Don Curry drives through a cemetery

Don Curry is very satisfied with Xerra, which has accompanied him through all the Georgian and Armenian adventures so far. The tire remains stable, the crack in the windshield does not grow any further. And Don Curry attributes Xerra's brakes squeaking so loudly when reversing to the advanced age of his vehicle. But Xerra is not the only faithful companion on this journey, Don Curry knows another constant helper by his side: GoogleMaps. Without a navigation system, driving would have been considerably more complicated. Especially in million cities like Tbilisi and Yerevan, Don Curry would rarely have reached his destination in such a straight line. Although GoogleMaps did not know every new one-way street regulation, if you just kept driving, the system immediately offered an alternative route without complaining.

So Don Curry managed to leave Yerevan once again without any problems after his usual breakfast, this time heading west. His first destination was Echmiadzin, the spiritual center of the Armenian Apostolic Church with the seat of the Catholicos. Here, Don Curry not only wanted to admire the cathedral, but also experience a service in the Armenian rite. However, he arrived too late, the cathedral was not accessible. Presumably, the service had already begun, and just like in Mtskheta, no tourists were allowed to disturb the sacred rituals. Don Curry was only surprised that apparently no one was allowed to leave the service either. He waited for about 30 minutes to see if the situation would change. It did not.

So he went 400 m further to the Church of St. Gayane, whose fate Aram Khachaturian processed in his ballet of the same name, from which the world-famous Sabre Dance comes. This church was open and already packed, as the service was about to begin. Don Curry preferred to see if the cathedral had been opened in the meantime; nothing had changed. He knew that there were two more early medieval churches in Echmiadzin, which, together with the cathedral and St. Gayane, are listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites. He first went to the Shoghakat Church, where a service was also taking place. This church was also well attended, so Don Curry could only have followed the proceedings directly from the church entrance. Just a few hundred meters further is the Church of St. Hripsime. There was still room for Don Curry, and he enjoyed the very melodic and well-sung liturgy. Almost everything was sung. There was always a change between female and male voices with many solo performances. The worshipers are not directly involved.

After attending the service, Don Curry planned to continue his daily program and return to the cathedral in the evening. All the other destinations for the day were located on the flanks of Mount Aragats, the second highest mountain in Armenia, whose snow-covered peak can be seen from many parts of the country. First, Don Curry headed towards the Tegher Monastery. Somehow, he missed the actual exit, but GoogleMaps immediately offered an alternative. Don Curry turned off, shortly afterwards drove through a kind of gate, and found himself... in a cemetery! The tire tracks clearly indicated that this was actually a usually used route. On the unpaved cemetery path, Don Curry had to turn twice. A quite protruding grave had already been equipped with a reflective mudguard so that it would not be further damaged or damage passing cars. Don Curry was so perplexed by the unexpected visit to the cemetery that he couldn't even capture this extremely bizarre situation with a photo. Afterwards, the track led past vines and apricot trees until it returned to the main road and allowed the correct turn.

Tegher Monastery is one of the many Armenian monasteries built in the solitude of mountain landscapes. But Don Curry felt very clearly here that he had developed into a monastery gourmet. Certainly, Tegher Monastery was located in an impressive landscape and had remarkable architectural features, but it did not really fascinate Don Curry. So his stay was rather short. The road soon climbed to significantly higher altitudes. At an altitude of around 2200 m above sea level, the mighty ruins of the fortress of Amberd rise into the sky, accompanied by an Armenian church just 100 m away. Don Curry admired both, but was even more fascinated by the surrounding landscape with its numerous rose bushes and wildflowers.

It went even higher, until the road ended at an altitude of 3190 meters at Lake Kari. From here, the summit of the 4090 m high Aragats was almost within reach. At this lake surrounded by snow fields, Don Curry was strongly reminded of Icelandic conditions, but in contrast to the Kari Lake, there were no icebergs here - at least in summer. After a short walk through this magnificent landscape, the long descent to Echmiadzin began. To Don Curry's great surprise, the cathedral was still just as closed as in the morning. Don Curry had the same result at the Tsitsernakaberd, the memorial museum for the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire. But here the closure was explainable because the opening time had expired, according to GoogleMaps the cathedral should not close until 8:00 pm.

Don Curry drove back to the hotel to secure a seat directly at the neighboring CraftBeer Bar 'Dos', which had turned him away on his first evening in Yerevan. There was no problem this time at 6:00 pm. With the four beers he tried one by one, he ordered a completely un-Armenian meal: Fish & Chips, but rarely has Don Curry been served this British national dish as deliciously as here in Yerevan. The 'Dos' and its beers definitely deserve attention; the tasty cherry ale was not as sour here as in 'Dargett', but overall, the first and largest craft beer brewery in Armenia is clearly ahead.

Satisfied, Don Curry was transported to the 14th floor. Once again, he enjoyed the wonderful view over nighttime Yerevan, listened again to the concert of another band from the neighboring hotel. Tomorrow he would leave this strange, ancient and yet almost historyless city. What would he experience then? And where would GoogleMaps lead him this time?