
Our next stop was supposed to be Halamata Cave – an archaeological site near Duhok. The caves contain the Assyrian relief carvings known as the Maltai reliefs. The reliefs all show a procession of nine figures (the Assyrian king worshipping the main divinities in the Mesopotamian...
We drove from Zakho to the symbol of ancient Zoroastrianism – the Charsteen Cave. It is located just next to the Duhok Dam (🎫 1000 IQD). Fire, water, soil, and air were four sacred elements in Zoroastrianism. A short rocky tunnel leads to the sacred place – an open fire temple...
We drove 45km east of Kars to Ani ruins (🎫 50 TRY). We arrived there around 7 PM at large parking near the entrance. To our surprise, nobody was around that time, but to our luck, they left the toilets open. Ani lies east of Kars and along the Arpaçay River, which forms the border with...
Carahunge, also known as Zorats Karer or Dik-Dik Karer, or Tsits Karer, is a prehistoric archaeological site near the town of Sisian in the south of Armenia. The “Armenian Stonehenge” (🎫 1400 AMD) is located on a mountain plateau at an altitude of 1,770 meters near the canyon of the River...
We took the main road from Goris and then turned on a dirt road about 3km before the town of Khndzoresk. The bumpy road brought us to a viewpoint and a cafe (closed), as well as a squeaky 160m suspension bridge over the gorge. Dug into volcanic sandstone on the slopes of Khor Dzor (Deep...
We spent a night in the valley of the Vararak River in the town of Goris. The main attraction are the cave shelters of Old Goris carved into the hillside on the east side of town. They were probably built and inhabited in the 5th century. Several trails lead up over a saddle with epic...
Our last stop and place for an overnight was Noratus village, with its breathtaking cemetery on the western edge of Lake Sevan. There are approximately 900 khachkars (headstones) dating from as far back as the 10th century. Legend has it that an invading army was forced to take cover as...
Our last stop today was a large cave city located above the north side of the Mtkvari River. Between the 6th century BC and 1st century AD, Uplistsikhe (🎫 20 GEL) developed into one of pre-Christian Kartli’s chief political and religious centers, with temples dedicated principally...
We drove 60 kilometers from Akhaltsikhe to the fascinating cave city of Vardzia along the upper Mtkvari River, passing through narrow canyons into the wilderness of a beautiful green valley set between arid, rocky hillsides. The cave city of Vardzia (🎫 15 GEL, 🚐 2 GEL) is both a cultural...