Date: 18th May 2026
Travelled: 300 kms from Tbilisi in Georgia to Yerevan in Armenia
Visited: Dilijan and Lake Sevan
Stayed: Hayasa Hotel, Yerevan
Our guide wants us and our luggage at the coach at 9am, being a well trained troupe of lemmings weโre all there and soon on our way to Armenia. The 60 odd kms to the border takes about an hour. The red team is a little apprehensive, border crossings have lots of rules, yellow lines, red lines, no smiling, no cameras, talk only at a whisper. Out we go from Georgia another 500-600m walk with your bags to the Armenian side.
There are a bus load of Chinese tourist going through at the same time and as you know there a queue jumping mob of pricks, but not on my watch.
The first of our group are a just in front of us handing over their passports, thereโs a ruckus, raised forces and telephone calls. The border guard notices the Azerbaijan stamp in the passport and the alarms go off. Eventually our new tour guide appears greases a palm and itโs smooth sailing.
Worst of all we need to break in a new guide. As Forest says tour guides are like a box of chocolates, you never know who youโll get. Anyway our new guide is off to a good start. Another 200 metres and our bags disappear in a huge coach with 60+ seats for our group of 13. The coach has wifi so all the better.
An hour later the guide reads the room and we stop for lunch. Armenia looks nice and so does the food.
On the road once again to our first proper stop, Dilijan. Our guide talks about her country and itโs history. Armenia has a strong relationship with Russia to the north and Iran in the south filling important energy needs. To the west Turks have never acknowledged the Armenian genocide conducted by the Ottomans (1915-23) leading to territorial disputes and general hatred. Then to the east they have a disputed border and unresolved conflict with Azerbaijan.
As we travel on to Dilijan the road steadily climbs and the temperature drops. Frankly the villages look a little bleak and colourless our guide indicating this area of Armenia is home to many Russian immigrants of a particular religious sect.
Soon enough the bus drops us above the village of Dilijan and we make our way down through a series of narrow laneways.
Whilst the view is nice we are a little underwhelmed by Dilijan. There are some lovely craft shops and we spend some time browsing on our way down. However we find ourselves amazed by the intricately stone slab on display. Our guide describes it as a khachkar, an Armenian funeral stone.
By the time we arrive at our next stop Lake Sevan itโs very cold and windy. Called the “Pearl of Armenia” by locals, itโs one of the largest freshwater high-altitude lakes in Eurasia. Just looking from the coach the lake is enormous, our guide states it covers 1,200 Squ kms and we can only see part of it.
Our tour includes a boat trip on the lake but given the weather Pam not keen which is fine with me. So we bale walk the tat shops and start the 600 steps to the two old churches that stand on a peninsula above the lake.
Saint Jacobโs is locked up but Pam found it handy as a wind brake, pictured below. Sevan monastery or to use it proper title Sevanavank was founded in 874. The water level was much higher in the 9th century, Sevanavank stood on an island. This monastery was founded for Etchmaidzin monks who had sinned. Apparently the monks had to restrain from meat, wine, youths and woman !
Returning to the bus a little cold and windy blown. By all reports we didnโt miss much on the boat ride. The coach trip on to Yerevan was an opportunity for a nap. Unfortunately the evening traffic in Yerevan is diabolical as we spend an hour making the last 5 kms to the hotel.
Itโs 7 pm by the time we have the bags in the room, shower and make for the bar, Whilst we enjoyed the drink it was the most expensive on our trip so far. We eat out at a very fancy restaurant just around the corner. By fancy I mean in a 1970โs way. We enjoyed the meal but happy to be in bed, another day done.
Michael + Pam
