We stopped to visit Haghbat, a World Heritage site, built in the 10-13th centuries. Haghbat is a complex of cathedrals and basilicas on a plateau. … View image…

This was one of the prettier sites. Honestly, I was getting a little “churched” and “monasteried” out but each time I thought…”I’ve had it”…the next place we visited would be more picturesque or interesting.

Between visiting churches and monasteries, a village we walked through was celebrating a wedding. The bride and groom (as well as guests) were very excited to see us and invited the group to stay and celebrate with them.

a local wedding in Armenia

The dancing and singing had started, and most of the men had already been drinking huge amounts of “wodka”. …View image… Looked like fun, but we had to move on to Haghartsin.

Haghartsin Monastery was located in a temperate rainforest on a mountainside. An extremely tranquil and beautiful area. …View image… It was enjoyable wandering through the three main ruined buildings, up and down paths through the dense oak forests and was probably one of my favorite Monasteries – small and intimate.

Haghartsin Monastery, Armenia