Vanadzor

September 25, 2023

We carried on up the Debed Canyon this morning climbing steadily until we reached its end where the climb started in earnest.

As we climbed out of the canyon we crossed the railway line which hogged the best route meaning that the road had to switchback a few times to gain elevation.

At the top of the climb a Porsche stopped next to me and a smart young Armenian gentleman got out to chat to me. Just before he left he presented me with a whole lot of fruit. The Porsche was one of a few we saw today. The dominant car on Armenian roads is the Lada version of the 1960s Fiat 1500.

This is only part of the gift of fruit that we received.

After the summit there was a sharp dip followed by another steepish climb. Then it was mostly flat to Vanadzor. Here encountered three more Polish cycle tourists. Veronica, Karol and Jacek were heading to Alaverdi as part of a two week tour through Armenia. Once again a long conversation ensued. For someone who claims that Poles, like Georgians, don't know how to smile Jacek had a lovely sense of humour.

The Poles were warmly wrapped up - and smiling! We were jacketless and starting to get cold.

As mentioned above, we were starting to get cold. The weather has got a lot cooler over the past week and today maxed out at fifteen degrees. We are now at over thirteen hundred meters above sea level and will most likely climb to over two thousand meters. Autumn is very obvious in the changing colours of the trees so we can expect to get colder still.

Once in Vanadzor it took us almost two hours to find suitable accommodation. The hotels we went to were pretty dire and woefully overpriced. It took a long time getting lost in the rabbit warren of suburban lanes to find a guest house that turned out to be full. Eventually we got a good deal via Booking.com on an apartment, much cheaper than the hotels and run by a delightful Armenian couple, but it took another half an hour to find it. Google was definitely of no help this time round.

We have been mulling over our plans for the next month because the security situation in Armenia/Azerbaijan is getting a bit worrisome. So this evening we obtained another set of 30 day visas for Turkey (the Turkish evisa website is so quick and easy to use - as soon as I clicked the final button in the process our visas were issued free of charge) and plan to head back to that country via the south western region of Georgia (Armenia and Turkey don't allow their common border to be crossed because they are still at each other's throats). We'll have to change our flight back to South Africa but we'll only do that once we have an idea as to where we will end up in Turkey. I'm rather disappointed because the whole shape of this trip has been turned on its head by stupid governments. But that's how it is and we will make the best of what is possible.

Today's ride: 39 km (24 miles)
Total: 1,580 km (981 miles)

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