Awesome Armenia!

გამარჯობა მეგობარები!

Hello friends!

I hope everyone in the States had a lovely and relaxing Thanksgiving holiday! I seriously missed the time spent with family and eating some good old-fashioned turkey and stuffing!  BUT I made up for it by travelling to Armenia this past weekend!  Armenia is the country located south of Georgia with a population of about 3.2 million people.  It’s also the first country to adopt Christianity as the state religion in 301.  It’s a simple marshrutka ride or night train from Tbilisi and the value of the US dollar goes far there, so why not visit?  (Fun fact about the Armenian people: They are world-wide chess champions and take it as a class in school!)

Early Friday morning my fellow TLG friends from orientation Daylene, Nombulelo and I caught the first marshrutka out of Tbilisi for Armenia.  After a quick hour and a half we found ourselves at the border and smoothly made the transition to Armenia for the small price of an Armenian visa (3,000 Dram or the equivalent of $8).  What ensued next was a 4-5 hour drive through Armenia to reach the capital of Yerevan.  Armenia is a really rocky country with a ton of mountains everywhere (most of them with snow-covered tops!!) so the drive was really pretty and would have been lovelier to take in the middle of fall with all the changing colors!  We eventually made it to the bustling city of Yerevan.  Over one million people live here and it’s apparently one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world, dating back to the 8^th century BC?!  Who knew?

We started off by finding our hostel and purchasing our train tickets for the Saturday night train back to Tbilisi.  Much of Friday was spent just exploring the city.  We made our way to Republic Square in the heart of Yerevan.  There’s a big history and art museum and a huge fountain during the warmer summer months. 

This is the National Gallery and History Museum

Republic Square Roundabout

As we walked the three of us definitely took note of the differences between this capital city and Tbilisi, Georgia’s capital that we’ve spent quite a bit of time in.  Although we only saw a portion of Yerevan it was interesting to note that there were paved sidewalks everywhere (we didn’t have to continually look at the ground to make sure we didn’t trip on broken concrete), pedestrians had the right of way when crossing the street and the sound of blaring car horns were sporadic.  Additionally, expensive shops like Burberry and Armani were also newly built for the richer population to peruse.  It’s the little things we notice when we change environments now; I wonder what I will notice most when I return to the States. 

We eventually made our way to the Yerevan Cascade area of town where a large park area is home to many statues and surrounding restaurants (I counted a total of three KFCs and a Pizza Hut while there).  The Cascade is a huge monument of steps that has been in construction since the 1970s yet still remains unfinished at the top.  Each phase of the monument contains different works of art.  We enjoyed looking around at the variety of sculptures and statues before climbing up the steps of the Cascade to get a great view of the city and the distance Mount Ararat (which is technically more in Turkish territory).  Mount Ararat is believed to be the Biblical resting place of Noah’s Ark. 

Cool sculpture made of metal letters.

The Cascade steps

Each level of the Cascade has different sculptures and things 

Here's another level

Yerevan at sunset.  Mount Ararat is the little hump above the clouds in the distance

On Saturdays our hostel hosts an “Essential Armenia” tour for the equivalent of about $40 which took us to five places around Armenia.  Along with about 15 other people we headed out bright and early to Lake Sevan, the largest lake in Armenia and one of the highest fresh-water lakes in terms of elevation in the world.  We first visited the monastery of Sevanavank which was completed in the 9th century.  The surrounding view of Lake Sevan and the snow-capped mountains were really amazing!  The weather was pretty cold (maybe 40 degrees) but the sky was so clear and the sun was shining—can’t complain about that!  

Examples of Armenia Cross-Stones that decorate the graves here

Sevanavank

Lake Sevan and the President's summer house

Our next stop was another 9^th century monastery Hayravank also located on Lake Sevan.  We finished the first half of the tour by going to the Noratus cemetery.  The first graves stones here date back to the 10th century and it contains the largest amount of khachkars (or tomb stones decorated with crosses) in Armenia.  All twenty or so of us then piled into the Armenian home in the village of Lchashen where a lovely family cooked us all lunch.  There was soup, bread, cheese and chicken, so needless to say, it reminded me a lot of meals I eat in Georgia.

Hayravank Monastery

the cemetary 

Some more cross-stones 

This stone depicts the murder of a couple at their wedding party when a man on a horse crashed the place and killed everyone.

 Our final two stops of the day were really impressive.  We drove to the other side of Yerevan where we saw Garni temple.  The area surrounding Garni has been inhabited since 3000BC and the temple that remains today was probably built in the first century AD and was the summer residence of past rulers.  Next to it are ruins of a church built in the fourth century and a bathhouse that contains a Greek-inspired mosaic.  It definitely looked as though it was inspired by buildings and monuments one would see in Greece like the Parthenon!  While Garni was awesome to look at, the surrounding mountains and trees were even more beautiful and the remaining fall colors were still there!

Garni

Garni with some of the church ruins around it.

The awesome view!

More awesome views!

 Our final stop of the day was Geghard monastery.  While the monastery was founded in the 4^th century by Saint Gregory the Illuminator, the impressive construction of the church (literally carved into the mountain) began in the 12^th century.  We toured the church area and it was amazing to think that this was all carved by hand and without the modern tools of something like dynamite or machines! 

All of this was carved from the mountian

After Geghard, we had enough time to return to Yerevan and shop a little for souvenirs before catching the night train back to Tbilisi.  I was really happy I got to make this trip, Armenia proved to be a great little escape and such a beautiful country!  It was short and sweet and spent with good company!  I’m officially under a month until I return to the States so I’m hoping to spend more time with my host family until we have to say goodbye!

nakvamdis!

Kelsey

P.S. If you’re a future Teach and Learn with Georgia (TLG) participant I highly recommend Envoy Hostel in Yerevan if you get the chance to travel here!  Super clean, super friendly and great tours for a great price!