Hrazdan Gorge in Yerevan

Last year I travelled a lot, I think there are still a lot of pictures I haven’t shared yet. Not yet Thurday yet but I want to throw back to Yerevan. I was there last autumn for a short stopover before taking the overnight bus to Tehran.

Yerevan was lovely as far as I remember, the city is not as beautiful as those in neighbour country Georgia. Yet I enjoyed it, especially the walking I made in Hrazdan Gorge, an area just outside the city. It is also said to be the oldest human settlement in Armenia.

There is a train station and amusement park for kids to play. When I went there, it was rainy, I saw no children there, but a group of locals drinking cognac and having fun. they seemed a bit drunk and it was only at noon. People in the Caucasus are friendly, they soon invited me to have a cup of cognac with them. I don’t mind but of course I couldn’t drink much with them, had some other places to go, haha. Hospitality in Caucasus countries is such a delight for travellers in my opinion.

I miss the colourful leaves and lovely little river there.

The walk was longer than I thought, at one point I got a bit bored (mostly from the rain) and couldn’t get a uber or cafe to sit down. Found some restaurants on the way, not in the mood to have meal though, so I asked if I can just have a coffee, the owner made me a Turkish coffee but he refused to take the money lol.

I don’t like Turkish coffee in general but I loved it when travelling in the Caucasus.

 

Joy的故事贩卖机 – 亚美尼亚Hrazdan山谷

去年秋天,在去伊朗之前,我在亚美尼亚的首都Yerevan小作停留,当时是为了省钱,飞亚美尼亚的机票很便宜,于是想着从亚美尼亚坐过夜大巴去德黑兰。现在想起来还挺喜欢Yerevan这座城市,而去伊朗的20小时的过夜大巴也成了难忘的回忆。

Yerevan不算是一座让人很惊艳的城市,即使在高加索国家也不算,跟邻居格鲁吉亚相比,不管是老城的历史文化还是食物,都稍微逊色一些。然而可能也是因为这座城市的低调,人民的朴实可爱,让我还是印象深刻。高加索地区真是我深爱的地区之一。

Hrazdan Gorge是个离中心不远,有点隐蔽的小山谷,我不记得我是坐公车还是走路过去的,不过Yerevan本身不大,到处都可以走路。在这里看到了超级美丽的秋色。小桥流水,加上层次鲜明的各色红叶。山谷里面有个小孩专用火车站,天气好的时候是开给小孩玩的。我去的时候下雨,住在附近的当地人直接把火车变成了野餐地点。和格鲁吉亚人一样,亚美尼亚人也很热情好客,招呼我跟他们一起喝Cognac酒,当时才中午他们看样子已经喝了一阵子了。我当然不能喝太多,于是喝了一小口就道别了。

在山谷走着走着,觉得有些无聊(哈哈,我经常一边旅行一边失去热情……)在欧洲待久了,没事就想找个咖啡店坐坐,在高加索地区咖啡店不是很好找,加上山谷里面就更没有了,好不容易找到一家开着的餐厅,我走进去,问老板可不可以只喝杯咖啡。老板有点惊讶,不过他说可以,给我煮了杯土耳其咖啡,我问他多少钱,他还说一再说不用了不用了,呵呵。

很搞笑的是,我本来挺讨厌没有过滤过的土耳其咖啡,经过高加索的旅行,常常偶尔在比利时也想来杯土耳其咖啡。