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| Parz Lake, Dilijan National Park, Armenia |
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| Old Dilijan, Armenia |
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Haghpat Monastery (UNESCO)
Lori, Armenia |
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Sanahin Monastery, (UNESCO)
Lori, Armenia |
Day 21 Thursday Nov 5 2025 (Dilijan & Alarverdi, Armenia) - after a delicious breakfast & hotel check-out, our group visited Parz Lake in Dilijan National park, Dilijan Local Lore Museum & Art Gallery, Dilijan City Square, Old Dilijan / Sharambeyan Street & drove approx. 92km to visit Haghpat & Sanahin Monasteries, both are UNESCO World Heritage sites in Lori Province (near the Georgian border). We stayed a night in a guest house mountain resort in Alaverdi, located near the Bagralashen / Sadakhlo border crossing close to Georgia so that we could return the rental car to Tbilisi & fly home having seen the best of the highlights in the trio regions of Caucasus !
1) Complimentary Armenian breakfast provided by our guest house in Dilijan, Armenia - very pleased with the variety of food freshly prepared from their kitchen for our group members ! Prior to leaving the guest house, we have a group picture taken with the hotel owner for remembrance !
2) Dilijan National Park, Armenia - one of the 4 national parks of Armenia, occupying an area of 240 sq km, it is located in the north-eastern Tavush Province of Armenia, known for its forest landscape, rich biodiversity, medicine mineral water springs, natural & cultural monuments & extensive network of hiking etc.
3) Parz Lake, Dilijan National Park, Georgia - a small lake in Dilijan National Park, formed by natural climatic changes, in 2017, the Transcaucasian Trail was created to connect Parz Lake with the Dilijan town & in the opposite direction with Gosh Village & Gosh Lake.
4) Dilijan Local Lore Museum & Art Gallery - the museum building was originally built in 1926 to serve as a hotel & later as a hospital, external visit only, admission fee for foreigners 3000AMD (Rm33)
5) Dilijan City Square, Armenia - a brief stopover for a car parking & a short walk to the Dilijan Old Town.
6) Old Dilijan / Sharambeyan Street, Armenia - dating back to the 19th century, well preserved traditional old houses built with stones & wood.
7) Country roads take me home to the UNESCO sites of Haghpat Monastery & Sanahin Monastery, Lori, Armenia.
8) Haghpat Monastery Complex (UNESCO), Lori, Armenia - an ancient attraction in Lori, Armenia, built between 10th > 13th century, Haghpat was once of the largest centres of science with a rich collection of manuscripts, it had premises for copying library manuscripts, cafeterias & universities, of all the structures, only the main church of St Nishan (967 > 991) with sculpture images on the outside & frescos (13th > 14th century) inside, St Gregory Church (1005), the small dome church of St Astvatsatsin (12th > 14th century), the 13th century cafeteria, the 13th century book depository, the belfry (1245) & khachkars have survived.
Lori is one of Armenia's most beautiful regions, thanks to the magnificient Debet River Valley, the forest & forested mountains of Gugark & Stepanavan.
9) Debet River Valley & forest mountains of Gugark & Stepanavan, Armenia, our next destination is Sanahin Monastery (UNESCO) in the Province of Lori.
10) Sanahin Monastery Complex (UNESCO), Lori, Armenia - founded in the 10 century in Sanahin, Lori Province, contains the church of St Astvatsatvin (Holy Mother of God), the oldest structure St Amenaprkich (All Savior) & ST Grigor Chapel.
11) Alaverdi suburban area, Armenia - a brief stopover before heading to our guest house for our overnight stay. The last stretch of 2km untarred undulating mountain roads to our guest house was a big challenge for our Toyota Camry sedan car (4 wheel drive is more ideal) due to uneven surfaces, potholes & muddy pool of water etc. But we managed to overcome the hurdles !
12) Hotel Accommodation (1 night) : guest house mountain resort, Alaverdi, Armenia, 2 rooms + 2 separate bathrooms) room tariff Rm76 (US$18), 2 single beds + breakfast. Night temperature dropped to -3c at night so had to rely on heaters to warm up the rooms !
Alaverdi is a town in Lori Province at the north eastern part of Armenia, near the border with Georgia, it is located at the only direct rail link between Armenia & Georgia
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