A Chainsaw for the Jackals
I am in the bottom of a deep, narrow valley and today the plan is to walk 11km to the top of the surrounding mountains to a town called Dsegh. Then after lunch another 4km down the mountainside to some 8th century ruins.
I mention the route at breakfast.
“Wolves” they said.
“No problem,” I said, “I have a Big Stick and a Knife.
“And jackals,” they said, “in packs, 6 or 7, now very hungry”.
Jackals?? Wasn’t this (sort of) Europe? I hadn’t read anything about jackals. But then nobody had written about the wolves either.
OK, so what do I need for packs of jackals? A chainsaw! I imagine being surrounded by slavering jackals, firing up my chainsaw and growling, “Come on punks, make my day”. But the nearest chainsaw shop was at least one, maybe two countries away.
So, only lightly armed – no chainsaw – I set out. It is -8°C, clear and sunny as I cross the bridge into the badlands. As if to emphasize that you are now on your own, some of the railings on the bridge are missing.
Through the gap a farmhouse, the last for a while.
I walk a few hours. Sunny, fresh, nothing trying to eat me, though I don’t see anybody else walking.
As I climb, snow on the surrounding mountains; it is quite beautiful here:
I reach the top: not as I was expecting, a mountain ridge but a high plateau covered in pastures. The valley I’ve come from is just a narrow gash cut into the immense plateau. From a distance it almost feels like you could jump across.
A lovely road and a beautiful climb. I start to wonder why I listen to these people. Maybe I will cancel that mail-order chainsaw.
(events 30 Nov 2012)
.
Alien Heartbeat 
8 Responses to “A Chainsaw for the Jackals”
Beautiful landscape!
Yes. But the imagaes here are so small it is hard to really see. I plan to look for a new theme that allows for bigger images.
I did the same a little while ago, found a theme that dispensed with the sidebar.
Yes, I saw it. I use the sidebar to make my favorite posts easily accessible so they don’t just recede into history. The top menu works poorly for this. And I think few people ever click on “Archives” as you have no sense of what might be in there.
missing railings – the wolves and jackals dismantled them for breakfast. It’s a good thing you evidently have balls of steel. The view is simply breathtaking. But… wolves…. dude.
I mentioned in another post that while attacks happen, people don’t seem to get eaten. As for jackals, well, I don’t even really know what they are. But I have to say, stopping for photos made me a bit nervous. And I kept my big stick handily leaning against me while I did it.
Brilliant! What a wonderful adventure, great idea, crazy story and fantastic photos! Unreal.
Thanks. Yes I was wondering about how best to get from place to place when I had a sudden flash of inspiration – just walk. Armenians (with one exception) generally thought it a bad idea.