There were so many other places we visited in Armenia but before that, one last surprise from MIR, cocktails in the first floor Art Gallery of the Parajanov Museum.

Sergei Parajanov Museum was founded by the Government of Armenia in 1988. The collection consists of more than 600 of his art works, childhood home furnishings and personal belongings. He was a noted director and artist and had a very "strange" career. Go to the website on his life for more in-depth details and a look at some of his work. Parajanov's art was definitely eye-catching, and weird with sculptures, collages - created primarily during his five years in prison and 15 years of unemployement! (That would give anyone plenty of time to create!)

"The Last Supper"

Continue reading "Farewell, Caucasus" »

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Echmladzin is the center of the Armenian Church. The holiest place for the Armenian Apostoli Orthodox faith. The Cathedral was built in 480 and located in a walled compound with gardens and other structures. The highlight of our trip there was meeting a Priest from Indiana < ....View image... who got special permission for our group to visit an area of the Museum reserved for special dignitaries.

There were gorgeous church attires embroidered with gold and pearls, ritual vessels of silver, gold and ivory, embroidered coverlets and much more. Rare ancient coins, relics and ancient manuscripts. It was wonderful to see.

Continue reading "We Came, We Saw, We're Almost Done" »

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Got the MIR brochure, read the trip description, and he calmed down... Adventure Center (Explore U.K.) also has a trip there, but MIR has a very strong presence in that part of the World. Even though the costs were greater with MIR (considered a "luxury" trip in that area), I wanted a tour operator that could almost be guaranteed to get us IN, THROUGH and OUT of the country, SAFELY!

MIR assured us that they had escorted many trips in this region and we would be perfectly safe. It's a plan, on the road again with Margie & Art!

"ex-Marine" found out about all the problems there, and ran around the house, screaming like a maniac, "Are you *#*#**(profanities) nuts? Do you know there are rebels and wars in that region? Are you trying to kill us?" His usual response to all my unique suggestions, and my usual response is to get literature on the area, do some research, and ignore him!

Another concern of his - our friends, Margie and Art (M&A), are also the same people who:

- Do Class 6+ Whitewater Rafting;
- Climb Mount Rainier; and
- Trek to the Baltoro Glacier/K2, Pakistan which involved going up and over the Gondogoro La Pass at 18,700' only containing some 60 degree ice and snow slopes.

Continue reading "Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia" »

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That is exactly what the "ex-Marine" (husband, Steve) said when friends of ours suggested a MIR group tour with us along. The Caucasus consist of Azerbaijan, Georgia (no, not Atlanta, Georgia) and Armenia.

"ex-Marine" had a right to be concerned about these areas:

- Georgia has two areas with civil conflicts - Abkhazia and South Ossetia, supported by Russia.

- Armenia supports ethnic Armenian secessionists in Nagorno-Karabakh; the border with Turkey is closed over that same dispute, in addition to long-standing animosity between Turkey-Armenia over the 1915 Genocide; and Armenia-Azerbaijan continue to dispute.

- Azerbaijan hasn't resolved it's conflict with Armenia (see above); talks continue with Turkmenistan on dividing the seabed and oilfield in the Caspian Sea; certain areas to cross between Azerbaijan and Georgia and are in dispute; and, if that's not enough, is riddled with corruption.

In a nutshell, Armenia and Turkey hate each other - Armenia and Azerbaijan hate each other - Georgia and Armenia hate each other - skirmishes on borders with former Russian State - the Ashsetians, North Ossetians, South Ossetians - hard to remember all the hostilities!

Why, you may ask, would I even want to go to this region?

Continue reading "Caucasus - What and Where Are They?" »

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