Hitchhike Fail to Goris

I didn’t really know what to expect in Armenia about people and hitchhiking, though I guessed it might not be as easy as in Iran.

I wouldn’t have expected it being so difficult though… I stood on the road for a good two hours, before Iran came to my rescue one last time: a truck with an Iranian licence plate stopped and offered me a ride. “Lucky me”, is what I thought. Then he started the engine again. It was the slowest ride I’ve ever been on. We tottered with a comfy ten to twenty kilometres per hour up the mountain and needed about four hours to the next town, a distance usually done in about an hour, hence I decided it was time to get another ride.

I didn’t need to wait that long this time to find someone who drove me to the next town. From there, it would have still been another two hours to Goris and one hour more to Tatev. I already decided I wouldn’t make it to Tatev the day, but was still hoping to reach at least Goris; before it started to rain and my chances for a ride dropped to a close zero. I was thinking how I could get to the closest hotel, when suddenly a car stopped and asked me where I was heading. He was a taxi driver though and his quote was a bit off my travel budget. My natural distrust against taxi drivers didn’t help, either. Language barriers did the rest and so he went away and I was considering my remaining options. Shortly after though, the car came back and out of the back seat window probably the only English-speaking person in town asked me what the hell I was doing out there in the rain. On the way to her home she translated everything and got me the ride to Goris for almost half price. Given that I really didn’t want to stay in that town (even though she and her mother offered me to stay with them, but I wasn’t sure if the invite was real), I decided to take the taxi. I passed his offer for a beer in a pub before the trip and asked him to drive me to Goris first. The road was rainy and foggy and it was getting dark soon. I was just hoping we arrive in Goris before the sun set completely. On our way, we surpassed my first ride of the day again, who easily needed another three hours to Goris. I was wondering when he would sleep and how many hours he had been on the road already. At around 7pm, we finally arrived in Goris, a very nice surprise as far as I could see at on this rainy evening.

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Goris City

I got to my hostel and not long after, I went to sleep. I first just wanted an overnight stay to continue my way to Tatev as soon as possible, but then decided to stay two nights for several reasons:

1. It was already late and I remembered I didn’t want to stress through this trip but take my time and enjoy.
2. I liked the city so far and was thinking it’s not too bad to have a day to discover it.
3. The hostel had a kitchen and I could finally cook dinner myself again, which I actually missed along the road.
4. I needed to organise a few things and find out about cheap travel in this country, since hitchhiking didn’t seem like the best option.
5. Weather was still supposed to be iffy the next day and Tatev is on a higher altitude, and I didn’t want to end up in another foggy village.
6. After a quick search I found some great hiking spots around the area and I wanted to do some trail running again.

So the next morning, after three months of not doing anything, I finally got into my running shoes and headed to the closest trail. I was completely out of shape, but (kind of) running through the green mountains after the storm was extremely satisfying. Even more so when I was thinking about breakfast afterwards.

After that, I needed to buy sunscreen as my face and neck were about to turn into a lobster badly (I don’t know why I didn’t bring sunscreen on this trip. I guess because I started the trip in winter and who thinks about tomorrow, anyways). I also found a bank to change more money as I realised I’m not on a four Euro budget per day anymore and then finally, I could start my way to the village I wanted to hike to that day.

Khondzoresk

Khondzoresk is 14 kilometres east of Goris and known for the well-preserved cave dwellings the inhabitants used in former times. It is now connected to the other side of the valley via a long swinging bridge for easier access which also serves as a tourist attraction on its own, hitting two flies with one swatter, as we say in German. The trail was along some impressive cliffs and rock formations, before I needed to follow the road for the last few kilometres. I was lucky enough to have a car stop for me and taking me the last minutes to Khondzoresk, as hiking on the road is no fun at all. The new village is also well worth a visit in my opinion, but I didn’t have so much time so I started to walk down the two kilometre path to the old town right away. On the way you pass by an old, ruined church which seemed still in use. It was a bit spooky actually. The cave dwellings were much nicer though and I enjoyed my little walk through the old town, before it was time for a picnic, one of the best things I learned in Iran. Never forget the importance of a picnic. Later on I quickly passed the bridge and skipped the house museum as it was getting a late and I could already feel the afternoon shower coming. I counted a three-hour walk back home, but I was lucky enough to get rides by some nice locals and cut the time to an hour, giving me enough time to buy fruits and vegetable and a bottle of pomegranate wine for a nice dinner for one. The next day, I left early for Tatev.