DILLIJAN

I couldn’t come all the way to this part of the world without stopping to visit friends in Armenia. My first destination was to visit Tenny and Tom, owners of the Dillijan Hikers Hostel. It was Tom who inspired me to join the TCT Armenia hike last year. Tom who is originally from England, is the founder of TCT Armenia, on sabbatical as Executive Director, and an excellent blog writer. He produced a movie called Janapur about his bicycle journey where he ended up falling in love with Tenny and settling in Armenia. I met Tom’s brother, Ben who was visiting from Turkey. We all had a lively and excellent meal with a highlight of Sea Buckthorn vodka! Thankfully, I didn’t have a hangover and the next day visited the local museum where they had an exhibit of very creative uses for chairs!

YEREVAN

I came to Yerevan to visit Surpik. I met her last year while staying at Kantar Hostel in Yerevan. Surpik grew up in Argentina, her family is from Armenia, and she came over as part of the Diaspora Initiative. She is a treasure to be around and we immediately fall into conversation as though a whole year hadn’t passed. The day after I arrived in Yerevan, it was Vardavar a water festival that is celebrated the 14th Sunday after Easter. It a huge water battle that takes place primarily between Republic Square and Swan Lake. The city even has water trucks at the square to help drench passersby. Kids stand at intersections with powerful water guns and buckets and drench drivers that forgot to close their car windows. Kantar Hostel were I stayed is by Swan Lake and usually my path to Republic Square to go exploring. On my first outing, I got drenched! I regrouped and decided to sit on a bench by the hostel and read a book. Later that evening, it calmed down somewhat and I made it to a delicious vegan restaurant, Future Diner. Some guests arrived wet.

The next day, all was calm in the city again. The Kantar Hostel is reflected in the modern glass building.