Armenia vs. Hungary

There was a contingent of Hungarian soccer hooligans staying at our hostel for a few days. They invited us to the Armenia vs. Hungary soccer game that was on Friday. We went but we did not sit with them. They were shirtless and wasted. As you can see from the picture, the stadium was empty. Thankfully for us, the game was free. There were probably 6 Hungarian guys who went to the game but I think they were cheering louder than the 200 Armenian fans. A line of police seperated the two groups of spectators for safety reason, I guess. Hungary won 2-0.

The Distillery

One day, we went to the Ararat Cognac Distillery. It was a fun trip, mostly because it was so cheap and we got to sample some "Cognac". I say Cognac in quotes because it is not considered Cognac by the rest of the world. Cognac must be made in the Cognac region of France. If you buy this product in the US it will be labeled brandy. Other than that, it was tasty. I would recommend the tour to anyone. It only cost 3500 dram for each of us to visit the distillery and have a generous tasting.

The Sausages

For the Fourth of July, we made home-made sausages with real pig intestines as the casing. It was a very interesting experience, to say the least (not to mention a little stomach-churning). But that night, we went out to another part of the river we had gone to the previous day and grilled the brats/sausages - they were well worth putting up with pig intestines and delicious.

The Silk Road Tubing

We found tire tubes and took them down to a river by the old silk road bridge about 5 km from Meag's village. The bridge actually was part of the silk road. We all tried our hand at going down the river on the tubes, but it was so shallow, rocky and had a fast current, so Derrick and I each only tried it once (we still have the bruises to prove it). In the tubing picture, I am the third one, right after I flipped head-over-feet out of the tube.

The Roadtrip to Jermuk

A group of Meag's friends ventured with us to the Armenian "resort" town of Jermuk. Jermuk has natural springs, which the Armenians bottle into water, but it has too much arsenic to pass US standards so can only be sold there. We took a relaxing tour of the lake on an electric-powered floating cafe. We also took a trek to a waterfall that Jermuk is famous for.

The Locals Part II

After the church, we went to one Armenian guy's home, where we all helped cook a meal of "horovats", which is Armenian BBQ that's cooked over a twig and brush fire, served with lavash (a flat, tortilla-like bread), cucumbers, tomatoes and more vodka. On the way, we drove by a herd of cattle walking on the road.

The Locals

While at a cafe, a group of local Armenian guys invited us to their table for the local sips - of lots of vodka. As a former Soviet republic, these men even drank a glass (an actual glass) of vodka with breakfast. After we had our fill, we went with them on a crazy ride to a church on the top of a mountain. The windy roads and crammed car attested to my cognac-soaked dress as the Armenian guy's car tossed us about this mountaintop road. We then made it to the small church, where we lit candles and had a trifecta of candles, chocolates and cognac. Derrick, in his dancing mood, danced his way into a mildly sprained ankle (but is now fine).