Noravanq

A great thing about the tour excursions were the lunches.

Lunches both days were had with local families and Armenian food is wonderful! Each day we enjoyed a fantastic mixture of gorgeous stuffed vegetables, grilled meats and delicious dips and salads.

After lunch we headed up to Noravanq.

Noravanq is another church which survived the ravages of war through the careful use of a chisel. This time when the Mongols were heard to be heading towards Noravanq the face of Jesus was altered to have Mongol eyes. It was presented to the invading hordes as a temple to Genghis Khan and it was not razed.

Because ascending towards heaven should not be easy, the steps to the second tier of the church are narrow. Tremendously narrow. Climbing up was oddly nerve-wracking.

When I’ve done Bungee Jumps, Parachute Jumps and Base Jumps, I have not felt very nervous. But then it’s not the 5000ft of freefall that I worry about. It’s the last 20-potentially-ankle-breaking-feet that scare the be-jaysus out of me!

The room at the top of the stairs was beautiful and very peaceful. And the views back down the valley were stunning.