Joe's Travel Blog: Southern Armenia (10/19/2016

Our day outside of Yerevan began with riding the 'Wings of Tatev', one of the longest cable car routes in the world at 5.7 km in length, connecting Halidzor to Tatev Monastery (sadly very limited visibility due to the clouds), followed by a visit to Karahunj. It is also known as the "Armenian Stonehenge", who some believe dates back to the 6th millennium BC. Its exact purpose remains elusive, with the prevailing theory being that of an observatory, although some tombs have been found in the area.

We then went to the spa town of Jermuk, where we had a chance to sample the numerous sources of spring waters available (some tasted more mineralised than others), before I took a dip in an active geyser, ~2,000 meters above sea level. Fortunately the temperature difference between 'on' and 'off' was only 2 degrees Celsius, otherwise I wouldn't be here writing this entry!

The second day finished with a visit to the Noravank monastery, and a visit to an active archaeological site where the oldest industrial winery (at 6,000+ years old), and the oldest shoe were discovered. It turns out the ancient Armenians really took their wine seriously as there were the ancient remains of young girls ritually sacrificed to ensure the success of the wine fermentation.

The final leg of this southern journey took us just south of Yerevan to Geghard and Garni. In Geghard we visited a monastery tunneled out of pure rock and enjoyed a local vocal concert. Garni is the site of an ancient Hellenistic temple and the only one still standing in Armenia. Continuing with the musical theme, we had the fortune of listening to the somber tones of a duduk performance (local Armenian flute). In the nearby valley there were natural basalt columns that looked quite out of this world (referred to as the Symphony of the Stones).

You may be wondering what the ornately carved slabs of stone are - they're known as khachkars /խաչքար and represent events of significance (usually memorials to the deceased and victories) and the art form is unique to Armenia, and has been around since the 9th century at least. Thousands were irretrievably lost during the various invasions of Armenia, but fortunately a fair number of them were saved.

Wings of Tatev / Տաթևի թևեր