With collections in Turkey complete, the team headed to destination two: Armenia. We flew from Istanbul to Tbilisi, Georgia and then hopped the overnight train to Yerevan, Armenia. The travel itinerary takes this circuitous route to Armenia because there are no direct flights from Turkey. Diplomatic relations between the two countries are strained, and this made our trip especially long, although interesting. The journey was mostly in the dark (departing Tbilisi at 10:15 PM), but we awoke to spectacular views of Mt. Ararat. Yep, that's right, the spot where Noah landed after the flood!
After arriving Yerevan, we headed for the Botanical Institute of the Armenian National Academy of Sciences. Using the Camelina collection in the herbarium, we familiarized ourselves with morphological variation in the genus. We also had the opportunity to tour the botanical garden at the institute with one of our collaborators Dr. Alla Aleksanyan and her friend Karine Janjughatyan.
After arriving Yerevan, we headed for the Botanical Institute of the Armenian National Academy of Sciences. Using the Camelina collection in the herbarium, we familiarized ourselves with morphological variation in the genus. We also had the opportunity to tour the botanical garden at the institute with one of our collaborators Dr. Alla Aleksanyan and her friend Karine Janjughatyan.
Above: Standing next to our train after arrival in Yerevan. Below: Evan and Mark relax in a 2nd class compartment.
Jordan, Alla, Karine, and Evan pose in front of the liana display in one of the glasshouses at the botanical garden.
RSS Feed
