Most people only go to Tatev for the monastery and back to Goris or Yerevan at the same day. But after two days of staying in the village and hiking around the area, I say that doesn’t give it enough credit. There is a beautiful nature to explore and some lovely villagers to meet.
Getting to Tatev from Goris
Given my hitchhike fail the day before, I didn’t want to chance it and was looking for other options to reach Tatev. I heard a lot of good things about the Wings of Tatev, a six kilometer and a good fifteen minute long cable car ride from Halidzor, hence I was checking how to get from Goris to Halidzor. Turned out there is one of these little minibuses (Mashrutkas) which only costs 400 amd instead of the 5000 I would need to pay for the cab, which made me happily choose that option.
Unfortunately, the ride with the cable car didn’t really knock me off my feet. It could be nice if they didn’t fill the gondola chock-full, but still not worth the 3500 amd in my opinion. Another option is to go straight from Goris to Tatev by Mashrutka, but the car only runs Mondays and Fridays. Detailed information about all options is at the end of the post.
Exploring Tatev
I stayed in Tatev for two nights, which allowed me to explore the area a bit and see some more things than only the obligational visit of the monastery. Before coming to Tatev I talked with another traveller who gave me a few ideas about where to go and I tried to run up one of the mountains he suggested. After the day before tough, it was a bit of a struggle and more of a walk than a run, but I was still rewarded with a beautiful view at the end.
The next day I wanted to do a little longer hike of about 16 kilometers to a nearby village and back, but it turned out the way maps.me suggested did either not exist or was so hidden that I couldn’t find it. Given that I already needed to pass a freezing cold river before, I really didn’t want to go back, either. My only choice was to follow the creek and hope google satellite was correctly showing a way to cross the river at the end of the valley. The path was sometimes visible, sometimes not, but always muddy and wet from the rain the days before. The only time I had been happier about my shoes was when I was soaked in water in Arfa. Lucky for me, there actually was a way to get to the other side of the valley and after an exhausting 26 kilometer walk I arrived at the viewpoint of the monastery. I couldn’t resist to drink the last bit of my wine while enjoying it the view of the monastery and valley below (in the rain, but it was still more rewarding than the gondola ride the day before).
I was not sure if I had to be happy or worried and I for sure do not know how that car ended up there. The pictures shows what I was hoping to be the trail. 
Beautiful view on the monastery in Tatev. 
This is how your shoes look like when you get lost on the trail…
The following day, I hiked the way down the valley to reach Halidzor. From there, I wanted to take the Mashrutka to Goris and then to Yerevan. Lucky me got another option though, when I met a fellow dutch traveller on his way to Iran. Together, we met two guys from Yerevan who gave us a ride to the junction Goris/Yerevan and offered me a ride all the way to Yerevan. The driver was a 27-year-old PHD student whose dream it was to become successful with his niche and luxury perfume company. He was also a fan of German literature and music, and so we listened to Bach’s symphony orchestra, played with traditional Armenian instruments, while he was talking about Armenian history and political situation with Azerbaijan. He wanted to know where I stay and wasn’t ready to leave me until he brought my backpack to my room and saw that I will have a safe place to stay for the night. Before arriving in Yerevan he introduced me to some Armenian food and sweets and refused to let me pay my share. Seems Iranian’s don’t have a monopole on that.
Detailed info to go from Goris to Tatev
I found the following options to go to Tatev:
- Take a cap to the Wings of Tatev and from there to Tatev. Cost: 5000 amd for the taxi, plus Wings of Tatev 3500/5000 one way/return. Careful: Wings of Tatev does not run on Mondays.
- Take a Mashrutka to Halidzor at 7:30am or 14:00am in Goris. The minibus leaves in front of the post office. Get off a little before Halidzor and go a few meters to the ticket office for the Wings of Tatev. Cost: 400 amd for the minibus, plus the ticket for the gondola.
- Take a Mashrutka directly to Tatev, only available Mondays and Fridays at 3:00pm in front of the tourism office. Cost: 700 amd
- Take a taxi to Tatev. I guess it will cost between 4000 and 6000 amd.
I took a picture of the time-table for all minibuses leaving Goris:
