Without a tent…

I wanted to travel light with just carry-on luggage so I decided to forego the tent and sleeping pad and use my poncho as a tent and a sheet of plastic as ground cover. I have a really good sleeping bag that would keep me warm and I just wanted to keep the dew off of it. I was excited about the idea of being creative with the environment. The first photo shows my planned set up. The next three photos show my actual set up!

It was only three nights of camping and the rest of the time we stayed at local B&B’s or hotels. The camping experience was over the top! The TCT team of Tigran & Nellie would arrive in their very cool red van and set up sumptuous meals in places with great views!

The first camping night, was in a quiet valley. Even the cows we shared the space with were quiet.

The next camping night was after very steep climbing and then a descent to a lovely spot with a grand view. After our delicious open air dinner, we had a campfire and music with vocal provided by Shushan and Nellie. The easiest sleeping opportunity was to simply lay out my sleeping bag under the table. I appreciated the cows watching over me.

The final camping night was at the spectacular Dimats Mountain - which means ‘face’. On the long ascent we ran into a hailstorm which served as a foreboding of things to come.

When we arrived at our campsite, I was so thankful that Tigran had set up the yurt as the sky looked ominous. Sure enough, as we were about to start dinner, a storm blew in.

We moved our dinner set-up to inside the yurt and carried on while the wind blew so strongly that it felt like the yurt would levitate at any moment. It felt like an ‘Oh Shit’ moment. We were comforted with the knowedge that Tigran, the master of camping resiliency, knows how to anchor stakes. After dinner, the wind died down, we folded up the tables and chairs and I appreciated having a space to sleep in the yurt as my poncho was no match for this weather!

In the morning, the sun was shining and an eagle gracefully flew overhead: a memorable finish to an amazing adventure!