Not a lot to do in Dzoraget but with a kitty like this what more do you need?
From Tbilisi we drove nearly three hours south across into Armenia. The plan was to break up the drive to Yerevan and there was supposed to be a nice hotel almost exactly in the middle between the two capitals. The hotel is right on a little river in the Debed Canyon so it seemed perfect for a couple nights, a little hiking, whatever.
Well, it didn’t quite work as well as we’d hoped. The hotel was nice enough and the setting in the canyon was beautiful. But there was nothing to do. Nothing. No hiking trails, no little town, no alternative restaurants. Nothing. If we’d had a car you could drive to some World Heritage-listed monasteries, but we didn’t so there was not a lot to do. Which made two days a bit long.
The Avan Dzoraget Hotel nestled along the Debed River. A beautiful setting but definitely on the dull side.
There were still some little gems to be experienced. Mark had a cat that loved sitting in his lap getting petted. One day it was sunny enough for me to find a rock in the little stream and read. The food at the hotel was excellent which was surprising. Both days we were there a bus with tourists would pull in around 4:00 PM and they’d have a dinner table set for 25 or so; otherwise we were the only guests. That’s not typically the environment for great food but the food there really was great.
Ultimately I enjoyed our two days. If I have some beautiful scenery and a place to read I can be happy. Mark? Bored out of his mind. That’s OK, from here it’s down to Yerevan and the city will keep him engaged.
A rock, the little Dzoraget River, a valley, and a book. What more do you need?
Looking up the Debed River no more than a quarter-mile from our hotel. Would have been a great place to explore but there were no trails at all.
A lovely view across the river and valley from our room
The food here was really, really good, everything super fresh. Here we have a grilled eggplant salad, an olive salad, and a nice glass of Armenian wine. So much better than that over-hyped Georgian wine!
Somehow I always seem to stumble onto cemeteries. As I noticed in Georgia most headstones have photos of the deceased somehow impressed on the stone. Eerie.