5 March 2025 - Gyumri to Dilijan, Armenia

As soon as I woke up, quite early in fact, at 3.30 am, I opened the door of the room and was startled by the blast of cold air. I walked out to check if it had snowed overnight. It hadn't and that reassured me that I could start by 8 am, as planned.

The Major's House, accommodation in Gyumri, had been more than adequate. It was tastefully done up, comfortable and ideal to stay for a couple of days. Moreover, it was a ten-minute walk to the main square and supermarket. After breakfast of cornflakes, chocos, sliced banana and milk I called up the landlady to thank for the hospitality. She told me to leave the key in the key box once I was ready to leave.

Even though it hadn't snowed, a thin layer of crusted ice had settled on the windshield and windows, which had to be cleaned prior to starting the car. It was quite cold and by the time I finished with cleaning the windshield, I could barely feel my fingers! The early start by 8 am helped me to drive out of the city without any hassle. I left the Gyumri city jurisdiction in about 20 minutes. I was scheduled to be in Dilijan for the day, a distance of about 100 km. As I had also packed the Goshavankh monastery into the day's plan, which was beyond Dilijan, I had about 150 km to do in the day.

There was snow on the hills, its slopes, farmlands and everywhere, except the roads. As the M3 stretched to Vanadzor the hills became bare, and the intensity of leftover snow became less. Vanadzor is the third largest city in Armenia, with a population of about 80,000! It is also the seat of the Gougark diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church. As I drove through the city, it was just coming alive. There was melting snow and muddy puddles everywhere.

In about 2 hours of laid-back driving, I approached Dilijan. I drove on with Goshavankh monastery in my sights. A feature I noticed over the past few days in Armenia is the overarching presence of traffic police within city limits and on the highway. I was briefly followed by a highway patrol car on the way to the Goshavankh monastery. I expected to be overtaken and asked to park. When I turned onto the monastery road, the patrol car stopped following me.

The Goshavankh monastery is a 12-13th century construction that has remained largely well preserved. Vank in Armenian language means monastery. Thus, Goshavankh is the monastery of Gosh village. It had also been known as Nor Getik. The monastic complex was set up by the scholar and man of many parts, Mkhitar Gosh in 1188 AD. The 12th century complex was a replacement of the older one that had been destroyed by an earthquake. The Nor Getik monastery was renamed Goshavankh after the death of its founder, Gosh. The surrounding village settlement was also renamed in his memory.

A large statue of the man seated on an armchair holding a set of scales and a book on his lap greets one into the complex. The Book of Law was Gosh's most famous writing, which was used to solve judicial issues in medieval times; therefore, the book and scales in the statue. The monastic complex consists of the St. Astvatsatsin (Holy Virgin Mary) church in the middle, the scriptorium-belfry and the St. Grigor church. The crown jewel of the complex is the massive embroidered khachkar (cross-stone), which was a product of the 13th century expansion of the complex. What stands out is the brilliant lacework on stone.

Located closer to Dilijan is the Haghartsin Monastery, built between the 10 and 13th centuries. It consists of the St. Astvatsatsin (largest), St. Gregory (oldest) and St. Stephen (smallest) churches, a gavit and large refectory, which is where wedding receptions are now held. To reach the monastery I had to drive on a narrow road that had tricky ice sticking in it. The car swayed a few times and I drove carefully all the way to the monastery complex that had plenty of snow surrounding it.

There were a few visitors about, especially youngsters. I realized why they were there; I found a couple of lovers crawling through a hollowed-out tree trunk behind the St. Stephen's church after lighting a candle and praying at a khachkar beside it. It piqued my curiosity, and I asked one of them the significance of their action. The young girl, in flawless English, told me that one's heart's desire could be fulfilled by doing so. She told me that I could do so too. I told her that my corpulence would ensure that my heart and its desire would remain trapped inside the tree trunk!

I had time to kill before I sought out my accommodation in the city. A must visit in Dilijan, as per travel guides, is the Mimino statue.  So, I decided to explore the statue that is prominently placed in front of the Tourist Information Centre, in a busy roundabout. Fortunately, I got to park near it, beside the artificial lake near the Peace Square. Walking gingerly over the slushy ground I reached the Statue of Mimino.

The statue is a tribute to three iconic characters of the Russian comedy classic film of the same name, released in 1977. The main characters of the film are a Russian WWII veteran, an Armenian truck driver and a Georgian pilot, symbolizing the friendship amongst the three erstwhile Soviet Republics. The role of the Armenian truck driver was played by the revered Armenian actor, Frunzik Mkrtchyan, whose museum was pointed out to me by the city walk tour guide in Gyumri. The Armenian truck driver's nose is shiny, as it is thought to bring good luck to rub it. Even passersby lay their hands on it when they stop at the 'pulpulak' to drink from the public water fountain.

Towering over a small hillock near the Mimino statue is a monument that can be considered the most recognizable monument of Dilijan, a distinctive symbol of the city. It is visible from almost everywhere in Dilijan. The monument was built in 1970 to honor the 50th anniversary of Soviet Armenia. Each of the 5 parts symbolizes one decade. It is one of the main art objects of the city and fits seamlessly into the landscape. Artur Tarkhanyan, the architect of the monument, was considered one of the outstanding architects of Soviet Armenia. As I was walking down from the monument to the car I slipped and fell, again and again, as I tried to regain a foothold on the icy grass! I looked around to see if anyone had felt the 'tremor' of the fall. Fortunately, none had, and I got back to the car, acting as if nothing had happened.

By now, I was famished, and I looked around for some place to eat. One of the top places in Dilijan is the city park and the artificial lake. It is one of the main recreational areas, which is patronized by locals and tourists, especially during the non-winter months. I walked around the frozen lake a bit and delicious aromas filled the air. I followed my nose and landed up at Cafe#2. The restaurant is an initiative under TUMO, a wonderful experience to skill young teens and ease them into gainful employment. I feel that this could be introduced into India to provide vocational training to rural and urban youngsters.

Café #2 is not just a place with ambience looking over the artificial lake for stunning views, it is also a restaurant to have a delicious meal. The authentic city cafe also has business plans that one could buy into to conduct meetings, with coffee, cookies and Wi-Fi on the house. It seems that Café #2 is one of the trendier places in the city. The food is a bit pricey, but when you think that you are paying to hone the skills of teenagers in the age group of 14-18, it is a contribution to society. I took my time over the superb pumpkin soup, meat lasagna and a glass of compote. It filled me to the gills.

After the wholesome lunch, I spoke to the owner of the guesthouse where I had booked for the night. The man had sounded quite gruff over the phone, particularly insisting that I should only reach the accommodation after 2.30 pm. When I met him at the location he had messaged me about, I found him gregarious, with a ready smile and most helpful. The accommodation was a four-bedroom house with superior wooden finish. He showed me around to the house.

The house has a washing machine, which I needed to use. The dining room was well stocked with cutlery and crockery. Before taking leave, he told me that I should visit Lake Parz as I would find it salubrious and other worldly. When I asked him if snow would play spoil sport with it, he showed me photos which indicated that Lake Parz would be an oasis in the otherwise snowed down city. Even then I was a bit skeptical as the house owner had told me that Dilijan had 17 cm of snow about 10 days back!

Anyway, with nothing more to do for the rest of the evening, I decided to take the tour of Lake Parz, in the Dilijan National Park. It was about 18 km from the accommodation, as I made out from the Yandex Navi App. As I pared off from the main road to the Lake there was plenty of snow on the road. That got progressively heavier as the winding road wore on. Chances of skidding increased and giving way to vehicles from the opposite direction had to be carefully maneuvered.

After driving through quite a bit of snowed down roads I reached what must be a fabulous place once the weather thaws. The park beside the Lake has plenty of activities for children and enthusiastic adults. There is a zip line too across the lake. Lake Parz was completely frozen over and all the activities were shut. I meandered for a while and decided to return to the accommodation, skipping a stop at the deer park because of the snow.

I stopped by at a supermarket to buy some fruits and instant coffee mix. That done, it was time for the indoor. Washing clothes, having coffee and making plans for the morrow consumed the rest of the waking hours of the day.