Armenia travel info
Armenia- Nagorno
K.: 6 days, March08
INTRO ARMENIA
Kind of travel:
a wholly independent travel
When:
19th- 26th, March08
Do
I need a visa?
Y es, 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,
I 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!!!! :-)
What I disliked:
I didn't expect such abandonment spread everywhere together
with plenty of rubbish. Finding an open restaurant several times
became a challenge.
How much
daily:
if you are used to Russia, Armenia is less costy, but you need
still 30 euro per person travelling in a couple, though. Hiring
a car can be the main expense, even if relatively cheap. Visa
at airport is 30 euro.
Dangers/
hassles:
three main dangers.
Smashing against another car at the formula one speed of Armenian
drivers, being knocked down while daring to cross the road on
the zebra and, the last but not the least, falling
into one of the many
deep huge sewers left opened
What
to have:
even some basic knowledge of Russian will help a lot; don't
forget a handy dictionary.
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
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