| Expedition to mount Ararat and Ani |
| Written by Mkhitar Mkitaryan | |
| Wednesday, 30 April 2008 | |
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On July 26, 2006 my uncle with friends were planning to climb mount Ararat and two days before the trip they offered me to join them. I happily accepted their suggestion motivated by the strong wish to be in Western Armenia.
We went straight to Bayazet without visiting the sights of interest on the way. That night we were hosted by a Kurdish family. Next day we nearly reached the first camp (3200m) by car and then continued our way on foot. Spending the night somewhere near the first camp we set off early in the morning to the second camp. There were many groups from different countries. As the route was rather accessable among the members of the groups were amateur mountaineers aging 50 and more. At 3 a.m we started the ascent. Merged with the darkness of the night we followed the track leading to the top and reached the glacier at dawn. We were walking at a slow pace as Albert and Gevorg were not physically fit. We had to care for sixty-year old Gevorg who had undergone heart operation. In the morning it was windy and foggy and we reached the summit directed by GPS, the only view being the ice under the feet. Because of the strong wind we had a short stay on the summit, took photos and went down. On approaching the glacier we faced the long chain of the groups going up.
On the very day at 5 p.m we were already down in Bayazet and as scheduled, the van took us to Ghars. Next morning we went to see the ruins of the ancient city Ani. We were very impressed by the Armenian architectural monuments. Below are posted some photos of the ruins. I’m very thankful to Albert Toneyan for sponsoring me to take part in this impressive trip. |
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