Epress.am News from Armenia
Despite only having visited Armenia for 3 days, Moscow-based blogger and photographer Ilya Varlamov has blogged extensively on his trip, including posting numerous photographs of his impressions of the South Caucasus country.
“The first day was, unfortunately, the most successful. First, Armavia with its crumbling SuperJet didn’t justify my hopes, then I was met with ‘friendly taxi drivers’ and the end of the day messed up with a badly chosen restaurant. Looking ahead, let me say that the negative impressions of the country on the first day were misleading. Armenia is an amazing, interesting and beautiful country — what’s most important is not to stay too long in Yerevan. Immediately get a car and go to the mountains!
“The airport in Yerevan is actively being constructed and reconstructed. At passport control, passengers are called up with an electronic sign. Surprisingly, taxi drivers don’t attack you to offer their services as you first come out of the arrivals hall. I think the management of Moscow’s airports needs to immediately be sent to Armenia for re-training, so that they can be explained how all those drivers of illegal taxis can be driven off airport property.
“I had called earlier and ordered a taxi. A trip to the center was to cost me 3,000 drams ($8 USD). I approach the corresponding car.
– I ordered a taxi, I told the driver.
– Let’s go.
– And how much does it cost? (I decide to check just in case.)
– Let’s go.
– But how much does it cost?
– 5,000.
– Wait, I was told 3,000.
– What 3,000? Where have you seen such prices? There are no such prices here. 5,000, let’s go!
– The dispatcher told me that it will cost 3,000.
– I’ll take you for 4,000, let’s go!
“After bargaining for a few minutes, I convinced the driver to take me into the city for 3,000 drams.
“We arrived at the Golden Tulip hotel. I had pre-booked a room online, registered my card details and received confirmation of my booking.
– Hello, we’ve booked a room.
– Can I see your passports? (I give her our passports.) There’s no booking here for you.
– What do you mean? I booked through your site!
– Ah, well we don’t know that; we don’t have internet here. What room do you need?
“I note the details of the room we booked; in any case, I decide to check the price.
– That room costs 90,000 drams per night.
– Wait a minute, the site says 75,000 and I was sent a confirmation of the reservation for this amount. (I show the girl the copy of the printed reservation.)
– But we don’t have internet here. Ok, go get settled; we’ll decide what to do when you check out.
“Generally in Armenia they love to settle the financial issues after rendering services: the seller has more opportunities to raise the price, and the buyer has less chances of lowering it. But the taxi or the market is one issue; quite another is ‘one of the best hotels in the city,’ which is how they represent themselves.
“The hotel itself, of course, doesn’t even come close to being 5 stars. By European standards, it’s an average 4 stars. The staff was especially irritating.
– How many will be staying in the room? said a woman, invading the room with an unexpected question.
– Two people, why?
– Then you will need two sets of towels. I’ll go and get it.
“Yerevan itself I quite liked. It reminds me more of a poor Arab town than a capital of a country with an ancient history. The history of Yerevan today is exclusively Soviet, and even that is in a deplorable state.
[…]“Yerevan for some reason really reminds me of Almaty [Kazakhstan].
“But there’s nothing to do in Yerevan. Most of the beauty begins outside of the city.
“On the way out of Yerevan, we stopped at a restaurant. We asked for the menu, the server said there isn’t one at the moment, but she will tell us everything. We ordered and while we were waiting, we found the menu and saw the prices. Barbecued meat cost 200 rubles ($6.60 USD). When at the end of the meal, the waitress brought the bill, the barbecue cost 450 rubles — the entire bill was more than double. When I asked why the prices were so different from the menu, the waitress said, ‘our menu is a summer menu, but since it’s still spring, the prices are higher.’ As I understand it, many restaurants and cafes work on the following principle: ‘Eat, but in the end it’ll be a surprise!’
“Getting back into the city took a very long time. It got dark very quickly and several times I made a wrong turn. There were few signs and markings on the road were generally absent. Instead of 30 minutes, I lost my way for over an hour, and when I finally arrived at the center, I witnessed such a scene. There were crowds of people coming from some celebration. Police hadn’t blocked any streets, people were walking between the cars and all traffic had come to a standstill.”
Photos by Ilya Varlamov.