Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to the east, and Iran and the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan to the south.

Yerevan (and  surrounding  areas),  armenia

April 8, 2025

Our hotel is in a great location in the city center.

We couldn't understand why they had teddy bears at most of the seats in the hotel restaurant. However, we didn't realize we arrived on Mother's Day.

The US hotels could certainly learn from hotels in other countries the right way to do breakfast.

There is no way that I could figure out that this was a bookstore without looking in the window!

Many mannequins had cartoon character's heads.

The Blue Mosque was built in the 18th century.

The architecture is Iranian.

We came across our first squat toilet. Apparently, they are also called Turkish toilets.

This beautiful building and entrance was once a large farmers market. But as people moved away from farmers market to supermarkets, this became a supermarket. There is even a Kentucky Fried Chicken inside!

When the buses run out of electricity, this ancient-looking truck comes to the rescue.

There are drinking fountains all over Yerevan with very good water.

Robin always finds online some obscure thing we must do. So we are walking through the tunnel on the left to the other side.

I'm not sure why the tunnel was a "must-see". It was a very dark, graffiti-filled tunnel with bulging walls.

We were adopted by one of the street dogs. Robin named him "Happy".

He walked with us all the way to the abandoned train station.

I don't know why someone doesn't restore this old train station. It really was quite beautiful!

Some old cars were still on the track.

Happy seemed to know this place quite well.

It really must have been beautiful at one time.

Now we walked for another half hour. Happy is still with us.

We crossed a large, busy intersection and went through some older neighborhoods.

The tag in his ear means he's been been neutered and vaccinated. There is a charity that takes care of the street dogs and most of the restaurants will feed them leftovers. He finally left us shortly after this photo.

We were going to have lunch at Lavash so we could have a piece of Napoleon cake for two. However, it was too busy and we never did try it.

They bring it to your table and try to get you to buy a slice. It's phyllo pastry and cream.

The redbud trees were in full bloom.

Lumon coffee shop with a unique ceiling.

Republic Square is considered the center of Yerevan and there were many beautiful buildings surrounding it. This is a Marriott.

National Gallery Museum.

Our tour includes all dinners as well as breakfast at the hotel. Our first dinner was at Jijil.

April 9, 2025

Our first stop was the Matenadaran Library. The collection of manuscripts at Matenadaran is one of the biggest in the world. The depository contains over 17300 manuscripts, 450 thousand archive documents, and 3000 ancient books. Only 1-2% are here and the rest are stored elsewhere.

There were no windows except this very distinctive one.

I wish I had noted when this manuscript was from. However, I do remember that these are the original colors and they haven't been enhanced. Believe it or not, the thing on the left is also an ancient manuscript.

This is from the 13th century and they used real gold.

What person woke up one day and exclaimed, "I think I'll paint the baptism of Christ on a catfish skull!?"

This wall has each letter from the Armenian alphabet.

The Cascade Complex includes terraced gardens connected by extensive staircases. Originally planned in the 1920s, some building was undertaken in the 1980s, but construction was suspended several times until 2002. Part of the complex, including the sculpture garden, was completed in 2009, and work continues to reconstruct and expand the complex. The sculpture is the architect who designed Cascade Complex.

The sculptures in the garden were a bit quirky.

This is the very top. Unfortunately, most of the fountains in Yerevan are still turned off after the winter.

We spent a LOT of time in the van as well as the rain.

Etchmiadzin Cathedral is considered to be the first cathedral built in ancient Armenia and often regarded as the oldest cathedral in the world. The original church was built in the early fourth century. It was built over a pagan temple, symbolizing the conversion from paganism to Christianity.

The faces on the spidery-looking creatures are a bit creepy.

I took at least 300 photos out of the van windows and probably 275 of them were blurry. But every once in a while, one of them turned out.

Zvartnots Cathedral is a medieval Armenian cathedral near Vagharshapat. Built in the seventh century and now lying in ruins, Zvartnots was noted for its circular exterior structure, unique in medieval Armenian architecture, and a set of interior piers that upheld a multifloor structure crowned with a dome.

Near a museum in Yerevan, this sculpture depicts what the church actually looked like.

Our second dinner that was included on the tour.

When on an 11-day tour, the trip can really suck if you end up with the wrong people. Fortunately for us, we ended up really enjoying the company of Jason (a Brit that lives in Spain) and Melanie (from near London). We all have similar interests and a great love of travel!

Traditional Armenian music that was right at the end of our table.

Khurjin is a popular Armenian dish that is similar to Georgian khinkalis. However, instead of a doughy dumpling filled with liquid and meats, these are made with Lavash and have no liquid. Like khinkalis, you do not eat the "handle".

Dessert was phaklava (layered pastry filled with raisins and walnuts). The waiter is pouring honey over the top. I wasn't a huge fan of this dessert.

April 10, 2025

Many beautiful buildings... love the windows!

This abandoned cable car station is an example of Soviet Modernism.

The Moscow Cinema was built in 1936. During the 1960’s and 1970’s, the Soviet Union was finally permitting some previously restricted films. It was packed every night and was very hard to score a ticket. The theater has remained unchanged over the last 90+ years.

The fountain in front of the cinema features the 12 signs of the zodiac. Here is the Aries sculpture.

The khinkali restaurants are everywhere!

Yerevan's Tsitsernakaberd Memorial is dedicated to the memory of the 1.5 million Armenians who perished in the first genocide of the 20th century.

The genocide of the Armenians began in the 1890's but the bulk of it was in 1915. The perpetrators were the Young Turks of the Ottoman Empire.

Of course, the intellectuals, artists, and politicians were the first to go.

It really was heartbreaking what was done to the Armenians.

I took this picture because it reminded me of the Best Foreign Film winner of 2024 - The Zone of Interest. In the movie, it ends showing the people that clean Auschwitz every day. It's the mundane within the horror.

Outside the museum, trees are planted by various dignitaries from around the world. This one was planted by Macron.

Headed into the Ararat Brandy Distillery.

They've been making brandy for 130 years.

We've done several wine tasting tours as sober people, but never a brandy tour/tasting. We are here for the chocolate and bottled water!

Voghjaberd is mostly an abandoned village. It sits on an area subject to frequent land slippage and is at risk from rocks tumbling down from higher ground. Home to just over 1,000 people, this village is among 230 settlements across the country that are located in zones prone to landslides. All the houses in Voghjaberd are now so damaged by the ground moving underneath them that great cracks have appeared in the walls as they gradually cave in.

On our way to the Temple of Garni we are making a quick stop to see how they make lavash at a small family restaurant.

The black hole in the ground is a very hot oven.

After the dough is rolled, they throw it on the sides of the oven and it cooks. It's done in about one minute.

We are rolling it with fresh herbs/greens with cheese. Delicious!

The Garni Temple is a classical colonnaded structure in the village of Garni, in central Armenia, around 30 km east of Yerevan. Built in the Ionic order, it is the best-known structure and symbol of pre-Christian Armenia.

Not too far from the temple is the Garni Gorge.

The rocks have multiple layers and show how the lava eventually solidified, shrunk and formed these shapes over long periods of time. Volcanic basalt is not the hardest of rocks, and therefore millions of years have also resulted in erosion and weathering, giving it a very unique look.

Of course, there is always the danger of falling rocks!

At Geghard Monastery. Frequently, vendor stands line the entrance to any tourist attractions.

A very regal-looking cat guarding this entrance.

Geghard is a medieval monastery in the Kotayk province of Armenia, being partially carved out of the adjacent mountain, surrounded by cliffs. It is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site with enhanced protection status.

Because is is Easter week, EVERY church and monastery we visited had their alters covered.

One of the rooms of the monastery is supposedly acoustically perfect for singing. Our guide told us that anyone that wanted to sing was supposed to get special permission to do so. We aren't sure if this woman did or not... but the song was quite lovely.

Both Mel and Jason were going to the ballet at the Yerevan Opera House (built 1933). We decided to go too.

We were lucky because we were in Yerevan on a day that had an event.

We were happy to see others in jeans and sweatshirts because we didn't bring any nice clothes.

A Metro Station on the walk to dinner.

Beef-stuffed eggplant with rice and coriander sauce.

April 11, 2025

Clouds were mostly obscuring Mount Ararat. The mountain is actually located in Turkey - not Armenia.

Walking down this trail to see if we can get a better photo of the Khor Virap Monastery with Mount Ararat in the background. Unfortunately, the mountain was mostly covered with clouds and you could hardly tell it was even there.

Our van driver took every opportunity to have a cigarette. We could always tell when entering the van!

Khor Virap was originally a pagan temple. King Trdat converted to Christianity in 301, making Armenia the first official Christian country in the world.

The one sentence I wrote above was actually a 20 minute story by our extremely knowledgable guide.

The vendors outside capture pigeons and cage them. Then, for $5 USD, you can "buy" one, make a wish, and then release it for your wish to come true. If you want to spend even more money, you can buy all of them their freedom. But apparently they often get captured again and are just a part of this cycle.

Stork nests everywhere.

Apricot trees are indigenous to Armenia.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have not officially demarcated their mutual borders since becoming independent states following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. My GPS shows we are just a few kilometers from Azerbaijan. However, our guide disagreed and said that was Armenia. The dispute continues...

The drive to Norovank Monastery.

Noravank is a 13th-century Armenian monastery, located 122 km from Yerevan in a narrow gorge made by the Amaghu River, near the town of Yeghegnadzor in Armenia. The gorge is known for its tall, sheer, brick-red cliffs, directly across from the monastery.

This was my favorite because the surrounding areas were breathtaking.

Now we are at Birds Cave.

Not really worth a stop, except...

...their biggest claim to fame is the world's oldest leather shoe was found here. Hence, the small sign on the right.

However, many clay pots were also found. I'm not sure if these are originals or copies.

Being out in the middle of NOWHERE, it was nice to have a coffee/tea stop.

Another wine tasting.

This photo and the one below are just random photos I took out the van window.

Racks of bread at a gas station restroom break.

Back in Yerevan at the Cascade Complex after traveling more than 150 miles that day.

The view looking down.

Oh yeah... it's also my 64th birthday. We had a caramel cake with pistachio ice cream at a fun place called Sweetland.

April 12, 2025

We are now headed to the Georgian border on our last day in Armenia. This photo was of a portion of the settlements that the Soviet Union built in the late 1980's where people were given homes as long as they watered and cared for the surrounding areas. However, they were never occupied since they were too far away from cities and the Soviet Union collapsed a few years later.

Lake Sevan is a large, high-altitude lake in eastern Armenia. It makes up 5% of Armenia's total land mass and would take four hours to drive around it.

It's a big summer destination for many Armenians, including the President. This is the presidential summer home.

Between 1932 and 1965 during Soviet rule, a picturesque retreat for the Writers' Union of Armenia was built overlooking Lake Sevan.

The view of it from above.

The Sevan Monastery was built by hermit monks at the end of the 8th century on the top of the of Lake Sevan. At that time, it was still an island.

Throughout our entire trip, I don't think I've ever seen as many homeless dogs as we have in both Armenia and Georgia. This is very upsetting to Robin.

Stopping at a packed highway food court for a bathroom break and coffee.

They bake everything at this location. So many items I've never seen before!

I took this photo with Robin chewing the cherry pie dessert and mine was a pistachio pastry that is common in the middle east.

Every hundred yards or so as we headed down the mountain on the hairpin curves, were booths selling sweet corn. We passed at least 25 booths! People must really love sweet corn for there to be that kind of demand.

The village of Dilijan is where wealthy Armenians from Yerevan and wealthy Georgians from Tbilisi escape the summer heat.

On the hillside above Dilijan, is the "Soviet Union's 50 years Memorial Statue". Each of the five pinnacles represent a decade of Soviet Armenia.

I think many of the homeless dogs want love more than food.

Finally! A small break in the rain!

But not for long.

A derelict copper mine.

Vanadzor is the third largest city in Armenia. It was hit by an 8.6 magnitude earthquake in 1988. It caused enormous damage, including close to 25,000 lives lost, more than 20,000 injured, 314 collapsed buildings, 641 irreparably damaged buildings, and 360,000 people who lost their homes. The city has not entirely come back from it. Those yellow pipes are gas lines that are above ground so that it’s easier to repair after earthquakes

One last monastery. Haghpat Monastery is a medieval Armenian monastery complex built between the 10th and 13th century.

The weather was miserable! Yet, our guide was determined to tell us the entire history. Kudos to Mel for braving the weather and listening.

Pretty dramatic with the darkened skies.

Finally at the border after driving nearly 200 miles!
​The driver and guide are dropping us off and we will walk across a bridge (in the rain!) to Georgia.