Hike to Barz Lake was not so “Barz” Afterall

This past weekend, I had the experience of a lifetime. I hiked through the beautiful mountains of Dilijan.

At around 8:45am, about 15 of us gathered at the Birthright office on Hanrapetutyan st., loaded into two minivans and were on our way. Our first stop was along Lake Sevan (which seems more and more glorious every time I see it); we ate breakfast which consisted of muffins and donuts, courtesy of YUM YUM Donuts, and took a group picture. The weather was a bit gloomy - well actually, it was raining - but nonetheless we continued on. While driving, I took in all of the landscape, at the same time trying to tune out the tour guide because her voice is equivalent to Japanese water torture. We drove through endless hills of green pastures, occasionally passing shepherds and their flocks of sheep and hills littered with the beautiful glimmer of obsidian which caught everyone's eye. Finally we got to the tunnel which I like to think of as a portal to paradise. The tunnel was about 3 kilometers in length and prior to entering I saw grassy hills as I explained above...post tunnel, the landscape was now mountainous and covered in the most magnificent blanket of trees. At this point I went from my slouched comfy "road trip" position to sitting upright, attentive and surveyed every inch of my surroundings. With every windy curve in the road the trees and beauty seemed to multiply. This was definitely a side of Armenia I had never expected to see.

Upon arrival to Barz Lake, the point at which our hike began, I felt like I had traveled to a different country; I went from smoggy semi-cosmopolitan Yerevan to the refreshing forests of Dilijan. So, anxious to get going on the hike, we finally started. The hike lasted about 2 hours and we literally roughed it; the "path" was a one-foot-in-front-of-the-other type of path, often times stumbling upon spots where we actually created a path. It was rigorous, and totally awesome. I could hear the mosquitoes and such buzzing in excitement over us idiots who didn't bring any repellent...and trust me I felt the remnants of their "excitement" shortly after the hike ended. Every so often, I would look down at my shirt, only to find some new friends I picked up along the way..you know, beetles and other ugly critter crawly things (I am such a girl, I know). Then we finally reached our first destination: Goshavank Monastery. At this point, the hiking, sweating, being eaten alive was all worth it. I walked in, and lit my usual 4 candles; one for mom & dad, Vahram, one for Omama and my Medzbaba. The illumination of these candles in these stone monasteries is something that I have continuously tried to describe, but have finally decided is something that each and every person needs to experience on their own. It is beautiful. After exploring the church site, we all packed into our minivans and headed to Haghartzin, another monastery. Needless to say, it was awesome. One of the birthright staff, Hratch told me it is a church that everyone wants to be married in--that didn't surprise me at all.

After Haghartzin, we went to a restaurant called Getap. There were small bungalows constructed over a river, which provided for a really pretty view for dinner. At this point, I sort of kept to myself and started to take in my surroudings. I immediately noticed one of our servers; He was modestly dressed, about 16 or 17 years old and had the most expressive eyes I have ever seen. Watching him caused a surge of thoughts to run through my head; I honestly do not know how to express the emotion that I felt. There is that saying, "eyes are the windows to the soul" which definitely rang true for this young man. Everyone carried on, eating their food and engaging in blaring conversation, while I sat humbled by this boy who had probably worked ever since he could remember, and didn't show one bit of annoyance or unhappiness. I had to fight hard to hold back the tears and I really don't know why this had ignited so much emotion in me, however, though we never interacted, that boy will remain imbedded in my memory forever.

I really did not know what I was getting myself into, deciding on coming to Armenia for 2 months, but I must say it has proved to be one of the best decisions I have ever made.

Mom, Dad: you are officially retiring here. End of story!