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November 5, 2017

Things to do in Yerevan Armenia

Yerevan is the capital and largest city of Armenia. It's located on the Hrazdan River, 14 miles from Turkey. Yerevan is one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities, built in 782 BC. It's known for its beautiful architecture.

Visited Armenia in October 2017. I arrived from Kiev Ukraine on a Ukraine Air lines flight, pretty good flight.

Armenia is a beautiful, full of history and a cheap destination.

Airport Immigration and customs is quick and easy and Taxis are cheap. My hotel was less than 10 minutes walking distance from the Republic square. The cab ride from the Airport was $12 USD. At the time of writing this 1 USD = 478 AMD Armenian Dram. The cab ride from Airport to Republic square is about 15 minutes.

Weather: October is a little chilly but not too cold, very nice.

Republic Square is the center of Yerevan and its not square, its round. Visited there during the day and night, it was always busy. Lots of people there all the time. Picture below of the Art Gallery and government buildings.

National Gallery of Armenia
National Gallery of Armenia Yerevan





Republic Square at night had some pretty cool fountain show with music, in front of the art gallery.

Day Trip to Garni, Gegard Monastery and Lake Sevan

So basically my hotel had organized a tour for a Day Trip to Garni, Gegard and Lake Sevan, they had one more seat left in the comfortable Mercedes Van, the cost for the whole day was was under $20 USD. I asked them for a discount and they knocked 2 USD off.

First stop Views of Mount Ararat, Mount Ararat Turkey in the background, Picture I took from the Armenia side. Noah’s Ark is said to be on Mount Ararat.



The views were breathtaking, we stopped there for 20 minutes, I did take shoot some video. 


Garni Temple: The only standing Greco-Roman colonnaded building in Armenia, built in the first century AD 

We drove through some very scenic roads. Garni is an hour drive from Yerevan, 1st century pagan temple Armenia. Actually it was more of a sun worship temple. The is an opening in the ceiling with the rays if the Sun coming in. Picture of me at Garni, There is an entrance fee to Garni,under 5 USD.


Garni armenia

The whole area is very beautiful with hills in the back. It was t-shirt weather. Check out the video below.


We stopped there for  45 minutes. 

Gegard Monastery was our next stop and popular day trip from Yerevan. Gegard is a UNESCO World heritage site.



All these Greg and Gregory's you'll meet or hear about in you lifetime get their name from Saint Gregory of Gegard.



According to the Gospel of John, Jesus was stabbed in his side by a spear while hanging from the cross. Gegard Monastery claims to have this spear, I didnt see it, Just like when I was in Ethopia I didnt see the Ark of the Covenant,  Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion in Axum claims to contain the Ark of the Covenant. http://www.arvinder.com/p/ethiopia.html

Lake Sevan: The country's largest lake, surrounded by monasteries, including the impressive Sevanavank Monastery, this was the last stop on our tour, what was a nice sunny day had become rainy and freezing and I didn't get to swim in the lake. 




The whole trip took about 10 hours, later I went out with strangers in the night, to the Northern ave, which has some high end shops and plenty of places to eat.

As much as I loved the food, the sites and the people in Armenia, it was time for a road trip from Yerevan to Tbilisi.



Questions or comments?
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3 comments :

  1. I had a chance to visit Armenia many, many years ago but didn't go. Now it seems so far away - I wish I had taken the trip!

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  2. What a beautiful place to visit, it certainly looks very scenic and I love the view of Mount Arafat. I love visiting places that are not swallowed by tourism.

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  3. Thank you for the sharing. Armenia is in my bucket list for 2019!

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