“Armenia 🇦🇲 ~The Symphony of Stones in the Khosrov Forest”

• December 20, 2020
• By Pen
• 2 Comments

This incredible site was one that we would have missed, had it not been for our artist host; Ruzan, who mentioned about the place to us.

When we packed up and left the lovely stay at the Art Gallery, we did not have to go far, to see one more thing, while still in Garni. We had been in and out of Garni many times seeing the Garni Temple, as well as the further reaching, and magical Geghard Monastery. We never saw a sign for the Symphony of Rocks, nor, when googling “what not to miss in Garni;” which is a normal thing for us wherever we go; again, no mention. My point is, the locals always know things about their surrounding that the internet does not. Dont be afraid to strike up a conversation about these kind of things. Language may not be easy, but it always works out.

We are so glad we did not miss this natural phenomenon in Armenia, which can only be found in a few places in the world! Even in California, near Mammoth Lakes, we hiked to The Devils Post Piles to see those. In addition, there is something also similar in Northern Ireland, called the Giants Causeway. We have not been to Northern Ireland, though I have been to south and central Ireland, this Giants Causeway is on the list for one day!

On this day of departure from Garni, we awoke to the most beautiful morning. While it had snowed the night before, it was sunny for the whole day, and we had high hopes of the temperatures warming enough to open the roads , by this day two. There is nothing prettier than a bright blue sky and white snow on the ground! We were going to make our third attempt on one of the two bad roads, to make it to this beautiful lake, which would only be beautiful with the snow, and not rain and fog. From there, we wanted to see a medieval cemetery. So, off we went. (due east). Out of the two choices of roads, we knew one was just mud, but the other had lots of large jutting rocks. We went the way of the rugged rocks, because on a clear day, those could be seen and avoided, much easier. Daryl has been driving for a whole month, so today was my turn. We are not driving easy miles, anywhere we go. Daryl needed a break. As a team, we do much better with me as navigator, and him as a drive, though. When I drive it goes well for the driving part, but Daryl, while good at many things, does not do the navigation part, well. We have a good google map here in Armenia, but focus on the map is required, especially in heavy city traffic and snowy roads. Daryl enjoys looking out the window and taking it all in (whoo can blame hime)? but he loses all sense of navigating for me. He forgets to mention: “Oh I forgot to mention this turn coming up.” On snowy roads, there is no braking to catch that turn.

As it would turn out, we almost made it to the the bad rocky road, but just before, there was one long pull of a paved hill, where I had to make a quick decision. It was not deep snow, but it was in the shade and a solid sheet of ice. Another car before us had stopped, so we had to stop. Rats! There went my one chance to pull the hill. The guy in front was stuck, and now we were too. I was too paranoid to go backwards, because:

1. The ice I had already climbed (my thinking was this was a one-way shot, and we would not need to return on any downhill roads). Going down an icy hill; forwards is hard enough, but backward?

2. With a formerly broken neck, where I am now part of the “titanium club,” straining to turn my head in a backwards position for backing is too painful after awhile.

3. The defrosting system on the rental car is really bad. We stay plenty warm with a good heater, but deal with fogged-up windows all the time. The only way to fix this is to open windows. When its 27 degrees, this can be a challenge.

Daryl thought the little car in front of us had small cable chains. I did not see the same thing, but if that was true, they weren’t helping him. The other driver was waiting for me to go around him, which was not happening, either. So it was a bit like an Armenian Standoff. I have the patience of a saint when it comes to these kinds of situations. My only option was to get turned around and he was in the way. Finally, the driver manipulated his car and was able to try going up the hill, again. Watching him spin and slide, we knew we made the right decision to not continue, but I still needed to get turned around and I was on a corner! Luckily, there were few cars. The car ahead of us found another place to pull off, which gave me a chance to pull into a partial driveway (on an incline) that was clear of snow and ice, and get turned around. I went for it, slipping and sliding sideways in the road, till my front tired found purchase on the slightest of gavel. Going back down (which was never the plan) was happening. I went so slow, and picked my way back down, searching for pavement showing through that was wet, not iced. Whew, we made it back down!

Might I mention, that a few days after we rented the car, we had it back, meeting with the car guy, because the brakes were making a terrible grinding metal-on-metal sound. But, to be clear the car literally is brand new with only 2,300 KM on it. (under 1,430 miles). How could the brakes be bad on a brand new car. Well, its been a month and nothing has changed, but the brakes do continue to work, and we have even gotten use to people staring us and pointing, when we come to a stop somewhere. Metal on metal sounds always draw attention. The good news is, we have made a claim against the metal sound with the rental car company. The guy even drew it and tested it out, and since they chose not to give us a replacement car, we are not responsible for the problem. We honestly are not driving as any great rate of speed anywhere with winter roads.

Also, when it comes to driving in the snow; in Oregon, where I was born and raised. There I lived full time in the hills of Amity as well as in the mountains of the coast range. I have a ton of experience driving in snow, but while in Amity and the coast range of Oregon, the studded tired always went on in the winter, then stored in the barn for summer. It was a great set up.

When I lived in Eastern Oregon, I literally had to dig my car out of the snow to go anywhere. I had great all weather tires on my cabers; which is a heavy and low-riding vehicle. It was great in the snow, and could get around pretty good. When I lived in Colorado I had a four-wheel-drive truck and great snow tires. Here, in snow land, currently, we have a small, lightweight rental car, with regular tires. Not even front-wheel-drive. We have very few options for snow driving, not to mention, snow plows and sanding the roads are non-existent from what we can tell. All this is sure adding to our adventures this winter season!

Once we came up with a new route, which would be south and slightly west, we would once again be going through Yerevan, the capital. We decided to go on in (there is no snow in Yerevan, but the traffic is a nightmare) and hit up the ATM again. We also needed to fill our SIM cards up again, as our 4G is most important when traveling like we do. There are times we do not have WIFI in our lodging, We also always fuel-up and keep a full tank of fuel, have plenty of drinking water and snacks in the car at all times. IF we get stuck someplace, we won’t starve, go thirsty, or get cold. Anyway, after our errands, we now needed to get routed the right way for our new destination. We needed to get back on the main drag, to get going the right direction. An important safety option, is to always go by way of a traffic light to get turned around, since there are so many cars, and many lanes and even with lines for lanes, this makes little difference, since Armenians drive wherever they want. If they leave their lane and drive right out you, it is your responsibility to get out of their way, trying not to hit anybody in the meantime! It’s ridiculous. To make a stressful situation an even bigger nightmare, all of a sudden a cat is in the middle of the the road; three lanes on each side! It is darting everywhere, totally frightened. Im the one driving, and and I stops and close my eyes and plug my ears. I can’t stand to see an animal hurt. But, because I was stopped, I am now blocking traffic, but I won’t move, because I’m not going to run over this cat! Anyway, because I was the only car that was stopped, the cat went under our car! I’m now opening my door and calling for the cat, to try to get it inside. It would not come. Im back to closing my eyes and ears. Daryl had to watch and assure me it had made it the rest of the way across, and I could move again.. Side note: Daryl has known me for a good long while now and he has learned to tell me: “All is well” with any animal on the road. Or, “It lived.” “It’s safe” “It made it.” …even if non of it’s true. It’s best I do not know the truth. These things keep me awake at night, seriously!

Back to getting going the right way in the heavy, crazy traffic. It is also not unusual for the locals to park a car in an active driving lane and walk away. Case in point, we had circled around a block, on a backstreet, that would lead us to the traffic light to get us back onto the main drag. I came around the corner and was in the right lane of a two-lane road, and there was a line of cars, two blocks long. We sat and we sat. I was asking out loud, “why are we in a traffic jam on a side street?” We sat and waited, till I finally I eased out into the oncoming lane when it was clear, to see that the few block of cars were all parked! No wonder we weren’t moving. Nobody was in the cars! They were all parked in the right-hand lane! So, I had to drive the wrong way on the roads, to get around the parked cars and ultimately to the intersection, where I needed to turn right, to get in line for the traffic light, where we got to make it to the main street by traffic light. We’ve been laughing about that one all day.

We found a place to stay at a good price, again. Its a roadside B&B. Russian is the only language, sans a guy who spoke a little English. It was enough and we got a room and parked the car. Meals are prepared at night, and though a bit pricy, it was pretty good. Meat tends to be over cooked) After dinner, and getting settled into our room, I didn’t write, I didn’t post, I only processed my photos. I couldn’t wait to go to sleep and put an end to such a big day. It was a mixture of stress with driving and joy for all we got to see today, plus add in the cold, I was just worn out.