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  1. #1
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    Hiking in Armenia: My 3 weeks trip to Georgia and Armenia with link to video I made

    My friend and I had been planning this hike for 2 1/2 years, but of course the covid situation screwed things up. We finally got to go and it was everything we had hoped for.

    I was fascinated with the new trail: Trans Caucasian Trail or TCT, in Armenia, and Georgia which basically runs from the Iran border to Turkey.

    We met the guy who had the idea and is the mastermind behind it all. He lives in Dilijan, which is where we did the first 4 days hiking to acclimate to the altitude (since I live in Phuket)
    Then, the big prize: The Gegham Mountain section which runs aprox 110km just to the west of lake Sevan, in the volcanic mountain chain with the high point of 3500 meters: Mt Azhdahak, with it's crater lake.


    Here's the link, enjoy:
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Hiking in Armenia: My 3 weeks trip to Georgia and Armenia with link to video I made-img_1408-jpg  

  2. #2
    Thailand Expat DrWilly's Avatar
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    Excellent!

    Hiking in Armenia: My 3 weeks trip to Georgia and Armenia with link to video I made-screenshot-2022-10-14-12-50-a

  3. #3
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    Thanks for posting the vid, fiddler! Good to see you hiking again. I watched the vid on YT and gave it a like.

    For the 4 to 5 days that you hiked, did you always sleep in tents or did you sometimes sleep in home stays/ with the nomads? TIA

  4. #4
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    Great stuff, but I have to say- the Caucasus seems a pretty barren, windswept place with lots of abandoned motors and derelict buildings! Reckon a single afternoons hike would suit me well, and then i would enjoy the urban delights.

  5. #5
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    Excellent, thank you for sharing.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by katie23 View Post
    Thanks for posting the vid, fiddler! Good to see you hiking again. I watched the vid on YT and gave it a like.

    For the 4 to 5 days that you hiked, did you always sleep in tents or did you sometimes sleep in home stays/ with the nomads? TIA
    Thanks Katie, We did 2 hikes and slept in tents 2 nights on the first one and every night on the 2nd as the Gegham Mountain section has no towns or supplies along it's 110kms. That's the part where the nomads are and they are one of the big reasons I chose this hike. They were every bit as friendly (and more) that we had heard about. No, we didn't stay with them, they have big, big dogs and families. But even when we camped near them, they would see our tents and come up for a visit. So friendly. Armenia is awesome. Great people. Great Food, Horrible history, but good hiking.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    Great stuff, but I have to say- the Caucasus seems a pretty barren, windswept place with lots of abandoned motors and derelict buildings! Reckon a single afternoons hike would suit me well, and then i would enjoy the urban delights.
    Yes, it is a poor country and can be barren of trees. Especially the Gegham mountain section we did. Mostly because that section is a chain of volcanoes and hence no trees. But great views. And if you needed help, the nomads were never more than a half day hike away as there were many of their encampments along out route. Some of the derelict buildings you mention were ruins from soviet military bases from the old USSR days. They had great views to keep an eye on the nearby other countries, most of which were their enemies at the time I believe. (Iran, Turkey) If you wanted to day hike, I would choose something around the Dilijan National Park section that we did first. Seeing the farmers out there cutting the hay (sometimes by hand) and loading up their trucks and storing it in their barns. Mostly all the old fashioned way, with pitchforks and manual labor! Armenia is one of those hidden gems IMO where you can still pretend you are back in time 100-200 years. (except everyone had a cell phone, LOL)

  8. #8
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    @fiddler - thanks for the reply/ answers. Here's another question: how about your food? Did you bring food for all 5 days (for the 2nd part) or did you eat w/ the nomads & offer to pay them?

    I'm curious about your treks because I hike too. However, I've never done a hike for more than 2D/1N and they were organized hikes, not DIY like yours. My hikes had an organizer & guides. The organizer & his assistant/GF cooked 2 meals for us "joiners" (dinner 1st night & brekky 2nd day), so it wasn't difficult food-wise.

    When I grow up, I wanna be like you!

    Pre-covid, there were Japanese hikers in their 80s who hiked to Mt. Apo (highest mountain in PH). They're the record holders (1 male, 1 female) for being the oldest ppl to climb that mountain. Very OG (original gangster). I hope I can still hike when I become a senior citizen! (btw, I'm not saying that you're 80)


    Age Does’nt Matter in Mt.Apo | Mt Apo Adventures

    Another question - did you see a lot of Russian men in Yerevan? Armenia is one of the countries that Russians have flocked to, to escape mobilization. TIA.
    Last edited by katie23; 17-10-2022 at 07:24 PM. Reason: Info

  9. #9
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    Yes, we brought enough food for the hike we planned to do.
    And we always add a ramen for an emergency day (and an extra Snickers bar, although sometimes it's hard to keep that in reserve, LOL)
    I grew up in the boy scouts in the USA and this is how we were taught to hike.
    We cooked our food over fires back then but now, backpacking stoves are light and easy (although you always have to find fuel in each country as you can't fly with the propane/butane gas canisters of course)
    Then when I found the opportunity, I fulfilled one of my lifetime dreams and hiked the Appalacian Trail.
    The 1st year, I only went 1100 miles. IT took me 2 more years to save enough money to finish. That was in '77-'79
    From then on, I was hooked.
    I've now hiked in 26 countries and although I am aware that European hikers tend to use trails where they can sleep in "gites" or "huts" (that can hold up to 70 people a night), that's not my, nor my hiking friends, style.
    Our tents give us freedom to go as far as we want, and camp with amazing views, or near great water sources.

    You should subscribe to my youtube playlist: "hiking videos" As I believe I have a dozen or more on there of hikes I've done.

    Now usually when I hike in a new country, I always find some Knorrs dehydrated soup mixes, or similar and carry noodles and some dried veggies and dried elk (my brother shoots elk and I dry the meat after he makes it into hamburger) for protein.

    But, Armenia is poor. They had none of that. My buddy brought freeze dried dinners from the states and carried them for all 10 days. That's expensive stuff, but lightweight and hardy.
    I ended up eating ramen noodles for dinner every night.
    I had coffee and candy and cookies for breakfast, cheese and some bread for lunch (and Snickers), and Ramen for dinner.
    That's the worst I've eaten in many years. But yes, the nomads gave us some food although the TCT website asks you not to take it as they need it for the rough life they live. So, we tried to turn it down but sometimes they were insistent. And we had pens and pencils to trade with them (not easy to find lightweight trading goods for gifts but pens and pencils work well)

    As far as Russian men fleeing the war effort just to the north, the conscription stuff started a few days after we left.
    We did have 2 Russian women come to visit us (as you see near the end of the video), and it wasn't so easy for them to get there as (we met in Tbilisi Georgia) the Georgian govt didn't allow Russian commercial flights so, they flew to the closest airport inside Russia (they are from Moscow) and then took a bus the rest of the way. I imagine that border crossing that they used was swamped 2 weeks later.

    Also, we missed the new battle in southern Armenia with the Azerbaijan army by 2 days! I believe that one is on hold now and we didn't go near any sensitive areas anyway. (we researched heavily)

    As you can see in the video, our tents are lightweight, at around 500 grams each and our packs, fully loaded were only around 10-12 kgs. (without water)
    Unfortunately, we had to carry a lot of water on this hike as it was late fall and dry. Normally there are many more springs on this section.
    Traveling (and hiking) teaches you so much about cultures, politics, geography and history, that it is the best education.

    One thing about hiking in these new trails and places: Your bucket list grows every hike!

    I hope to hike in either Azerbaijan or Turkey next. We'll see.

    (I hope that link to my hiking video playlist works)

  10. #10
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    great stuff

  11. #11
    Making people dance. :-)
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    Definitely an experience most don't get to, err... experience.

    Top stuff.

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