Norovank Monastery

The bus was loaded up and we headed for our first stop, very close to Mt Ararat and the Turkish border. Along with. many others we visited the monastery of St Gregory the Illuminator, Khor Virap. It had been reconstructed after an earthquake but the man is reputed to have been kept prisoner in the crypt by the King in the 2nd century.

We then drove through a village famous for the storks nesting there, before reaching the region close to the Iranian border and that with Nagorno-Karabakh part of which is disputed by Azerbaijan. A few countries recognise it as an independent country. We drove into a more mountainous area where we stopped at the village of Areni, famous for its wineries. The grape variety is 5000 years old. Some years ago a leather shoe and some grape seeds were found in a nearly cave. Apparently the British Museum authenticated the shoe as being leather and this was proof that cattle were around then, as well as the variety of grape. We tried a few and enjoyed a couple. A bottle cost £2. We enjoyed the apricot brandy too.

Next stop was lunch in the garden by the Norovank monastery set in a beautiful location amid red cliffs. The lunch was the same as every day. Lovash bread, and tasty salads. The hot dish was hassleback potatoes. After exploring the church we continued up into the mountains to a height of 2400m where we stopped to see a caravanserai dating from 14th century. The high pass was on the silk route between Iran and the north. I had never seen such a well preserved example.

Then it was over the Selim pass and down to Lake Sevan, the turquoise waters of which did not appear. The sky had become grey and overcast and the temperature went down from 40 degrees at the previous church to 22.

Somewhere along the lake we stopped at a village to see an enormous cemetery Noratous Cross Stones, dated from 15th century to quite recently. Old women appeared with roughly made woolly hats and mits to sell, and some were minding their sheep which grazed amid the stones.

We continued along the lake to the peninsula where some of us climbed up to the top of a hill where two old churches were situated, Sevanank Monastery. By then we were churches out so we didn’t go in. Instead we had a walk to the top of the hill for a view of the lake and the distant snow covered hill to the south.

A lovely dinner was waiting at a restaurant at the bottom of the hill. More salads, green lentil soup then barbecued trout and chips. Few of the group drank so the accompanying wine strangely seemed to find its way to the end of the table when we were sitting. This was a good thing at it was Mr C’s 76th birthday. We were given a cake similar to baclava with coffee and brandy. Then it was half an hour to drive to our hotel, a strange ex-Soviet block. We have an enormous room with a dining table to seat 6, a sofa and 2 armchairs and a bed all in one room, and more sofas and another bed in an adjoining room. Plus bathroom and kitchen. No WiFi though so I am posting a day late in Georgia.