We'd originally planned to get the train to Lake Sevan, a huge freshwater lake northeast of Yerevan. But it turned out this arrangement was fraught with logistical complications.

We investigated other options, but eventually gave in, and joined a small-group tour...

We're not fans of tours, and have been spending the last few months avoiding them. But at least the Yerani Travel option comprised just 13 people, and we did get a reasonable amount of time at the various locations.

Again it was a very scenic drive, as we climbed the mountains, gaining ever more extensive views. At one point we went through an area rich in obsidian. The beautiful black shiny glass is just sitting there in the earth banks that line the road.

We stopped first in Tsaghkadzor (this means "gorge of flowers", and the wild flowers were indeed superb in the whole area).

It's cool up here in the mountains, which makes a pleasant change from the really sticky, energy-sapping temperatures we've been labouring under in Yerevan.

We rode the chairlift, which was a nice experience. (Silence is not golden in these parts, it seems, so all the uprights supporting the ropeway are fitted with speakers playing music. As you are borne away from each upright, the music fades to tinny-ghostly, like a song in a fever-dream.)









Not far down the road is Kecharis Monastery, which has its origins in the 11th century.










Then we headed for the lake, which is about 1,900 metres above sea level.

This is the seaside for many Armenians, and at regular intervals along the route from Yerevan we came across extensive roadside stalls selling inflatable swimming rings and all sorts of other beach paraphernalia. The seagulls think it's the seaside too...


The colour of the lake is quite mesmerizing. It changes according to the weather, and even in the short time we were there (when the weather was reasonably stable), we were treated to a constantly morphing panorama of colour, reflection, shadow, and moving cloud.

There was a little boat trip (oh, so short...).




And then we climbed the steps to Sevanavank, a monastery complex going back to the 9th century.







Our last full day in Armenia, and it's been very beautiful...

Tomorrow we head back to Tbilisi, and resume our journey east.