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31 August Yerevan, Mt Aragats & Etchmiadzin

Having Tea with Hospitable Yezidis

Set off early in a 4 wheel drive for Mt Aragats, the tallest mountain of Armenia. Of course, an Armenian would argue that Mt Ararat in Turkey is their tallest mountain and national symbol, but since the Armenian Genocide of 1915, Mt Ararat has been lost forever.  The clear blue skies and cooler weather made this expedition a most pleasant one... but what was most unexpected was the encounter with a group of Kurdish-Yezidi shepherds.  The Yezidis were a group of Kurds who have an often misunderstood religion - they believe that good and evil were one, and God and Saturn were mere different sides of the same coin – and this exposed them to accusations of bing devil worshippers.  In any case, they were among the most hospitable people I have ever encountered in my travels.  Upon introducing ourselves, we were invited into their tents and served with bread, tea and yogurt.  Pathetically poor they may be, they entertained us with great hospitality, and I had a wonderful time taking photos of these proud mountain people so often discriminated and misunderstood by their much more numerous neighbours.  An Armenian friend later said that the Yezidis are great to visitors but thieves outside their camps... stereotyping even among the educated and pleasant people.
 

Amberd Castle	Amberd Castle

Kurdish emcampment on Mt Aragats	We got off our vehicle to have a closer vew.	Welcome!

	Friendly locals
Cattle owned by the Kurds	Invited into the tent	Home visit
	Lake on Mt Aragats
Pile of stones: ancient customs ?	Mountain roads	Treacherous roads...

After visiting the mountain and a great fortress on its slopes, I went to Etchmiadzin, the Headquarters of the Armenian Apostolic Church, which would celebrate its 1700 anniversary in 2001 - as the oldest official Christian church in the world.  This is the Vatican of Armenia, where the Head of the Church, known as the Catolicos - effectively the Pope of Armenian Church - resides over the Armenian community worldwide.  Here I must confess my disappointment.  The cathedral was surprisingly small for a HQ of a church, and there were lots of scaldfolding around.  Perhaps I had unrealistic expectations of a church with less than 10 million followers.
 

Holy Etchmiadzin	Etchmiadzin: Memorial to the victims of the Armenian Genocide	Nuclear power station near Etchmiadzin

We passed by Medzamor, a nuclear power station closed down in 1988 after the great earthquake, but has since been reopened.  Power-poor Armenia has little choice but to reopen this Soviet era power station in a precarious earthquake zone.  Will the holy of Etchmiadzin pray for the power station ?

Enough of churches and nuclear power stations, and I went to the most popular attraction in Yerevan - the Sergei Panajanov Museum.  Sergei Panajanov is an Armenian born in Tbilisi, capital of Georgia.  He's often rated as one of the greatest film directors of the 20th Century and is famous for his surreal and cult-like movies - among them the Colour of Pomegranate.  This museum is in a house built specially for him and adorned with bizarre art pieces created by him - strange Mona Lisa with beard, Virgin Marys flying in the sky and Angels holding Coca Cola.  If you like the art of Picasso and Dali, you will love this talented guy.  Like a true-blue Armenian, my driver professed admiration for this native son of Armenia, although he whispered into my ears, "this guy is rumoured to be a homosexual".  Perhaps many arty people are.  What's the problem?
 

	Works of Parajanov

Then I met Onnik and Gohar and we went to the Blue Mosque together.  This newly restored mosque, built by Armenia’s new best friend, Iran, was an example of how geopolitics shape nations and policies, and tie together nations which were not the most natural of allies.  Next we went to the Karabakh War Memorial and Cemetery.  Here a monument stood in honour of ASALA fighters, members of a terrorists who went round the world in the 1960s and 1970s killing Turkish diplomats, demanding for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide.  Terrorists to some, freedom fighters to others.  Who outside the Arab world still remember those Jewish commandos who bombed the King David Hotel and Arab villages before the founding of Israel ?

How did I end the day ?  Of course, it could only be Onnik's place.  Another round of vodka, cognac and timeless Armenian coffee.  Oh Armenia - I would miss this wonderful country... I was to set off for Tbilisi, Georgia the next day.  Another country, another adventure.
 

WWII War Memorial above the Matenadaran, Museum of ancient Armenian Manuscripts.	The Blue Mosque of Yerevan: newly renovated with Iranian funds.	The Karabakh War Cemetery in Yerevan.  Amazing looking new church.

Memorial to ASALA terrorists (of course, to Armenians, they are ASALA freedom fighters).	Tomb of the assassinated PM Sarkissian	The young war dead...
	The Cemetery with Mt Ararat in the background.