June 17: Lake Sevan to Yerevan
Our first stop today was
Sevanavank (Sevan Monastery) on the shores of Lake Sevan, the largest lake in Armenia. The monastery was originally on an island, but when the lake level dropped, the island became a peninsula. The monastery was built in the 9th century
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| View of Lake Sevan from the monastery |
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| A view of Sevan Monastery |
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| Some cross stones at the monastery |
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| Another view of the monastery |
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| View of the monastery and Lake Sevan |
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| Inside the monastery |
We then drove around the lake and through the town of Martuni. Although most of the buildings in Armenia are made of stone (like they are in Georgia), the Armenian stone has a more pinkish tint, which made the buildings look less depressing.
The Armenian alphabet (see the letters in the photo below) uses characters which are totally different from Georgian, and no less decipherable.
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| Toy store in Martuni |
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| Apartment building in Martuni |
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| Government building in Martuni |
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| Rural housing near Martuni |
After passing through Martuni, we stopped at Orbelian's caravaranserai, a 13th century inn for caravans traveling the Silk Road. The caravanserai was built by Prince Orbelian, hence its name.
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| Orbelian's Caravanserai |
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| An inscription near the entrance |
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| Inside the caravanserai |
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| Another shot inside the caravanserai |
We then headed for lunch, which was in a restaurant in a cave.
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| On the way to the restaurant |
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| Entrance to the cave and restaurant |
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| In the restaurant |
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| Mmmmm....tomatoes and cucumbers! |
After lunch we headed down the road to visit
Norovank Monastery. The monastery was built in the 13th century and is in a beautiful setting surrounded by red rock hills.
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| Norovank Monastery |
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| Inside the monastery |
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| Another view of the monastery |
From the monastery, we headed to Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. However, we first stopped in a small town (whose name I have forgotten) that was full of storks. There appeared to be stork nests on every utility pole in the town.
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| Some school kids in the stork town |
We had to hit one last monastery (
Khor Virap) on the way to Yerevan. From Khor Virap, you can see Mt. Ararat (which is across the border in Turkey) on a relatively clear day. Unfortunately it wasn't relatively clear. In the photo below, you can see the monastery on the top of the hill at the right, and Mt. Ararat is the large mountain on the right. (Better picture coming farther below).
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| The crew in front of the monastery and Mt. Ararat |
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| A closer shot of the monastery and Mt. Ararat |
Below is what the monastery would look like on a clear day and if I were a professional photographer.
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| The monastery church, built in 1662 |
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| Inside the church |
At the monastery is a pit into which St. Gregory was thrown and lived for 13 years. Interestingly enough, tourists can actually go down into the pit (which involves going down a ladder about 15 feet before you even get to the top of the pit). Of course, I took a visit.
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| In the pit |
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| An inscription on the pit wall |
Finally, we headed for Yerevan.
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| Abandoned factory outside Yerevan |
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| Modern housing in central Yerevan |
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| Our hotel in Yerevan |
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| View from my hotel room |
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| Typical building in central Yerevan |
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| Not all buildings in Yerevan are modern |
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| Soviet-era apartment building |
For dinner we went to a restaurant that appeared to be in a woman's apartment in a building in a back alley. There were no signs for the restaurant, but the food was wonderful.
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| Entrance to the restaurant |
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| The owner is playing the piano in another room for a birthday party. |
June 18: Yerevan Geghard, Garni, and back to Yerevan
Today was dedicated to several sights in Yerevan and the surrounding area.
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| Our guide, Hay |
Our first stop was the
Cafesjian Museum of Art, a modern art museum. I'm not a big art fan, but this was possibly the most interesting art museum that I've been in. It's located in/on the
Cascade, a huge set of steps. The museum is on several levels, running up the Cascade, and there is a lot of sculpture in a park area at the bottom of the Cascade.
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| The Cascade and art museum |
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| A sculpture in the park in front of the museum |
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| More sculpture |
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| This sculpture is made out of rubber tires |
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| Artwork along the escalators in the Cascade |
There were nice views of Yerevan from the top of the museum. Yerevan is a relatively young city, built mostly in the 20th century.
After viewing the museum, we walked to Matenadaran Museum of Manuscripts.
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| An Armenian "2 Chevals" |
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| Fomenting revolution in Yerevan |
According to Wikipedia, the Matenadaran "holds one of the world's richest depositories of medieval manuscripts and books. Unfortunately, we couldn't take pictures inside, so below is a picture of a 12th century manuscript that I stole from Wikipedia.
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| Front of the Matenadaran |
We then traveled outside Yerevan for a demonstration of Armenian bread baking and lunch. Armenian bread is similar to Georgian bread, but it is stretched out more and is thinner.
After lunch, we headed for the
Temple of Garni, a pre-Christian temple that was constructed in the 2nd century BC, leveled in an earthquake in the 17th century AD, and rebuilt in the 20th century.
There were also some Roman baths (with tile floors) at the temple.
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| Roman Baths |
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| Tile floors in the baths |
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| View of the surrounding countryside from the temple |
After visiting the temple, we headed to
Geghard, a monastery partially carved out of a mountain.
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| Some vendors at Geghard |
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| Do this, not that |
The monastery was founded in a cave in the 4th century BC and the main chapel was built in 1215 AD. There are several other chapels in caves or dug out of the mountain.
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| Entryway to Geghard |
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| The main chapel |
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| Some chapels dug out of the mountain side |
We then returned to Yerevan and later went to dinner. I still don't know what the name of the restaurant was.
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| Local entertainment at dinner |
As we were arriving back at the hotel, it started pouring. The rest
of the group went up to their rooms and I stayed at the (outdoor) hotel
bar and enjoyed a Kilikia beer.
June 19-20: In and Around Yerevan, and Heading Home
The main thing I have noticed about Armenia and Armenians is that they are a bit obsessed (and rightly so) about the
Armenian genocide that took place in World War I. 2015 is the 100th anniversary of the height of the genocide, and there are banners, signs, and even clothing everywhere to acknowledge the event. If one didn't know the true purpose, one might assume that it was some sort of celebration.
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| A Genocide T-shirt (the flower is a Forget-me-not) |
Our first stop of the day (our last full day), was to the ruins of
Zvartnots Cathedral, just outside of Yerevan. The cathedral was built in the 7th century AD, but collapsed in the 10th century. The ruins were buried until the early 20th century, when they were excavated. The site also offered some good views of Mt. Ararat.
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| Ruins of Zvartnots, with Mt. Ararat in the background |
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| Mt. Ararat in the distance through the ruins |
While at Zvartnots, we were entertained by a local group.
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| Mt. Ararat |
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| Model of Zvartnots Cathedral |
We then made a brief stop at the
St. Hripsime church. The structure was completed in 618 AD and is one of the oldest surviving churches in Armenia.
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| St. Hripsime church |
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| Inside the church |
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| Inside St. Hripsime |
From St. Hripsime, we headed to
Vagharshapat (Etchmiadzin), about 13 miles from Yerevan. The town is the main religious center in Armenia, and is home to
Etchmiadzin Cathedral, considered to be "mother church" of the Armenian Orthodox religion.
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| Entrance to the church complex at Etchmiadzin |
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| Cross stones brought to Etchmiadzin from other churches |
Etchmiadzin Cathedral was the first cathedral built in Armenia. The original building was constructed in about 303 AD and the core of the current building was constructed in 484 AD.
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| Etchmiadzin Cathedral |
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| Another view of the cathedral |
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| A genocide monument near the cathedral |
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| Inside the cathedral |
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| Inside the cathedral |
There is a museum attached to the cathedral which contains important artifacts, including what is alleged to be a piece of Noah's Ark, and a piece of Jesus's cross. Both pieces are slivers embedded in stones.
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| The green stone contains (allegedly) a piece of the ark |
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| The white stone contains (allegedly) a piece of the cross |
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| An ancient manuscript in the museum |
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| A crown on display at the museum |
We then went for lunch at a local artisan center. My wife collects ceramic and stone eggs and I found one that I wanted to bring back for her, but we had trouble arranging the shipping.
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| A present for my wife |
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| Some weaving at the craft center. |
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| A salute to the genocide? |
After lunch, we returned to Yerevan, where we visited the Armenian Genocide Museum and memorial. The museum is mostly underground and not that impressive from the outside, but inside it's fascinating.
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| Underground courtyard at the Genocide Museum |
The museum exhibits showed in great detail what was done to the Armenians by the Turks (although the Turkish government continues to deny the genocide). What struck me is that if you replaced the word "Armenian" with "Jewish" in the exhibits, you'd have a pretty accurate description of the Holocaust.
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| Inside the museum |
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| Inside the museum |
Outside the museum was the actual Genocide Memorial.
The museum and memorial were on a hill overlooking Yerevan, which made for some good views of the city.
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| A mall and apartment complex(?) near the museum |
From the museum/memorial, we returned to central Yerevan.
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| Billboards like these were all over the city |
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| For my co-workers at SAS. This is a supermarket. |
Our final stop in Yerevan was Republic Square in the center of the city. We visited the Armenian National museum, but no pictures were allowed inside.
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| Armenian National Museum (left) and an Armenian government building (Government House) |
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| Another shot of Government House |
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After our final dinner together, we retired to our hotel to await our 1:30 AM wake-up calls for our trip to the airport. We made it to Zvartnots International Airport (my favorite airport name of all time) in plenty of time.
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| Check in area at Zvartnots, not terribly busy at 3:00 AM |
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| Can you find my flight to Kiev? |
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| The terminal at Zvartnots |
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| So long, Armenia! |
The flight to Kiev and then on to JFK was fine and uneventful, as were all 4 of my flights on Ukraine International Airlines. Needless to say, the only trouble I had occurred after I got back to JFK. My flight to RDU was delayed for 3 hours, but at least the Jet Blue terminal at JFK is not a terrible place to kill some time. I touched down at RDU at 12:30 AM aafter about 27 hours in transit.
Thus ends my journey--next up: Spain and west Africa (later this year).
