Armenia Transportation

A small village near Stepanavan. This is where my grandfather's ancestors come from.

Alaverdi is an industrial town located in the northern Debed River gorge in Lori Marz in northeastern Armenia. It is dominated by natural beauty and manmade monstrosities: huge derelict and abandoned factories and a twenty-story high smokestack that belches the refuse from the copper-smelting plant below. On a clear day, the mountains that surround the town are enough to blot out the Soviet-made, concrete mess below, especially when viewed from the plateau-top villages of Odzun, Haghpat and Sanahin that surround Alaverdi. Alaverdi is an important city as it lies on the main road between Tbilisi and Yerevan, though the winding, narrow mountain pass roads that surround it do not make it appear so. If traveling from Yerevan to Tbilisi, make a right and cross over the Debed River on the first main double bridge from the west bank to the east bank of river, then make a left to continue north to the Georgian border. The road on the east bank is much better than on the west. You also avoid driving through town, but get a great view of the historic center with its church, square and medieval foot bridge from the elevated road on the east bank. The road through town on the west bank is riddled with pot holes.

Transportation: marshutkas from Yerevan (take them near the metro station Yeritasardakan), price: 500dr Sevan is a high-mountain lake, so big that you feel like being on the seaside. Be carefull, even in summer, if you plan to stay for the night, take warm clothes, it's always much colder than in the valley. Don't stay near the peninsula after visting the monastery. This is the most touristic place of the lake. You should go further on the left by the road (hitchiking, taxi, private car 'cause there are no marshutka), something like 15km further, you'll find an on-air restaurant, or you can stop whereever you want on the "coast", it's much more pleasant, and almost desert. Food: you should bring what you need unless you plan to go to the restaurant, because there are no markets near the lake, and buying food and bread at the restaurant is quite more expensive.

300 years old cemetery! This is now the largest khachkar cemetery in the world.
It's not to easy to reach, we went there by taxi, but it was worth. It's near to Noratus village. But the driver will know about it!
http://www.armeniapedia.org/index.php?title=Noratus_Cemetery

Garni is on the road to Geghard and both can be comfortably seen on the same day. It was built in the first century A.D. AAAAAND from here you can see the wonderful Gargi Gorge, the magnificent sheer vertical cliffs, the columnar basalt cliffs.