World Trip 2012-13

As I scramble down the bank, hanging on to trees, I can hear barking. I silently hope that the dogs are chained or that a fence separates them from me. I've reached the point of no return and forward is my only option as I don't think I can get back up the steep slope above me. And just what do I think am I doing anyway?

Trying to find Karahunj, also known as Zorats Karer. A group of standing stones near Sisian, Armenia. An Armenian Stonehenge, even though they could predate it and some theorists claim that "henge" somehow derives from "hunj". Given vague directions from town I had set off, but I was becoming less and less convinced that I was walking in the right direction and the road looked like a better possibility for asking directions than the windswept plateau I was following tracks across.

I cut across the farm and squeeze though the gate. The dogs bark in their compound. Out on the road I try to get my bearings, but when you've only got a vague idea where you are and where you're going, this isn't easy. Several conversations in broken English, Russian, Armenian and mime, and two rides later I reach my destination.

Weather beaten, lichen covered stones in a muddy field. Grey against the brown of the earth and the dry winter grass. Not huge monoliths like Stonehenge, not awesomely shaped, but still deliberate and inexplicable. Some stones have holes in them, some are small, some large, all irregular in shape. I walk along the stones, following the curves that they mark out, dividing the area into sections.

If I don't understand them they are at least interesting to ponder on and to look at. There's nobody here and though the road is not far away there’s a feeling of isolation. Just the sky, the hills, the stones and me on a sunny winter's day.

Getting back to town I realise I had been on the right track before my scramble down the bank. But I could have missed it, could have walked either side of it. Although the terrain is fairly flat, there are small hills and folds, and the rocks don't stand out from a distance, hidden from view. Perhaps it was not such a bad decision to take to the road after all.

It snows that night, covering the earth, changing everything and nothing.