From Rolling Pastures to Panoramic Lake Sevan Views ~ Discovering the Beauty of Mt Yeghnasar on Horseback!
GENERAL INFO
📍 LOCATION: Semyonovka Village, Gegharkunik Province, Armenia
🐎 TOUR: Horseback Adventure in Armenia’s Highland Pastures
🏡 MEETING POINT: Republic Square, Yerevan
🏔️ DESTINATION: Mount Yeghnasar & surrounding highland pastures
📸 HIGHLIGHTS: Mountain pastures, scenic trails and Lake Sevan views on the summit route!
⏱️ DURATION: Approximately 2–3 hours horse ride
🐴 RIDING LEVEL: Beginners & experienced riders
🪖 INCLUDED: Introductory riding lesson, guide & riding equipment
☕ REFRESHMENTS: Tea or coffee at Yerivar Guest House; campfire weather permitting
🗣️ GUIDE LANGUAGES: Armenian & Russian
📅 SEASON: May–November
💰 ADVERTISED PRICE: From 16,000AMD per person (subject to change)
🧑🌾 OPERATOR: Yerivar
LOCATION
Located in a quiet and very rural small village of Semyonovka, just 15mins from the very busy intersection where the popular Tsovagyugh Food Court is located
Sevada is the owner or these amazing horses and they own a guesthouse in the village that we started from
To give you an idea about the incline, we ride up to the telecommunications tower and the view point there!
Semyonovka Village, a small rural town
PICK UP ~ REPUBLIC SQUARE
We met the driver at Republic Square at 9:00am and set off on our adventure!
There were 6 of us, Arpi and Ani, who were local Yerevantisi’ and Hayley and Nial who were from London and who had used the new WIZZAIR flights to visit a new country and see what its about
The 2hr drive was very pleasant and we enjoyed driving along Lake Sevan and looking at the beautiful clear waters
You know youre in Armenia when someone brings out the Lavash bread and passes it around the van! LOL I love this!
We had a scenic break at the Observation tower at Lake Sevan and checked out the gorgeous mountain views
And then had a quick break at Tsovagyugh Food Court, a very famous one and bought their fresh baked bread which is sooooo easy to eat just like that, break it off and enjoy it fresh and sometimes its been warm too…
This Food Court also has the best Gata so if you like gata buy their ones from here
We drove along and then found ourselves in the gyugh of Semyonovka, the villages and towns outside of Yerevan are still very rural and back in time, and its so nice to see and experience this!
The gas lines are above ground outside of the Yerevan and its a very soviet feel out here, very quiet and pleasant
We arrive and see Sedana, the owner, setting up the horses
I start feeling a bit apprehensive as I havent rode a horse for a while now! But it soon turns to excitement when we realise we are all in the same boat and Sedana makes us feel very comfortable and we just jump right to it!
Yerivar Tours, a guesthouse and horse riding tour operator, they have their guesthouse for rent, and is perfect for anyone who wants to experience what its like to live in a rural village on a farm!
This is the guesthouse which you can rent out and stay in, reach out if you want to know more…
On this farm they have beehives and plenty of fruit trees and animals
They have a workroom where one of the family members creates art and displays it around the farm
TEA & GATA ~ Before jumping on the horses!
We arrived and after greeting and playing with their cute dogs, we were guided into the little side farm house and offered hot tea, coffee and warm gata! WHAT A TREAT!
We got to know the owner and his wife a bit more and really enjoyed their company, it felt like home, it felt like family, it felt…. so genuine 🙂
Its a lovely relaxing place, we sat under the sun for a while and enjoyed the farm
HORSE RIDING TIME ~ We meet our friends!
And then we got to business lol and Sedana trained us up and showed us how to get on our horses, we had some practise (as most of us were newbies to horses) and we got paired with our horse for the days ride
And set off through the village… the locals were coming out to watch us
And up the mountain towards the beautiful views of Lake Sevan
The ride was amazing! The wind blowing through the tall grass… getting a bit apprehensive about being on a horse but all that went away when Sedana rides over to each of us and gives us hints and tips
The horses know this area very well and they follow each other on the tracks
For those who want to gallop, there are plenty of opportunities! Its so much fun!
I slowly start getting use to my horse and im feeling more and more confident and loving the experience!
Elena is an absolute pro with her horse and is a comfortable rider
We get to the top where the views are over the Lake and we are in awe!
We have time to get off our horses and take in the view, sit down and relax, we celebrated 2 peoples birthday in the group and sang at the top of our voices with the wind flowing past and threatening to take away the words blowing in the breeze… its so surreal! hair everywhere, everyones enjoying themselves and we dont want to go back down
We have time to have photos on our horses with the view behind us, its just magical!
Sedana is such an experienced rider, he is relaxed and easy going and made us all feel very comfortable and guided us perfectly all the way without anyone feeling uneasy… it was a perfect ride!
We then head back down, I thought the best had already finished with that view but I gotta say that the ride down was an adventure as well!
The path we went down was a different route and was steep and bumpy, the horses knew exactly what to do though but sitting on the horse and looking down at that path was pretty cool!
I did end up just letting the horse follow the others as it knew exactly where it was going
The highlight of the ride down was going through the farms and the local footpath that the farmers use, all stone and mud and seeing how the locals live in this cute village
We all arrived back, really happy and content with our adventure! hair having been blown in the wind and blood rushing through our veins!
WHAT AN EXPERIENCE!!!
We got back to the farm and were greeted by the cute little puppy and its parents, we played around with them and relaxed under the sun with our faces looking up to the sky, eyes closed… feels so good to be alive!
While we were relaxing, they were cooking potatoes and brewing Armenian tea for us
Table set, what a treat! a Village style mezze lunch, with nibblies and home made red wine which was divine!
We actually didnt want to leave! We took our time and chatted and ate and reluctantly had to get up to head back to Yerevan
It really is a different pace of life in the village!
4pm left for Yerevan, exhausted but sosoososoososososoos sosoosos so so so happy and content!! We fell asleep in the car and I was so happy to have experienced this treat and rode up into the Armenian Highlands on horse back!
You want to experience this tour too? Let us know, we can organise this for you and book it for your trip to Armenia
CONTACT ARMENIA & BEYOND HERE ON FACEBOOK OR HERE FOR OUR WEBSITE FOR ANY QUESTIONS
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ELENA – 8OCT26
