Dubai - April, 2014

Ok, I'm cheating here a little bit, because we actually went to Dubai for business not for pleasure. My company invited both Alex and I to attend an offsite in Dubai this April, so we did a very short trip for 4-5 days only.

We arrived in Dubai on a Saturday morning, and checked in to the Sofitel in the Palm (thank you my dear company!) Before the offsite started, we had 1.5 days to go around the city.

Even though it was still in April, the weather was already really hot, and instead of walking, we opted to take the cab everywhere we went.

Our first stop was to the largest mall in the world. Well, initially I was not that interested in going to the mall, but it turned out to be a really pleasant experience (partially because it was too hot outside we didn't any options to go outside). The mall was like a mini city in itself. It has a full scale dinosaur skeleton, an aquarium, an ice rink, and a crazy indoor amazement park! Very close to the mall, you can also find Burj Khalifa, currently the tallest building in the world.

After the heat died out a little bit, we adventured outside of the mall to go to the old Dubai. We took a boat and spent 1.5 hours floating on the river and look at the city from the water. On the river, everything seems to move much slower, and all of a sudden, there is a nostalgia feeling about Dubai. We watched people walking in and out of the mosques or the bazaars near the river bank, and it seemed time hadn't passed for hundreds of years. With the call to prayer, Alex slowly fell into the sleep.

We made an initial attempt to go on top of Burj Khalifa in our first visit to the mall but all the regular tickets were sold out. We returned a few days later with my colleagues and paid $100 each for the express ticket and finally made on top of the building (if you are thinking about going, book in advance!). To be honest I was slightly disappointed by the view. First of all, even though the building itself is over 800 meters tall, we were only allowed to go to the observatory desk at 450 meters. Secondly, Dubai is quite dusty, so looking from the top, you cannot see that far very clearly. I tried very hard to look for the Palm, but was not successful. Well, I guess now we can proudly announce that we have been to the tallest building in the world (on wait, in 2 years a new building from Shanghai will claim the title!)

Alex left shortly after the weekend, and I stayed for a few more days. And thanks to my company, I visited a few more interesting spots. We had dinner in a desert resort which is pretty awesome. We saw lots of wild animals (I was really surprised that they could survive in the desert). And the final day of the trip we had dinner near the Dubai mall, overseeing the world's largest music fountain. Apparently they spent $200M+ building the fountain and it can shoot up to 150 meters.

All in all, we had a unforgettable experience in Dubai. I don't think we will return in the short term, but who knows. :)

Armenia (Sevan, Noravank, Tatev) - May, 2014

In the last segment of our day trip, we left Debed Canyon and drove along Lake Sevan to visit south part of Armenia.

The view around Lake Sevan is very pretty. The combination of the lake and mountains in the background with snow caps reminded us a lot of Switzerland. There are not many cars on the road. Once in a while, we would pass flocks of sheep. And occasionally some young local guys selling freshly collected mushrooms alongside of the road.

We arrived in a cute little monastery called Sevanavank. It is built on a little hill in the Sevan peninsula. The monastery is again very simple, but its setting against the lake made it very special.

We continued our trip and towards Noravank in the afternoon. As we approach Noravank, the road became narrower, and we started to see massive mountains rising on both sides of the road. Different from the Debed Canyon, these mountains don't have flat plateaus on top. The narrow path and the cliffs reminded me the way to get into Petra, only in this setting there are a lot more trees.

Noravank is an impressive looking monastery built on one side of the huge mountain. The monastery is well preserved (or recently renovated). In the main building, there are very narrow stone steps that allow you to climb inside of the church. The steps are big and difficult to climb, and you really have to use both your arms and legs. Stepping back a little bit, you can see the entire monastery against the colourful mountain on the other side of the road. The mountain has a very pretty pink and rose colour, and the entire view is especially beautiful during the sunset.

We stayed in Noravank for as long as we could to enjoy the view until the sun started to set. We then returned and stayed in Yeghegnadzor which is a town nearby. There is nothing notable about the town itself. We had some problems finding food after dark. The hotel we stayed in stopped serving food in the afternoon, and there are no restaurants in the town. We had to drive back to the highway in the pouring rain to find a fast food chain that serves grilled meat. That was quite an interesting experience.

On our final day of the road trip we went to Tatev. Tatev is in the far south of Armenia, close to Iran. The road got worse and worse as we drove nearby, with fewer and fewer cars. Tatev is build in the Vorotan Canyon. There is a cable that takes people down into the Canyon close to the monastery, but we didn't realize it at the time, and drove down into the canyon with our car. The road to get there was not easy. There was no paved road in the last 20 mins of the drive.

Slightly different from other monasteries, Tatev is built like a fortress with a long outside wall. Once inside of the monastery, you can also see the dormitory where the monks used to sleep. The dormitory had 3 built walls, and the 4th side faced the cliff without any protection. The setting makes me think of the prison cell where Tyrion Lannister was trapped in Catelyn's castle (you know what I mean if you watch Game of Thrones).

We had lunch in a nearby restaurant and admired Tatev in its impressive setting in the canyon. After a satisfying lunch (we had home made beef stew), we headed back to Yerevan.

On the way home, we got quite close to Turkey and saw the Mount Ararat from far away. The flat landscape allowed us to take a good at the famous mountain, and we stopped several times on the high way to take pictures of it.

That was the end of our Armenia road trip. Lovely country, lovely people!

Armenia (Sanahin, Haghpat) - May, 2014

After a short stay in Yerevan, we rented a car and began our road trip to explore the country. Driving in Armenia is quite safe mainly because there is not so much traffic outside of the capital. In most places the roads are in good condition, but English road signs became rare to find in remote areas. We relied mostly on our GPS to get around.

Our first destination is in the north in an area called the Debed Canyon. We stopped by a local eatery and tried their sour milk (Alex loved it) and freshly made bread for lunch. We then drove through large areas of forests, passed by a Soviet era mine, and experienced sudden change in weather (including a brief ice storm). 

Within Debed Canyon, there are two UNESCO sites, the Haghpat monastery and Sanahin monastery. They are fairly close to each other, and you can actually hike from one monastery to another. As we approach the two monasteries from our road which is at the bottom of the canyon, huge cliffs rise from both sides of the road with flat plateaus on top of them. Our car climbed a pretty steep road and finally arrived at the Sanahin monastery. 

Sanahin is a very pretty little church. It is very quiet, and we are the only visitors of that day. The style of the architecture is very simple so is the decoration. I especially liked the inside of the monastery with its very high ceiling and many arches. If you look up, there is a small opening at the end of the ceiling to give lights into the room. 

After Sanahin, we drove a bit more and visited Haghpat, its sister monastery. Haghapat is constructed with a very similar style, but it looks slightly more preserved. As the monastery is built on a high ground, we stayed around to enjoy the view of the villages nearby. There is a stray dog who eagerly played with all the visitors. 

We found a simple hotel near Haghpat and stayed for the night. From the hotel, we can see Sanahin from far away on the other side of the cliff. The hotel manager made us a full feast for dinner and we rested well. 

Armenia (Yerevan, Echmiadzin, Geghard and Garni) - May, 2014

It's been a long time since my last blog. Now Alex has got a PS4, I decided to take the opportunity to update our blog while he is busy killing zombies.

We did a number of great trips over the past a few years. I hope to get them organized and published slowly. My first update will be on our recent trip to Armenia.

Armenia is not your typical tourist destination. We got invited there earlier this year for a wedding, and we took the opportunity and did a one week road trip travelling across the country.

We began and ended our trip in Yerevan. Yerevan is a quiet and chill capital city. There are not many tourists around, and people are all very friendly. We stayed near the Republic Square. It is surrounded by a mixture of European style and Soviet style buildings. The city is not very big, and you can easily walk around on feet. While in Yerevan, we visited the Opera House and the Cascade. Alex went to the Cognac factory and brought back some souvenir for his family.

We took a day trip to visit Echmiadzin. Echmiadzin was described by lonely planet as the "Vatican" of Armenia. Judging from its look, Echmiadzin is far less impressive compared to any major church we have visited, but it does have an incredible history. The original church was built between 301-303 when Christianity was first adopted by the Armenian nation. The inside of the church is very simple. The walls are barely covered with any decoration, and the church is so small that there are no chairs to sit down. It maintains a minimalistic style which is very common throughout Armenia. Coincidentally We also found out a few days later that our friends came to this Church to host their wedding ceremony.

We also joined our friends for another day trip to visit Geghard monastery and Garni temple. Geghard monastery was one of the most ancient cave churches. It was founded in the 4th century and was carved out from rocks. Inside of one of the caves, there is also a natural spring that runs from underground. The church reminded me a lot of Petra. I'm always fascinated by the effort men willing to spend to reshape the nature.

After Geghard, we had lunch in a nearby restaurant, and all of sudden it started raining. The tour bus continued to pass by the Garni Temple but because of the rain we didn't stop by to visit it. Now I think about it, it is really a pity. I have heard great things about Garni.