We had a fantastic group of people on this tour that Elena from Armenia&Beyond travel had organised and everyone got a long straight away, we had Aussies, Armenians from Russia, Armenians from Jerusalem and everyone was lovely and happy having an awesome time
We got picked up from Republic Square at 8:30 and jumped on board
We started off the day on the bus with a nice coffee which Edo organised for us in a flask, what a nice idea!
KHOR VIRAP – was our first stop and it was crowded and hot but I always love going back here because I always find something new!
The main Surb Astvatzadzin Church which was built near the dungeon and is the main church of the monastery
THE DUNGEON – we lined up for quite a while to be able to go down the really steep stairs to the pit in which Grigor Lusavorich was imprisoned
There are 2 dungeons in the chapel, the main one is 60m deep and 6 x 4m big so not much room to move, its cold as you climb down and the temperature changes from hot in the chapel to cool
Its initially scary looking down the stairs and a lot of people pike out at this stage, but tbh the first step is the hardest then its straight down around 30 steps of the ladder then its diagonals out a bit so its easier towards the end and into the dungeon – ie. don’t give up!!
Inside the dungeon there isn’t much room so you can prob only fit around 10 people – its hard to organise as people are just going up and down you so sort of have to shout up to the top to say when you’re going back up again and to stop people from coming down if too many ppl
ITS NOT ARMENIA WITHOUT WATERMELON!
There were all these shops along the main road and locals were sitting and enjoying their food and coffees looking out towards the main road
We stopped at one of the small shops and had some of the awesome deep fried potato snack as well as custard ponchik which was soooooo good!
Along this road on the border were many bunkers scattered around looking towards the border, adds to the reality of the situation of these borders
NORAVANK MONASTERY – This beautiful 13th c. monastery is hidden in the red cliffs of Amaghu Valley, its also called Red Monastery because of the surrounding red cliffs
Standing in the Narthex (antechamber) of Surb Stepanos Nakhavka which was built in the 13th c. and a place where the Orbelian princes were buried along with the bishops and priests who want everyone to walk over them to get into the main chapel, its a way to remember them
The katchkars outside of the main church which is a work of art by sculptor momik
TRINITY WINERY – we had a tour around the Trinity winery and the way they make their beautiful wines and packaging
We walked around the winery and learnt so much about the stainless steel barrels and the way they age
The old vs the new process
The JAZZ wine that they make there, loveee the name!
The amazing vegan lunch that was made for me – it was so nice and filling with awesome veggies and a veggie pasta yum!
ARENI-1 CAVE – We walked up to the caves which was a tough walk for some after the 2 wineries HAHA I loved every second as it was nice and cool as we walked into the caves
Areni 1 cave is also known as BIRDS CAVE – its a 3 chambered karstic cave in Vayots Dzor
MOMIK WINERY – we had another awesome taste testing here and some lovely snacks
Nice selection of items to eat while trying the wines
We all had such a great time drinking tasting the food and enjoying the history of the vineyard
We had a beautiful sunset on the way back to Yerevan
Some of the scenery of the beautiful mountains and valleys
There was Armenian music playing and people were singing along and dancing, was so nice 🙂
The Wandering Passport 