08/08/09
Wanting to escape Yerevan’s heat and noise we did some travelling over the weekend, starting with Dilijan and lake Sevan situated at the altitude of 1900m above sea level.
We visited the Haghartsin monastery which was impressive even though it was being renovated. As we were walking back to the main road, we were invited into a trailer for some coffee and watermelon by some workmen working on the road.
After some bargaining back in Dilijan (seems that everyone on a marshrutka pays the same price, regardless of how far they go) we headed out to Sevan. The lake itself is gorgeous, surrounded by fog covered hills and with a monastery on a high peninsula that looks out over the water. The resort down below was suitably touristy with cafes and jet skis and pumping club music which mixed nicely with the service happening in the church.
After Sevan, we made our way to Alaverdi with its massive copper plant and countless abandoned factories for a monastery marathon. We started at Haghpat where there is a wall with a ledge at the bottom, about six inches off the ground that, legend has it, if you make a wish and can walk to the other side without touching the ground your wish will come true.
We then made our way to Sanahin, high above Alaverdi, with spectacular views of mountains, open walled corridors and grass growing on the roof.
Our local guide then decided that two UNESCO listed sites in a day is not enough and that that we had to see another place: Kobayr monastery at the top of a cliff. There was also an amazing cave nearby we all went into though it wasn’t the safest place…
We then head back to Yerevan as there were no marshrutkas to Gyumri that evening.
