An ellusive mountain

Khor Virap Monastery is near and dear to an Armenian's heart. It's the church that's featured in all the pictures of Mount Ararat that hang in every Armenian home. Ararat towers over Yerevan, but to get the best view, we were told, one must go to Khor Virap. And that's exactly what we did. The monastery is almost right on the Armenia-Turkey border, which is guarded against would-be trespassers. Our hopes and dreams of catching spectacular views of our legendary mountain were shattered by the looming fog (or was is?) that made it impossible to see the mountain. There's definitely something fishy going on here. Ever since we've arrived, even on the brightest, sunniest days, Ararat has been behind a cloud of haze, hindering our adoring gazes and stifling the nationalist pride that comes with it. An anti-Armenian fog conspiracy, perhaps?

Annie and I posed in front of the mountain, despite its ellusiveness. (Yes, the mountain is really there, just hard to see.) That road running behind marks the first of three buffer zones of the Armenia-Turkey border.