Gold Fever

After Georgia, Shiey and I decided to explore some more of the Caucasus. Neighbouring Armenia seemed like a good place to continue our journey.  The weather was still nice and there were a lot of abandoned locations, a railroad and some interesting scenery. We booked a flight and departed. I wanted to ride trains across the country but Shiey wasn't really feeling it so he stayed in the capital. Early in the morning I departed on my solo journey to Ararat. 

I could see the yard from the chapel on top of the mountain. It was quiet up there and before starting to film, I was sitting there enjoying the view, taking it all in and thinking in which way I would start the video. The silence was broken by the sound of footsteps on the gravel path that led to the chapel. It was a young man coming to pray. He kissed the side of the chapel before entering and beginning to pray. After ten minutes, he came out. “Tourist?” He asked.  We started talking. In broken English and Russian, and with the help of Google Translate he told me all about the surroundings. He told me about the volcano Ararat, about the cognac brewery at the foot of the mountain, but also about the uncertainty of the region's future. Azerbaijan was lurking and wanted to take control of the region. His brother had entered the army, fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh. Fortunately, he returned, but they had lost the battle. “There on the border, that's where the Russians are”, he said. The Russians are allies of the Armenians and would support the country should war break out.  

It quickly became clear that the country was in a bad geopolitical situation, and that made my original mission a lot harder. But I made the best out of it. 

I hope you’ll enjoy watching and thanks for the support!