Jermuk

Jermuk sits at over two thousand metres in the mountains of Vayots Dzor, and its name — from the Armenian for warm — comes from the hot mineral springs that made it famous across the Soviet Union. The water is still bottled and sold nationwide.

At the centre of town, a colonnaded drinking gallery dispenses water from several springs at different temperatures, each with its own claimed properties. Visitors move along the row with plastic cups, sampling and grimacing.

The waterfall on the edge of town, known as the mermaid's hair for the way it fans across the rock, drops around seventy metres into the Arpa gorge. Walking trails follow the river, and the eleventh-century monastery of Gndevank sits further down the canyon.