Well I was glad that hadn't happened: Lets get this blog moving again!

April 4, 2014

"Meow.. oh relax, you know they are Marathon Plus! Hey, you wanna see something impressive?"

"Wow yeah, very impressive. Ever heard the phrase 'curiosity killed the cat?"
"Meow, meow. Ever seen anyone walk along your top tube before? meow, meow, purr, purr! What's a cat?"

"Its not that amazing, I saw an ant do it once. And by the way, that weird-looking thing thing you're staring at in my mirror is a cat"

"Meow, you're just jealous of my good looks and amazing balance."
"Yeah, yeah, get off my bike, I've got to go"

The cat was a tremendous start in terms of making me feel more comfortable on my second day in Armenia than I had on the first. The weather also helped, as it became a bright and sunny day, and the people seemed nicer as they usually waved back and smiled when I waved at them. In many ways then, this was the best of both worlds as I had the benefit of friendly people without the hassle of having to stop every fifteen minutes and drink tea. By the time I reached the city of Vanadzor, high in the mountians, I was feeling much better about everything.

Anyone else see the ghost of Paul McCartney in those rocks?

I knew that Kieran and Natasha were staying in Vanadzor, but we hadn't managed to arrange any way of meeting or anything. We had actually been in Tbilisi at the same time as well without seeing each other and I felt they weren't as keen on meeting up with me again as I was with them. I think there is less incentive to find other people to travel with when you are already travelling with someone. Or maybe it was the haunted house that I made them sleep in in Turkey. Even so, I tried to find Internet in Vanadzor to see if they had left me a message, but I had to give up on that idea. Armenia was looking like a very poor country indeed, with run down buildings everywhere and so on, and finding an internet connection was a challenge. I asked a man who spoke some English and he didn't know anywhere at all. "It is only a small city" he explained. 'Its still a CITY!' I thought.

I couldn't work out the alphabet. Had to guess what things said. I guessed this said 'Crappy half-built brick building with nothing useful in it'

I gave up and left Vanadzor, carrying on to the top of the pass amidst snowy mountains and a nice sunset and I thought about what a difference 24 hours could make as everything seemed so, so, so much better. I set up my tent just over the top of the pass by some forest and happily settled in for the night. A few hours later I was woken up by an animal pawing at the side of my tent. This was mildly alarming as I remembered that there were bears in these woods, something that would have been more worthwhile remembering before I went to sleep with my food temptingly scattered inside my tent. Gripped by terror but remembering my alpha-male role in this movie I reached for my bazooka, which alas, turned out to be fictional. Undeterred, I reached for my blunt pocket-knife, which, alas, I had lost about six weeks earlier. Still undeterred, I reached for my fork, which had assumed chocolate-spread-spreading duties after the loss of the knife, but which, alas, I had lost about four weeks earlier. A little bit, but not completely deterred, I reached for my spoon, which had assumed chocolate-spread-spreading duties after the loss of the fork, but which, alas, I had lost about two weeks earlier. On the verge of being deterred and with the animal now pawing wildly at the outside of my tent, I reached for my tire lever, which had assumed chocolate-spread-spreading duties after the loss of the spoon. I was sure a plastic tire lever was the perfect weapon for fending off a hungry bear but, alas, I couldn't find it. Thoroughly deterred but not defeated I settled for punching the side of the tent with my fist and shouting "go away!" Amazingly this actually worked and the bear went away! Success! I was left with all of my food, a tremendous sense of satisfaction, and this really tremendous tale of the time I fought off a hungry bear with one fist. Except it probably wasn't a bear, a bear would have just ripped the tent open with its claws wouldn't it? Well I was glad that hadn't happened anyway. I'd have been cold.

Today's ride: 69 km (43 miles)
Total: 15,848 km (9,842 miles)

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