Armenia travel info

• INTRO ARMENIA

• THE TRAVEL IN ARMENIA (Impressions)

• PHOTOS OF ARMENIA

• FUNNY STORIES

• TIPS FOR ARMENIA

• PRINTABLE FORMAT

INTRO ARMENIA

Kind of travel: Me and a girl in an independent travel

When: 19th- 26th, March08

Do I need a visa?: yes, I got it at the airport in 10 min (30 euro for 120 days!!)

How I moved: marshrutka (minibus) or shared taxis are the best bet to get almost everywhere while bargaining for a private taxi sometimes is the only solution; forget the train.

Freezing or baking?: as for the weather march is always a gamble, but despite some rain, we got wonderful sunny warm days (20 C). Don't underrate the wind when packing.

Where I slept: there's no lack of B&Bs and old soviet hotels ranging from 15 to30 euro. Even in central hotels don't take hot water always for granted and feel free to negotiate.

What I liked: I loved the snowy mountainy landscapes and the frozen Sevan lake. I experienced zero hassles from militaries, and got charmed by the armenian kindness in being photographed, but the best was the cheap Kotaika beeeeeer!!!! :-)

THE TRAVEL IN ARMENIA

Landed in Yerevan in the heat of the night, we were welcomed by the attempted of being cheated getting the visa (read the story); I thought we'd have spent the whole travel struggling against dodgeys, but on the contrary this turned out to be the only episode.
At 8.30 am we were already on a marshrutka (minibus) heading to Stepanakert. It's the capital of Nagorno Karabakh, a republic populated by Armenians in the territory of Azerbabaijan, that claims official independency or the annexion to Armenia. It took almost 8h (10 euro each), but both the scenery of the snowed Vorotan Pass was amazing, and we had no issue at the border despite not having the Nagorno visa.

[Travelling in Nagorno]

The third day we reentered Armenia reaching the town of Goris by a shared taxi from Stepanakert (2h, 4 euro/each). After having settled down in a cute B&B (Khachik B&B, 22 euro the whole house for us), we hired a taxi for a trip to the monastery of Tatev (14 euro for the car, 3h). The Vorotan canyon makes the trip absolutely worthwhile, but frankly from the monastery itself I had higher expectations.
From Goris combining shared taxi and marshrutka we got to Vanadzor in 6h.
The following day by one of those stylish rusty yellow buses we reached Alaverdi driving along the Deben canyon, that from my point of view is the nicest place I've seen in the country. In Alaverdi by the funicular used by the employers of the cave, we visited the monastery of Sanahin and the hiring a taxi the Haghpat one; both of them should not be missed!
Our last day we came back to Yerevan by marshrutka (2h), settling down in a private house (22 euro for a double) and we had a quick trip to the frozen Sevan lake; try a guess how we got there?? By marshrutka, of course!! : Here we hired a taxi to visit the monastery of Sevanavank (1h, 4euro for the car) enjoying the great view from the top of the peninsula.
The following morning at 4.00 am we go to the airport to fly back home …

Alby

IMPRESSIONS ABOUT ARMENIA

Two could be the keywords for Armenia: marshrutkas and monasteries.
The formers are the very mean of transport of the country, while the latter are its highlight. However, what I found even more striking than them, it's the Armenian post- URSS situation. In fact I didn't expected to find the country in a status of abandonment to such extent of becoming melancholic. Left out the capital Yerevan, the rest seems to have known an old glory now completely disappeared and, at the end, this status really characterized the country.
It must be said that all this abandonment is plunged in an amazing scenery of mountains and hills: in particular the prize goes to the snowed Vorotan pass, the narrow Deben canyon and the frozen Sevan lake.
From my point of view for any traveler Armenia is a must, but you know, I'm too interested in this part of the word to be objective :-)

Alby

Armenia travel stories

EVENTFUL NIGHT ARRIVAL IN YEREVAN

We landed at 4 am in the middle of the night at Yerevan international airport.
I was particularly dizzy after the whole day working and the whole night travelling with a stopover in Munich.
Just entered in the airport I immediately saw the visa counter and, without any hesitation, I rushed there. Then I noticed the a sign claiming:
"Visa must be paid only in local currency: 15.000 dram"
Before leaving home I did my homework checking the change rate and asking for the visa cost. I knew visa should cost around 30 euro and 15.000dram sounded more or less that amount.
I asked to the guy of the counter for a visa and he wanted 90 euro for 2 visa!
Stupid me not investigating better and, after mumbling few seconds, I took it.
Once I turned back I saw the change office 50 meters further and I saw that 15.000 dram were something like 30 euro. My travelmate asked to a airport staff girl about the real price and she confirmed the 15.000 dram= 30 euro cost: so we got scammed!!
Helped by this small but intrepid girl we walked back to the dodgey guy.
Initially he denied, but finally he gave up paying back the difference.
The staff girl proposed to report it to the police, but we weren't on the mood; we declined and headed to pick our rug-sacks. While I was sitting waiting for them in the almost empty airport, the dodgey man came. He was worried we could report the fact to the police, so speaking in Russian he started telling about his wife, children, food, few money…
He kept on asking if I was going to speak to the police; I hit back I didn't know yet and he shouldn't annoy me, then finally he left.
Once outside the airport the small brave girl came and insisted we reported the fact. However seeing we weren't convinced, asked for our name, wrote them and went.
It was still dark outside and we were lingering sat in a bar; frankly I felt quite vulnerable for any revenge of the dodgey :
Our plan was to get a minibus to reach the Nagorno Karabakh by the day, but generally speaking bus stations aren't the best place to settle down waiting for the dawn.
The last plane landed and we got the feeling the airport was shouting down, hence, when a taxi driver came offering a lift with other two people, we accepted.
Funny the fact he was worried leaving us in the darkness of the bus station and, without any extra charge, proposed to keep us on the taxi till the end of the run.
The other two passengers were a man and a woman: they said they went to the airport to pick up somebody who at the end didn't pop up (boh??)
Just to make the atmosphere even more surreal, being the last day of the declared emergency state, soldiers (and a tank!) were guarding the town.
The taxi reached an abandoned-like quarters in the outskirt, it stopped and dropped the woman off alone, while the man somewhere further.
No more passengers on the car so the driver took us at the bus station.
The place was quite desert (and dark), we set under a lit bulb of a closed kiosk and started waiting for the dawn….

Alby

Nagorno travel info

• WHAT'S NAGORNO ?

• INTRO NAGORNO

• THE TRAVEL IN NAGORNO (Impressions)

• PHOTOS OF NAGORNO

• TIPS FOR NAGORNO

• PRINTABLE FORMAT

WHAT'S NAGORNO ?

Nagorno-Karabakh is a region in the South Caucasus inhabitated by an Armenian enclave. It encompasses the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, a de facto independent republic, and is geographically part of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Nagorno is fully supported by Armeni,. but it's not officialy part of the country, despite they claim it. Nowadays it's a disputed area.

Nagorno map, click on to enlarge

INTRO NAGORNO

Kind of travel: Me and a girl in an independent travel

When: 19th- 26th, March08

Do I need a visa?: yes, we got it in Stepanakert in 20min for 21 euro valid 5 days (read here details)

How I moved: marshrutka (minibus) or shared taxis are the best bet to get almost everywhere while bargaining for a private taxi sometimes is the only solution.

Freezing or baking?: as for the weather March is always a gamble, but despite some rain, we got nice sunny warm days (20 C). Don't underrate the wind when packing.

Where I slept: Stepanakert is not plenty of accommodations, or better, we found just an anonimum hotel ( a double for 40euro w/o breakfast and barganing)!!! I guess, asking around, you can spot some private rooms, but, unless you don't speak Russian, it won't be like drinking a cup of tea

What I liked: We experienced zero hassles from militaries, Shushi is quite impressive and the Lada/ Zigulì cars everywhere make the atmosphere in Nagorno quite movie like. Don't miss the funny girls in Stepanakert, all dressed as parading :-)

What I disliked: I didn't expect such abandonment spread everywhere and finding an open restaurant in Stepanakert became a challenge.

How much daily: it's more expensive than Armenia: consider 35 euro per person travelling in a couple (hotel 20, food 7, transp 8 + extra). Hiring a car can be the main expense, even if relatively cheap.

Dangers/ hassles: Nagorno is one of the most mined areas on the earth, but, you will be far more likely to get knock down trying to cross the road on the zebra in Stepanakert than blowing on an UXO.

What to have: even some basic knowledge of Russian will help a lot; don't forget a handy dictionary.

THE TRAVEL IN NAGORNO

[Coming from Armenia]

At 8.30 am we were already on a marshrutka (minibus) heading to Stepanakert. It's the capital of Nagorno Karabakh, a republic populated by Armenians in the territory of Azerbabaijan, that claims official independency or the annexion to Armenia. It took almost 8h (10 euro each), but both the scenery of the snowed Vorotan Pass was amazing, and we had no issue at the border despite not having the Nagorno visa. In Stepanakert no big choice in term of accommodation, so we opted for the costy and anonymous Nairi Hotel (a double for 40 euro, even bargaining!!!).
The following day at first we went to the Foreign Affairs Office from where, with 21 euro less for each, we were going out with the Nagorno visa stuck on our passports (read the details). Then after a funny negotiation at the bus station, we hired a taxi for a trip to the monastery of Gandzasar (16 euro for the car, 2.5h): nice scenery, very nice monastery and not a single check point met on the way.
While on the afternoon we got a marshrutka to the impressive ex Azeri town of Shushi, 9km from Stepanakert.
The third day we reentered Armenia reaching the town of Goris by a shared taxi from Stepanakert (2h, 4 euro/each)

[Reentering in Armenia]

Alby

IMPRESSIONS ABOUT NAGORNO

Till ten years ago Nagorno was one of the protagonist of the news, now everybody has forgotten this small piece of land who claims the autonomy while disputed between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
However Nagorno is still there…
The capital Stepanakert with its old Lada/ Zigulì cars, the girls dressed like parading, the clothes hung in the sky, the soldiers doing everything except the militaries… it's quite a movie set.
Shushi: I found quite impressive this kind of 'post-apocalyptic like' place seemed inhabited by just few survivors. In fact now the town is more a bunch of rubbles and abandoned buildings characterized by two ruined mosques with their towering minarets still dominating the landscape.
The Gandzasar monastery is nice, but it cannot be the reason for a trip to Nagorno.

I know your question: is it worth going to Nagorno?
If you don't go there thinking to see touristy highlights, but to experience what's the situation of a disputed country, that from Islamic got fully Catholic, connected to the rest of the world by just a road, YES go there!
However if you are still wondering if it's the case, it means you haven't the right point of view you need to appreciate, so skip it.

Alby