GIRLS TRIP!! Rain, muddy forest trails ~ A total off-road adventure through Armenia’s wild Tavush countryside!!
GENERAL INFO
📍 LOCATION: Acharkut Village, Tavush Province, Armenia
🌍 REGION: Northern Armenia, near the Azerbaijian border
🚙 TRANSPORT: Private car to Acharkut, followed by a Soviet-era off-road jeep
🥾 HIKING: Approximately 4–5 km to Kirants Monastery
⛪ MONASTERIES: Kirants Monastery & Arakelots Monastery
🌉 OTHER STOPS: Samson Bridge picnic area, forest museum & volunteer campsite
🌲 LOCAL EXPERIENCE: Exploring the woodland with a local villager involved in forest maintenance and volunteer work
🛞 ROAD CONDITIONS: Rough, muddy forest tracks with deep, water-filled potholes
⚠️ ACCESS: Routes may be impassable after rain – I would recommend to go with a local guide
LOCATION
It took us around 2.5-3hrs to get to the border of Armenia and into the village where we were going to meet our local host
From Yerevan to Acharkut
The Jeep trip through the woodlands ~ this was all muddy and pot holes filled with brown deep rain water as it was raining most of the day today
🚗 ROADTRIP! ~ Heading Out of Yerevan
Excited to get out on the road and out of Yerevan and into the beautiful scenic parts of Armenia
We stop off at the famous Sevan observation deck, which is a popular stopping point
We ate some really yummy gata and coffee while looking at the beautiful waters of Lake Sevan
We had a pitt stop at the Tovagyugh Bakery and Food Court and bought some fresh yummy bread made in their ovens there
They have changed the design around in this food court, the sweets are now held behind a glass display
They really have such great selection of Armenian sweets!
💧 THE ROAD TO ACHARKUT ~ Five Friends & a Rather Rainy Start!
After our short break we headed back into the car and onto the road!
We passed by and stopped at a tobacco farm, stretched our legs, took some pics and looked up at the clouds in the sky thinking… YUP, its gonna rain on us! oh well! 🤷🏻♀️
And here we are in Acharkut! A village near the border of Azerbaijian, a bit TOO close…
We finally got to the Village of Acharkut and rang our guide who came and picked us up in his battered around soviet jeep… a very strong, old school car which, by the end of the day we found out… could withstand anything!
And we started the bumpiest ride for over 3 hours of the day! and it was nuts the type of water filled puddles and ditches we drove over, our guide was so confident and his confidence actually made us feel better because I think half of us wanted to go back to our warm car and drink wine lol but we didnt gooooo….
Fuzzy photos! could barely hold anything in our hands as we bumped around in the woodland!
And we stopped as there was a car stuck in the mud!
It ended up being a car full of volunteers who were going to clean up the monasteries in the area – they actually told us not to keep going as the mud and puddles get worse and worse
This was the hike we were hoping to go on and as it was raining we were all a little bit apprehensive especially after these people told us not to go, so we did turn around and headed to another monastery
So we drove back a bit to the “main road” and got dropped off and headed up in the rain and into the mud towards Kirants Monastery
But along the way Dalar pulls out awesome wine glasses and a bottle of wine and we go along our merry way!
The rain couldnt stop us from having fun!
And having wine!!
I was pretty prepared for the hike but was the one who got the most dirty! LOL
⛪︎ KIRANTS MONASTERY ~ Into the Forest on Foot!
We finally saw the top of the Monastery as we climbed a little hill and were pretty happy about finding our way LOL
This is not only 1 church but a monastic settlement with 3 different building structures, the main being this church
Story goes… the Byzantinians and Georgians has a lot of influence in this area at the time it was built
The architectural style was very different here as itds based off the medieval domed basilicas like Odzun, BUT its not built in the same Armenian Tuff stone, its built in brick and plaster, and the outside is coloured tiles and the inside was covered in frescoes and murals
Its rectangular and domed as you step inside, you look around in awe, even if its mostly ruins, the inside still has the altar at the front and 2 large pylons, its 2 storey and has 2 small chapels on either side at the front like most of the other Armenian churches
The glazed diamond shaped tiled detailing on the top is different to the Armenian monasteries, and as I researched, I came to find that its said to be a mix of Georgian AND Armenian decorative frescoes
The front altar has a few old paintings and crosses decorating the area and people still come here to pray
So much graffiti lines the walls, its sad to see this…
One of the things that caught my attention inside the monastery was the rather unusual brickwork!
The large stones are quite irregular, and the bricks have been carefully arranged around them. That suggests the builders were adapting the brick courses to accommodate individual stones rather than creating a completely uniform brick wall
Another building next door to the main church, I think it could have been a dining area or a place to write manuscripts
Some of the sadly crumbled up brickwork of the walls… makes me sad seeing this and what it would have been like in its hey day
Legend has it that the church was constructed by a young mason who wanted to impress his master, a wealthy farmer of a young woman he was interested in… how true this is no one really knows
We cracked open a bottle of wine after our investigations and explorations and enjoyed looking at the monastery ruins and the serenity of the surrounding woordlands
We headed down towards our soviet jeep and not really looking forward to the rough ride to the next point of interest!
And sure enough, our ride becomes more interesting… we come upon the volunteers who we found stuck in the mud!
They had transitioned over to the vehicle that had helped tow them out and now they were doing this same rough ride but standing on the back of the truck… we thought we had it bad! LOL – anyways, the poor drive of this truck had to reverse out and get out of the way on the edge of the track, but im telling you now, he was an unbelievably good driver, confident and reversed in such an amazing way and tucked himself into some corner he seemed to have created and we passed by
Our next step was the outdoor museum and camping / picnic area ~ we saw the bags and camping gear of the volunteers under the awning
seemed like a nice little place was a kitchen area and camp fire but no covered or closed off shelter
The woodlands were beautiful around here and we went for a little walk and passed by some khatchkars
We found a locked up area under a rock opening and inside there were all these antique pieces found in the nearby monasteries and other places – put here for safe keeping
🧺 SAMSON (Sarnots) BRIDGE ~ A Little Picnic-Area Stop!
We were heading back now towards the village so we were seeing an end in sight re: the bumpy off road jeep driving! 🌧️
But, before the monastery we decided to stop and see the old stone bridge – by this stage, our day was turning into a combination of hiking, off-road driving and unexpected sightseeing! I was loving it!
We walked through this abandoned stone cottage and picnic area towards the bridge
We hiked down a bit towards the stream and had to look really hard to see the bridge!
And what greeted us was a gorgeous medieval single-span stone bridge! Loving it, we also went around and climbed on top of it as well… its incredible how it was made back then and it was built to last!
⛪︎ ARAKELOTS MONASTERY ~ Another Hidden Treasure!
It was time to climb back into our trusty Soviet jeep and head towards Arakelots Monastery!
Its been said its a 13th c Monastery complex – But there are no real records preserved about this settlement! The only thing archeologists have to go off are the inscriptions in the actual church
Located 3km from Acharkut and built on a slope in the middle of dense forest on the left bank of Kirants River
We were driven up straight to this monastery, no more hiking, so we all got out and our driver came along and talked us through some of the history, he was one of the main people who has commenced rennovations on this monastery and he explained to us they had recently found wine urns and bodies buried here
The entrance into the church, the violunteers have been helping to piece this all together and make easier access into the church
Lighting candles in the church and leaving some energetic prayers behind…
This complex is surrounded by high steep and thick walls and consists of 2 churches, a vestibule, a bell tower and a residential and other buildings… we didnt go out as far but its a fairly big monastery area
⚠️ THE END OF OUR BUMPY ADVENTURE!
And for the last time headed into the jeep and back to Acharkut village! Up, down, left, right… the jeep (and us!) bounced and jolted its way through the woodland as we made our way back towards civilisation
In a way I was happy because my ass would get a break from the constant pot holes and bumps, but I wanted the adventure and exploration to continue
We headed back, jumped into our car (OMG, IT FELT OH SO MORE LUXURIOUS AFTER THAT JEEP) and headed back towards beloved Yerevan!
Dalar brought with her an amazing picnic basket with gorgeous fresh foods and Elena bought some wine which she prised open without a bottle opener! (shes a machine lol)
We ended up sitting for a while and chatting and enjoying the fresh country air – it was a lovely break from being in the city and exploring muddy forest trails, monasteries and historical beauty
No more muddy tracks. No more enormous potholes
Just five friends, plenty of memories and a rather good story to tell!
And our journey home started after our gorgeous picnic… what a day it was with amazing friends!
Our day in Acharkut certainly didn’t go entirely according to plan!
The rain arrived, the forest tracks turned muddy, another vehicle got stuck, and we had to abandon our original monastery destination
But sometimes those unexpected changes are what make travelling so memorable! And we experienced one of the bumpiest jeep rides imaginable!
It was muddy, unpredictable, occasionally uncomfortable and absolutely full of adventure… I felt so alive! & I wouldnt change a thing!
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GIRLS ROADTRIP – 19SEP26
