This morning we were leaving Lake Sevan and the stone desert landscape, that we had been driving through since our arrival in Armenia, behind. A quick trip through a tunnel got us into a green valley, often dubbed as Armenia’s Little Switzerland.

We made our way down into the valley and to the town of Dilijan, where a 4WD bus was waiting for us for the drive up to Parz Lake. The lake was the starting point for a hike of about two hours. We initially were following a muddy path through the forest, until we eventually got to a meadow with great views of the area (and some happy pigs); a bit further we also got a view of our destination – the Goshavank Monastery Complex (Գոշավանք).

After arrival we had a tour around this medieval monastery (dating back to the 13th century). The highlight here was certainly the needlecarved khachkar, a cross stone dating back to the 13th century and made with great dedication to detail.