We didn’t know what to expect when we reached the Armenian border. Crossing into Georgia had been very relaxed, with everything going smoothly and having no problem speaking English. Armenia was a little different. Although there was a rather big cue and everything went surprisingly fast, we didn’t understand how the system worked. If you drive at the Armenian border, you need to stop your car, get off, show your papers and everything and THEN drive through and get your car checked. We were served with salami and vodka, which has been present on several occasions. 
We were allowed into the country, with some new and unexpected taxes. Our road towards Yerevan began. It was our first stop and we were aware of the fact that the road would be long, but we didn’t expect the road to be so spectacular. The average height of the country is 1000 meters above sea level, but it has dozens of kilometers of proper roads way above 2000 meters. And although the aerial distance itself wasn’t very impressive, the actual roads were all winding, going up and down and managing more than 500 meters altitude difference. The more we drove, the more impressive the scenery became. It was completely new to us, seeing this general altitude. This was, without doubt, something that we have constantly been impressed with, regarding Armenia.
We reached Yerevan and took the time to find a decent hostel. We finally found one very nice place, called The Envoy Hostel. They were happy to welcome us after midnight, showing us our rooms and the unbelievably cool hangout room. We had a well deserved good night sleep and prepared for Christmas day. We had no plan for this particular day, so we went around the center and got presents for our family and the people back home. In the evening, we made friends with our host and were recommended an ex-pat bar close by.
While walking in the center, we talked with quite a few people in English, so our fears of not being able to communicate weren’t so great. It turns out that the bar, which was just off the hostel street, was owned by two ex-pats who have also traveled a great deal and were aiming at creating a place that would welcome foreigners. We made friends with Americans, New Zealanders, French and many more. They were all enjoying Christmas Eve, since Armenia has its Christmas on the 6th of January. We ended up back at the hostel, talking to Michael from New Zealand, who had been a traveler for 23 years straight. We would also meet him later on in our story, so we’re not giving you everything now …
We left Envoy early in the morning, heading for the south of Armenia. On the first night, Daniel and David, our hosts, helped us highlight the places we were going to visit in the lower half of the country but also in Nagorno Karabakh, which was the farthest point we planned on visiting. Along the way, we scheduled stops at Khor Virap and Noravank, two of the most prominent fortified churches along our route. Khor Virap was very crowded, since we happened to arrive on a wedding day and everyone gathered for the ceremony. We toured the grounds but decided not to enter the vestige itself, and followed our path down towards Noravank. Unlike the first monastery, Noravank was some good kilometers away from the main road, through a deep and beautiful canyon. It felt like we were indeed going far from the world and into this otherworldly religious retreat. Built in the 13th century, the religious site had two different churches, a small tomb and a series of unbelievably beautiful stone crosses, much like the Celtic ones, to our surprise.
We spent some time there and headed for the border, which was further on down. We reached it after dark and crossed without problems. It worried us, at least a little, as we began overtaking trucks that were carrying covered tanks. We were assured in Stepanakert that there is no danger and it’s all just an exercise. We crashed at a hotel, having traditional Karabakh cuisine and called it a night. The following days announced difficult roads in a country we knew very little about: Nagorno Karabakh Republic.
