GORIS - THE PIVOT
Inviting caves, abundant wild food & Lavash flatbread. What more could one want…
On September ninth, after a five hour drive, the TCT team of Tom & Ashot and us five hikers arrived in Goris checking into the deluxe Red Roof Hotel.
We were five of us on the hiking team: Kathy & Tarig from Scotland, Kurt from Belgium and Kat from Australia, all accomplished hikers and great conversationalists! Our TCT daily leader was Shushan and Tom joined us on many of the hikes. Shushan is a very knowledgeable tour guide who always brought extra food for the sheep herding dogs along the way!
We had a walking tour through town where we got to watch women making the famous Lavash Flatbread. It is a symbol of Armenian cuisine and is made with flour salt and water. What is unique is that it is baked along the walls of a clay oven called a tonir. This soft, thin flatbread is actually on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage List!
Lavash making in Goris, Armenia
The next day we had hike where there where many natural caves due to the composition of the rock. The trail was full of plums and blackberries and led to the longest hanging bridge in Armenia! After a steep climb we enjoyed lunch nestled in a orchard. To our surprise there was a pool and we couldn’t resist a plunge in the cold water before sitting down to our feast.
That night, around midnight, I heard what sounded like fireworks. I looked out the window and didn’t see anything. The next morning, Tom informed us that Azerbaijan had attacked Armenia along the border. It is a skirmish that started two years ago and was unresolved. The bottom line was that the TCT was abandoning the Legends hike for this trek and redirecting the tour to northern Armenia.
We were in shock and grateful for TCT’s quick pivot. This meant that all the meticulous planning of reserving accommodations, meals, etc. for the original itinerary had to be cancelled and redone for the new route. Not a small feat! The new route would take us in a circle around the Dbed Canyon and then over to Dilijan National Park.
Excited to explore any part of Armenia…