Garni Temple, Gheghard Monastery

We decided to go to Armenia around 10 days before the trip. We booked our flight tickets and hotel online. Armenia is just 3 hrs travel time from Dubai   and also Residents of GCC  will get visa on arrival. So this destination was very apt for a short  tour from GCC.

I researched about the places to visit and also enquired with many tour operators online  for a tour program quote. After comparing all the quotes, we decided to book the tour with Yerani Travels. We enquired few more points and   after  1 week of continuous communications, we just confirmed the  tour 1 day before  reaching Yerevan.

On reaching Yerevan, we were picked by the driver from Yerani Travel. We exchanged cash in the airport and reached the office and made the payment for the tour. We were taken from there to the Aghababyans hotel.

We also asked Yerani Travel to arrange daily pick up from the hotel to yerani office with extra charges. But we later realised the charges we paid was around  2- 3  times  the  taxi rate.

Day 1 :

Garni Temple, Gheghard Monastery

We had breakfast at the hotel. Hotel Breakfast was limited. But the dishes available were very tasty .So we had  double serving .We reached Yerani Travel  office at the cascade Complex. We got into the Tour minibus. Our guide was Armine. There was  free wifi in the bus. Also a cold storage for water bottles.

 Our first stop was at Charent’s arch. We had a clear view of Mount Ararat. We clicked few pictures at the point. There were some lines from poetry inscribed here from a poetry.

We  reached Garnitoun Hotel & Restaurant where we were explained about Armenian Bread Lavash. This bread is in the UNESCO World Heritage  website as this is the symbol of Armenia. Lavash means to stretch and pull. The Oven is called Tonish. They also cook food in this oven. We saw how this is made and were explained about the bread in detail.

We were also taught to make an Appetiser using this bread, some  cheese and greens. We made our appetisers and enjoyed the famous Lavash.

Then we  walked to Garni Temple. This is a Pagan Temple built  for Sun God. This temple was destroyed by the earthquake and reconstructed.

Garni  Temple is dedicated to Sun God Mihad. It is believed this tradition has come from India-God Mithra, then to Persia, Iran and then to Armenia. King Tiridates built the Garni Temple. It is not clear if Roman Prisoners or Armenians built the temple. But the stones' style  indicate Armenians built it. Armenians lost war, Roman King invited Armenian King and gave compensation , to reconstruct the temple.

Next to Garni temple  is the Church of Saint Seoul. The baths in the complex are built in the Greek Roman style. Alexander had conquered Persia and Armenia. When Armenia  accepted Christiantity  as State Religion in 4^th century, all temples were destroyed. Also 17^th century earthquake destroyed  temples. But it is believed the  Queen requested her brother not to destroy Garni Temple.

The entrance ticket is 1500 ADM per person.

There are 24 pillars to signify the 24 hrs of the day. The 9  stairs are of a little height  so that as we climb we directly bow to the God. Sunlight falls  on the water , reflects on the Brass ceiling and falls directly on the idol. There are 2 places for sacrifice. Just next to the temple is the church that was built when Christianity was adopted as State Religion.. This church was also destroyed by the earthquake. Most of the stones were taken away by the Villagers so this is not restored completely. It is believed that the villagers were scared to take stones from the temple site.

There is also remains of a palace. From the Palace, there is a good view of the gorge and  symphony of stones. The rock formation  is similar to the keys of a piano. There is also a bath with 4 rooms: hot, warm, cold, Changing room. The clay pipes brought hot water to the first room, then the water flows to warm room, as the water flows, the water cools .The mosaic pattern on the floor of 1 of the rooms is  very significant.

It is believed some lines were inscribed saying “ we did everything we could, but we don’t have anything”, but later it was changed positively by the ruler  to “ we have everything   “we did  everything we could, we have everything” .

We then went to Geghard Monastery. Gheghard means Spear .It is believed to be built by the Roman family.The lion symbol in the complex symbolises this.



After we were explained  about the Khachkar, we went inside the monastery. This Khachkar can be seen everywhere in all the monastery complexes .This is a tomb stone, it has needle work design and other detailing. The more complex it looks , the more significant  the person is.



The Monastery has many beliefs. First one being, if you throw a stone  at the entrance, on a rock and it doesn’t fall down but sits on the rock, then your wish will be fulfilled. The next being a part of the sky fell on the monastery  and keeping a hand on this stone and praying will fulfill your wish. This stone is kept in the middle of the monastery as you enter.Also there is a small spring that keeps flowing. The third belief is that if we drink this holy water, everyone suffering from all diseases will be cured.

The monastery has a bell tower, Musical academy, church. The acoustics of the Musical Academy is such that the Music stays for 40 seconds inside. As we walk back, there is a bridge with river flowing down. At this bridge too you can see  many pieces of cloth tied to the trees there, this is another belief for getting the wishes fulfilled.

Later we left for Yerevan. At Yerevan, we walked on our own with a map .There is an information centre  near Opera Theatre, we asked them for directions and walked down to Northern Avenue to buy simcard. We found Bee Line and bought the cheapest card as we were there only for 5 days and we needed mobile data only when we are on our own.The Tour bus , hotel had good wifi.

After buying simcard, we were too hungry  and  found Karma Indian restaurant very close by from the Beeline office. So we went there for late lunch at around 5  pm. We had lunch there. The restaurant seems a little old. Also the food was not that great. But we were very hungry to comment then. The Mushrooms were not fresh, peas was dried peas and not fresh peas. Breads were good.

We walked along the Northern Avenue till the end , as there were some celebrations going on and there were  street acts there.

From here we walked back to Yerani travel office. Booked taxi  and went to Hotel. We rested  and after some time,  we booked taxi on Yandex app to go to Indian Mehak Restaurant for dinner. But when we were dropped , we were somewhere else. There was this restaurant Khatta Meetha . So we entered, had dinner .Food was great  , though the restaurant was not very fancy. There were few Indian students having food. Later we walked a bit  and booked taxi to return to hotel.