Not deep enough for the Loch Ness monster!

Our second day trip in Armenia today - and yet more contrasts. This time we headed to Lake Sevan, a huge freshwater lake in the centre of the country, which takes up over 5% of its land mass.

It was simply stunning, with a monastery high on the penninsula, overlooking miles of clear blue water, with snowcapped mountains in the background. Blue skies, and the cloud changing from delicate whisps to billowing deep white above the mountain line.

There was much hilarity over lunch when our hosts were saying that their lake was so much bigger than the famous Loch Ness in Scotland. A quick check on t'internet proved this to be true. However, whilst theirs may be longer and wider, they fall short by some way on depth. We win on that one - and of course we explained it needed to be so deep to allow its monstrous inhabitant to remain free! Hey, if they can claim Noah's Ark is still sitting on the slopes of Mount Ararat...

We then headed to the forest area of Dilijan - which is described by locals as a little piece of Switzerland. Jaw-dropping - absolutely stunning ancient forest for miles, with more snowcapped mountains, and little chalets dotted around. The wildlife is also diverse in the area, both botanic and animals, with bears and "Armenian panthers" roaming around by all accounts- we didn't quite work out what they were, but I'm sure we'd have know one if we saw it! Sadly not...