Slow travel notes from the Armenian highlands.
The monastery sits on what used to be an island before the lake level dropped. Coming up the stairs early, before the tour buses, you get the two small churches almost to yourself and the water below turns from grey to deep blue as the sun clears the ridge.
Lake Sevan lies at roughly 1,900 metres, so even in August the wind off the water is cold. Bring a jacket.
Dilijan is greener than anything else we saw in Armenia: forested slopes, mineral springs, and an old quarter of restored wooden houses with carved balconies. The walk up to Haghartsin monastery through the woods is easy and quiet on weekdays.
The Garni temple is the only standing Greco-Roman colonnaded building in the region, perched above a gorge of basalt columns. Twenty minutes further up the valley, Geghard is partly cut into the rock itself — the acoustics inside the carved chambers are worth the trip alone.