5000 words about Armenia

All I have in my notebook from my time so far is jumbled sentences and words to remind me of whats been happening, to keep track when Im thrown from one extreme to the other. I have around 250 photos already without much time in Yerevan. So photos more than words until I can begin to get my head around it (or at least get some of the vodka out of my system!).

Armenia is absolutely insane. It starts with flying into Zvartnots airport where you feel like you're James Bond entering Cold War Moscow. You get outside and are jumped on by a million cabbies outside the airport like in Asia. There are no traffic rules in town - including no seatbelts - as "if the police stop you you will pay anyway so it doesnt matter whether you wear them or not".

After that its a roller coaster ride, literally when going up and down mountain ranges winding round and round hairpin turns. Some things are done at breakneck pace - driving at full speed horns honking swerving in and around potholes, cars and lorries, raging glacial streams (some nice well-rounded boulders for the geos), drinking shots of vodka with dinner (I now think a bottle of spirits is an ideal complement to every dinner).
Some things have beem left far behind - identical looking towns where you cant tell which of the grey concrete flats or cube-shaped houses are abandoned, falling apart, new or being built (the fact that the bricks are grey here too doesnt help), rusted steel gates, signs, fences, archaic plants, factories and power stations.

Some things just very very random. I am tempted to write a top 20 "things that spin me out" list, but I couldnt stop at 50. Im closer in time to Perth than Portugal. The photo below is the veranda of the house we stayed in - nice view for after work beers but over that mountain range is Iran. The commercial version of the 4WD pride of the Russian military. Like the old Land Rover it has about 2t of steel and goes anywhere. Luckily no-one allowed me to test that, although I was very happy not to drive on some of the roads we went on. Look at the slopes behind - we're at the top of the hill......

I later stood on the church roof to have photos taken. Why? Because its a nice view. That must be offensive to someone - Armenia is pretty religious even after the Soviet times.