Like all great travellers, I have seen more than I remember, and remember more than I have seen
The pleasures of travelling aren’t restricted to the time when you are away from home. There is the fun of planning a trip of course, and the longer-lasting enjoyment of the memories you bring home with you. And often those memories are not of the major, famous sights but of the little things. The brief conversation you had with a local in a bar; a moment when rain turned to sun and clouds lifted from a mountain view; live music over dinner in a restaurant, or a special dish typical of a country …
I’ll of course be posting about the many and varied sights from our recent Caucasus trip over the coming months. But as I started to sort through my photos, and with Tina’s Lens Artists challenge about Memories at the back of my mind, I realised that after every holiday I come back not only with memories of those specific sights but also more general ones about the experiences I had. And while I have many photos of those sights, I also have some that capture the overall ‘feel’ of the place(s).
Here are just a few examples, pulled together quickly for this post. They are mainly (but not entirely) from the first few days of the trip in Azerbaijan but are typical of the memories I have from all three of the countries we visited: Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia.
These photos conjure up memories not necessarily of specific places that we visited but of how it felt to be in those places. And those are perhaps the best travel memories of all.
My feature photo was taken in the Svaneti region of Georgia, known for the medieval watchtowers that dot the landscape.
Taking off from Istanbul Airport and hoping for better weather ahead
Cats everywhere, but especially in Baku
And in Baku in particular, the locals take good care of the cats
Pomegranates everywhere too
No shortage of shopping opportunities
And while we’re talking of memories, you are never far from the memory of the Soviet era: on souvenir stalls, in city architecture and in people’s conversations
Religion is important to the people of the Caucasus, and there are beautiful mosques in Azerbaijan (although it takes a very liberal approach to Islam)
(This is Bibiheybat Mosque in Baku)
And atmospheric old churches and monasteries all over Georgia …
(Svetitskhoveli Cathedral, Mtskheta)
… and Armenia
(Goshavank Monastery)
Bread matters almost as much as religion; indeed it might almost be a religion
(A bakery in Sheki, Azerbaijan)
There is a strong sense of history, from the prehistoric …
(Petroglyphs in Gobustan National Park, Azerbaijan, dating back to 10000 BC)
… to more recent events which still resonate in the region
As a visitor you have to be careful to respect the wounds felt by the different sides in recent conflicts
(The Eternal Flame memorial to victims of Black January, Baku, Azerbaijan)
Visiting in autumn meant beautiful colours everywhere
(Here in Dilijan National Park, Armenia)
And perhaps my favourite memory of all, the snow on the peaks of the High Caucasus in Georgia
(A mountain pass in the Svaneti region of Georgia)
