A rest day involving a bit of stiff walking up the steep streets of Alaverdi.
Breakfast was included in the room price at our hotel but we weren't expecting much based on previous reports. To our surprise, in addition to the expected bread and cheese, we got an omelet and stewed figs plus other odds and sods. In particular, there was lots of bread so we should be able to feed up properly before we continue the climb up the valley tomorrow.
After breakfast we walked down to the Sanahin Bridge. Built in the 12th century from polished basalt, it arches eighteen meters across the Debed Canyon where the river is quite narrow.
There used to be a cable car linking the copper plant to the main part of Alaverdi which is on a hill above the eastern bank if the river. The only access is now via a steep climb.
After visiting the bridge we spied three Polish cycle tourists. A long chat ensued. They started in Azerbaijan and have come via Georgia (it is possible to exit Azerbaijan by the land borders) and are heading to Turkey which means they will need to return to Georgia because the Armenian-Turkish border has been closed since 1993.
The reason for the rest day was to watch a bit of rugby. Last night we watched as Samoa lost to Argentina, a struggle of a game in pouring rain. In contrast, tonight's first game was the game of the tournament so far with Portugal and Georgia, both so-called tier two sides, having a ding-dong battle in high paced game that ended on an 18-all draw. At eleven o'clock tonight Ireland, currently ranked number one in the world, take on our beloved Springboks, current world champions and ranked number two in the world. It's going to be a cracker of a game! But more about that tomorrow.
