Yerevan

The last couple of days have seen us settling into Armenian life. Yerevan was a blessed relief after Tehran... cleaner, more charming and easier to walk around. Yerevan is a mix of early Soviet elegance and later Soviet brutalism. All crumbling and fraying at the edges.
We spent a couple of days in Yerevan, going on a walking tour, visiting the Armenian Genocide museum and going out to see nearby monasteries, I think we've started to get a sense of it. A few things stood out pretty quickly -
1 Being the oldest Christian country, monasteries and religion is BIG here
2 Armenia has been disputed ground for centuries and almost always seems to be under the rule of another power
3 Armenia has a serious Mercedes fetish - I've never seen so many in my life
4 And Yerevan takes parks very seriously
Yerevan gave Tom the opportunity for a beer again - though the first one was a significant disappointment. And for me, it was just a wonderful city to walk around and admire. The street life ramps up after dark, every street seems to be lined with outdoor cafes.

We also picked up a car - due to confusion our first day wasn't in a Lada *sob* but this was rectified. The car gave us an opportunity to head out to Khor Virap, a nearby monastery. It set against the backdrop of Mt Ararat which is spectacular though with midday sun and a hazy day, it was hard to capture. You'll have to excuse the exposure on these images as well because my little Fuji was struggling in the flat bright light. Czytaj więcej