And There I Was, Volume V: A Backpacking Adventure In Turkey, Georgia, Armenia Book

Number five of nine journeys in the "And There I Was" series begins in 1998 at the crossroads of civilizations---Istanbul---where the beautiful and haunting sounds of Adhan are heard once again. From there it's on to Eastern Turkey---Kurdistan---where the author hooks up with an old traveling friend before pushing on to the Black Sea and the former Soviet republics of Georgia and Armenia. Meet a Kurdish resistance fighter, visit the purported landing site of Noah's Ark, attend a Kurdish wedding, survive a visit to a Turkish haman and stand in the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in the world as you trod in the footsteps of the prophets Abraham and Job. Spend a week with three sisters in Tibilisi, capital of Georgia, land of Kings and Queens and dine with a smuggler then head for the rugged Caucasus and the remote mountain outpost of Kasbegi on the Russian border where you learn to make katchapuri and drink the local cognac amidst rusting Russian tanks. By train, travel across Georgia and into Armenia beneath the shadow of Mt. Ararat---a country made entirely of grey stone with a dark mood to match. With the immensely talented daughter of a Russian Politburo member mourn with the rest of the country at the eternal flame atop a hill marking the genocide of eighty years past when the Armenians were nearly extinguished as a people. Finally, marvel at the origins of Orthodox Christianity in churches dug out beneath the earth where refuge was sought and listen to the most beautiful, emotion-drenched song ever before sung.