An attempt at speleology, or I thought I was going South!

Speleology ( for those who don’t know) is the study of caves. It always fascinated me, yet I have never been to any cave larger than an outhouse. So, when a tour to one of the most fascinating caves in Armenia was announced last week, I rushed to join it, despite the fact that I was just getting over a bad cold, and Roxy had a lot of homework.

Mozrov cave is located in the mountains of South-Eastern Armenia and, as I found on Armeniapedia (http://www.armeniapedia.org/index.php?title=Mozrov_Cave ) is about 300 m in depth. It was reported to have amazing stalactite formations and to be hard to get in.

Hard it certainly was, because the entrance is from above, and the way down is perilous, with large boulders and smaller stones moving unexpectedly just as you step on them and running from under your feet. It’s a steep descent through the first room of the cave, which you enter through a hole in a tin cover of the cave opening.

It was sort of disappointing for me that (mainly due to lack of organization in the group) after all the trouble of hiking up the mountain I didn’t make it all the way down the cave. Roxy and I were only able to see the first few rooms, which were amazing nonetheless. I guess I will have to go back there on my own, especially because there are other caves in the neighborhood also worth peeking into.

What made the hike even more challenging was the rain, cold and relentless, pouring down just as we were climbing up the slope to the mouth of the cave. Naturally, Roxy’s shoe broke on the same hike and made her footsore… Yes, altogether this was probably one of the most challenging hikes we have been to.

BUT – the scenery was beautiful, the cave was absolutely stunning, even the little that we saw, and once we took a hot shower that night and changed into dry clothes, the life instantly became bearable again. Our next destination and the lodging place for the night was the city of Jermuk, a resort high up the mountains with the famous mineral springs (also the source of the bottled mineral water sold in most Glendale stores). Even though we were going south from the capital, we were also going higher and higher and the weather was just getting colder. In Jermuk it actually snowed by the time we got there, so we had a chance to enjoy quite a Christmas-y view out of the hotel windows.

The next morning we had to buy a pair of cheap and cheesy shoes for Roxy, since the sole of her boot came off almost completely and refused to be mended. Thus, we missed a short hike to the nearby waterfall, and some more rain (wasn’t sorry to miss that one!). Our last stop on the way back was a cozy little 10th century monastery of Gndevank nestled in the gorge of Arpa river. Like so many other historic monuments of Armenia, it struck me by its absolute conformity with its surroundings. It looks like a part of the mountains that shelter it, as if it grew out of them – not only the color (obviously, it was built of the same rock the mountains consist of) but the shape, the form and the essence of it.

Now that you read all that, here are the pictures:

Views from the mountain climb toward Mozrov cave. A classic Armenian countryside: river, fields, village, mountains...



Eroded cliffs of Vayots Dzor.


Rain...

Inside the cave.




One of the most elegant whites - I think it's called Blackvein in English.

City of Jermuk. Merry Christmas on May 9th!

Only yesterday is was warm and sunny...

Eurasian Jay looks quite different from the sky-colored Blue and Shrub jays in California. Still, they are first cousins.


Gndevank, 10th century.