Today we have planned a day off in Yerevan. It’s Sunday anyway, and we want to explore the city. Yerevan seems like a very vibrant and young city so we are a bit curious to see what it has to offer. We start our tour with the most famous sight: the cascade steps with the view of Mount Ararat at the top. On the way over we pass the opera house. It’s a grand building with lots of trendy bars around it.
From the opera house, it’s only a short walk to the steps.
It’s an impressive sight from below and quite a hike to get to the top. But the view you get as a reward is not bad either. Unfortunately it’s too misty to get a good look at Mount Ararat. It’s close but the top is completely covered in clouds.
Underneath the steps is also the Museum of Modern Art and some of the pieces outside are really beautiful.
Over the weekend there is a vernissage bazaar in Yerevan, selling all kinds of handicrafts and antiques. We stroll through it on our way over to the cathedral of Saint Gregory the Illuminator.
It’s getting hot outside, so we dive into the cathedral and spend some time in the cool air. It’s a huge space and unlike the previous orthodox churches and cathedrals we have visited, it’s light, airy and very spacious inside.
On the internet I found that Yerevan has a blue mosque and the pictures look quite impressive. So we decided to make that the last stop of our walk around the town.
The mosque is tucked away behind some huge apartment blocks and we have to search a bit to find it. It’s also a lot less impressive than we had hoped. But we do manage to take a nice picture of it.
On our way back to the hotel, we spot a local shopping mall. Time to stock up on water. By now, it’s getting humid and warm too and the skies are turning dark grey. Looks like there’s a thunderstorm brewing.
We get back to the hostel and make some more use of the excellent internet connection. By 8pm, the clouds have passed and we go out for some dinner.
The next morning, we decide to ride on. We are longing to sleep in our little tent again and we got a nice tip from Joost and Marijke about a nice campsite between Garni Temple and Geghart monastery. So that’s our aim for today!
We say goodbye to David and Eve, and to Yerevan!
