Maria Lapuk is the spokeswoman for the Russian “Odnoklassniki” social network. It turned out that Masha liked our country so much that she agreed to make a special project for us and tell people who have never been here about Armenia.

To make Masha’s stories more vivid we have chosen the pictures of Alexander Tyagny-Ryadno, a Russian photographer who visited Armenia on Mediamax’s invitation in 2006.

1st and 2nd parts are also avaliable.

Part 3: Ropeway – a thread with beads on the neck of huge mountains

Sevan

Besides the fact that Sevan is the second largest high-mountain lake in the world, it is also a very beautiful sight. You drive up the road, your ears are stuffed up and you think - why on earth do I need it? Then you slip the clouds, if they are low on that day. And you see a huge mountain lake! I haven’t been to Lake Titicaca yet as it’s very far away, but Sevan is stunningly beautiful on 1900 meters above sea level. And you really want to dive in its crystal clear waters but the temperature is 14 degrees. The season in Sevan begins in August, when the water warms up to 20 degrees.

But there are always a lot of things to do here besides swimming. For example, you can climb to Sevanavank, a IX century monastery, light a candle, enjoy the lake view, have a crayfish kebab or Sevan trout for dinner at a beach restaurant, feed the Armenian seagulls with bread (by the way you will be served so much bread for dinner that the seagulls won’t fly hungry), stay overnight in a hotel on the beach, sit on the pier in the evening and drink Armenian wine with fruits.


Photo: Alexander Tyagny-Ryadno.

The ropeway

The world's longest 5.7-kilometer ropeway called “Wings of Tatev” is in Armenia. It was built for getting to one of the world's unique medieval monuments - Tatev Monastery. You can have a 15-minutes ride to the Monastery, 360 meters above the canyon. It’s rather scary.

The ropeway is situated far from Yerevan. We drove about 4 hours on the road, which wound up in serpentines along the mountains, always turned sharply and passed along beautiful gorges and bush vines. But the trip was worth making. The ropeway seems to be a thread with beads on the neck of huge mountains. But before enjoying a ropeway tour to the Monastery we decided to eat something.

And here I have to tell a few things about Armenian dinners! This is something! It usually lasts about 2 hours and you can hardly move after it. The dinner begins with 2-3 salads and a matsoni- they failed to explain to me what it is, but it is something like a thick yogurt, which can be eaten with almost everything. Then they serve the soups: khash, lobakhash, dzavara. It’s impossible to innumerate all the Armenian soups, but you should necessarily taste them. The most amazing thing is that they want to serve you everything at once. And of course the second dish - Sevan trout, lamb, pork, and often everything is served all at once. Although it’s almost impossible to look at meals after all this, dessert comes next. Oh, and certainly a bottle of Armenian wine, which always tastes great. It lacks the tartness of Georgian wines, but there is saturation given by the sun in the mountains.


Photo: Alexander Tyagny-Ryadno.

Well, after such a wonderful dinner we decided to take a ropeway ride. During 4 hours I was telling my friend that I wanted the cable car to stop somewhere to feel the wind shaking the cabin. My friends laughed at me and said I will be the first to call for help. All our wishes come true sooner or later. And this was the time when mine came true. Our cabin stopped (360 meters above the canyon) 10 minutes after we entered it. One must be careful in his desires. But I had time to see the place described as the Satan’s Bridge. It is located in Vorotan gorge, the deepest canyon in Armenia (500 m). It is a natural, not man-made bridge, hanging over the rapid river. There are many places in Armenia with poetic names associated with Satan. For example, obsidian is called "Satan’s nail" for its black color (this is where the largest obsidian deposits are).

After a few minutes, our cabin moved again and we happily went "ashore" on one of the most beautiful places - Tatev Monastery. It used to be a religious and cultural center of Syunik princedom, and until now the architectural ensemble is just striking. This is a place you should definitely visit.

After our unexpected stop, not all of us decided to return the same way - they decided to return via a mountain road, and we drove back and met guys from New York who were traveling across Armenia.

Part four coming soon.

Text: Maria Lapuk – especially for Mediamax
Photos: Alexander Tyagny-Ryadno.