We spent a night in the valley of the Vararak River in the town of Goris. The main attraction are the cave shelters of Old Goris carved into the hillside on the east side of town. They were probably built and inhabited in the 5th century. Several trails lead up over a saddle with epic...
We took an impressive “flight” on the famous Wings of Tatev above the ravine of Vorotan River to the Tatev Monastery. It is the longest cableway (🎫7000 AMD/return) worldwide (5752 m), recorded in the Guinness Book of Records. It takes 12 minutes to reach a monastery built by...
Our last stop today was one of the most spectacular sites in Armenia, the Noravank Monastery. It was founded by Bishop Hovhannes in 1205 and sensitively renovated in the 1990s. We arrived right time at sunset, the reddish hues of the dramatic cliffs surrounding the monastery were...
On the way to Sevan Lake, we drove a scenic road, M10, through the Vardenis mountains range. The winding mountain road and hairpin turns provide breathtaking views of the surrounding steep rocky hillsides. However, the road is dangerous because of the extreme weather – blizzard, strong...
We made overnight at the famous resort town of Dilijan – the gateway to the Dilijan National Park. It lies on the banks of the Aghstev River in the valley surrounded by the Lesser Caucasus mountains at 1500 meters above sea level. The forested town is home to numerous Armenian artists...
We got sunny weather today, so we decided to hike from Lake Parz back to Dilijan. In the morning, we ordered a Yandex taxi (4000 AMD) and went to lake Parz in the Dilijan National Park. The lake was formed by natural climatic changes. In 2017 the TransCaucasian Trail was created to...
According to Google, there should be a nice road, H24, from Stepanavan to Hnevank monastery. Actually, it starts as a ruined road turning after a few kilometers into a total off-road – narrow, steep, winding, dirty road, full of big stones, especially on the part before Dzoragiugh village...
In the late afternoon, we reached a popular valley town Stepantsminda (known as Kazbegi), with the famous hilltop silhouette of Tsminda Sameba Church and the towering snowy cone of Mt Kazbek (5054 m). The main attraction is the the14th-century church sitting above Stepantsminda in 2200 m...
We drove from Trabzon to the Georgian border, roads in Turkey are perfect, but these two days were challenging for us and our truck. On the first day, we left Uzungöl lake in the afternoon and drove in the rain on good roads through Kaçkar Mountains with steep rocky peaks (the highest...
A one-hour drive from Trabzon to the south, in Kaçkars Mountains, you will find a lakeside mosque and forested mountains that recall Switzerland. The “hidden valley” of Uzungöl is not idyllic anymore. The tourist boom of recent years and the growing number of visitors from the Gulf States...