Meghri-Kapan mountain road – Armenia
SNAPSHOTS FROM THE ROAD (all images as shot in-camera, complete with spotty, dirty windscreen): On an isolated road I attempted to hitch from Meghri to Kapan … but after seeing the total lack of traffic I let a rough, chain-smoking taxi driver persuade me to accept his ride (about 60 – mountainous – km for $20).
MRP leaving Meghri …
It was a good move. No vehicles, only the odd truck, stalled or totally stopped cos of the snow and ice coating the road. A few with chains, still ventured forward.
SKIDDING BACKWARDS DOWN THIS SLOPE !!!
However, even out car got in trouble as it slid fast down road and not far off edge (it would be my second-icy-near-disaster within as many days); the driver was shitting himself. And I confess, it got my heart racing. But we managed to spin out of it and slowly back down hill to dry spot before attempting the slope again … after much longer than he anticipated we finally reached Kapan … relieved: I gave him a few bucks extra.
Not bad for $20
The stubbornness of not getting a ride could have resulted in a very cold night. Worse yet sharing a cabin in a truck with some hairy Armenian!
Yeah, worth the price. Most trucks – the few I saw – were going nowhere due to the road, simply parked-up, waiting the thaw. But I doubt that I’d had to sleep outside (or in trucker’s cabin) as locals are pretty hospitable if I had knocked at a village door (there were a few near the start point BUT I was carrying an extreme-temp sleeping bag …). Anyhow, it all worked out well.
PS: There’s some lovely hairy Armenians – of the female persuasion.