A HIKE TRIP TO MOUNT ARAGATS: COMMEMORATING 68TH INDEPENDENCE DAY OF INDIA

To commemorate 68^th Independence Day of India, Indo-Armenian Friendship NGO (IAF) in collaboration with Embassy of India to Armenia organized a Hiking Trip to scale Mt. Aragats, which is the highest Mountain peak of Armenia.

Aragats, the highest mountain in contemporary Armenia, is a single extinct volcano with a crater, that has become an Ice Basin (About 400 m deep). This extinct volcano has formed 4 peaks; the northern peak is 4090m above sea level; the western, eastern and southern peaks are 4080m, 3916m, 3879m high respectively.

Mt. Aragats is also famous for its beautiful mountain lake KARI. It’s located 3250m above sea level having perimeter of 1150m.

While reaching the base-camp of Lake Kari, one can see the Tent-Homes of  Armenian Yezidis at different places in mountain range. According to one opinion, Yezidis are believed to be descendents of Indian Hindus.

It took almost 8 hours to complete the hiking trip from base camp to mount summit and back.

The whole team felt proud when they captured the victory moment of the group with respective national flags of both countries. 

Indeed it was a different celebration of India’s Independence Day!

PICNIC IN TSAGHKADZOR

The Travellers Club of IAF organized a whole day picnic with IAF members and Embassy of India staffs on 9th August 2014 in the resort town Tsakhkadzor!

Tsaghkadzor literally means valley of flowers in Armenian. The name of Tsaghkadzor is associated with the name of the nearby Tsaghkunyats Mountains, located to the west of the town. Tsaghkadzor is located 50 kilometers north of the capital Yerevan and 3 kilometers east of the provincial centre Hrazdan. Surrounded with alpine meadows, the town is situated on the southeastern slope of the Teghenis Mountains, at a height of 1841 meters above sea level.

The participants first took a local sight-seeing and the first was to visit Kecharis Monastery. It is one of the most important religious complexes of Eastern Armenia and one of the well-preserved medieval architectural samples of the Armenian Highland. It was founded at the beginning of the 11th century, consisted of 4 separate adjacent churches. The main church of the complex is the Saint Gregory Church built in 1033. The church of Surp Nshan built in 1051, is located to the south of Saint Gregory Church. The Katoghike Church built at the beginning of the 13th century, stands to the south of Surp Nshan Church. The fourth church of the complex is the Church of Surp Harutyun of 1220.

 The most sought-after tourist attention in Tsakhkadzor is Ropeway. The Tsaghkadzor ski resort is located just above the town, on a height of 1750 meters above sea level. During the recent years the ski resort was fully modernized. Those participants, who wanted to take a ride of famous rope-way, enjoyed it fully.

Few participants stayed at the picnic camp for preparing Khorovats (Barbeque).

The purpose of the picnic was to encourage the communication between India and local Armenian populace. The group had a great food and fun together in the cool and fresh environment of this resort town. People interacted with each other for a better mutual understanding of respective nations, their people and cultures.