After two weeks in Yerevan, Jessica and I decided this past Sunday to get out of the city and do a bit of exploring. Choosing which churches to visit in Armenia can be a daunting task, but this time we settled on going to the town of Ashtarak, about 25km from Yerevan, as well as the surrounding churches along the Kasagh Gorge.

We travelled to Ashtarak on a minibus called a marshrutka, which is the main way of getting around the country. Marshrutkas don’t usually have exact timetables, but leave at regular intervals (or when full) from Yerevan to the main cities across Armenia. We walked from our apartment to the bus station, asked around for which marshrutka was going to Ashtarak, and found the right one pretty easily. There were only three women on-board before us so I was prepared to have to wait, but after about 5 minutes the driver got in, a few more passengers hopped on, and we were off.

At this point there were still a few seats available, but they were quickly filled by people who flagged the marshrutka along the route. Then it was standing room only, and I felt bad for the two guys who did get on after that and had to stand!

The ride to Ashtarak was supposed to be about 40 minutes, and I assumed (mistakenly) that we would pull into some sort of station/main square and that it would be clear where to get off. We didn’t realize that the marshrutka was actually going on to other cities as well, and thankfully one of the women in front of us spoke fluent English and told us when we had arrived at our stop, and we were the only ones to get off there. It is always nice when someone helps out the clueless foreigners, because we definitely would have missed our stop!

Our guidebook had indicated four churches that were worth visiting in Ashtarak, and this was confirmed by a map in the centre of town. The first church we found was Tsiranavor, which is in ruins now, although apparently some people still go and light candles inside.

The ruins of Tsiranavor church

The candles and figures inside Tsiranavor

On our way to another next church, we found the house museum of Perch Proshyan, who was a novelist, poet and translator. Unsurprisingly, we were the only visitors, and were given a tour covering the highlights of his life by a young woman who had been working at the museum for six years. The guide then brought us back to the ruined church that we had already visited, which initially seemed unnecessary, but turned out to be a good thing because the Spitakavor church was also close by and we had missed it. Spitakavor was interesting mostly because of the views it afforded of the gorge, as well as the church of St Sargis in the distance.

Our guide then brought us up a hill to Karmavor Church. Unfortunately the church was closed, but it had some nice views of the city.

At this point our guide left us and we ventured to the fourth church, whose Sunday service must have just ended, as we saw people milling about outside and the priest walking down the front steps into his car.

After a quick snack, it was time to charter a taxi to visit the Kasagh Gorge churches, which are a few kilometres outside the town. Chartering a taxi is something we did several times on our previous trip to Armenia and Georgia. Usually it involved the taxi driver number saying a high number, us bargaining, and then coming to an agreement on something we always thought was quite cheap (although I am sure that most of the time we were still getting ripped off a little!).

This time we approached the taxi stand, and unlike in the central square in Yerevan, the taxi drivers paid no attention to us. I guess there aren’t so many tourists wandering around Ashkarat looking for a ride. When we finally did get the attention of one of the drivers, we had trouble communicating, as he spoke no English and we speak neither Armenian nor Russian.

We said the names of places we wanted to go, and he said ok, but when we tried to negotiate a price, he kept pointing at the meter. This was a first for us! When we travel, normally we have problems trying to get taxi drivers to put the meter on, and we have never had anyone insist on the meter. I was a bit sceptical and wondered if this method was going to result in any surprises, but we just decided to go with it (and there ended up being no surprises, and the price was perfectly fair).

On the way to the Gorge, we stopped in the village of Mughni, to see the monastery of St. George. We lit candles in this church, which is a tradition of ours every time we visit an Armenian church.

The next stop was Hovhannavank monastery (‘Monastery of John’). The church itself is beautiful, but what makes it so special is how it is perched on the edge of a gorge.

As we were wandering around one side of the church, we saw a group of about 20 people having a picnic, and they immediately gave us glasses of homemade wine! Our hands were then stuffed full of grapes, lavash bread, cheese, beans, a hunk of beef and a hardboiled egg. Our glasses of wine were refilled several times, and we were also given a large bottle of orange pop for the road.

The group of friendly picnickers

Jessica and our new friends

A couple of people in the group spoke a few words of English, and told us that they were from the Ararat region of Armenia (not to be confused with Mount Ararat in Turkey) and were on a bus tour of churches. This was their lunch break, and they really had brought a feast with them. Our encounter with them was an incredible experience of Armenian hospitality, and definitely the highlight of the day.

After packing up our backpack with all the food we couldn’t finish, we got back into the taxi and went onward to Saghmosavank monastery (‘Monastery of Psalms’). It was slightly more removed from the gorge compared to Hovhannavank, but it offered a more impressive view of the gorge itself. There was also a beautiful cow field that we walked through, and the snow capped Mount Aragats loomed behind us.

It was then time for us to return to Yerevan, and rather than going back into the town and waiting for a marshrutka, our taxi driver brought us back for only an extra five euros. Cheap transportation is definitely one of the highlights of living here.

Over the next couple of months we will visit many other churches and monasteries scattered around Armenia. But first off will be some Georgian adventures, as tomorrow we travel to Tbilisi.