Sadly, I’m NOT FINISHED YET!
I put this here so you can get some idea why. There so much to say and I want to add a map but I needed to move on for now.
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Above photo from Hayk’s website.
We’re headed to Khor Virap, you can see it in the middle left and behind that is Mt Ararat, or so they say. We’ve been unsuccessfully chasing a view for days.
((Put the map here with short description of the borders.))
But first, snacks! She was baking the bread on a hot stone to her left and filled with delicious herbs I wish I could duplicate. Thanks Hayk for the treat.
Dried fruits, Hilda’s first purchase of the day. YUM!
More views. I’ve noticed the yellow of the Armenian flag frequently fades to a darker color when flown outside. Hayk says the yellow is often called apricot for one of the most important and beloved fruits here.
((Look up about the cross-stones.)) Note the pigeon in the niche. You can buy a pigeon before the big walk up to the monastery, to release with a hope they will fly to Mt Ararat but actually, not surprisingly, they fly back to their owner to be sold again.
As usual, you can read about this place at length, but here’s a short wiki note: “Khor Virap’s notability as a monastery and pilgrimage site is attributed to the fact that Gregory the Illuminator was initially imprisoned here for 13 years.” Gregory was eventually released and “King Tiridates, who had embraced Christianity as his religion following the miraculous cure effected by Gregory’s divine intervention, proclaimed Christianity as the state religion of Armenia in 301 AD.”
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We did a short visit to a village well-known for all all the storks. Merlyn got a picture of one of them feeding a baby which I’ll get from him soon.
After enjoying the storks we got to enjoy another snack – a fried puff pastry filled with potato, and Armenian coffee too, Not to be confused with Turkish coffee, oh no.
Stopping for a photo-op of village scenery. The scenery photo didn’t turn out so well for me, but I loved this guy.
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On our way through Noravank canyon heading to the Noravank Monastery, note the stream here that turns into a fast-running river along the way.
And the lovely spring flowers.
Hayk has a big comfortable SUV with a full-sized sunroof and we were so lucky that it wasn’t raining because he drove slowly through the canyon, played local music, opened the sunroof, and then..
..let everyone stand up, Merlyn here making a video. The music, the sounds of the river, the fresh air, the beautiful sight, what a highlight!
What a sight.
These three pictures are all from different sides of the building.
There were a number of buildings on this site. Mostly due to earthquakes many of the monastery structures we’ll see have been rebuilt at some point but usually on the same site with the same kind of materials.
((Tell the story of these candles, donations, and collecting wax.))
He was chanting and the sound was quite remarkable.
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Next stop, Areni caves, again, copied: “In 2008, Armenian PhD student and archeologist Diana Zardaryan of the country’s Institute of Archaeology discovered the earliest known shoe at the site. In January 2011, the earliest known winery in the world was uncovered in the cave. Later, in 2011, the discovery of a straw skirt dating to 3,900 years BCE was reported. In 2009, the oldest humanoid brain was discovered in the cave.” Remember about the shoe because we later saw it at the museum.
Our cave guide, her daughter, and Hilda.
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Hayk asked us if we wanted to have a quick lunch at a food court or a more leisurely lunch at a place that has the best lamb in all of Armenia. You can certainly guess my vote. So here it is, right on the river with various covered patios for eating..
..we’re here, where we had the best lamb in all of Armenia. It was indeed delicious as was the rice dish.
Our dining companion. Cats seem welcome wherever we’ve been.
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Our aerial tramway ride up to see the Tatev Monestary started out like this..
..but cleared along the way, so yay for that.
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((Wineries of Armenia))
((Put a picture inset of how it looks without clouds.))
