May 2024
1 May 2024
I had hoped to go on a Jules Verne trip to the Caucasus for a long time, but this was the year when I finally achieved it.
We began in Azerbaijan, our first stop the capital city, Baku: a wonderful place. The Old City is beautifully preserved; the highlight is the Shirvan Shah palace complex. We drank mint tea in one of the many cafes and admired the local cat population.
The modern city of Baku is home to some fabulous architecture. I loved the National History Museum.
Outside Baku we visited the Absheron Peninsula to visit the Fire Worshipper temple and to see the place where fire burns out of the ground. We stopped at the medieval Mardakan castle, where the guardian explained it all to us in Azeri and our guide translated. The guardian picked flowers for me, and also fed four cats.
After that we admired the Neolithic rock drawings as Gobustan, and stopped off to see the mud volcanoes; they go gloop. Our last visit was to Sheki, and the palace of the Khans. Inside the walls are covered in beautiful paintings; alas, visitors aren’t allowed to photograph in there.
On then to Georgia.
Tbilisi is another lovely city, where the old part and the more modern part seem to flow into each other. The museum has a marvellous collection of gold artefacts, showing the development of craftsmanship from thousands of years BC.
For one day we left Tbilisi and travelled into the mountains, being stuck in traffic on the winding mountain road, and in heavy snow. When we crossed the pass there was bright sunshine on the other side.
Georgia is full of beautiful churches. One of the most special was Bodbe monastery, with a church dedicated to St Nino, the woman who is said to have brought Christianity to Georgia.
There might have been wine tastings. Maybe.
Onward and upward, crossing the border into Armenia. Our first stop was in a town called Traghazdor, which sounds as if it belongs in a fantasy novel.
We continued over the Selim pass – no snow or snarled-up traffic here! – and visited an ancient caravanserai. It was so peaceful up there, the air clear and the view magnificent, and the ancient building looking as if it had grown out of the ground. We continued to Noravank monastery amid more spectacular scenery, and finally to Khor Virap monastery. We were within sight of Mount Ararat, though sadly the topmost peak was covered in cloud.
Finally we arrived in Yerevan, the last stop on the tour. One of the best things ever was a visit to Matenadaran, a repository of ancient manuscripts, all breathtakingly beautiful. We visited also Geghard monastery, for a performance of Armenian choral music: wonderful voices echoing around a cavernous hall.
I’ve only written about a tiny amount of this trip. Each of these three countries is amazing in its own way. I had longed to visit for several years, most recently prevented by the dreaded plague, and when I finally made it, the experience was so much better than my expectations.