10 Tips For An Epic Road Trip
Travel Tip #9 - Photo Essay
Last week, my friend Larisa and I went on an epic 5-day road trip. I say “epic” because it was so much fun! Here are the key ingredients to planning your own epic adventure.
Excellent Travel Buddy
I met Larisa through the Host A Sister Facebook group just a week before we decided to go on a road trip. After only a lunch and a few tourist outings, we became fast friends and decided to hit the road.
We’re a good pairing, in agreement on important things like budget, how far and fast to travel, and points of shared interest. In fact, we’re already planning our second road trip to Siwa, in Egypt’s western desert, later this year.
Flexible Itinerary
Before the road trip, we did a side trip to see the famous Temple of Garni and the Khor Virap Monastery in Geghard. This mini-excursion saved us a day of driving before we began our journey.
On the main trip, we hit the fan favorites like Noravank Monastery, Jermuk, and Dilijan, but we also decided to visit some sites off the beaten path, such as:
Karki, one of the Azerbaijani enclaves within Armenia
Orbelian Caravanserai, a stop-off on the ancient Silk Road
Lake Sevan’s east side, which put us within 500 meters of the Azerbaijani border
We were pretty in sync regarding where to go, but still checked in every day to tweak the map depending on our mood, energy levels, and evolving interest (not one more monastery!)
Rockin’ Playlist
I elected to be in charge of the tunes because, honestly, Larisa rented the car, was driving, and speaks Russian (70% of Armenians speak Russian), so I really wasn’t bringing much to the table.
I selected set playlists from Spotify, mainly classic rock that we could loudly sing. That said, it was Larisa’s recommendation that became our road anthem: “U.S.A.” by the Bosnian punk rock band Dubioza Kolektiv.
I just listened to the song again, and it had me smiling and bopping in my seat. What to you think?
Good Grinds
We stumbled upon this lunch spread at a family-owned winery. They gave us a tour of their cellar and a tasting, invited us to explore their garden, and treated us to a local lunch full of homemade and home-grown delicacies, like dolmas (stuffed grape leaves).
It was such a pretty setting and a perfect opportunity to rest and recharge before heading out again.
Open-Minded Exploration
One of the main reasons for our journey was the opportunity to visit Carahunge (translated as Speaking Stones), otherwise known as “Armenian Stonehenge.” Literally in the middle of nowhere, these massive rock structures didn’t disappoint.
The site is a series of 223 stone circles and standing stones dating from 6,000 BCE. The stones are thought to be grave markers for warriors, as well as the site of an ancient astronomical observatory.
Unexpected Encounters
One of the delights of a road trip is being able to pull over at any time. At one spot, high in the mountains, we stopped off to refill our water bottles from the fresh springs that exist throughout the country. (Armenia is known for its mineral water).
At the water stop, we met an Iranian man traveling around in his truck. We pantomimed some pleasantries and were delighted when he gave us two bottles of Persian soda pop. So cool!
Small Towns Detours
We were tooling around the far south of Armenia when we stopped to find a cup of coffee and something to snack on. Actually, I’m not sure what town we were in, but it didn’t really matter.
As we stretched our legs and wandered around, we asked some locals where to find a bite to eat. They waved their arms in various directions (not so helpful), and we walked around in a few circles.
One of these circles pointed us to a bakery that was making fresh lavash. I had never seen lavash made before and was interested to check out the process. We had just learned a day before that lavash is dried and stored, and then rehydrated before being served.
We ate our lavash with honey we had bought from some beekeepers on the side of the road.
In addition to the fresh lavash, we nabbed some potato-filled fried dough at the bakery and located a spot for some thick, dark Armenian coffee made with cezve, a special pot to brew coffee. Delicious!
Cultural Discoveries
Nearly everyone travels the road west of Lake Sevan, but we wanted to see the less-traveled eastern side, partly so we could stop off at the Orbelian Caravanserai.
Caravanserais are strategically placed oases on the ancient Silk Road that provided a place to rest for travelers. They also served as trading posts and were known as cultural hotspots, where languages, religions, and ethnicities mingled.
Built in 1332, the structure sits along a mountain pass nearly 2,500 meters (8,000 feet) above sea level. As we came upon it, we almost didn’t stop, thinking it was a shepherd’s hut. Once we got out to explore and poked around inside, we could see the designs carved into the entryway.
Going Off Road
One of our super fun experiences was going off-road into the mountains high above Jermuk to some mud baths in the wild. Luckily, after some debate, we decided to listen to basically everyone and hired a 4-wheel drive to take us up. It was a good decision as our rental would never have made it.
When we arrived, we waited for our turn to get into the small mud pool. As we splashed around, our driver brought us some Cognac and a peach. The traditional way to drink Cognac in Armenia is to pour the liquor into the indentation left by the pit and sip it. It was the perfect accompaniment to our hot springs soak.
Toasting The Trip
On our last night of the trip, we were pooped and elected to abandon our planned afternoon hike.
Instead, we decided the better option was to put our feet up, relax with a mountain view, inhale the fresh air, and share an excellent $5 bottle of Armenian wine.
✴️ Bonus Tip: We used the app Splitwise to keep track of expenses. Each of us would log whatever we spent that day so there were no surprises at the end. There’s even a currency converter to make it all super easy.
Did you do a summer road trip? What made it fun for you? Anything you would recommend?
If you like this essay, please leave a comment or share it with others. This will help more readers find my work. 🦋 Thank you!
Christened “Wander Woman” by National Geographic, Erin Michelson is a professional speaker and author of the Nomad Life™ series of travel books and guides, including the #1-ranked “Explore the World with Nomads.”
We had a banging road trip thru Romania this summer. Adapt and flex!!! And totally eat the local dishes
Did your mother never tell you not to take drinks from strangers men???