We like Envoy Tours in Yerevan, but unlike their buddies in Tbilisi, they wouldn't be picking us up at our hotel. I guess we got a little spoiled. So, after breakfast at the lounge, we trudged off on the 15 minute walk to the hostel for our 9am tour. When we left it just started to drizzle a bit, but by the time we reached the Envoy we were experiencing a true downpour. This is the first time on the trip that we’ve been stuck in the rain. Efren pulled out his poncho (Craig of course didn’t bring his). Dodging puddles and hanging out under building eves, we managed to stay relatively dry as we approached the Envoy.

Just before reaching the hostel we were approached by an elderly lady. It was at first very difficult to figure out what she wanted from us. She didn’t seem like a panhandler (and we didn’t run into any in Yerevan). Finally, we realized she was asking us to help her carry a bag of groceries that she left across the street. Always happy to do our civic duties, Efren volunteered to bring the packages over. Little did he realize that each bag weight about 100 lbs full of dairy products (looked like mostly butter). After bringing across the street, the lady wasn’t done with us – she then waived for us to follow her and to continue carrying the bags up the street (in the rain). We figured the trip was short so we obliged – Efren carrying one bag and Craig the other. After a couple of blocks, we pretty much had it – our arms and back were killing us from the schlepping. Thankfully, it was at that point we reached the lady’s home and we were done with our task. It felt good to do something nice for someone, but it really took a surprising toll on us. Too bad we didn’t get an invite to dinner out of the deal!

We arrived at Envoy and prepped for our tour. The group was small – the 2 Americans from yesterday and an Iranian student and his mother. We walked around the corner to the van and were off. It had looked like the rain was clearing up, but as we drove north towards Lake Sevan the clouds lowered and thickened and we were greeted with sporadic showers.

In about one hour we reached our first church called Sevanavank. The picturesque church was perched with a commanding view of Lake Sevan. We learned that Lake Sevan is one of the highest natural lakes in the world. The elevation is about 2000m above sea level. During the summer months, it is a popular place for Armenians to come to "go to the beach". Today, with the drizzle and cold the beach didn’t seem very appealing. Our guide, Shushana, who spent some time in the US (Colorado) as an exchange student, explained that in Soviet times irrigation projects threatened the lake and the level dropped precipitously. There were concerns that it would follow in the footsteps of the Aral Sea over in Kazakhstan which at one time was one of the largest lakes in the world, but after years of abuse today it has almost completely dried up to a desert wasteland. Luckily Lake Sevan was saved from that fate and although levels are not what they once were, there is little risk of the lake shrinking away.

After Sevanavank we drove a short distance to another monastery called Hayravank. Here was another example of a church built in an extraordinarily scenic location with expansive views over the lake. At about this time the rain really started up again, so we scurried back to the van for the trip to our next site – the somewhat gruesome sounding Noratus cemetery. The cemetery is known for the huge number of khachkar’s (the stone etched cross stones). We learned no two of them are the same and the site of a field covered in these stones was a site to behold. Unfortunately, by this time the rain was accompanied by wind and falling temperatures, and it became downright cold. The poor Iranian student didn’t have a jacket, and although we offered him some spare clothes he insisted he was fine. We spoke quite a bit with him, and it turned out he majored in genetics and was hoping to come to the US for graduate school. A really nice guy and he kept trying to convince us to come to Iran for our next trip. Just goes to show that even if governments don’t necessarily get along, that doesn’t mean that friendships can’t develop between the people.

Our lunch was right next to the cemetery, so we walked down the hill to the home cooked meal. The Armenian version was similar in a lot of ways to the Georgian feasts we’d become accustomed to. In addition to the usual starters and salads, we had a bizarre wagon wheel pasta dish included along with a bit of a mysterious boiled meat platter. We definitely are starting to get spoiled J

After lunch we climbed back into the van and were told by Shushan that it was “siesta” time as we had about a 90 minute drive to our next stop, the famous UNESCO site of the Geg********astery. Geghard means “spear” in Armenian and is a medieval monastery partially carved out of the adjacent mountain and surrounded by cliffs. The site was absolutely gorgeous and there were quite a few tourists visiting the site – including what looked like a field trip of high school kids. The weather cleared significantly by now, so we were treated to blue skies as a backdrop to the monastery and nearby mountains.

We entered the main chapel and were treated to a truly breathtaking interior (including a natural spring). The main chapel was built in 1215, but the monastery complex was founded in the 4th century by Gregory the Illuminator at the site of a sacred spring inside a cave. The name commonly used for the monastery today, Geghard, originates from the spear which had wounded Jesus at the Crucifixion, allegedly brought to Armenia by Jude, and stored amongst many other relics. The spectacular towering cliffs surrounding the monastery are part of the Azat River gorge, and are included together with the monastery as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Some of the churches within the monastery complex are entirely dug out of the cliff rocks, others are little more than caves, while others are elaborate structures, with both architecturally complex walled sections and rooms deep inside the cliff. The combination, together with numerous engraved and free-standing khachkars was a unique and captivating sight – no doubt this one of the most frequented tourist destinations in Armenia.
After Geghard we made the short drive to Garni, which is on the way back towards Yerevan. Garni is the site of the iconic Garni Temple. The Temple of Garni is a classical Greek temple and is the best known structure and symbol of pre-Christian Armenia. After Armenia's conversion to Christianity in the early fourth century, it was converted into a royal summer house and remained as such until collapsing in a 1679 earthquake. Renewed interest in the 19th century led to excavations at the site in mid-20th century and its eventual reconstruction between 1969 and 1975. It is the only known Greco-Roman colonnaded building in Armenia and the only standing such building in the former Soviet Union. Due to its beauty, it is one of the main tourist attractions in Armenia and the central shrine of Armenian neopaganism. Those watching the last season of the Amazing Race will recognize Garni as the pitstop for the Armenian leg of the race.
The visit to Garni complete, we headed back to Tbilisi and arrived shortly before 7pm. Not overly hungry, we opted for a light dinner at Crumbs near the Opera where we had sandwiches and some lemonade (laying off the wine for now). Both our stomachs were a bit agitated – nothing horrible but enough where Efren dived into the CIPRO. We called it an early night and headed back to the Marriott after dinner.