Haiku No. 5

It’s been 5 months since I last posted Haiku, and 1 month since I last posted anything here. I am so sorry! This is not how I planned it. I returned form Armenia and Georgia with a notebook and a card full of pictures. Every day I planned to finally go through them after work. And every time, something else seemed more important. I started a second job – not that the first one in the practice isn’t paying or fulfilling, but we are planning some changes to our home, and I just wanted to work in a hospital every now and then. It’s spring and warm outside. And we adopted another cat! So, in a way it’s a good thing. Georgia and Armenia reports will follow soon, but while I was cleaning this morning, a little verse assembled in my mind, just as a little taste.

Haiku No. 5

A new place in spring

Cyrillic, Churches, walnuts

Blossoms everywhere!

春の新しい場所                         Haru no atarashī basho

キリル文字、教会、クルミ       kiriru moji, kyōkai, kurumi dokoni

どこにでも花が！                      demo hana ga!

This is Tatev, a monastery complex about 250km from Yerevan in Armenia. It is in one of the most remote locations, separated from the nearest town by a deep mountain gorge. Since a cable car was built in 2010, it is more easily accessible to visitors, and likewise, inhabitants of the village are no longer shut off in winter. Despite the distance and the bumpy road, its really easy to visit as a day trip from Yerevan. We initially thought about hiring a car in Armenia and travel around the country, but even then, accommodation options seemed few and far in between, and since Armenia is a small country, we based ourselves in Yerevan with a local lady hiring out her spare bedroom and this worked extremely well. We went with a company called Hyur Service, in a large coach, which is normally not our thing, but at a reasonable price, well organised and friendly. We did another tour with Envoy Hostels (much smaller group, very personable, highly recommended) and most trips by public transport.