Sighnaghi has town walls, churches and Italianate housing on wide boulevards apparently but most of this was invisible thanks to thick, cold and wet fog so after a quick walk round on a damp and dismal evening I reverted to the only viable wet weather remedy : beer and chocolate.....2.5l of lager for £1.70.
The following morning was no better so after a quiet and cosy night beside the police station I was away down to the plains where the fog lifted but the rains persisted. Rivers were running at full pelt as I headed towards a small monastery at Ninotsminda where in the same village I was able to fill up with water. Setting the sat nav for another monastery carved out of a rock face took me through the large industrial areas around Rustavi before a poor road led me out towards Lemshveniera through a vicious storm with torrential range and violent squalls. Out of the blue on a perfectly straight stretch of road one such squall caused an oncoming HGV to swerve uncontrollably towards me leaving me no choice but to veer on to the verge and hit the brakes. The saturated grass was like ice and I dropped in to the gulley but fortunately avoided a line of trees edging a field. In such poor visibility I'm not even sure the truck driver saw what happened and he certainly didn't stop so I sat for a few minutes until the downpour ceased and then got out to assess the situation. Self rescue was out of the question as both right hand wheels had sunk in the gunk of the gulley and the trees, the only points to winch off, where not in a usable location. I had trouble finding the power cables for it anyway and had stuff out of everywhere looking for them and my ropes.
The odd car pulled over but no one seemed very keen on assisting : the vehicles here are by and large pretty decrepit and it would have been embarrassing to damage one. Despite the language barrier someone mentioned tractor and disappeared but nothing seemed forthcoming so I started digging towards the line of trees in the hope of squeezing between two and crossing the field. A guy stopped and insisted on trying to drive out for me but of course just revved too aggressively and got me further stuck.
Eventually three guys wandered over from I'm not sure where and with their help after some more digging we began to edge towards the trees. Not wishing to lose momentum it was a close thing as I slalomed between two sturdy trunks and headed towards the hint of a track but before I reached it another saturated patch of mud saw me lose traction. The guys valiantly ploughed across to me but I suggested the older one drove and after much exertion we were finally out of trouble. There was much cheering and backslapping and my large bottle of beer seemed poor recompense but was received with more cheers.
My intended destination, the monastery carved in to a rock face at Davit Gareja, was according to the sat nav down a side road but this was unsurfaced and after a few miles became slippery once more and mindful that my rescuers were far away and dusk was falling I decided to turn round and arrived back in Rustavi just after dark. A spot by the raging river gave me a good place to restore order in the van, place all recovery kit in one location and deal with the worst of the mud before heading to bed. The following day dawned bright and sunny giving me the opportunity to have everything back as it should be whilst the river swollen by rain and meltwater thundered past - yet again any calmer eddies were full of plastic bottles, it is a major issue here. I decided to have a relaxing day so walked in to town for lunch in a bar before soaking up the afternoon sun.
Thus it was time to head to Armenia which involved driving through the outskirts of Tbilisi where I decided to stop at one of the many bureau de change kiosks for some Armenian Drams as they all displayed rates that seemed to tally with my currency app. I only took the equivalent of £20 out as an ATM would with luck give a better rate once over the border and I also filled up with fuel as it is 70p/l in Georgia but a pound in Armenia. The road up to the border seemed very quiet but apparently freight takes a different route as it is mostly heading to the capital Yerevan and at the Passport Control there were just two cars in front of me and two Dutch Adventure Bikers. I was soon stamped out of Georgia and had a cursory customs check before heading over a bridge towards Armenian flags and a security check.
After this Armenian Passport Control looked at my passport, driving licence and vehicle documents, scanned my image via a camera and directed me to the Customs building. Here a couple of guys took a look inside, ascertained that the bikes were not motorised and then indicated that I should park up and go in to another building. Here a helpful fixer pointed me to a kiosk that would issue my Temporary Import Permit (TIP) and then took me to the cashier who issued a slip of paper and a receipt for the equivalent of £15 cash. This enabled the TIP to be issued and after showing that at the final Customs Barrier I was on my way to see another young man pointing to a range of insurance broker kiosks a little further on. He wasn't wearing warm clothing and had cerebral palsy so was delighted when I indicated he should jump in for the short drive over.
A very helpful guy, Vova, then issued me with a month's insurance for a rather steep £70 but had I been staying longer the pro rata rate would have been much lower, the TIP incidentally is valid for two years. He could only take cash but was happy to walk me back to the border and explain to the officials that I was just using the ATM, clearly they all know each other very well. After some quick calculations I took out 150,000 Dram (about £300) with a decent exchange rate and no transaction fee and was relieved that both notes and my card reappeared.
Back at the office I ensured that the O and 0 in my number plate were correctly recorded and explained the vagaries of my V5(C) that is the bilingual version of the usual document. He'd not seen Welsh before and being multi lingual, as whilst dealing with me he was also assisting a Russian guy, he was somewhat intrigued. On a whim I asked if he could sort me out a SIM and after copying my passport and producing a form to sign I had 20GB valid for 60 days for £13 which seemed reasonable. Vova warned me that speeding, smoking and phone use were big no no's and seatbelts of course compulsory but also stressed that the police were fair and honest.
Thus once more I was in to a new country with my route south following the Debed Canyon that carries the road and a railway line alongside a fast flowing river with razor wire discouraging anyone from taking a short cut. The road was washed out in places and some buildings looked damaged and I later found out that destructive floods had torn through the area only last May. A side road took me up to the lofty Akhtala Monastery where the parking guy was happy for me to stay the night for just £2. The monastery lies within walled fortifications and contains some stunning frescoes from the 13th Century and I had a very quiet night overlooking the main valley.
On a wet morning I dropped back down to the main river over a very rickety wooden bridge, picked up the main road and was soon climbing out of the gorge once more to the monastery complex of Haghpat with a cluster of churches and other buildings. Odzun church further on again was bustling as it was Palm Sunday and was well situated with snow capped mountains behind that a hesitant sun was lighting up.
Alaverdi was a classic example of post Soviet industrial decay and soon led on to Armenia's 3rd largest city Vanadzor where I turned south to Dilijan where I spent the night near its park by the football pitch. A French camper swung round in the car park but didn't stop and on a damp evening I was otherwise undisturbed. My intention to visit the town museum was thwarted by Monday closing so instead I took the road up to the Haghartsin Monastery in the Dilijan National Park which soon passed above the snow line. Unfortunately fog rather took the edge off things although the buildings and their interiors were fascinating. An old guy in a hi vis approached me for parking and again I was struck by people's honesty as he held up two fingers which I took to mean 2000 Dram, about four quid. He shook his head and withdrew some coins from his pocket to show me he only wanted 200, about 40p....
My route south lay across a mountain range to Lake Sevan which occupies about one sixth of Armenia's land mass and a good road climbed steadily before passing under the highest ridges in a long straight tunnel. Emerging on the other side saw a marked improvement in the weather with a much higher cloud base and in the distance the vast lake almost completely encircled by snow capped mountains. A busy road interchange had garages, shops, cafes and supermarkets so I stopped for some supplies and checked out the weather forecast. This implied that from Thursday onwards sunnier, warmer and more settled weather was due to prevail for the rest of the month so I decided I would hunker down on one of the many wild camping spots dotted around the shore. After getting bread and milk in a small shop at the very basic village of Shogakat and watching a freight train roll by I did try the 'Armenian Camp' that P4N suggested was an initiative aimed at helping disabled servicemen back in to work but after heading down there it was all locked up. Nearby pine trees on the shore seemed to offer a good sheltered spot but on walking down to the lake edge I noticed a somewhat dilapidated trailer seemed to be occupied and protected by a large dog.
Thus I returned to the road, back tracked a few miles and then took a firm dirt track down to the shore again beneath the snow clad ranges that mark the border with the disputed territory of Ngorno Karabakh. A strong cold northerly was whipping up the lake but the sandy, well drained close cropped turf alongside some pines offered me shelter with amazing views.
I woke next morning to a covering of snow which melted away as the sun rose and I spent the day walking the shore, planning my onward route and enjoying books from the Powys Library Service courtesy of the excellent BorrowBox app as snow showers alternated with clearer spells and the strong winds made the lake more like a seascape. Yesterday saw low cloud hanging over the area after another overnight snowfall and as the Eber has been working hard over the last few nights I decided to run the genny through it's last fuel to top up the leisure battery and various other items. Tucked away on its cable it was inaudible and ran for several hours on half a tank under a relatively low load. I also plugged in my charger for the engine battery as I have picked up a small fault, probably related to a sensor, whereby the coolant after run pump that kicks in when you turn the engine off to allow the turbo etc to cool down steadily doesn't then shut down. It's not a huge drain if you are driving regularly but as I was intending on parking up for 60 odd hours I pulled the fuse to shut it down and gave the engine battery a good top up. Whilst updating the blog I noticed that the internet on my spare phone wasn't working so assumed the poor weather had affected the infrastructure but at least my reading matter was available offline.
So after several weeks of very mixed weather today dawned bright and sunny as forecast and the true beauty of Lake Sevan and its surroundings came to light. The rubbish is a tragedy but nature still wins out so after breakfast I was away in to the small town of Vardenis where fortunately it had a VIVA shop - my phone service provider. A helpful assistant spent some time sorting out the issue, although I'm not sure what it was and then I picked up some fresh fruit and veg with the best choice for some time, got some groceries in a larger supermarket and was then on my way round the southern edge of the lake in glorious sunshine. Another track has brought me out on to the shore again and I have spent the afternoon soaking up the first decent sunshine in a month. I also checked the tyre pressures and wheel nut torques as I want to avoid the solid nuts on the rear near side that cropped up last year. Restored 3G has enabled me to catch up with the blog and look at my onward plans. If the road South towards the Iranian border is open then I will head that way : the snow is the issue but daytime temperatures of high teens up to mid twenties and overnight lows around ten should see it off soon enough. Friends heading to the Stans via Russia have had to hunker down as the unseasonably late snow has shut the road north of Tbilisi but judging by the forecast things are settling down.
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