Armenia – my favourite country so far

I’m utterly in love with Armenia. Look how happy I am! I’ve met wonderful people (from fellow backpackers to local archaeologists), seen magical monasteries, had amazing food and helped uncover burial sites from the Bronze Age(!!!0

I’ve been enjoying my time here so much that I haven’t even had a chance to think about the blog (sorry!) So instead I am grouping my time here together under one post.

On my first day here, I headed straight to Khor Virap which is a monastery with Mount Ararat looming behind it. There is a 6m deep pit here (which I went in!) where the “founding father” of Christianity in Armenia was kept for 13 years. Fun fact, Armenia was the first Christian country, officially converting from paganism in 201 AD.

On my second day, I went on a tour with some of the hostel guests to Garni Temple, Geghard Monastery (which has been my favourite so far – I felt like Indiana Jones in some of the crypts and there was lots of animal stonework) and Lake Sevan. Tours in Armenia are really cheap (£6 to £10 for a full day, depending on how many kilometers you cover) and much easier than public transport (which would involve costly taxis from bus stations or long walks in the midday heat).

The next day I want to Noravank Monastery, which was positioned at the top of a canyon (very cool!) The views from the road were breathtaking.

I stayed in Areni that evening, which is a wine making village and part of the ancient Silk Road.

The next two days in Shaki were the absolute highlight of my trip. I was very fortunate to be staying in the same guesthouse as two local archaeologists who were working on the nearby Zorats Karer (more on that to come!)

I arrived, met up with Margaret (a friend I made in Yerevan) and we drove to Ughtasar, a mountain 3500m high where there are undisturbed petraglyths. It takes 3 hours to drive up there and it was absolutely magical. One of our archaeologists joined us and was able to act as a tour guide, pointing out burial sites we would have otherwise missed and explaining the meaning of the petraglyths. The only other people we saw were three other archaeologists halfway up the mountain. Oh and when the mist rolled in, the cognac and chocolate came out! How perfect?!

The next day, the archaeologists kindly let me join them and I spent the day lifting up rocks and helping them clear one of the burial sites at Zorats Karer(!!!) Zorats is known as the Armenian Stonehenge as it is a collection of Bronze Age burial sites, surrounded by an Iron Age wall.

Every time I moved, there was someone keen to show me another part of the site and to explain what was happening – everyone was so friendly and welcoming! I was pleased that I was surprisingly good at carrying away the large rocks and making a stable pile of rocks (harder than it sounds) so I was useful to them and not too much of an incumbrance. And I was very lucky to be there when they discovered the opening of the grave, too!

I am still in Armenia for a few more days, in Goris (where the weather is terrible) and then traveling up to the border area with Georgia. It has been a magical few days here and I cannot wait to return to Armenia.

TTFN, x