destination

Dilijan

Today was one of the strangest days of my life... Let me tell you about my adventures in country number 69. I shared an early morning taxi from Tbilisi, Georgia to Armenia with 3 old Russian ladies. I didn't want to go to Yerevan (the capital of Armenia) because it's too far away and I don't have much time. So instead, I decided to visit a tiny town called Dilijan that's hidden in the mountains. After 4 hours, the taxi dropped me off in an impoverished land where nobody spoke a lick of English. I didn't know a single word in Armenian, I didn't have any Armenian currency on me and I didn't do any research for hotels or things to do. This place felt about as foreign as any place has ever felt to me before. After walking around for 30 minutes, I found a sign that says "hotel" so I walked inside. Of course, the lady inside didn't speak English, so we communicated using the 20 Russian words that I know. She was asking for too much money for the room, so I told her that I couldn't afford it. Then, she put me in a car with an old man and said "go." The man took me to a beautiful room in his house for $7USD per night. Boom. There really isn't anything to do here in Dilijan, but that's okay because it's refreshing to be alone in the middle of nowhere for a day. The pristine countryside and green forests surrounding this town are breathtaking. And the people are actually pretty nice. I did find some delicious Khinkali (dumplings with soup and beef inside), and devoured them for the 4th time in 4 days. I also discovered a Monestary from the 12th century, which you can see behind me in this photo.