Holy moly!!!!!!!! It is HOT!!!

I really really really realllllllyyyyy dislike heat and my two next destinations are going to be hotter than hot!

My route has been a little convoluted due to cheap flight, meeting with people or not being able to go to a country because of visa issues so now I almost made a 360 turn and I’m back right next to the middle east… So tempting to take the bus from Yerevan to Iran! I miss Iran!

Coming to Armenia seemed like the easiest way to get out of Russia without back tracking and I got caught up in the moment and didn’t even think of checking the weather before booking all my flights and in a way I regretted going to a place so hot. A couple of years ago I was in Thailand (in december!) and it was so hot I could barely move during the day and then around 6pm I was totally fine. I remember being in a night train feeling so sick I almost swore to never travel again! haha but then I got smarter and I swore to never travel when its too hot… but here I am in Armenia! When 40 degree weather at 10am is just the norm in august! :(

I arrived at the airport and was bummed because I couldn’t take the public transport because of my time of arrival so I had to deal with the taxis. I already knew that I had to take a cab and was told it wouldn’t be any more than 5,000dram to the hostel so I was ready to hussle. I went to the taxi booth and asked for the price and they quoted me at 6,000 and I refused so after some back and forth I got it down to 5,000. The guy gave me a receipt and walked me to the taxi but he ended up riding with me on the taxi all the way to my hostel and giving me his phone number so he could take me out… haha

Arrived at my hostel to find out that they had lost my reservation and I had no where to sleep. Last year I would have gotten angry because of this mishap but i’ve grown, they told me and I said “ok” and then I added “you figure it out and just let me know” so they ended up transferring me to a hostel across the street and paying for the night… A win for me!

In the hostel I ended up meeting a Swedish guy who speaks spanish and we went out to the famous Cascade and it was absolutely incredible! The locals were gathered and dancing to their traditional songs! It was so beautiful, it felt so special.

The following day I woke up at 5:30am to go check out the city while it was cool and nice and try to see sunrise. The cascade looked beautiful and the view was pretty great. 

For a couple of days I walked around the city but I was disappointed on Yerevan, I think it was mostly because I had created some kind of expectation about Armenia and how it would look like and that didn’t match what I had in mind. I think I kind of fantasized that it would be a little like Iran but ended up being a city that wants to be more western than traditional, the city was filled with cafes, restaurants, and shops, everything more modern than what I expected.

They sure love monuments in this city!






Went to check out the Vernissage Market, full of carpets, paintings, souvenirs, and books!









At the hostel I met 3 awesome guys from the Netherlands and went out for an amazing dinner and good conversation!




Walking around Republic Square:

Waiting for the fountain show that never came!

 Walking at night through the main pedestrian shopping street where people sit at cafes, people watch, and dance to the sound of the street performer's music.

I always like to do the touristy stuff on my own but since I knew it was going to be so hot I decided to go on two tours with my hostel and still be “on budget”. The thought of getting local non A/C busses all around Armenia did not appeal AT ALL!

So… Armenia… AKA church country! Anywhere you look in Armenia you will find hills with churches. Armenians are very proud by the fact that they were the first country in the world to acquire Christianity as the country's religion and maybe that’s why they went crazy loco building churches!

For $35 per tour I got an AC car, a guide, and visited way more churches that I personally would have liked... I was churched out like 20 countries ago but had to power through.

For the first tour it was only me and another girl so we drove around in a small car and it was very comfortable! We visited 5 different churches and ended the day with Armenian wine tasting (which by the way was not good!)

Church 1: Hripsime

In our first stop we learned about Christianity in Armenia and some of the special aspects of their religion. I didn’t know this but Armenian churches are crossed shaped, so if looked from above it looks like a cross. All the alters are facing the east since it is believed that it is the direction of the holy part of the world. Also, all the working churches have curtains in them meaning that they are functioning and during service the priest closes them and does the ceremony behind the curtain… really strange to me!

Armenian churches are somehow similar to orthodox in the sense of the figures that they use but they are very simple, there are not a ton of paintings and an overwhelming amount of altars all over.

Church 2: Gayane

This is a sister church from the first one. The name Gayane comes from a nun that was tortured for helping a girl escape blah blah blah… my brain can only take about 10 minutes of explanation!

Church 3: Echmiadzin

This one is “the main” attraction of Yerevan and it is believed to be THE OLDEST church in THE WORLD! (not 100% sure this is accurate but whatever.)

Different looking robes in here!

Kids and Adults alike pray

Church 4: Khor Virap

The name of this church is translated to “deep dungeon” because a priest was put in a dungeon there. It was actually really cool to go down to the dungeon, the only bad part was all od us girls flashing the people down when going down the ladder! haha

The most beautiful part of Khor Virap is the view of mount Ararat. This biblical mountain used to be Armenian but now it belongs to Turkey… and I think Armenians do not like that! Ararat is believed to be the place where Noah’s arch ended after the flood.

 From Ararat we went for lunch to a local’s house. This was probably my favorite part of the day, they had made a ton of vegetarian food and it gave me a glimpse of life in Armenia. The family had a nice garden were they grew apricots, pomegranate, and so many kinds of fruits, they even had pigs!

Grandma on the swing

Such a nice lunch!

From lunch we went for a long drive to get to our next destination. The drive was beautiful and the scenery reminded me of what Iran looks like.

Church 5:Noravank

The last church of the day was my favorite! It was a 4th century church that one had to climb the facade to be able to enter the main church.

The day ended with a little wine tasting and some chacha… not the dance, but the armenian vodka! To be honest they both sucked, the wine was strange and the fruit wine was more like a syrup than wine. But, on defense of Armenian wine, I went out for dinner once and the people I was with ordered a bottle and it was actually really nice.

On our way back we stopped by one of the many side street vendors selling their home made wine and chacha!





The second tour took me to… more churches! surprise, surprise!

The guide really wanted everybody to listen to every single word she said to the point that it got annoying that we had to wait for long periods of time for everybody to gather around despite many of us telling her that she didn't have to wait for us. In the bus she even said we would have a quiz at the end of the day,,, she was NOT kidding!

We drove straight from Yerevan to the beautiful lake Sevan, the only body of water in Armenia!

Church 1: Sevanavank

This 9th century church overlooks the beautiful lake Sevan. The name seven means black lake because (I think) when it was discovered the black sky reflected on the lake and that’s how it got its name. The lake is too cold to use for agriculture and also for swimming so people can actually only go swimming at the end of august/ beginning of September when its gotten warmer.

Church 2: Hayravank

The only thing I remember about this one was that it was built during the 9th century.

Stop 3: Noratus Khachkars

It was about time for a change so we visited a cemetery! The name Noratus means “new home” maybe because of the new home of those who have died? I don’t know, I probably wasn’t listening. The cemetery is full of traditional tomb stones, the all had crosses in the middle with roots, it is believed to the lift the souls of those who have died.

After visiting the cemetery we went to a house and had an amazing feast!

Church 4: Geghard Monastery

When we got out of the church we saw the driver with the engine hood open... our car had broken down and we had to wait for alternative transport, thankfully our guide got us some treats while we waited!

Stop 5: Garni Temple

The final stop was at a temple for the 1st century. Many temples were destroyed after christianity but a queen really liked Garni and wanted to keep it so it survived. Unfortunately in the 17th century it was destroyed but re built in the 1950s.

I spent a total of 5 days in Armenia, most of them trying hard not to melt! It was so hot that from 10am until 5pm one could barely go outside. I heard that the Genocide museum was very good and that it closed at 6pm, but when I was about to leave at 3pm to visit the museum I decided to google it and it closed at 4pm so I missed it!  So bummed! 

Many days I spent it walking around town, trying to like Yerevan a little bit but I kind of didn’t.