Western Armenia - general thoughts.
Well now that I have had a few days to gather my thoughts, I will write a final post on my trip. It might be a bit repetitive, since I am not going back to re-read what I already shared with you, so bear with me.
Overall, I must say it was a very good experience, which I recommend that almost nobody else does. Why do I say that? Well in many places, there was precious little to actually see, it was for me more about just being where Armenian history took place, seeing my grandparents birth areas, and seeing what the people and towns there now are like - especialyl in Cilicia. Distances are quite large, English speakers few, and information on anything Armenian still relatively scarce. Little remains in most places, as massive population growth has completely changed the towns our grandparents knew, and churches were destroyed or converted to other uses. That having been said however, I did enjoy the trip, as hard as it was. Seeing the vast mountain valleys and plateaus, the lakes, the remants of old architectural styles, eating the foods we grew up with and for me, just meeting and talking to the Turks and Kurds - these were thing I had to do. Compared to some other Diasporans who went just ten years before me and were constantly harassed, restricted, searched, questioned, and not even able to see places like Ani, this trip was a breeze. Times are changing for the better - slowly. I made it a point to tell people I was Armenian, and brought up the taboo subject a number of times. I wanted to gauge reactions, have open conversations, and I feel like whenever the video camera was not filming, that was possible. So maybe this trip was for you, maybe not. In any case, when the border does finally open, a drive to Ani or Van will be very easy and highly rewarding.
The only place where we had any problems at all was Marash, where this one guy who lived in the small neighborhood that Lena's dad was born in kept popping up and insisting there had never been any churches (we were looking for a church as a landmark to find her dad's house). This jerk even stood there as another 89 year old Turk told us there had been 4 or 5 churches when he was a boy, and told him he was wrong. That and the police search which was apparently due to someone reporting we had been overheard discussing "smuggling antiquities" were the only events to cause us concern. The fact these happened one after another, right at the beginning of our trip left us more concerned than we would have otherwise been.
Other than that, the only real time people warned us not to share our Armenian heritage was when we were going to visit Armenian churches/monasteries. A few people warned us the local villagers would be convinced we had come back for "the Armenian gold", a big deal to this day, as people continue to hunt and dig for gold buried by Armenians during the genocide, hoping they could return for it. We saw fresh digging in a few places, and walls being dug into, and under in the search, as well as graves. That and sometimes people spoke to us in hushed tones and would say to speak quietly about Armenian subjects. There is no problem, but you never know/no reason to advertise seemed to be the thinking...
Akhtamar and Ani were just incredible. People were coming from all over the world to see them, and despite all the pictures I had seen, they were very impressive. Ani in size would give the inner circle of central Yerevan a run for its money in size, and the churches that are preserved, one completely plastered in frescoes, are unforgettable. Akhtamar with it's bible story telling reliefs and more faded frescoes, on it's own little island was a magical place indeed. It was funny that Akhtamar had signs declaring it an Armenian site all over, while Ani didn't mention the word anywhere. The tourists were not fooled, everybody knew, and the guides did not make it a secret. In both places, and all over, the English signs were atrocious.
The hotel infrastucture was woefully inadequate through much of the region, with substandard rooms and often exhorbinant prices. Most places would bargain though. We saw some other very nice monasteries, especially near Van, and I had maps showing many more, especially between Igdir and Kars which we did not have the time (or energy) for. As I said, it is a huge territory from the Black Sea to Kars. We drove 2,000km and tried to see a lot of off the beaten track places, and soak up towns at the same time. Seeing the other side of Ararat was special, and seeing the Republic of Armenia from the other side of the Arax was really cool. Mt. Aragats is very impressive from the other side, for miles and miles! You could also see Arayi Ler, Armenian towns, and even Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant quite clearly!
So that is the general overview of the trip. I will post some pictures too though.
Well now that I have had a few days to gather my thoughts, I will write a final post on my trip. It might be a bit repetitive, since I am not going back to re-read what I already shared with you, so bear with me.
Overall, I must say it was a very good experience, which I recommend that almost nobody else does. Why do I say that? Well in many places, there was precious little to actually see, it was for me more about just being where Armenian history took place, seeing my grandparents birth areas, and seeing what the people and towns there now are like - especialyl in Cilicia. Distances are quite large, English speakers few, and information on anything Armenian still relatively scarce. Little remains in most places, as massive population growth has completely changed the towns our grandparents knew, and churches were destroyed or converted to other uses. That having been said however, I did enjoy the trip, as hard as it was. Seeing the vast mountain valleys and plateaus, the lakes, the remants of old architectural styles, eating the foods we grew up with and for me, just meeting and talking to the Turks and Kurds - these were thing I had to do. Compared to some other Diasporans who went just ten years before me and were constantly harassed, restricted, searched, questioned, and not even able to see places like Ani, this trip was a breeze. Times are changing for the better - slowly. I made it a point to tell people I was Armenian, and brought up the taboo subject a number of times. I wanted to gauge reactions, have open conversations, and I feel like whenever the video camera was not filming, that was possible. So maybe this trip was for you, maybe not. In any case, when the border does finally open, a drive to Ani or Van will be very easy and highly rewarding.
The only place where we had any problems at all was Marash, where this one guy who lived in the small neighborhood that Lena's dad was born in kept popping up and insisting there had never been any churches (we were looking for a church as a landmark to find her dad's house). This jerk even stood there as another 89 year old Turk told us there had been 4 or 5 churches when he was a boy, and told him he was wrong. That and the police search which was apparently due to someone reporting we had been overheard discussing "smuggling antiquities" were the only events to cause us concern. The fact these happened one after another, right at the beginning of our trip left us more concerned than we would have otherwise been.
Other than that, the only real time people warned us not to share our Armenian heritage was when we were going to visit Armenian churches/monasteries. A few people warned us the local villagers would be convinced we had come back for "the Armenian gold", a big deal to this day, as people continue to hunt and dig for gold buried by Armenians during the genocide, hoping they could return for it. We saw fresh digging in a few places, and walls being dug into, and under in the search, as well as graves. That and sometimes people spoke to us in hushed tones and would say to speak quietly about Armenian subjects. There is no problem, but you never know/no reason to advertise seemed to be the thinking...
Akhtamar and Ani were just incredible. People were coming from all over the world to see them, and despite all the pictures I had seen, they were very impressive. Ani in size would give the inner circle of central Yerevan a run for its money in size, and the churches that are preserved, one completely plastered in frescoes, are unforgettable. Akhtamar with it's bible story telling reliefs and more faded frescoes, on it's own little island was a magical place indeed. It was funny that Akhtamar had signs declaring it an Armenian site all over, while Ani didn't mention the word anywhere. The tourists were not fooled, everybody knew, and the guides did not make it a secret. In both places, and all over, the English signs were atrocious.
The hotel infrastucture was woefully inadequate through much of the region, with substandard rooms and often exhorbinant prices. Most places would bargain though. We saw some other very nice monasteries, especially near Van, and I had maps showing many more, especially between Igdir and Kars which we did not have the time (or energy) for. As I said, it is a huge territory from the Black Sea to Kars. We drove 2,000km and tried to see a lot of off the beaten track places, and soak up towns at the same time. Seeing the other side of Ararat was special, and seeing the Republic of Armenia from the other side of the Arax was really cool. Mt. Aragats is very impressive from the other side, for miles and miles! You could also see Arayi Ler, Armenian towns, and even Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant quite clearly!
So that is the general overview of the trip. I will post some pictures too though.
posted by Raffi K. at 7:10 PM
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