Meneka Senn, 29 July 2009
Armenia , Dilijan

The Debed canyon and its beauty

On july the 25th we leave Yerevan. We is : Natalia 23 Poland, Mareclina 23 Poland, Hana and me.
We take the bus to Dilijan. This place is also called the "Switzerland of Armenia" and "one of the most pleasant regions in the country" so we are very curious. "During sovjet times this was the peaceful retreat for cinematographers, composers, artists and writers to come here and be creative. The georgeous churces of Haghartsin and Goshavank are an easy Daytrip" (LP)
When we arrive in Dilijan a taxidriver approaches us and asks us if we are looking for accomodation. Yes we are, but mabe not in your house friend. Luckily Macelina speaks russian and very soon we understand that he has a grandmother, babushka, who lives in a big house with all the facilities and we can easily rent a room at her place. We like the idea and the guy, Djivan brings us to his grandmother. He didn"t lie, she really lives in a very big house for only 1 person. We will have 2 rooms for our use. She is a very good lady who picks rasberries all day and makes the most delicious jams. In the Afternoon we go to the tourist information because we would like to make some hikingtrips aound Dilijan and we would like to see the monasteries. At the 26th we leave in the morning for Lake Parz. From there a hiking trail goes which will be around 7 kilometers untill we reach Gosh, the town where there is also Goshavank monastery. The trip is suppose to take 2 hours or less, only the trail is not very clear. Also it has been raining for a few days and there is mud everywhere. Luckily we have to cross the river several times so we can wash our feet and legs. Only poor Natalia. She has closed shoes and cannot cross the river with them, so Hana crosses and then throws her sandals to the oher side so Natalia can cross in Hana's Sandals. We have lunch at the top of a mountain with a beautiful view. Here we can lie down in the grass, not in the mud. After 4 hours we finaly reach Gosh. The monastery is very special. Now it is about 4 o clock and if we also want to see Haghartsin mnastery we really have to hurry up. We walk down the main road and try to hitchhike. A new Mazda with 2 posh women (who speak very good english) is willing to take 4 muddy and sweaty girls. At the exit to Haghartsin we get uot. It starts to rain and we would love to have another car which takes us to the Monastery. 2 busus of tourists pass by. They don"t want to take us, but this young Armenian couple is willing to take us. They also speak english. The Monastery of Haghartsin is under construction. That is a real pity, but they make Armenian bread there so at least we can have a look and a taste. The young Armenian couple brings us back ti Dilijan and after a good dinner we fall asleep on Babuska's couches.

July 27th
Today we want to visit two more monasteries before we leave Dilijan. We take the bus ( the one that almost falls apart) to the last station. It starts to rain and we will have to walk in the rain fr about 30 minutes. No Natalia doesn"t want to and tries to stop the first car we see. Could you bring us to the Monastery of Jukhtak Vank? The old Armenian man says he didn"t plan to go so far, but hopp in 4 rainy girls, I will bring you to the monastery. And the most funny thing? He used to be a soccerplayer for Belarus and...poland! In 1962 till 1964! The car can only take us so far. Then there is a path, a muddy path again. We walk and climb but it is totally worth it. No other tourist, barely a road and then we see the monastery, hidden in the forest. Here we eat our lunch. Then there is suppose to be one other monastery pretty near. We cross the river and climb the mountain. the rod is very slippery, we really have to watch out. There are little red marks on the trees. Some of them you can"t read anymore. It leads into the woods further and further. There is no road or path here. we climb another mountin and see a wall of stones dooming up. Yes there it is! it is a very very old one. It is called: Matosavank.First it looks like we cannot get in because the opening is covered with an iron "door" Hana just pushes this door to the left and walks in. Here for sure hasn"t been anyone for a long time. There is almost no light. It is beautiful, mysterious. We hear thunder. A storm is coming up. We hurry to get down the mountain. It starts to rain again. Luckily an old russian jeep passes by with two old dirty man. They don"t mind taking four dirty girls to the drossing were we can get the bus back to Dilijan. Back home at Babushka's there is a hot meal ready for us. After that we pack up our things and try to find the bus which goes to Vanadzor. It is suppose to go at 4, but we can"t find it. we are standing at the side of the road and after 30 minutes Natalia becomes a little inpacient so she tries to stop everything that moves in order to get us a car to Vanadzor. Eventually we go with the local-slow-almost falling apart-bus. Two hours later we are in Vanadzor.
There we stay at the bus station, trying to get caught. We don't want a hotel, we want some cheap private accomodation like Babushka. After a lot of talking with different man there is one guy who canm offer us an empty apartment his family has. Only 200 AMD per person. That is 4 euro's. There is no water but we can get water from the tap outside the building. So we carry all our bottles down to fill them up. We are the attraction of the neighbourhood!
The next day we hire a driver to drive us up to Alaverdi. Between Alaverdi and Vanadzor there are 4 interesting monasteries for us to see. Odzun, Sanahin (Armenians oldest), Hagpath (UNESCO world heritage status) and Kobayr. To get to these monasteries we have to drive through the Debed Canyon. It is an amazing experience.

And then today we left Vanadzor and came back to Yerevan where we met some of ur other friends and we all sty together for couple of nights ina house in the best part of Yerevan.

My flight is friday morning. I will be sorry to leave this beautiful and mysterious country and the friends I made among the Armenians, but I am sure I will come back.

M.