Back in Yerevan, same hotel, different room – see the view. Zoom into the second pic and read Saroyan. Blue thing = fountain (see the water frolic). Freshly carved Khachkars (BTW, every one of them is unique – even from centuries ago!)!
And, a walk to our farewell dinner, at which Pavel continued to educate us about the Caucasus…
Now that I’ve been on many Intrepid tours, I’ve had a lot of tour leaders. Here’s Pavel – thanks bro’!
My Intrepid tour over, I signed up for another one. I’d asked some Armenian friends from LAUSD advice, so I took it. Zepure Kivork said to use Hyur Travel Service. Chris Melekyan suggested going to Garni. So, I took a Hyur tour to Garni – and several other places. Just getting started that day…
Our second stop was another monastery – Geghard – featuring caves, carved rooms, and more features of the Armenian Apostolic Church, etc.
Next, we went to an amazing geological site – the “Synphony of Stones” in Garni Gorge, near Garni Temple.
After leaving the gorge, it didn’t take long to get to Garni Temple, identified as a pagan temple built by King Tiridates I in the first century AD as a temple to the sun god Mithra. It was rebuilt after an earthquake, but the adjacent Christian church was not. Also, visited a bath house built during Roman times…
Right after leaving the temple, we went to a restaurant for class on making Lavash, Armenian bread. Mostly, we ate some with herbs and cheese…!
This old Soviet radio/phonography deserved some acknowledgement…
There’s more!
Stay tuned…