Ragnar's World: On the edge

The landlord made me breakfast. And tea. I don't mind the breakfast, but I have not yet been able to enjoy the cheese in this country. It is not to my taste. So whenever I have been presented with some cheese, I just ignore it, and choose apricot jam or something instead. It works for me.
After breakfast, the inevitable subject came up. "Tatev?" He asked. "Machina! Brrrrr!" he said. Steering an imaginary car with his hands. I asked him how much. Now to negotiating a price. His first price was a bit stiff for my liking. But in the end I managed to haggle it down a bit. Not as much as I'd hoped. But livable. I think I can manage on the rest of the money I've got left.
I packed my gear, and put it into his "machina". An old Lada 4x4. He drove by the principle "Don't look in any direction, it's too scary!" So he never looked in either direction when approaching an intersection. But soon we were out on the open highway. On our way to Tatev. After about 15 minutes, we started our decent into a deep valley. More like a gorge. And it was gorgeous (no pun intended). A long, winding road led us to the bottom of the gorge. Then we started our ascent to the Tatev monestary. But this road was just gravel. Steep and with hairpin turns, it itched its path into the very brittle mountain it occupied. And when I say brittle, I mean brittle. It was just packed sand with rocks in it, for the most part.
The whole road was dotted with spots that obviously have had an avalanche in the past. And the road had no side-rails, so if you made a small mistake somewhere, it meant return to start, the fast way. "See Tatev and die" may be more appropriate than first thought. We passed a memorial for one who obviously tried this.
But once we were on the top, I have to admit, it was worth it. A stunning view from the monastery that was sitting at the edge of a sheer drop. The beautiful gorge in front of it. A river beneath it. No words can describe, and no images can do it justice. But I will try my best.
A sheer drop just in front of the monastery. With a deep gorge leading a river into the horizon. Green hills around. A beautiful church set in the middle of the compound. The rest I leave to the images, and your imagination.
After an hour or so, I was finished taking pictures and enjoying the view. So we started the decent again. I was taking some photos through the window. This led him to assume I wanted to stop. So at one point, he drove towards the edge with me sitting there wondering when he was planning to hit the breaks. Or if he had fallen asleep. Just before we drove over the edge, he stopped the car, and waved me out to take pictures. Relieved, I walked to the edge and took some photos. He did this several times on the way down. I was a bit relieved when we were finally at the bottom. Before ascending on the asphalt road up to Goris, he stopped at what is called "Devils Bridge". Ok. The story goes that people were fleeing an enemy army. They came to the river, which was flooding, so they couldn't cross it. They prayed to God for a miracle, and
suddenly, a large rock dropped from the mountain above, making a natural bridge for them to cross. Sooooo. If you pray to GOD for a miracle, and He provides. What do you call the bridge? "Devils bridge!"... Maybe I am missing some logic here...
Anyways. It was a beautiful site. And it had some warm natural spring of mineral water. And lots of people bathed there. I just waded through. It was quite pleasant. Although slightly smelly. But I guess that is natural.
After we returned, I was a bit tired, so I laid down on the bed and fell asleep immediately. An hour later, I woke up. I shook the tiredness from my system, and left the hotel to check out Goris. I walked down the main street. Suddenly, a car stopped in front of me. I passed it, and I saw a soldier sitting inside. I walked on, and he drove a bit further and stopped. I passed him again, and he drove on like before. Maybe I'm just paranoid, but maybe I had taken photos in the wrong direction somewhere? In the end, he drove off. I tried not to take any photos of any military stuff. Just houses and interesting things by the street. Until I reached the end. A beautiful view lend itself on the other side of a shallow valley. A lot of caved rocks rising straight up into the air. It took some time before I found how to get to the other side without walking all the way uphill again. Small bridges crossed the small river. And after a few misses, I finally found the road that lead to the rocks. Beautiful. See the pictures.
After the walk through Goris, the landlord offered me dinner. I thanked him, and his daughter put some vegetables and bread on the table outside. And cheese... Then the landlord asked me a question I didn't understand. He walked into the house and reappeared with a bottle of vodka. Oooo... I have previously refused what I have been offered, and I had the strong feeling that I was insulting my host by doing so. So I thought I had to give it a go. His daughter brought me a shot glass. "Only a sip, pl... Oh, you are filling the glass. Ooook. You are a very generous host!". I smiled the fakest smile this side of the galaxy, and smelled the glass. My nostrils flared and I felt the need to cough. Vodka straight isn't exactly something I drink for breakfast. He smiled, beat his chest and flexed his right arm. Ok. It'll put hair on my chest and make me strong.
I took a shot and swallowed. One moment I thought my eyes was affected until I realized that it was just tears flowing. I gasped for air and tried to chew some bread as fast as possible to lighten the burn. He wrote on a piece of paper. "62%". O*cough*K! *GASP* This stuff doesn't only give you hair on your chest, I think I got fur on my tongue now. And my intestines. And stronger? Well, what doesn't kill you... This certainly came close. Luckily, he didn't offer me a second round.
So now I am sitting here, slightly tipsy, writing this blog in the cool breeze. The landlord left a while ago. I thought he was going to buy some meat. You see, after dinner, he wanted to show me his barbecue. I looked at him explaining something I didn't understand, and uttered the only word I knew related to barbecue. "Khorovats?" I said. He nodded. Thumbs up. I put my thumbs up. Then he disappeared. I was afraid he would return with a bag of meats. But he didn't. He came back without any. Luckily. I was afraid he had misunderstood and thought I wanted some. A bit frustrating when communication consists of hand waving, facial expressions and sounds. I think I know now why babies cry...
A lot of pictures today. Enjoy!

First : Tatev Monastery. I have only commented on some of the pictures.