Hello everyone. During our trip to Armenia, we arrived at a village called Ohanavan. We came here by bus from Yerevan, which took about 40 minutes and the fare was 300 dram per person. The reason we came here was that we had heard there is beautiful nature and mountains and also a restaurant and hotel complex called Mika Tun. We decided to stay at this hotel so we could fully explore the area. There are places to visit here, beautiful valleys and many interesting things.
Friends, there is a real village atmosphere here. After walking a bit we saw the sign for the Mika Tun restaurant and hotel and we had to turn right. I must say that the atmosphere is very peaceful and the air is very clean. We passed a few small mountain streams on the road, they were really very small. Mountains began to appear on the horizon and the nature was beautiful. I started to really like this place. We had never been to an Armenian village before, but the first impression is really nice. The surroundings are clean, the houses are well-maintained, there is greenery everywhere and the air is fresh. I would really love to live in this village for a long time, but we plan to visit other places, so we went to a few more different spots. Two days here was enough. If you plan to come here, it’s much easier to come by car.
The bus doesn’t stop exactly where we want to go, but most people come here from Yerevan, especially to eat at the restaurant, because it is said to offer delicious Armenian, Georgian and European cuisine. Yes, it is also said to resemble a little Italy. Honestly we’ve gotten used to traveling without a car and it has a unique vibe. There are also shops here, which are very nice. It’s possible to go outside to get a few drinks or snacks. But the hotel also has a fully equipped restaurant. Maybe you won’t even need to go to the shop.
By the way I really wanted to try Armenian cuisine. There were a lot of dishes we hadn’t tried yet and I especially wanted to taste them at the restaurant here. There is also a shop here called Bila. This is the same chain near our house in Yerevan. The one there is a bit bigger, but this one is quite a popular local chain and the prices are very reasonable.
On my last post I mentioned that I didn’t like the hash we ate. Unfortunately, the waiter didn’t explain anything to us and we ate it as I described in the last post. Now I was thinking of ordering hash again, the right way, by adding garlic, lavash and salt. Finally, we arrived at our destination, the restaurant. We walked for about 15-20 minutes. I liked how beautifully the wall at the entrance was decorated and we walked through a garden towards the hotel. I wasn’t familiar with the hotel and restaurant section yet, but the place was impressive. There’s a beautiful park and garden, the perfect environment to relax. Everything was tidy and well-maintained.
We arrived at the reception and they quickly settled us in. Our room was on the second floor. When we entered, we were greeted by a giant lamp, which was quite dazzling. Our room was at the end of the corridor and there were golden-colored lamps everywhere. We entered our room and the price for the room was 60 euros for one night. Everything in the room was arranged in a very stylish way, we had never stayed in a room like this, it felt like we were in a palace. The lamps were beautiful and when I saw them in the photos, they immediately caught my attention. I think this place is an old building that was renovated and turned into a hotel because everything is new, but it is made in an old style.
This room has a huge balcony, with greenery everywhere. From every corner of the balcony, you can see the mountains and valleys. I think the balcony is shared with the adjacent rooms. That means other people stay here too and they can also step out and enjoy the nature view from this large balcony. Right in front of us, there was a pine tree, creating a New Year’s vibe. It’s such a beautiful place, everything is so green. After settling in, we planned to head to the famous restaurant in the valley. The Mika Tun restaurant is known for its view and some people come here just to eat with the scenery. From the restaurant’s balcony, you can watch the valley. Inside, the restaurant has a very nice atmosphere, with a fireplace and a balcony, which is impressive. From here, you can enjoy the perfect view of the valley and in the distance, you can see a monastery, the main tourist attraction of this village.
The menu is large and we were a bit overwhelmed, unable to decide what to order, but most of the dishes here are Armenian, which is exactly what we were looking for. There’s a lovely Armenian dish that is served in lavash and I wanted to try that. We placed our order and while our food was being prepared, we decided to explore the surroundings.
The elevator here goes to a chapel dating back to the 10th century. This chapel has been affected by earthquakes multiple times and the family who built this complex discovered it in 2016, restored it and built an elevator to access it. You can only reach this chapel by passing through this complex. So, the elevator was built for those who want to see more than just the restaurant.
This elevator is very interesting, an old-fashioned one. Honestly, I was a little scared. We had never taken a ride in such an elevator. It’s amazing that the family found this chapel, restored it and built the elevator so people could come and see its history. There’s some variety beyond just the restaurant. Some people stay at the hotel and others come to enjoy the nature and the village atmosphere. The elevator’s stairs are also carefully made, allowing visitors to comfortably descend and see all the beauty.
In this valley there’s also a Kosas River, and this valley is known as the Kosas Valley. Inside the valley, there are some small caves where priests used to hide and stash their valuables. From this location, you get a beautiful view of the valley. We walked a bit further and I think this was the best spot to see everything. The caves are more visible from here. We walked a bit to the left and found a bench, where you could sit and enjoy the view of the valley.
We decided to visit the chapel, so without waiting any longer, we headed into nature. In the end, an amazing view awaited us. We felt like we were right in the middle of the canyon, with a monastery and the river in sight and all the beauty and nature of this place was here, right at the spot where the chapel stood. Behind the bench, there’s a steep path leading down towards the canyon. Inside, there are icons and it feels like a place of worship, very well restored and maintained. It’s fascinating to see the real traces of the past. But I think the smell of our food had reached us, so we decided to head back.
We returned and our table was fully prepared. We tried beef kebab for the first time, as we usually always have pork. We also had Caesar salad, bread slices and hurjin: a large dish of lamb and vegetables served in lavash. Of course, stuffed grape leaves, a must-try and as usual, we wanted to taste the cheese platter. We also ordered homemade pomegranate wine.
I was really curious about Talmod Dolma, which is called Tolma everywhere here. I’m not sure about the difference, but when I think of dolma, it usually has meat and rice in it, though here it’s often served with mazon. When it has rice, it tastes much better; the previous one only had meat. The lamb with mazon and tomato sauce was amazing, much better than the previous restaurant’s. The pomegranate wine was also very nice. We had never tried it before and I think it was the tastiest option.
I can say that the total cost of these meals was 53 euros. The wine was around 15 euros. There are also tables in the hotel area where you can sit between apple and cherry trees. Sitting around the trees is really peaceful. At one point, we saw Mount Ararat, which was a little cloudy at first, but then it cleared up and looked amazing.
Then, we decided to take a walk since we needed some cardio after the meal. According to Google Maps, the monastery was about 850 meters away.
After walking a bit, we reached our destination. There’s a large park area in the middle of the village, right next to the monastery. There’s also a small shop or souvenir store here. Right next to it, there’s a pergola where you can sit on benches and drink water and there’s a fountain behind me. Here stands the Hovhannavank Monastery, which is considered one of the largest monasteries in Armenia.
I think I had already burned half of the food I ate on the way here, which really helped my diet. There’s a fountain where you can drink water, since we had wine but almost no water. We slowly walked towards the monastery, which we could already see in the distance. There were many cars and lots of tourists visit here. We saw tourists on the way, probably walking from the monastery to the hotel where we were staying.
Right near the monastery there’s a small shop and the monastery itself looks beautiful. On the other side, there were cows and they looked like the ones I had seen in India. At the entrance to the monastery, there’s another fountain, a lovely detail for drinking water. There were fountains at every corner and the water tasted great, with no strange taste, which was very pleasant.
The doors were open and there was no need to buy a ticket, so we went inside. It was beautiful, with icons and candles could be lit.
After leaving the monastery, we decided to get closer to the canyon. There are many benches here and the surroundings are very beautiful. People come here to take photos. We had already seen the canyon from the restaurant, but viewing it from here was a different experience. Also, if you move a little to the right, you can see Mount Ararat. It was clearer from the restaurant, but it was also visible from here.
Right after the monastery, there are some souvenir shops. They sell bottled oil, wine, apricots, different jams and churchkhela. They also have dried figs. There are really many varieties of local products. We drank some water and then headed back.
The next morning we woke up and went to the restaurant for breakfast. As usual, we had tea and coffee. I specifically chose mountain tea and there was a chicken and plum salad on the side. We also ordered Napoleon cake, which reminded me of old flavors. There was also tomato eggs. Actually, the meat tasted even better to me. Especially with the kebab, it felt more diet-friendly. I think it made a perfect meal when combined with the omelet and salad.
The breakfast with mountain tea was wonderful. We had seen something similar at the market and I really liked it, even more than green tea. The total cost for all these meals was 25 euros. Do you think that’s expensive or cheap? I think it’s a very reasonable price for such a filling breakfast.
Then we started packing our bags, ready to head back to Yerevan. On the way back, it was really hot and the bus was crowded and stuffy, but we finally made it. We then arrived at the market behind the train station. There were vegetables, fruits, cheeses and dairy products here. They said the prices were a bit more reasonable. It could have been a little cheaper than the market we visited the other day. But this market didn’t have price tags, so it was hard to know the prices.
There were pears, peaches, citrus fruits and also dry fruits and churchkhela, which were really nice. But it’s hard to figure out the prices here. For example, peaches were 300 dram per kilogram, which is about 75 cents. The prices were quite good.
We walked around a bit more, checking out the other part of the market. It was a little crowded, but we finally finished shopping and decided to head home. To comment on the market, the prices didn’t seem too different, so we decided to shop at the market closer to home.
We then went home and prepared something like the hotel salad. I really liked it. And this post ends here, my friends. See you on new adventures.