ARMENIA

Not too far away but far enough south to still be warm in September, off the beaten track but popular enough to meet other travelers. Safe, cheap, scenic, and good nightlife.............Georgia and Armenia quickly became top of the list of countries I wanted to visit next. The plan was to fly into Armenia and fly out of Georgia 12 days later, With less than a week to go Armavia airlines cancelled my flight!!!!. I was forced to book a flight with Air France for well over double the cost. At least it was from the same airport and had roughly the same flight times. I finished work Tuesday and spent the night at a hotel near Birmingham airport flying early the following morning. With a connection in Paris and a long queue for a visa on arrival it was dark by the time I arrived at the hostel in Yerevan. I went for a brief walk around getting a good first impression of a fairly clean, modern and safe city. There was of course a few old soviet tower blocks and Ladas but overall it seemed fairly European. First full day I went on the walking tour organized by the hostel, as it was only 2 hours long I explored the rest of the city on my own for the rest of the afternoon. In the evening I got talking to other hostel members which included 4 members of the peace corps who had been in Armenia for the best part of a year. They had been living in the countryside and came back to the city once in awhile for the nightlife. I went out with them until after midnight. It helped a lot as they knew some of the language and where the best bars were. A beer was less than a third of the cost in the UK!!!!!!!! On the Friday I did the first of 2 tours organised by the hostel, we were meant to visit the Yazidis but they had come down the mountains as it was the end of summer. So it was on to the Amberd fortress and an hour's hike to Byurakan it was hot but not too difficult going.  We then did a stop off at someones house for a meal, it was like going back in time 50 - 100 years. Every part of the back garden was devoted to growing food, there was also a vodka still. Finally we visited the house of a local musician to see how he handmakes traditional instruments. I didn’t feel like doing a lot in the evening as I had booked a tour for the following day. In our hostel was an Iranian woman tipping vodka into a fruit juice container to take across the border. I learned that a lot come from Iran over the border just so they can drink alcohol. The next day was the tour to lake Sevan, with it’s steep sides it reminded me a bit of lake Toba in Indonesia. Then it was a brief stop at a graveyard to have some stories translated for the gravestones. A lot read “drank vodka and died”. Geghard is probably Armenia's number one tourist attraction on the way out I tried a roll of flat dried fruit and it was like trying to chew boot leather. Garni temple was the final stop on what was an interesting day out. Then it was back to Yerevan for the final evening. Three of us went out for food, after a long walk round we ended up at a place that looked expensive. However a meal and 2 beers cost about 5 pound, back home just the 2 beers would have cost more than 6. That was it for Armenia, all was left was for the public transport which unlike the rest of the country was very “third world”. Walking round a confusing bus terminal full of unmarked minivans shouting Tbilisi. Then it was a cramped and slightly bumpy ride to Georgia with some great scenery along the way.