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  • Tourism: Swing a hammer and sightsee on a give-back getaway

    The Globe and Mail, Canada
    Oct 9 2011


    Swing a hammer and sightsee on a give-back getaway


    douglas mcarthur

    YEREVAN, ARMENIA - From Monday's Globe and Mail
    Published Sunday, Oct. 09, 2011 4:00PM EDT


    We came to Armenia as volunteer labourers, hoping in some small way to
    help ease the country's housing shortage. We were also tourists, but
    only on the handful of days allocated for R&R. We hoped this
    combination of work and leisure would give us deep insights into a
    complex country just emerging on the world's tourism map.

    I was one of 10 Canadians (ranging in age from 27 to 83) on a 17-day
    Global Village program booked through Habitat for Humanity Canada. We
    spent much of our time sanding, plastering and painting the walls of
    two unfinished houses in the northeastern Tavush province. It is an
    area of high unemployment, subsistence agriculture and a stunning
    mountain landscape straight out of The Sound of Music.

    Our sightseeing forays were centred mostly in and around the capital,
    Yerevan. With its opera house, pedestrian shopping street and central
    circle of elegant government buildings, the city could have been
    anywhere in Europe. In fact, land-locked Armenia lies in the southern
    Caucasus where Europe and Asia meet. It is accessible through Iran and
    Georgia, but disputes keep its borders with Turkey and Azerbaijan
    sealed shut. The tourists we saw in Yerevan were mainly of the
    backpacking variety, and hailed from Europe, Russia and the worldwide
    Armenian diaspora. Many took coach tours to historic and cultural
    attractions, including three World Heritage Sites.

    Arriving on an overnight flight from London, we were greeted by a view
    of Ararat, an ice-cream sundae of a mountain that shimmered in the
    dawn light. The legendary landing spot of Noah's Ark, Ararat is
    Armenia's national symbol and gives its name to a bank and a brandy
    factory. Although visible from Yerevan on clear days, it lies wholly
    within Turkey.

    We touched down on May 28, which was a national holiday honouring
    Armenia's short-lived independence from Turkey following the First
    World War. A second holiday on Sept. 21 marks Armenia's 1991 secession
    from the collapsing Soviet Union. Along with Ararat, the twin
    independence days keep alive memories of the ancient Kingdom of
    Armenia, which was much larger than the country today.

    Central to the nation's vision of its past and future are the deaths
    of an estimated million and half Armenians in Ottoman Turkey. The
    deportations and massacres, which started in 1915, are chillingly
    remembered through photos and documents in Yerevan's Armenian Genocide
    Museum. It feels like a holy shrine. Our guide reminded us that Canada
    is among countries that have officially recognized the genocide.
    Others, including Turkey, have not.

    Religion is another touchstone of national identity: Armenia proudly
    boasts of being the first country in the world to adopt Christianity.
    On a Sunday morning, our group visited the country's mother cathedral,
    Echmiatsin, built according to tradition on a site revealed to St.
    Gregory in a vision.

    The ceremony was colourful with robed and hooded clergymen, an a
    cappella choir and a colourful screen that opened and closed.
    Tourists, who nearly outnumbered the worshippers, treated it as
    theatre, butting their way through the standing congregation and
    shooting flash photos and videos.

    Most of the other religious sites we toured - centuries-old churches
    and monasteries - are now museums. Small in size but solidly built of
    stone blocks, they are rugged reminders of the country's religious
    past. The massive Zvartnots Cathedral still inspires awe, even though
    it collapsed centuries ago, leaving only a circle of pillars.
    Sevanavank monastery, perched on a hill overlooking the blue waters of
    Lake Sevan, takes top prize for panoramic setting. Geghard, dwarfed by
    a sheer cliff, is most impressive of all. Its burial chamber - hewn
    into the rock - has such incredible acoustics that two members of our
    group burst into a chorus of Holy Holy Holy.

    The work portion of our trip was centred close to Ijevan, Tavush's
    provincial capital, which has fallen on hard times. Its central park
    once boasted spouting fountains and landscaped lawns; now it's a
    wasteland of rusting pipes and weeds.

    Even our one-day tour here was a wild affair. At Lastiver, we set out
    with a local guide for what was billed as `a three-kilometre walk.'
    Instead we found ourselves slogging along a muddy path at the edge of
    a precipice, fording a rushing river on slippery stones and clambering
    up a vertical rock wall. It was dangerous but rewarding. The views
    were postcard perfect and we ended at a cave where early Christians
    had carved an altar into the rock wall.

    It was in Tavush that we had our closest contact with the people of
    Armenia. Most homes we visited had satellite TV, the Internet - and an
    outhouse. Our group spent a lot of time debating these priorities. (If
    I was raising children today, I too would opt for Facebook and Google
    over indoor plumbing.)

    Here we came face-to-face with the economic struggles of the families
    our group had come to help. At our first house, we ran out of paint
    because the parents had spent their money on health care for a sick
    child. (Again, a choice I would make myself.)

    As we finished our work at the second house, the owner, Kamo,
    expressed his gratitude by inviting us back inside. He poured us all a
    glass of Armenian cognac. Then he kissed each volunteer on both
    cheeks.

    It was a moment we would never have experienced had we been in Armenia
    solely as tourists.

    For more information, visit habitatglobalvillage.ca and tourismarmenia.org.

    Special to The Globe and Mail
    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/travel/vacations/adventure/swing-a-hammer-and-sightsee-on-a-give-back-getaway/article2194924/

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