One of the highlights of southern Georgia is Vardzia – an extensive cave monastery (500m long and rising up 19 tiers) that was largely built in the latter part of the 12th century. We had 2 hours to explore the site so I decided to spring for the $5 for an audio tour and set […]
Besides Yerevan, the only other things we had time to see in our extremely short sojourn in Armenia were two monasteries. Haghbat Monastery (975AD) This is a medieval monastery complex with several structures, the largest of which is the cathedral of Surb Nishan. With its dome supported by 4 large pillars, it is a typical example
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After having spent a few days in Tbilisi, Georgia arranging our Iranian visas (more about Georgia coming), our circuit through Armenia was also, unfortunately, very short. However, we did manage to get just over a day in Yerevan – the capital of the country. I have to say – I really liked Yerevan – where
After a month of traveling through the poorer parts of the ex-Soviet Union on incredibly bad roads (for the most part), arriving in Azerbaijan was quite a shock! In our <3 days in the country (we could only get a 3-day permit for the truck), I discovered that: the roads are great there are Western
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The other quick stop we did in Azerbaijan was to the mud volcanoes (otherwise known as sedimentary volcanoes). These weren’t too far from the Gobustan Petroglyphs in fact, and were definitely worth the quick side-trip to see. It’s an amazing, moon-like landscape, with the Caspian Sea in the background with both fresh and baked mud
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Because you can never see too many petroglyphs (and I don’t say that facetiously – I actually find them fascinating), one of our quick stops in Azerbaijan was to visit the Gobustan petroglyphs. This National park is home to more than 6,000 rock engravings dating from between 5,000–40,000 years ago – some of which are
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Woke up early after only about 2 hours sleep, thanks largely to the snoring efforts of my traveling companions, and decided to just get up and start exploring Baku. Made my way downstairs at the hostel to be confronted with doctors and patients and wheelchairs on the first floor… WTF??!! The running semi-joke is that
Turkmenistan was a fascinating country, and there were plenty of things that struck me as we journeyed through it. Those that were particularly common/memorable: Flat desert scenery Fancy green signs Gas pipelines with a U-shaped dog-leg every couple of hundred metres Image of the President all over (yes, that is an LED screen!) Green roofs Pristine
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After a couple of wonderful days in the fascinating city of Ashgabat, we were back in the truck for the 540km trip to Turkmenbashi to find a ferry to transport us across the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan. The road was pretty good (for a change), and although it was 4 lanes for most of the
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If I ever again hear anyone complain about how Canberra is a planned and dead city, my response is going to be: “Go to Ashgabat”! The capital of Turkmenistan is a truly bizarre experience. Completely destroyed by an earthquake in 1948 that killed a large fraction of the population (though the Soviets denied this
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