Armenia

On July 9th, after a 6-hour minibus ride, I arrived in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. The owner of my hostel turned out to be an American and was able to give me lots of practical tips. The problem in Armenia is that many sights are located outside of cities and villages and cannot be reached by buses or minibusses. So, you either rely on a car or take organized day trips with travel agencies, which is what I decided to do. Therefore, I extended my originally planned three-day stay in Yerevan to five days. Yerevan is an interesting city, but it cannot compete with Tbilisi! I immediately noticed the absence of Ukrainian flags, which are seen everywhere in Georgia. The reason is that the security of the state of Armenia is guaranteed by Russia. Russian troops secure the borders with Turkey and Azerbaijan! Both countries claim parts of Armenia! The Armenians are currently caught in a huge dilemma, and openly taking sides with Ukraine could have serious consequences for the state of Armenia.

In 5 days in Yerevan, I took four organized trips and was able to see large parts of the country. Armenia is only as big as the state of Brandenburg. The first trip led to Echmiadzin, the center of the Armenian Apostolic Church. The second trip included a visit to the Chor Virap Monastery, a wine tasting at a winery, and a visit to the Noravank Monastery. The Chor Virap Monastery is located in a beautiful location directly on the Turkish border with Mount Ararat (5165m) in the background, on Turkish soil. The third trip went to the Temple of Garni from the 1st century, the only preserved ancient temple in the territory of the former Soviet Union, and to the Geghard Monastery and also to a natural phenomenon, the 'Symphony of stones'. The last trip went to the north of the country to Dilijan and Lake Sevan, the largest lake in the Caucasus. There were magnificent landscapes to admire on all trips. Overall, the trips were a bit 'monastery-heavy', but that's part of this country. I have never seen more beautiful monasteries anywhere. I was very lucky with the travel groups, and I had great entertainment everywhere. Interestingly, there are currently many Russians in Armenia who have left Russia because of Putin and because of the war.

After a last fun evening with the owner of the hostel, two Russians who constantly shouted 'fucking Putin', and a Greek guy with a power outage in the hostel, I finally drove to Gyumri, the second-largest city in Armenia. The city was destroyed by an earthquake in 1988 and had to be largely rebuilt. Overall, the city is very pleasant, not as stressful and hectic as Yerevan, and especially not as hot! Only 32 instead of 38 degrees! On the first day, I had the best food of my trip so far at an excellent fish restaurant at moderate prices. On the second day, I went for a hike in over 30-degree weather without shade. Surprisingly, the owner of my guesthouse spoke a few words of German! As a Soviet soldier, he spent some time in Weimar in 1985/86. Kindly, he took care of my onward journey back to Georgia, which was not so easy because I didn't want to return to Tbilisi but wanted to travel directly to western Georgia from Gyumri. But more about that in the next post. Meanwhile, I am in Akhaltsikhe, in southwestern Georgia. I was only able to download my e-visa for Azerbaijan, which I have now received! Azerbaijani websites are blocked in Armenia!