Lake Sevan

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Hotel Lavash by Lake Sevan was a great place to stay. The lake lapped at pebbles on the little beaches, bulrushes waved gracefully in the breeze, swarms of tiny dark fishes seethed around the stems of the rushes and coots, rails, cormorants and a little grebe pottered everywhere. Also the centrepiece of the complex was an Armenian restaurant with a huge menu of local dishes. I particularly enjoyed the horse sorrel and lentil soup, the barbecued mushroom and a fine salad of cabbage, carrot and onion laced with dill pickle. Also good was the breakfast porridge with conserved berries various and the omelettes. We sketched and pottered off in the car to visit some sights. But generally just took it easy and enjoyed the place.

Today we moved on to the Debed Canyon to stay in the Iris B&B with Marina. The Debed Canyon is utterly amazing. Sheer towering rocks with flat plateau tops and a beautiful rushing river below. We found Iris and unloaded our bags and then toured off to see the monasteries at Sanahin and Haghpat. Off we went up round the hairpin bends again, Ken manoeuvring our way along sudden deathtrap parts of the roads made of ruts, mud and rocks, also steering clear of manic drivers determined to pass everything on the road no matter what the visibility, and rounding roundabouts with cars racing around in every direction. We arrived at these serene places of immense stones perched on hillsides. Arches and domes of dark stone, interiors with Armenian carpets, candles, shafts of light from cupolas and windows high in the walls. The best was Haghpat with beautiful faded frescos behind the altar. Maybe all churches had those at one time.

We also visited the Mikoyan museum and found and enjoyed the well told stories of Artem and Anastas Mikoyan. One who designed the Russian Mig fighter plane and the other who was a Soviet regime big shot under Stalin and Khrushchev.

On the way back it was pointed out to us that we had a wheel hub cover hanging off and a flattening tyre. We pulled into a little tyre shop by the road and received excellent help from a father and son team who examined it and pumped it up and said all was ok. Hopefully it will see us to Yerevan tomorrow.

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