Central asia, we're coming!

Many things happened the last days. We walked through the stunning back country of Armenia, recieved our visa for Russia in Yerevan, got our car fixed in Tbilisi, hiked up the Trusso valley in the Greater Caucasus and eventually passed the boarder to Russia.

Simphony of Stones

These rocks are located east of Yerevan at the beginning of the Chosrow reservat. Impressive to look at, we're by far not the only tourists here. None the less, the whole region is highly dramatic with it's formations and canyons.

Yerevan

After a few days out in the green, we're heading back to reality - another day at the russian embassy in Yerevan. Leaving our camper at the mechanic just next to the camping, we take a taxi inside the city. Expecting this second day to be done faster then our first experience with the incredible mess here, our hopes got shattered and we went through every possible up and down. When finally we held the visas in our hands, the day was about to finish.

We managed to have a little walk around the city until we couldn't do it anymore - the heat still kicks after 5pm.

The Cascade Complex Fountain is a truly magnificent part of the city, where art and urban life comes together. The sculpture garden is filled by statues of a spanish artist called Jaume Plenza, between trees and flowers. It's a relaxed atmosphere. Just behind, the big fountain architecture begins and the mood goes from relaxation to majesty.

On four levels connected by a large number of stairs, there are countless little fountains. Every floor owns an indoor art gallery.

The heat didn't make it exactly easy to climb all the stairs, but eventually we made it up to the top. A stunning sight over the city of Yerevan was the price!

Arriving back at the garage, the mechanic pointed at the springs and gave a loud "PROBLEM". We should come back again in an hour. After a well deserved beer at the canping, we are able to pick up our Flöckli. He repaired the broken spring on the right and replaced some joints on the left. The result was about 55 euros to pay - probably around ten times cheaper then back home.

The bad news' weight was double thou - after a short look at the turbo charger, one of the mechanics considered it to be broken. He told us to drive to a place in Tbilisi called Isani. It seems to be the place to go for any car needs. Even people from Armenia go there for parts. We should be able to find an original turbo charger second hand there, they say. Well then...

The next day, we choose to take another road back to Tbilisi then the one we came from. It clearly paid out, Armenia is just as diverse as Georgia!

While the road in the east of Armenia leads you through the impressive landscape of the Lesser Caucasus, this western region isn't as rich and filled with forests, but rather naked and dominated by soft hills and large plateaus.

The little number of cars at the border control motivated the soldiers to take a closer look at our camper. Every door, every box had to be opened, the outside kitchen to be explained and for the first time ever, i had to scan Nino's chip number at his neck with their device.

Isani, Tbilisi

Eventually on the way to Tbilisi, i start to be skeptical about that whole turbo story. Already before, i noticed less power and lot's of black smoke on high altitude. That made sence to me, since there's less oxygen available. The whole fuel mix becomes too rich, which causes a part of the diesel to be blown out unburned --> black smoke. If our turbo was really broken, it should have caused us troubles all the way, but as soon as we left the mountains, all the problems vanished in no time. None the less, we made our way to Isani. It's an unbelievable mess!

Countless little roads with hundreds of little huts. All of them filled to the top with car parts of any kind. It's not exactly a place for tourists, which is why everyone gave me a very confused look. A true ghetto village in the big city! After asking about twenty shops for a turbo charger without even a slight success, we give up and drive to the big Toyota center of Tbilisi, where they tell us to pop by tomorrow morning for a check up. We meet up with Helene and Alessandro, the german couple we met before and set camp at the same church in Tbilisi, where we spent the night before our stomach emergency with Kathi and Fabio. This time we're able to keep things where they belong to ;)

The next day brings clearance. Our turbo charger is NOT broken, and that is some 100 of 100 good news! Possibly it was just very bad fuel, which also killed our motor oil. After about two hours we're out of the garage with brand new high quality oil in our engine. Oil and air filter changed as well. We are ready for the north!

By the time we left Tibilisi, Helene and Alessandro arrived in the Trusso valley, about 30 minutes away from the last village before the russian boarder, Stepanzminda. It's a wild and dramatic valley and Alessandro wants to go for a hike the next day. We meet up in the evening again and set camp next to a river. They will cross the boarder to Russia a few days after us, which means that we're most likely gonna meet again in Kyrgistan. Until then, we enjoy another day together, as we get along so well =)

Written in the endless desert of Kazakhstan on our way to Kyrgistan.

To be continued.