Gyumri and Dilijan
We arrived in Guymri after dark and with the help of a flashlight and a map managed to find our way to a B&B where we received a warm welcome, as usual. We had time for a delicious dinner in a Georgian restaurant and a short walk around the dark town before it was time for bed.
Guymri is a small town with charmingly irregular houses and gardens bordering muddy streets where chicken, dogs and cows wander peacefully around. There are no high buildings left after the 1989 devastating earthquake destroyed most of the old ones, and those that were left standing were deserted in fear of another disaster. Our host's sister had lived in a caravan for five years after the earthquake although her apartment was still intact.
The following day, after visiting a couple of churches and a scruffy cafe where most regulars seemed to be Russian soldiers (Guymri is near the Turkish border, and Armenians have outsourced most of their borderguarding duties to Russians) we took a taxi to Dilijan, a town called "the Switzerland of Armenia" where many great artists like Shostakovitch, Prokofjef and Khatchaturian went to seek for inspiration. The town was not unpleasant and setting on mountain slope definitely is nice, but most of the inspiration it seemed to us had already been used, or drunken, and thrown away to the river flowing through town.
Source: 97 Degrees Overland
A Piece of Switerzerland in Armenian Highlands
One of my favorite places in Armenia is Dilijan, which is located in Tavush marz. The nature there is really incredible. The way from Yerevan to Dilijan is also exciting; first you pass near Lake Sevan then beautiful view appears on your site, full of mountains covered by thick green forests. One of the most important resorts and national parks in Armenia are situated there. Dilijan is very frequently called a piece of Switerzerland sequestered within the Armenian highlands.
Dilijan for Armenians and for me has some unique implication in it as it was a home to many famous composers, artists and cinematographers. 
Nowadays Dilijan is famous for being a popular vacation destination for Armenians and also for many tourists. There are very beautiful places that worth seeing one of them Hagartsin. This is a beautiful drive to a church complex, composed of three standing churches; one completely ruined one and an old dining room that was for the Armenian kings. Behind one of the churches are the graves of Bagratuni dynasty family members.
The other picturesque place worth visiting is Parz Lich (Clear Lake). It is very muddy but the scenary around the lake, the forest is magnificant for hikes, camping or picnics. 
The other spectacular place is 11-12 century Jukhtak Vank (Church). You should ask locals how to get there. From Jukhtak church you can take about 15 min on foot hike to Matosavank. This is another ruined church complex around Dilijan...
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Stressed? Go to Dilijan
Last weekend I was dying to get out of Yerevan--it was my first opportunity since my health problems a few weeks ago. I decided to go to Dilijan which is located in the northern Tavush region and is basically surrounded by forests and thus has plenty of fresh, mountain autumn air.
It was my first time staying in that town overnight, and I was confused at first as to where to stay. I did some research on the Internet and found about eight various places, mostly guest houses. I chose one run by Hegine Alikhanyan, which it turns out was located on Ordzonibidze Street, high up a steep hill on the right of the valley. In order to get there you need to go through the center of town, which is on the lower portion of the hill, and pass the administration building. Once you do that you veer right off the main street up a narrow road that splinters off. The road is fairly bumpy and in some places there are huge pot holes along the way--unless you are traveling in a SUV like a Niva, which is what I drive, perhaps the best bet is to hire a taxi downtown that can make the upwards journey, either an old Volga or better yet a Lada Zhiguli 2106 which will fly up there in no time. I made several right turns along the way and some of the small streets were very steep, but after about 10 minutes or so while asking 5 people walking along the road I finally found the house, which seemed to have been the one situated the farthest up the hillside. She has four rooms to rent, all on the second floor, with a shared toilet and bathroom. The place was extremely clean, virtually spotless and very comfortable. The scenery from the room I stayed in was breathtaking. And for only 5000 dram or about $17 it was a bargain (breakfast was 1000 dram or just over $3), being the cheapest place I could find to stay when researching. She has three sons who are a bit nosy at first, one of them an aspiring young artist who dabbles in watercolor painting and makes wooden crosses, but they are...
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