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Khor Virap, Norovank and finally home - Sunday 17 May

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The final day; and it’s going to be a long one. We’re heading south for the day, leaving at 8.30, and not expecting to be back before 6.30pm. There’s a last group dinner included, and then we must be ready to get to the airport at 1am. Our flight to Heathrow via Frankfurt isn’t due to land until 10.40 am BST, which could potentially mean c32 hours without sleep. I’m dreading it and continuing to curse Voyages Jules Verne for putting us on such crappy flights when there’s a 9.40 am departure via Istanbul available. No doubt they have preferential rates with Lufthansa that allows them to skim off more profit!   A crappy Lufthansa flight at 04.40am or a nice Turkish one at 09.40 - no contest! Anyway, before flying home, we’ve got a full day of action ahead, including the site I’m most looking forward to visit in Armenia. As always, that’s based on a photograph I want to get, and it could be highly disappointing if Mount Ararat is shrouded in clouds. After 10 minutes of driving thr...
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Saturday 16 May – Genocide and Churches

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Oh dear it’s absolutely pouring down outside. But, hey, I’m feeling much better after last night’s battle with “Man Flu”. It’s just a 40 minute drive to the city of Vagharshapat. A distinctly unspectacular place, apart from the city within the city, Echmiadzin. It’s known as the Vatican of Armenia, and rightly so. At the heart of this micro-city is the Armenian Holy Apostolic Church, one of the oldest churches on earth. Parts date back as far as the 4 th century. It’s a beautiful building, but officially no photos to be taken inside. Surrounding it are numerous buildings of the headquarters of the Armenian Orthodox church – places such as “The Pontifical Residence”, “The Catholicos Mausoleum”, “The Treasury”, “The Christian Education Centre” and “The Gevorkian Theological Seminary”. Yep, it really is like a mini-Vatican. We have the best part of an hour there, and miraculously it stopped raining for the duration.           A short drive away were the ruins ...
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