On July 30th, as Laika and I were heading out of Tbilisi, Georgia to Yerevan, Armenia, Airbnb notified us that our host had not confirmed our booking in Yerevan yet. There was nothing we could really do at that point because we were mid-transit, so Laika and I talked contingencies. Worst case scenario, we might have to go hotel to hotel in the city center and see which ones had available rooms and which one had the best rate. This was not optimum, but it wasn’t the end of the world.
In order to get to Yerevan from Tbilisi, Laika and I booked a driver to transport us the 4-5 hours. On the way to Yerevan, we had also scheduled a stop in Dilijan, a town in the supposed “Switzerland of Armenia,” and a stop at Lake Savan, the highest altitude lake in Armenia. For the first leg of our trip, we had a very expedient driver who transported us to the Georgian-Armenian border. At the border, he led us to the Georgian passport control and pointed to a man on the other side.
“See that man,” Georgian driver said. “That’s my brother. You go with him to Armenia.”
Ok. Laika and I transited through the Georgian passport control with no problems. Then the Armenia driver ushered us next to the Armenian passport control. He didn’t speak any English, so he pantomimed us to follow him.
At the Armenian passport control, Laika transited through with no problems. However, when it was my turn with the border officer, he scanned my passport into the computer, scowled at me, and then barked, “Have you been to Azerbaijan?”
Yes, I responded. The border officer then asked for me to indicate the location of the hotel I would be staying at and for my Whatsapp number. I told him I was staying at an Airbnb and gave him my Qatar phone number. He then sternly stamped my passport without breaking eye contact with me and passed it in disgust back to me. I then joined Laika, and we were on our way to Yerevan.
The northern part of Armenia is mountainous, and the trek to Yerevan involved a lot of ascending, descending, and winding along the mountain roads. The area seemed sparsely inhabited with a small outpost, village, or town along the way. Lots of grassland, some forested area along the way. Our Armenia driver was mostly silent as he drove quickly and deftly passed slower vehicles on the narrow mountain roads. However, every so often he would ask questions but only in Russian. Thankfully, Laika had studied Russian for a year in college and could communicate rudimentarily with him.
Armenian Driver: [Russian, Russian, Russian.]
Laika: Da.
Armenian Driver: [Russian, Russian, Russian.]
Laika: Net.
The conversation wasn’t Dostoevsky-worthy banter, but it was enough for basic transactions. Soon we were at our first stop, Dilijan.
Though Dilijan was advertised as the “Switzerland of Armenia,” I had begged to differ. I had been to Switzerland two months earlier, and Switzerland was a vibrant green and blue. Dilijan sat in a forested valley, but it was a hazy green. And then there was the green algae-laden pond that sat in the middle of the town. Dilijan needed to be careful in case Switzerland decided to sue for defamation.
After driving all morning, Laika and I were hungry, so we found a little café and were pleasantly surprised by the restaurant’s breakfast offerings. On the menu was a breakfast burrito: egg, bacon, and homemade tortilla. We each ordered a burrito, and when they arrived, we were very excited. On our plates were sliced bacon, wet scrambled eggs, and thick tortillas that were indeed homemade. Unless you have traveled and dined outside of North America, you don’t realize the ways that Mexican or Tex-Mex food served abroad can disappoint you. The breakfast burrito was excellent, and if the café provided some salsa or hot sauce, it would have been perfect.
After Dilijan, we next headed to Lake Savan. At Lake Savan, our driver pulled to the side of the road, and we all crossed the highway to admire the lake. It was large and blue with a slight haze over it. Growing up, I lived 30 minutes away from Lake Superior (the largest freshwater lake by surface area in the world), so big freshwater lakes don’t necessarily impress me. After gazing at the lake for a short bit, we drove down to a beach resort area to get another view of the lake. The shore seemed rocky, but Armenians were enjoying the water on the warm day. Then it was time for us to complete our trek to Yerevan.
As we drove, our Armenian driver asked something. Laika discerned that he was asking for a hotel address. However, after connecting to the hotspot on the driver’s phone, we learned that our Airbnb confirmation had been canceled. Great. Laika and I quickly started looking for alternatives; she was searching for options using Airbnb, and I was searching for options on Booking.com. In a short while, I found a hotel for a decent price close to the center of Yerevan. I shared the option with Laika, and she said it looked ok, so I reserved a room through the Booking app. Our lodging issue was solved.
As we drove into Yerevan, we were descending into the city towards the center. It didn’t seem like Yerevan received as much water as Tbilisi, and the area surrounding the city seemed like more grasslands and hills. We arrived at our hotel with no further difficulties, and I collected the driver’s phone number, so that we could contact him about driving us from Yerevan back to Tbilisi. Checking into the hotel, the manager was a very friendly man who spoke English well, but he wanted us to cancel our Booking.com reservation (to avoid their commission fee) and to pay him in cash since his card reader wasn’t working. No problem. Soon, we were in a room with two twin beds, AC, and WIFI—everything that we needed.
The center of Yerevan is bustling and trendy with museums, shops, and restaurants. There was a craft brewery very close to our hotel, so Laika and I were able to enjoy a beer before exploring the city further.That evening we walked to the Yerevan Cascade, a giant stairway with fountains and an underground art gallery. To me, it resembled a hanging garden, and as we climbed it, we were able to see Mount Ararat, the place where Noah’s Ark supposedly landed after the great flood.
Laika and I spent the next couple days exploring Yerevan and the surrounding area. She bought a SIM card and installed the Yandex taxi app so that we could visit Geghard Monastery and the Temple of Garni, which was likely built as a temple to the sun god Mihr. We drank good beer and delicious wine; we ate delectable Armenia dishes; and we enjoyed discovering the charming shops and markets in the city. Overall, we had a very relaxing and interesting stay in Yerevan. And, on Aug 3rd, after four days in the Land of Apricots, we headed back to Georgia to start our adventure with Levan, our Georgian tour guide.
To be continued
The following are pics from time in Armenia.
opusculum 