Tatev Monastery tour – one of the best Armenia day tours

I was stoked. This was the day we’d get to do one of the best Armenia day tours – the Tatev Monastery tour. We were to visit the Areni village, see the Shaki waterfall, travel aboard “Wings of Tatev” to the famous Tatev monastery & walk on the “swinging” bridge.

The day began with Ava & I waking up quite early in the morning as the Tatev monastery tour involved a lot of travelling on the road.

Basically, it meant a good hour and a half nap on our journey to the Areni village. We were to have breakfast at a local’s place. And our guide for the day was Karen (surprisingly, was a dude).

So we reached a local’s home which had a tap at the entrance that resembled a low budget fountain. Also, some people were already present there, staring at us as if we’d kept them hungry by coming late.

After stretching a bit & letting out ooh’s & aah’s courtesy all the sitting in a van, we made our way inside the home.

THE OMELETTE MISHAP

I’d previously been enjoying a sumptuous breakfast at the Europe hotel where we were staying. So, I assumed the breakfast here would be similar but with a more ‘homely‘ feeling.

Little did I know that a woman would just come to my side of the table and place an egg with it’s shell in a bowl & say –

“Enjoy your omelette”

I thought this was their “How was the prank you hungry tourists?” but 10 seconds into the joke and it sinked in that it wasn’t one.

Before I could make peace with my fully dressed omelette, they offered some well cooked veggies, salad and dry chapatis. I can’t express the delight I experienced just looking at something edible.

The wandering vegetable could survive. The cooked vegetables to be fair were pretty good and after finishing the breakfast, I was offered cherries for dessert. Ava wasn’t.

Guess this was karma’s payback for last night’s special firecracker drink that she exclusively received from the bartender at Paparazzi.

FAILED COMMUNICATION ATTEMPTS

I went out to wash my hands & noticed Ava trying to communicate with a kitty sitting under our van. She tried her kitty code language to communicate but to no avail.

Finally, she youtube’d cat noises and started playing the video on full volume in front of the kitty. Do you think the kitty responded? Your guess is as good as mine.

We stepped out of their residence & saw houses on both sides of the street, with green mountains as the backdrop. On the other side of the street though, I saw a beautiful Armenian woman smiling at me.

She was cleaning her balcony with a broom. Before I could wave at her or say a “Hi”, two mischievous kids come hugging her from behind shouting “Mommy”.

That chapter saw an immediate closure as we continued on our way to the Tatev monastery.

VISITING SHAKI WATERFALL AND ENDING UP WITH FROZEN WET BUMS

A couple of hours into the Tatev monastery tour & the driver made a pit stop. Our guide Karen (who weirdly ahh’ed & paused more than actually explaining) told the travelling troupe to get down and follow him. We obeyed his instruction like well-behaved tourists.

And after 10 minutes of a walk, we witnessed the most sensational view. We’d reached the Shaki waterfall.

With a height of 18m, the waterfall (hidden in a gorge) is located in the Syunik province. It’s approximately 6km away from the town of Sisian.

I must admit it was an absolute treat to the eye. And just the timely natural respite we needed from all the continuous travelling on the road. My bum had literally swelled from all the sitting.

I took my phone out to go live on Instagram & show my followers the magical view of the waterfall.

But then suddenly the travel blogger in me turned into a weather reporter seeking shelter courtesy – a Hailstorm. Looks like I’d swiped hailstorm’s profile right on Tinder. It just wouldn’t leave me.

My friend & I, drenched in the rain barely clicked a selfie in all the commotion and the heavy rain decided to put our fitness levels to test. It became a race to the finish line as each one of us ran to get inside the van.

Our asses were wet & freezing. Not a good image I know, but such was the reality.

RIVETING EXPERIENCE ON THE GUINNESS RECORD HOLDING “WINGS OF TATEV”

Two hours of a drive and we reached the highlight of our Tatev monastery tour – an aerial tramway called “Wings of Tatev”. Wings of Tatev is a 5.7 km (3.5 miles) long cable-way between Halidzor & the Tatev monastery.

It holds the Guinness world record for being the longest reversible aerial tramway & also the longest nonstop double track cable car in the world.

Superlative versions of excitement was what I was feeling as we entered the cable car. The journey was absolutely riveting with astonishing views of the forest below us and mountains around us.

The “money’s worth” part of the journey was when the cable car gave a sinking feeling going from one cable pole installation to another. Makes you feel like you’re floating and about to fall in the forest.

We could spot forts and fortified walls in between the forests. Furthermore, rains added to the thrilling vibe of the place. The views around me were so engrossing that I’d forgotten to record anything from my phone.

People around me however, saw the place through their mobile/camera screens. We reached the drop point and walked towards the Tatev monastery.

EXPERIENCING THE BEAUTIFUL TATEV MONASTERY

From a distance, we could see the Tatev monastery standing tall and proud, with green mountains in it’s backdrop. The green stood out so vibrantly that it seemed as if nature had activated it’s “saturation” feature to the max.

The top half of the mountains was covered by a thick white band of clouds. These had gathered around the conical top of the Tatev monastery, as if looking at it in admiration.

Air smelled of the dry fruits that the old ladies in shops lined outside the monastery were selling. Tatev monastery is located on a large basalt plateau near the Tatev village. Development of the monastery began in the 9th century when it became the seat of the bishop of Syunik.

It suffered considerable damage courtesy- the Seljuk invasions and an earthquake in 1136.

However, after Bishop Stepanos‘s efforts, rebuilding process of the monastery began. In the 14th & 15th centuries, the monastery hosted the University of Tatev – contributing significantly to the development of science, religion, philosophy of the place.

I checked out various sections of the monastery. Interestingly each section had a small window through which you could see the forests outside.

There was a small souvenir store inside the monastery complex which had miniature paintings. That was an art form which had developed here since the place hosted the University of Tatev.

HEARTWARMING SIGHT OF AN ARMENIAN WOMAN SPEAKING HINDI

Walking out of the monastery, I headed to the lunch place indicated by our guide at the time of entrance. Just then a random Armenian girl comes up to me & asks –

“Hindustani?” (meaning ” Indian? ”  )

to which I replied – “Yes”

& then she says – “Aapko mera mulk pasand hai?” (“Do you like my country? “)

I just smiled and said “Haan, bohot pasand hai” (Yes, I like it a lot)

Let me just summarize the episode by saying that when a beautiful Armenian girl smiles at you & speaks the Hindi language, it’s a sight to behold (insert heart emoji). Tatev Monastery tour was quickly becoming  my favourite experience in Armenia.

TALE OF THE MISSING BRIDGE

After completing our lunch,  Karen tells us we are heading for a wine tasting. However, we argued that we were to go to the “swinging bridge”.

So after what was termed as a misunderstanding between the holiday-factory folks in Dubai & travel agency here, we get to know that the bridge was closed for renovation and that heavy rains during the season had deemed it unsafe for tourists to visit the place.

This is the reason why the bridge was “missing” from the itinerary of the travel agency here in Armenia.

I was devastated because the swinging bridge was the reason why I opted for the day-trip including Tatev monastery. So we took the tramway cable back to the starting point at Halidzor.

This time however, I took a relapse video on my phone of the journey amidst thunders in the sky.

WINE TASTING AT THE SAME “OMELETTE” PLACE

We sat in our van and left for the wine tasting. The destination for the wine tasting was coincidentally the same place we had our breakfast, in Areni village.

I was a bit concerned about the wine tasting based on my omelette experience. I just hoped they wouldn’t place grapes in front of me and say “Here’s your wine”.

Thankfully that wasn’t the case as we thoroughly enjoyed the experience, tasting several different flavours of red & white wine with music playing in the background to add to the atmosphere.

I purchased Pomegranate & Blackberry flavoured red wines from the dude named Mher Enoqyan.

THE CHARMING “MHER” – MY VERY OWN WINE BABA

Apparently, Mher Enoqyan was a famous google celebrity of Armenia. He’s well known in the country as the owner of the wine house MHER.

Contact Wine House MHER if you’re heading to Areni. The man was an absolute riot as “Despacito” took over on his speaker and all of us heady on good wine, started dancing.

Me and a fellow Indian traveller in the troupe called Mher “Wine Baba”. This was after seeing his exploits as a flamboyant wine connoisseur, who had a way with the ladies.

HAPPY ENDING TO THE JOURNEY AND MIDNIGHT HUNGER PANGS

On our way back, Karen, as a kind gesture on behalf of the Armenian travel agency, handed us a partial refund for the swinging bridge that we missed out on, due to the renovation work & miscommunication.

So, that was the pleasant end to our Tatev monastery tour – with us not whining (about the missing bridge) but dancing & wine-ing in style!

We reached our hotel around 9pm & were famished. It’d been a long day and we were “happy tired” – so much so that we fell asleep.

When we woke up, reality hit us. Our hotel didn’t have many options available at that time of the night since the kitchen was shut. Hence, we started scouting for restaurants that were serving at midnight.

Picture courtesy Caucasus Complex

That’s when we came across this gem of a restaurant called “The Caucasus”. It was the only restaurant in Yerevan city that was open 24*7 and served a variety of cuisines.

Other than having to make hand signals for chicken and then giving up & using google translate to indicate wanting “boneless” chicken, everything else was pretty smooth.

The vegetarian menu however, was diverse and the food was delectable so I was a happy man.

A long but extremely satisfying day of travel concluded with a great meal. Armenia was slowly becoming one of my favourite travel destinations.

That was my eventful and unusually entertaining Armenia day tour – the Tatev monastery tour.

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