Yerevan
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Genocide monument in front of Yerevan's Cascade
August 5, 2005
We arrived at the airport, got our visas checked, Elizabeth picked up her bag and
we headed out to the lion’s den... the Taxi line. We got a taxi for $10 and headed
to a home stay. The taxi drive was hectic and road rules fail to exist here. Instead
of feeling frightened like I did the first few time I was in a car in Russia, I
felt oddly comfortable and at home. The trip wasn’t safe, but it made me feel at
ease, as if this was a place I know and feel comfortable in. Perhaps it’s just the
feeling that at any moment I could die and I simply can’t do anything about it that
relaxes me. The feeling that my life is out of my control is odd at first, but quickly
becomes home and comfortable, a feeling of relaxation and at peace.
The address of our home stay was wrong so the bus driver helped us find it, just
to find that it was full. The woman set us up with a friend of hers on the south
side of the city, so we took a mini bus and our host, Emma, picked us up outside
the big church in the city. We walked to the nearby apartment, which was a nice
and we had it to ourselves. We settled down and decided to grab food and money on
our way to the bus station for a trip to Lake Sevan. We got money from a bank with
armed guards, much more like Kenya than Europe, but for my protection. The street
food was good, I had a deep fried dough thing filled with potatoes, much like the
peroshki found in Odesa and a meat pie baked instead of fried.
The walk took us to an area that was extremely beat up and poor. The side walks
were cracked and falling apart with gravel spread sporadically throughout and the
rest was lifeless soil in the semi-arid desert-like environment. It looked like
the city was devastated and had no money, but other parts of the city contradicts
this.
Later that night, we decided to eat at a grill we had seen that morning. After sitting
down we realized that Elizabeth was the only woman present, however welcomed us
none-the-less. They didn’t have a menu in either English or Russian, so we looked
at the raw meat and pointed. We also ordered salad, water, and the complimentary
lavash. We seemed to set ourselves apart from the rest of the restaurant who was
drinking a thick white milky substance plus vodka or beer. The salad was typical
for this part of the world: tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, and parsley.
The bread was a combination of flat lavash and lavash more like bread. This was
served with a sauce consisting of onions and spices along with chunks of tomatoes.
It was good, but the meat overshadowed it. I got the pork and Elizabeth the beef.
The flavoring of both, but particularly the beef was incredible and would rank up
as some of the best pork and beef that I have ever had. It was served on flat lavash
and we ate it with the lavash and sauce.
After the meal, which was extremely filling and absolutely incredible, we paid our
eight dollar bill and headed to the apartment to get an early night. In general,
I’m quite impressed with the Armenians. The city of Yerevan is incredibly ugly,
but the people so kind and inviting, they seem so happy and optimistic. The people
seem to have so little, but they have what so many places lack: hope and optimism.
August 6, 2005
We started our time in Yerevan today at the Opera House near which was a truck filled
with dead animals, I'm guessing it's going to a butcher shop. Nearby is
the highlight, the Cascade, a large set of stairs leading up a hill to a Soviet
monument. The hike was long and draining in the heat. The views did little to make
one feel rewarded for their effort, especially since in the heat the air was thick
and full of dust creating clouds preventing us from seeing nearby Mt. Ararat, although
we had decent views of it upon arrival at the airport.
After our walk down we had lunch with two of Elizabeth’s friends. The one girl worked
in Moldova and compared the situation here with that of Moldova.
The phone system in Armenia is sporadic at best; the Diaspora's aid seems to
disappear through bureaucracy of the corrupt government; Armenia has alienated or
been alienated by all of their neighbors except to a small degree Iran and Georgia.
This led them to turn to Russia, Diaspora support, and the closing of their borders
to Azerbaijan and Turkey. The imports mostly come in via air or ground through Georgia,
so everything is excessively expensive seeing as how Armenian itself is too dry
to have sustainable crops and feed themselves. This helps me understand my flight
into the country... Elizabeth’s friend said that many flights contain live chickens.
The country also has an incredible tourism industry based around the Diaspora. This
however does not change the fact that the country has little to offer visitors and
that the country has nothing to produce except cognac, which is apparently inferior
to that of the rest of Europe's.
The US Embassy here is incredibly large and the reasons are various as to why. First
the Diaspora is strong in the US; second, Armenia has tied closely to Russia and
has over 20,000 Russian troops on their soil, frightening not only Azerbaijan and
Turkey, but also the United States.
After lunch some of the money that the Diaspora has donated became apparent throughout
the city. The streets of Yerevan are the best I’ve seen in any former Soviet country
including the Baltic countries. There are various western standard banks and ATM’s
along with a small group of very nice cars. These Bentleys are probably owned by
the mafia and corrupt government officials, whose power is so strong they actually
demand a Porsche dealership.
As we walked around the streets I was absolutely shocked at how many Americans I
saw and heard. The number not only rivals, but exceeds the number of Americans in
Moscow or St. Petersburg. I felt like I was actually in a city that was well known
and was a tourist destination, however the sites don’t justify this, only the people
and the Diaspora's will to return do. The streets contained only Armenian and
English voices; no Russians anywhere, a shock after going to places like Riga, Kyiv
and even Vilnius.
After grabbing a street kebab, we sat on the square to people watch. On the way
back we bought water from two women who were thrilled that we were not only in their
country, but that we could talk to them in Russian. They didn’t want to let us leave,
but we were still tired from our travels and had to depart.
August 7, 2005
We woke early, again missing the water, this time too early, so we’ll go without
a shower for another day. We got to the actual bus station today for the journey
to Tbilisi. We arrived early and found another American here for the journey back
to his temporary home in Georgia.
Just outside of Yerevan we saw a huge pyramid structure raising out of no where,
our driver said that it is a new casino... as if the people need that. The street
just outside of the city was littered with dead dogs that had been hit. The trip
was beautiful through the mountains.
Our lunch was at a small road side grill, where we had shashlik (in Russian), or
khorvats (in Armenian) really nothing more than grilled meat with onions, salad,
and water. The dinner for the three of us (the American, Barry joined us) was all
of about 6 or 7 dollars. We continuously stopped for passengers going short distances,
including many soldiers going from bases to small villages.
We reached the border without any problems and saw more foreigners here including
people from France, Germany, and various other European countries, many of whom
were on motorcycle. The border wasn’t bad other than the fact they the e-visa confused
the border guard in Armenia. We made it without much problem and continued to the
Georgian border with even less troubles.