Goris, Armenia

We stayed in Goris for 3 nights and visited the "stone pyramids", day-tripped to the Tatev Monastery and explored nearby Old Khndzoresk on a very foggy days.

Goris from the road into town

Main square in Goris

Church in town

Typical street in the centre of Goris

Many of the buildings in Goris are this style

Not far from the centre is this cemetery with strange rock formations on the surrounding hills

The hills are full of caves, some that were used as residences in the past, and some still being used for storage or animal shelters

The hotel we stayed in

View from our room

Our hotel room

Travel day to Goris, Armenia

Things we saw on our drive to Goris.

Carahunge is a prehistoric archaeological site consisting of standing stones, many with holes in them. It's sometimes referred to as the “Armenian Stonehenge”.

The 6th century Aghitu grave memorial

The 11th century Vorotnavank Monastery

Traffic jam on the way to Goris

Hotel Gladzor, Yeghegnadzor, Armenia

We stayed four nights at the dilapidated old Soviet-style Hotel Gladzor in Yeghegnadzor. Most of the hotel is shut down and deserted and the main entrance is permanently locked. A side door leads to a hall where a few guest rooms are still available. Sonya appeared to be the only staff ... she checked us in and fed us breakfast. Almost no English but that didn't stop her from chatting us up.

All of this for $29 per night!

Inside the deserted main lobby

The current "main entrance/lobby"

We explored some of the abandoned parts of the hotel. The main stairway had Art Deco details.

No lights in the corridors and peeling paint.

Our room

Our room came with hot water, apparently because we had booked through Booking.com. A couple from Quebec also staying there the one night were not so lucky!

Hike to Spitakavor Monastery and Proshaberd fortress ruins

In the afternoon we hiked to the Spitakavor Monastery and then climbed to the top of the Proshaberd fortress.

After visiting the monastery, we continued climbing to the ruins of the Proshaberd fortress

On the way back down