Tatev

Armenia

October 22, 2012

Dear Friends and Fellow Pilgrims,

 “Arduous” is the way to describe the pilgrimage to the Tatev Monastery.  

The monastery sits on a bluff high above the Vorotan River gorge – the other side of the gorge!   I drove down one side of the gorge on a paved road.  But the circuitous switchback ascent was on a rocky unpaved road from bottom to top.  I was so nervous I had no chance to enjoy the scenery.  Fortunately, in the village of Tatev I found a lovely guest house with a comfortable room. 

Yerevan

Armenia

October 22, 2012

John Yavroyan

New York, New York

USA

My Dear Friend John, 

Cc: Friends and Family 

As I come to the end of my journey in Armenia, I am once again thinking of you and your Armenian ancestors.  Just 30k south of Yerevan, I am standing at the Khor Virap Monastery – a site revered by Armenians both here and in the “Diaspora.”