2017-03-15
The border of Armenia was a little harder than expected. Going out of Georgia went fast, checking the car went fast and passport control went fast. But at the last check I was sent back to an office to do a temporary import of the car into Armenia. This costs €40 and was hard to explain by the border guard because of my poor knowledge of Armenian and Russian. In the end I got it and was even instructed to help another traveler out with the same issue. These travellers were also overlanders, and after getting insurance we decided to find a spot to put the vehicles together. Something like 20 km down the road we found a nice spot near a river. We had some food (Hollandse Erwtensoep) and a small camp fire after which we retreated into their awesome camper to drink tea and relax.

Camping just over the border of Armenia

I encountered this Swiss couple at the border.

Group pic
Next morning we exchanged information and went our separate way in the direction of Sevan lake. I found another spot on iOverlander that I wanted to check out. It was supposed to be right next to the water near some trees. The way there was a bit tough. Potholes and stuff, but I’m getting used to it. I checked out some churches and nice sports on the side of the road.

Some of the roads to defy

Gorge north of lake Sevan

Selfie with Brutus

Fucking old church on a hill

More selfies
When I arrived I first took the wrong path in so I ended up driving off road for a while on the peninsula. When the snow got too deep I decided to try another path. Finally I found the spot and it was wonderful. I set up the tent because I left my petzl light in there when I folded it up in Greece and I needed it in the dark. Good for stashing my stuff while setting up the sleeping platform. I left the engine on for a bit while I watched some movies when it got too dark and cold to be outside.

Sevan lake was frozen

Sunset mountains

More sunset mountains
The next day I woke up, cleaned everything up and started driving towards the south of the lake. The plan was to drive to Yerevan via the southern route so I could visit some churches and other sites on the way. But it started snowing quite a lot and the roads became slippery so I decided to drive back to my previous camping spot, about 50 km back. When i came back the whole landscape changed completely to white and it was still snowing quite hard.

Selfie with brutus at the shore of Sevan lake

Hayravank monestary

Hayravank monestary

You want to overtake these trucks before you suffocate

Testing my new spotlight
I parked under a tree and made some pictures of the awesome landscape. It got quite cold this night so again I left the engine on for a while and watched some episodes. I slept really well this night and when I woke up it was -8ºC and perfectly clear and sunny. As you can see the window isolation works quite well because the snow stays frozen on the windows. I have to add that the temperature in the car went down to about 2ºC

Frozen car in the morning

Brutus snowed in!

Sevan lake after snowfall

20 cm of snow fell in the evening and night
This time I wanted to take the northern route to Yerevan. Because it was quite early when I drove off the road was still very slippery. There were trucks driving around to distribute gravel on the roads which helped a bit. In Tsachkadzor I visited a group of churches and bought some breakfast in a small shop. Again, most of the restaurants and cafe’s in the village were closed due to the season. When I continued to Yerevan the snow on the roads had melted enough to drive on safely.

Dudes throwing gravel on the roads with shovels

Kecharis monestary in Tsachkadzor
The first day in Yerevan I went to take a walk through the city center with Jennifer (Singapore) and Isaac (New Zealand). We had a few beers afterwards in a pub near the Hostel. Here’s some more pics:

Awesome moustache dude with sword on horse with massive flame coming from arse

Inside a massive new church

I would run away from this dude
Kerstsfeertje! Prachtige foto’s. Veel plezier verder, zoon
Fucking old church on a hill
Gaaf man Iwe!!!
Stoer Iwe, je maakt een hoop mee. Wat een avonturen!
Heel erg vet Iwe!
Iweeee! Wat een hip draai-plaatje! Leuk, leuk, leuk! xxxx