Day 9

We left the hotel before road closure. On the way to the Sanahin monastery, we drove through Alaverdi, which used to be a bustling town of 26,000 during Soviet times – with a thriving copper industry. Now, the town is less than 13,000 with only one plant still operating, and it looks like it’s not even operating at full capacity. The twin monasteries of Sanahin and Haghpat, both built in the 11th-12th century, are jewels of old Armenian architecture, beautifully preserved. It was surprising to see so few tourists there. We were the only ones at Sanahin, and a babushka who was sweeping leaves in front of the church had to open it for us. Inside the book depository built in 1063 were two illustrated manuscripts of ancient Armenian bibles. It was surprising that they left them there since they probably require special conditions in order to be preserved. Then we drove to Haghpat, Sanahin’s sister monastery. We could not believe the road that we had to take to get there – it was extremely steep, narrow and in bad condition. There’s no way a bus could make it there. Then at the end of this road was one of the most exquisite monasteries in Armenia. Outside, by a couple of souvenir stall was a little cute puppy. When we went up the stairs to main church, there were about 20 women holding hands in a big circle and singing in Latvian. The acoustics and the harmonies were amazing. For the next song Bo joined them in the circle and so did the puppy who somehow made its way into the church. The priest was not happy about the puppy in the church and put the blame on the tourists. Crossing into Georgia. The contrast is extreme -- nice roads, no abandoned buildings, no garbage, no rusted out cars. Our first impression of Tbilisi is great. We just arrived and we are sitting on the 6th floor terrace enjoying the view and the beer.