A collection of pictures from May 28th, when over 150,000 Armenians joined hands around the biggest mountain in the country and danced.

First we went to the town of Ashtarak, where we were met by Tsovinar and her dad, who gave us a tour of the town sites. Then in the afternoon, we headed out to our spot in the ring around the mountain and danced.

Interestings scenes from here and there in Yerevan

On Sunday June 12th I went with a group to northern Armenia, to visit the Sanahin and Hagpat monasteries.

From a hike with Marcos, my Spanish-Swiss room-mate, and Stepan, our Armenian friend, on Sunday the 19th. Temples, monasteries, ruins, snakes, dung beetles, mafiozos, and a great big party at the end.

These pictures were taken on daytrips near Yerevan. They included a big BBQ/picnic, a visit to the ruins of a VII century cathedral, as well as to a museum built on the site of a famous Armenian victory over the Turks. Also, pictures of a hike near Yerevan.

A hike around a peninsula on beautiful lake Sevan. Hiking, swimming, lizards, one-legged chauffeurs, gorgeous meadows and landscapes, hiking in high-heels, another successful trip.

A pleasant little hike to the top of Mt. Tsma near the resort town of Tsarkhadzor. Also, some pics from an overnight stay on the Artanish peninsula on lake Sevan.

After being absent from the relatively easy hike to Mt. Tsma, Stepan joined me on a hike near Dilijan, and things were back to normal: we got lost three times, we met some interesting people on the way, we managed to walk probably over 20km on a 15km hike, we finished exhausted but very happy. Also, some pictures from a haunted mansion.

I finally got around to posting pictures from this great overnight hike. I went to the highest mountain in Armenia (just over 4000m) with Stepan, Sanne, and Shiao-Ma. I saw some of the most spectacular, rugged scenery ever.

Canyons, vultures, changing weather, and an interesting encounter with the boys in blue.

Some typical scenes of my Armenian life during a non-working, non-hiking day.

There was an AIESEC conference on September 24-26 in a resort area not too far from Yerevan. This was one last opportunity to swim in Sevan, as well as another chance to go hiking.

Before our Dutch friends Sanne and Marieke joined us in Karabagh, Babett and I spent a couple of days in southern Armenia. We hiked through the fantastic rock formations just north of Goris, and we also visited a couple of monasteries in a great location.

Early in October, Stepan, Manushak and I went for a short hike to the peak of nearby Mt. Hatis. We got great views of rolling green hills, fields, nearby villages and Mt. Ararat.

Sanne and Marieke joined Babett and I in Stepanakert, we walked around the city and went to a bar with some Armenian guys. m The next day we visited an out of the way monastery that was on the front lines of the recent war, and we also visited the town of Shushi.

We hiked near the Sarsang reservoir, drove through the bombed-out and deserted city of Aghdam, and visited a very interesting little village in southern Karabagh

On Wednesday we visited Karabagh's most famous monastery: Gandzasar. Once again, an encounter with the authorities provided an intersting story to tell.

Of satanism, christianity, pagans, saints, monasteries, sacrifices, and snakes.

On the first weekend of December, Babett and I took a little trip to Georgia. Due to short days and uncooperative train and bus schedules, we did not get to see much of charming Tblisi by day, but we did take a bunch of cool night shots of the city. Also, a day-trip to the Stalin museum in Gori, and to a nearby town.

Sanne and Marieke are going back to Holland (if the fog at the airport ever lifts) so we spent some nice last evenings together with them.

Another hike, this time with a bigger group.

This winter in Armenia is the snowiest in about 15 years, making for even grumpier taxi and minibus drivers, but also providing me with some great shots.

On March 8th, I went to Maria's grandmother's home for the official engagement ceremony. There were more people there than I expected, but luckily none of them knew much more than me about how the proceedings were supposed to go, and everybody liked my choice of Stepan as my godfather for the occasion

Some pictures from the last little bit in Armenia. Pictures from around the city, from a party, and from a last hike near Garni again.