Armenia - June 25th

Mountains  Muck  Meadows  Monastery

Today we crossed the Georgian-Armenian border - on foot!

We said goodbye to Tazo 80 metres from the border passport control and walked into the building, brief look at our passport (double-checked my picture!) and we continued to Duty Free and our new driver, Mher, was waiting in his Grand Cherokee. Smooth ride (far less cows, dogs, horses, people on the road) to a popular national park spot deep in the hills, Parz Lake. Small lake but super climbing frame for kids and a sprinkling of amenities for the adults too.

We had had one stop for coffee (home-made) at a nice viewpoint; but the view was very murky due to bad weather.  We had stopped at a small supermarket with bakery - everything made on the spot including their sausage roll / pasty similar items. We had picked up our guide for a walk. We were eager to start - but we both were unsure due to the rain we had just encountered, but Mher assured us it was a relatively easy walk but mucky! I had made up my mind to walk whatever; Renate was uneasy and did not want to walk if it was going to rain again. Once we started she was a bit uneasy about getting her walking shoes dirty. As the guide had warned - it was mucky! Understatement!

We had to walk into the woods occasionally as the path was so slippery but our guide was patient. I am glad we had been sprayed beforehand - there were a couple of mosquitoes with our names on them. My camera seemed to suffer and I had to remove my glasses because of condensation and then we saw light - except it was foggy and wet like drizzle. We stopped for a drink of water and nibble our supplies and then it happened.

The fog lifted (it was the lower edge of the cloud) and the sun began to shine. Marvellous. Then we had a spectacular meadow full of wild flowers and more types of butterfly than I have seen in one day. And the views. Almost a 360° panorama of the hills around us. I think even Renate stopped worrying about having to clean her white walking shoes for a moment (but it was her first question at the hotel!).

My photos don´t do the scenery justice and I hope Renate´s pictures come out better. We had walked from about 1400 metres to 1550 and then proceeded slowly (too many butterflies for me) down to about 1200 meters and the village of Gosh and the monastery of Goshvansk. A rest, coffee, chat with the local constabulary, a visit to the small monastery group of churches and then to the hotel. I wonder what the food will be like tonight??