Armenia - Wine, Cheese and Monasteries

After visiting Khor Vrop we couldn't understand why Google maps was telling us to turn around and go via a much longer route when we could see there was a road where we wanted to go. We then spotted we would be going through a small enclave of Azerbaijan. Other Armenian vehicles were heading towards it, but Colin checked at a petrol station if there were any border posts and was told there wasn't.

It was a very scenic road and we could see what looked like old military posts at the side of the road. We stopped at a couple of viewpoints. We did a double-take when we passed a lady selling asparagus at the side of the road. We've not seen asparagus since setting off in January - we debated turning round to see if we could buy some, but hesitated too long. Big regret.

The enclave contains the village of Karki which came under Armenian control since 1990. The residents are now mainly Armenians with a few Azerbaijani refugees. The remaining original inhabitants were resettled in a new village in Azerbaijan territory.

We arrived in Areni, known as the oldest wine making region in the world (although Georgia may disagree). We headed to a Park4Night place attached to a vineyard - I'm not sure what attracted us to it.... We had to travel a few kms down a rough track and were wondering if we'd missed it, but finally spotted the building among the vineyards. Momik WineCube is owned by a lovely couple, Nver and Narine. I was worried it didn't look open when we arrived, but I found Nver having a nap and Narine gave him a prod. They said we were welcome to taste some wine with a platter of cheese, meats and fruit. Well, it would have rude to refuse. Nver said we were his first Park4Night visitors this year and showed us to our parking spot surrounded by vines and lovely views.

We got settled in and went up to the tasting room. The tasting board was amazing - delicious bruschettas, cured meats, and cheeses, with wafers and croutons. We were given tastings of a dry white, a pale dry rose, two red wines and an orange wine. They were all delicious. Nver explained the vineyard had been in his family for over forty years, and his grandfather was ordered to produce brandy during Soviet times, so the family had to re-learn how to grow grapes for wine production. They produced homemade wine for many years for which they won awards, but have only been producing bottled wine since 2018.

It was a lovely experience. There were visitors from Germany, Israel and Belarus while we were there. Nver asked us to write something in a book he keeps for all Motor-home visitors and we purchased two bottles wine to enjoy on our travels.

We had a peaceful night next to the vines. The owners live offsite, so we didn't see them before we left in the morning. Our first stop was to visit the nearby Noravank Monastery - probably our favourite monastery that we visited in Armenia - the stunning blue skies and location couldn't be beaten. The main church was built in 1339.

We drove back down into the valley and visited the Areni-1 Cave, a water carved cave in the side of a cliff. In 2008 the cave became famous after an old leather shoe was discovered in a pile of dung, that when tested was found to be dated 3,500 BCE making it the worlds oldest leather shoe. It was my size 37, and the original is now on display in a museum in Yerevan. After this discovery more excavations uncovered Stone Age artifacts, but they also found clay pots containing petrified grape skins dating back to 4,100 BCE giving them the claim this is the worlds oldest winery.

With the weather clouding over we headed to a town called Jermuk, another Soviet spa town. The temperature dropped and the snowy landscape increased as we climbed towards it. We pulled into the old town of Jermuk, where we guess the workers live, which certainly wasn't too glamorous, but I picked up some freshly baked bread from a bakery and a few provisions from a mini-market. When I got back to Lolly, Colin was munching on bread and cheese that he said one of the ladies in the bakery had brought him out. It's good to know he hasn't lost his appeal to older ladies.

We drove a little further to the main spa town. In Soviet times, workers were guaranteed at least two weeks holiday for health reasons and were encouraged to spend time at sanatorium towns like Jemuk (and Tskaltubo in Georgia). This town has continued to be popular with Armenians and Russians who love a good soak in the mineral rich waters.

The paths were very snow covered, but we managed to visit the Gallery of Water where you can sip on different mineral waters ranging from 30 to 50 degrees C and had a stroll around the lake.

We drove back towards Areni and went to a campsite near the main road. The owner said they weren't yet open for the season, but welcomed us to park up for free. It was a nice spot to spend the night.

We would have liked to visit some places further south in Armenia, but with our deadline to get to Tbilisi to meet Colin's niece in two days, we'll have to leave them for another visit. We have heard since that the weather there wasn't the best to see the attractions at this time of year so maybe it was meant to be.

Our destination that day was Lake Sevan, the largest lake in the South Caucasus. Early on we did a little side trip into the Yeghegis Valley to have a look at some picturesque villages.

Back on the main route the road kept on climbing. There was a caravanserai at the side of the road which had some scenic switchbacks just before it. However, as we approached it there was no sign of it. Then we realised all we could see was part of the roof sticking out of the snow - completely buried. No wonder Google maps said it was 'temporarily closed'.

As we descended toward Lake Sevan, the snow cleared, although the lake is still at 1900m. The lake is one of the largest freshwater high altitude lakes in the world and its setting is incredible. A monastery sits at one end of the lake, but before we drove there, we stopped off at the Mikayelyan Family Farm to taste their cheeses. The family have been making cheeses since 2012, and have moved on from producing the typically white salty cheese we have been having in Armenia and Georgia to producing matured cheeses with flavours such as red wine, brandy, chilli spices and herbs. We were taken into a cellar where the cheeses were being aged and meats curing. The lady looking after us said she was a relative of the owners, and she talked us through their range of cheeses and relishes that compliment them. We were offered a tasting of 6 cheeses or a more expensive option of 10 cheeses, cured meat and wine. If we were parking for the night here, which they allow, we may have gone all out, but with sensible hats on we opted for the 6 cheeses.

We were taken to another room in the garden where an exquisite taster board was waiting for us. She then proceeded to make us try the cheese in a certain order and with her recommended relish - one was like a strawberry jam and our favourite was a plum one. They were all delicious, but we had a feeling that they weren't going to be cheap, so we limited our purchases to a mature cheese with cumin seeds and another with herbs, plus a bottle of the plum relish.

Not far from the farm is the Noratus Cemetery which has the largest collection of khachkars in Armenia. These are carved memorial stones bearing a cross and other motifs such as grapes, inscriptions and figures. There are about 900 here, some dating back 1000 years. There is a legend saying that they were once covered in white sheets so that an invading army mistook them for a battalion of enemy soldiers and withdrew. The sky was very dark and menacing as we arrived and it was quite a sight seeing the stones over such a large area. The older ones had aged with a nice honey colour. Where there are several in a line it indicates a family, with smaller ones being for children. There was a section of modern khachkars where it seems to be the done thing to have pictures of the deceased on the grave.

A wave of rain and sleet hit us, and we took shelter in the souvenir shop where the owner offered us coffee and a large slice of baklava. She told us she is an economics teacher during the week.

By the time we reached the monastery at the far end of the lake, it was sleeting quite hard and the clouds were covering the lake views. There didn't seem much point visiting at this point so we drove back round the lake to a spot to park for the night. It wasn't the nicest spot, with litter strewn around, but we hoped the views in the morning would be great if it cleared.

It had snowed quite a bit through the night, but we awoke to a fantastic view of the mountains and monastery in the morning. The paths up the monastery hadn't been cleared when we arrived, so it was a little treacherous on the steps, but the views were quite magical.

It was our last day in Armenia, so we wanted to park up for the night in striking distance to cross back into Georgia the following morning. We passed through the town of Dilijan, the area being known as the Switzerland of Armenia. The snow certainly added to the effect. Not having time to stop off and explore, we continued on to Alaverdi, home to two UNESCO medieval monasteries. Alaverdi once had a copper chemical factory that spewed out noxious fumes into the atmosphere for years. It was closed down in 2018, removing the main source of employment for the area, so it looks very much like a ghost town now with the derelict industrial sites and more cable cars.

We visited the Haghpat Monastery first, up a steep windy road and set in magnificent views. There were some nice frescoes in the church

We then drove back down the valley and back up the other side to Sanahin monastery. It had more ancient khachkars and dark chapels. The church dates back to 934CE.

I think we were ready to have a break from monasteries after an intensive day. On the way out of Sanahin we had planned to visit a museum about the Mikoyan Brothers, one was a Soviet politician who outlasted Stalin and the other invented the MiG fighter jet. Unfortunately the museum seemed to be under reconstruction.

We decided to head back to Haghpat to a campsite with views. The helpful owner found a space for us with a view - it was a nice place to send our last night in Armenia.

We definitely could have spent more time in Armenia, but we've loved what we've seen. The people have been friendly, the scenery spectacular and food and drink surprisingly good. Somewhere we definitely want to return to.