COMING IN from Georgia, I was immediately impressed with this pretty-looking piece of country, and the friendly people who drove us into town.
Arriving from Georgia, Armenia was scenic, full of meadows and wetlands. We had plenty of time to enjoy it as we waited at the sleep border post.
As we'd been in Azerbaijan recently, we got thoroughly questioned, and by the time we got through, our lift had driven off.
It probably only took half an hour waiting to get another lift into out first city, Gyumri.
The historic and friendly city has whole neighbourhoods built with stone, which reminded me of somewhere- but I never worked out where!
The town centre is built around a large square, with plenty of centuries old churches, government buildings, museums etc. This old barber's shop is Armenia's oldest, dating from the 1920s.
Soviet architecture and public art adds another layer to the mix.
The city's central market is a large, bustling affair.
Armenia is known (apparently) as the Land of Apricots. Huge boxes go for a song, and berries are also incredibly cheap.
I personally found the Armenian people to be more open and forthcoming than their neighbours.
The market porroved a good source of photos, lie this bread van on the street.
And this bakery was more than happy for us to have a sticky-beak inside. Markets and bakeries all over the country make mountainous piles of the dosa-thin flatbread, lavash.
Besides the market, there are several quite interesting museums, including one featuring two sisters, prodigious artists from the early Soviet era, who traveled the world.
Making our way across the north was easy- shared taxi here, followed by another there. Getting down to Yerevan required booking a seat ahead.
Alaverdi is a curious mix of stunning valleys, Soviet apartments, abandoned factories and centuries old monasteries.
Sanahin Monastery is high on the hill over the river from most of the town's facilities.
A complex of various chapels, schools and monasteries built from the 10th to 12th centuries,
There are ruins of various churches on the hill behind the largest building of the complex, St. Amenaprkich Church (built 966).
The other part of Alaverdi's UNESCO-listed church sites is a good 3-4 hour hike away, through forests, fields and via an ancient fort.
After that long walk, we had to choose between a bus in 20 minutes or in almost two hours. We decided to take our time.
Haghpat's monasteries were impressive, historical etc etc, and yet, once again, Europe's scale escaped us, and we were all done and dusted in time for the early bus.