Look and envy me

What beautiful places Roxy and I have visited during the last few weekends! The hiking season has officially started (not that it ever ends for me, but I didn't have a camera for a while, so...) and there are so many charming corners in Armenia yet to be seen! What makes it even more interesting is the history hiding under every rock and stone. It's amazing to stand somewhere on a cliff in a half-ruined fortress or amidst the ruins of an ancient city and realize that a thousand years ago, or fifteen hundred years ago, or two thousand years ago people stood here and looked down, and to imagine what they might have been seeing and thinking and dreaming, and know that some of them might be your direct ancestors! I find it most exciting.

This here is the freshwater Azat Reservoir, where we went with a hiking group. You can fish in this lake, but not swim.

The friendly inhabitants of the nearby village...

This is Dvin (or what's left of it) - one of the 12 ancient capitals of Armenia. The settlement existed since III century, and was a capital from VII century. The place was excavated back in the Soviet times and there is a museum on the premises, displaying what wasn't moved to bigger and more important museums in Yerevan. Still, Roxy and I found a lot of pottery shards in the ruins - exciting, if you think about it!

Views in the vicinity of the archeological site.

And here is the village of Bjni, where the famous mineral water comes from. Beside the water, the village boasts a VII century quaint little church, perched on a top of a rock, a X century fortress (mostly ruins) and a large imposing church in the middle of the village with a very pretty bell tower.