- Wonderful breakfast at the Marriott.
- The cab driver who got lost.
- Armenian Falafel and Lavash. To die For.
- XX and Dhurram (Goat Cheese and Lavash)
- Giving cab rides to strangers.
- Women taking pictures with me (Kayane and Geghardt)
- Indians who wont talk to you (Hara Barag and Geghardt).
- Riding a horse
- Name ends in yan? You must be Armenian.
- Dining at an Armenians place (Richard Bezjian)
- Getting lost in Yerevan (Girl who escorted me back to the hotel).
- Indians in Armenia (protests, students, Medical Council, restaurant, guy speaking fluent Russian in restaurant, helper from Uttaranchal).
- Marco: Macrobiotic diet.
- Cognac ? Armenian Cognac? Vodka? Russian Vodka? Woman ? You are good for nothing.
- Walking around Yerevan in the morning; strange looks from people.
- Russian Restaurant (Marco, Bob, Narayan, Haniff, Rubina, Richard).
- Jazz Restaurant in Yerevan,
- Seeing off Marco (awake until 3a).
- Our last night in Yerevan (Thursday night).
- You going to Sydney, right ?
- Weird airport security clearance.
- Mad Scramble for Airport fee.
- Bye Bye Armenia. Boohoo!!
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Trip to Armenia..
I was recently in Armenia (Nov 8 - 17th, 2006) on business, and here are some salient points, including the "landing" experience. This was my first international business trip and I came away with a lot of very "interesting" experiences. I read quite a lot about the country before I went there, and that helped me understand and appreciate some of the things that I saw and experienced.
I have described it as I saw it, and no embellishments or distortions have been inserted. I do talk about some of the things that are not shall we say, very "polite" to write about a country recently visited, but hey, I am not one to lie. To me, it was the whole package that mattered, and the flaws that I point out are in no way a condemnation of the nation or of the people. Armenia is a fascinating place, and I do plan on going back some day. I made some friends, got some insights in to the culture and the history of the place, and ate some of its distinctive foods (as long as they were vegetarian). I experienced diverse emotions: some trying, some euphoric and some funny.
Armenia is a very peaceful land (despite their war with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh), and is the first nation in the world to have adopted Christianity as its State Religion (301 AD or something). It also is considered to be one of the holiest places of Christianity; Armenians consider Etchmiadzin the place where Jesus came to the Earth. Clearly a place steeped in history, culture and tradition.
Travel Woes
I left the morning of the 8th of November, and reached there on the night of the 9th). Severly jet-lagged to say the very least. Went through DC, and London, where I had to check in one of my carry-on bags, as they had a strict "1 carry on only" policy. The woman who had the unenviable task of handling me - I get quite belligerent in the face of injustice - was a woman of Pakistani descent, who commented "We are neighbours, yeah. None of that enemy stuff. Full Stop", when I said "I am from the land you guys love to hate". That was an interesting experience; I still had to fork over my luggage though. London airport was very interesting in the amount of South Asians (Indians, Pakistanis, and those looking like those two) I was able to see. "Hordes" just about begins to describe it.
London's Terminal 4 was very interesting. It had an open-air smoking area, right inside the terminal, which means that while smokers have to stay within these smoking "zones", the smoke itself does not have the decency to stay inside. It is all the fault of the smoke, and not of the airport authority or the smokers themselves. Everybody deserves to get cancer after all, straight from the source or not.
My flight was delayed in London, and I walked hither and thither, dozing off at times, while waiting for my flight to Yerevan, which just so happens to be the capital of Armenia. More some, more incessant walking, more hand-wringing, and finally the boarding call. Got on the flight and sat next to a Soccer loving, Robert Baggio fan. What are the odds of that ? I had a very nice flight with David Galaty, who works for USAID, which promotes business opportunities in such far off (read: Godforsaken) places.
Baggage Woes
I finally landed in Yerevan, walked down some stairs onto the tarmac and was escorted to the Immigration area in a bus. The flight had been at least an hour and half late. The bus was filled with Armenians, most of whom were locals, as they whipped out their cell phones and started making phone calls. People it seems, are the same everywhere ;) The arrivals lounge at the Zvartnots airport was absolutely fabulous. People in military looking uniforms (they were just the Customs and Immigration people, I think) were everywhere, and a lot of women wore those uniforms too.
I waited for my baggage to arrive. And what a wait that would turn out to be! I was hopeful until the last few rotations of the baggage carousel, until it stopped completely. I was shocked. Luckily my backpack did, which had some of my stuff. I had squirrelled away 3 pairs of shirts, 2 pairs of pants, and 3 pairs of "clothing that everybody wears", so I was safe. Waiting at the counter was an interesting experience, as I tried to stand in line, while all of the others in my predicament all darted straight to the counter. Hhmmn, this looked vaguely familiar to me! It was my turn finally, and the BMED woman helped me. She said that the system showed my luggage having made it to the flight, but had not been unloaded. That was her best guess. What this meant, was that my luggage was on its way to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. My lucky baggage! I still have not received my compensation. :)
Not having baggage has its unfortunate side effects. Because of the recent clampdown on "gels" and like substances (way to go, TSA!), I had put all of these "essentials" in my checked-in baggage. I was going to have to go shopping, but I was not sure if anything would be open at this hour. I would have to wake up and do some shopping tomorrow morning, or beg the hotel for something. What better way to start off a business trip than by begging or shopping?!
Immigration
I only had a tourist visa and was quite worried about getting grilled by the officers, and was very nervous. I was after all entering on business, and was cheating, despite the fact that a tourist visa (US $60) to Armenia cost more than a Business Visa (US $50). The officer took one long look at my face, another one at the Electronic Visa, another look at the passport, stamped it and said "Welcome to Armenia" with a beaming smile. Apparently, those were the only words of English that he spoke. I think I am very affected shall we say, by all my border crossings into the US from Canada, where the border guards revel in their power over those poor Canadians, who make the awful mistake of trying to enter the US.
The FUN begins
I finally came out of the airport, and the first thing I noticed was that there was cigarette smoke everywhere. Now, I am suffer from Bronchitis every winter, and while I don't wheeze and am not severely asthmatic, cigarette smoke upsets me on many a front; chiefly that of "don't take me along with you, you brain-dead bozo". This would be a problem wherever we went in Yerevan, as most facilities were smoking facilities, with absolutely no separation between the two areas. This would be a source of much consternation for my hosts in Armenia, as I constantly b*****ed and moaned about this.
Before I could exit I was "accosted" by this guy asking me if I wanted a cab. there was a guy who spoke some English, who escorted me to a desk, while proclaiming that he was the "City Taxi Service". I (mis?) understood this to be the official cab company appointed by the government so that tourists would not get ripped off. But first I wanted to make sure that nobody from Boomerang had come to get me. There wasn't anybody. This was not wholly unexpected. So, I followed him, much like a lamb to slaughter. He had a key-chain with a Canadian flag, and so I gave him a certain amount of leeway (I am a Canadian citizen after all). It turns out that he has lived in Toronto and Montreal.
He recommended a cab driver to me, and I asked him if he took credit Cards. He did not understand what that means, so I asked him MasterCard? - Blank look. "Visa"? Ha! His eyes lit up. There was hope yet. He then led me to a corner of the airport where there was a cash withdrawal machine, and pointed to the MasterCard logo. I told him that I was not going to take a Cash Advance on my credit card. He did not get this. Language was becoming a problem.
As we stood discussing this, I was the cynosure of all eyes at the airport terminal. I have a "sonorous" voice, and am rather loud when I argue or when I am upset. So, the terminal is getting its kicks from looking at an Indian looking guy having trouble with taxi cab guys. Nobody came to help. I chalked that up to a lack of English. Pardonable offense.
The cabbie who was supposed to take me to the hotel, now came very close to me and started talking agitatedly, as he was unsure of how I was going to pay him. I smelled alcohol in his breath immediately, and told him that I was not going to get into a car driven by him, even if he was the last guy left in Yerevan Airport who could get me to the hotel. He could not believe this! I spotted an "Information" booth, and told a really cute girl (wait till I tell you about Armenian girls, and let us pray my wife is not reading this blog), that I wanted to get to the Marriott, that I was coming from the US, and needed a cab. She gave me the number, but could not give me a phone. There were quite a few cabbies around me now, as they smelled blood - the blood of a newbie.
A guy standing behind me handed me his cellphone. I took this very kindly, and spoke to the night manager at the Marriott, who mentioned that he would send the hotel's cab. I was sure the cab service run by the hotel would be expensive, but I did not want to become a drunk driving statistic on my first night in Armenia (the damage that would do to Armenia's reputation as a tourist haven cannot be underestimated). So, I handed the cell phone back to him, and thanked him. What happened in the next 10 minutes would make me instantly realize where I was.
"10 Dollars for phone call", he said - I was taken aback. I told him I was not paying him $10 for a 2 minute phone call. Apparently not getting what I just said, he replied "Okay. $40; $30 for cab; $10 for phone". I told the information booth girl to tell him I was not going to pay him 5$ a minute in Armenia. That was an outrage! I knew that it could not possibly cost $30 for a 15km cab ride to Downtown Yerevan. (Moral: Always read your tourist brochures).
These guys were trying to rip me off!I asked her if $30 was normal, and she said "Yes, it is the normal rate". This was exactly the moment that I realized where I was. I was in my hometown. I was a stranger here, but the environment here was the same as there! In my jetlag-ged brain something clicked; trust me, it is not often that things click in a jet-lagged brain, and especially mine. When travelling in a country you have to think about expenses in that country's currency and economic strength; for instance a cab ride of 15km in London would cost considerably more than a cab ride of the same length in say, Tashkent. The latter would most certainly be cheaper when convered to US$. I would not be scammed!
I turned, looked at the phone-loaner cabbie in the eye and said "I am not paying you even $1 for that phone call", and walked away. I could not stay in the terminal any longer as it was filled with cigarette smoke anyways, and I was getting really angry. I do have a bit of a short fuse. The phone-loaner cabbie started chasing me out of the Terminal, and right as I got out of the terminal building, he stood in front of me blocking my path, and demanded his money. I refused it and when he became quite insistent I started looking for Police. There were two uniformed men smoking, and I approached them for help, they just shrugged their shoulders and kept on smoking.
One guy walked up to me and said "I am Police", and I said "Can I see some identification?!", to which the gentleman in question hastily walked away. I now walked to the edge of the terminal building, and waited in the cold. The time was now 1.30a. The phone-loaner cabbie, and another guy hung around. One guy came up to me and said "If the hotel taxi does not come, I will take you". I told him I was fine. He seemed nice enough, but who knows what monster he would become once I got to the Marriott?! Bad experiences at the outset of a trip colour your perception of a country wrongly, and I wanted to avoid that.
I waited outside, but there were too much cigarette smoke to hang around there, and it was cold. I made my way back to the terminal, knowing full well that the Marriott cabbie would hold a piece of paper with my name. A lot of people arrived on later flights, and I saw them all leave the airport. It was really quite small, with only one terminal to speak of. Not unlike Madras Airport in the olden days (Pre-1998).
Freedom at Last
Finally around 2p, the cab driver came, and I was finally comfortably seated in a Mercedes-Benz! As the driver pulled out, and the phone-loaner cabbie blocked our way. Our driver - a man in his 50's I think - blasted his horn, while the man stared us down. He finally gave us way, and we were off.
This just feels like Madras
Armenia was very much like Madras. The roads were not in the greatest of shape, and the lights, buildings and infrastructure are certainly not Downtown Seattle-esque, but it was like being in Madras. I loved that. My driver was quite chatty, and he sang "Mera Jootha Hai Japani". It seems like Raj Kapoor was everywhere. He said "Hindi Movie, good movie!". I got a good kick out of that one, as I cannot stand Hindi Movies. I bit my tongue though; no point in telling him that Hindi Movies are mostly junk! "India, Armenia good friends", he said. My Armenian was non-existent, and his English was spotty, so we communicated mostly in sign language. We passed by the French Embassy, and the US Embassy, which was a huge building.
At one point, we came to a red light. We stopped, and after cross-traffic had cleared, we were still on Red. Our driver took one look, and darted clear through the intersection! I was shocked. I asked him if he was not afraid of getting in trouble with police, to which he calmly showed me the sign of "counting money", said they were his friends and that it would get him out of any trouble.
We finally made it out to the hotel. We entered the Public Square in Armenia ("Hara Barag" in Armenian), and it was a grand sight. It was a huge roundabout in the center of the city, with very beautiful buildings set around it. I checked in, my eyes burning, but my head as fresh as a daisy. I begged them for some Toothpaste and a Toothbrush, which they said they would send to my room in the morning. I set a wake up call for 7a. I chatted with my boss and my wife, sent a couple of emails, and then went to bed. Richard of Boomerang Software would come to get me at 8a, and I had to be ready for that.
Pictures are here. Part 2 of Armenia trip to follow. It won't have quite the same level of detail as this entry, but I will try and capture the highlights, of which there were many. I will also point out some of the connection between India and Armenia, of which I was very interested in finding more about.
I have described it as I saw it, and no embellishments or distortions have been inserted. I do talk about some of the things that are not shall we say, very "polite" to write about a country recently visited, but hey, I am not one to lie. To me, it was the whole package that mattered, and the flaws that I point out are in no way a condemnation of the nation or of the people. Armenia is a fascinating place, and I do plan on going back some day. I made some friends, got some insights in to the culture and the history of the place, and ate some of its distinctive foods (as long as they were vegetarian). I experienced diverse emotions: some trying, some euphoric and some funny.
Armenia is a very peaceful land (despite their war with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh), and is the first nation in the world to have adopted Christianity as its State Religion (301 AD or something). It also is considered to be one of the holiest places of Christianity; Armenians consider Etchmiadzin the place where Jesus came to the Earth. Clearly a place steeped in history, culture and tradition.
Travel Woes
I left the morning of the 8th of November, and reached there on the night of the 9th). Severly jet-lagged to say the very least. Went through DC, and London, where I had to check in one of my carry-on bags, as they had a strict "1 carry on only" policy. The woman who had the unenviable task of handling me - I get quite belligerent in the face of injustice - was a woman of Pakistani descent, who commented "We are neighbours, yeah. None of that enemy stuff. Full Stop", when I said "I am from the land you guys love to hate". That was an interesting experience; I still had to fork over my luggage though. London airport was very interesting in the amount of South Asians (Indians, Pakistanis, and those looking like those two) I was able to see. "Hordes" just about begins to describe it.
London's Terminal 4 was very interesting. It had an open-air smoking area, right inside the terminal, which means that while smokers have to stay within these smoking "zones", the smoke itself does not have the decency to stay inside. It is all the fault of the smoke, and not of the airport authority or the smokers themselves. Everybody deserves to get cancer after all, straight from the source or not.
My flight was delayed in London, and I walked hither and thither, dozing off at times, while waiting for my flight to Yerevan, which just so happens to be the capital of Armenia. More some, more incessant walking, more hand-wringing, and finally the boarding call. Got on the flight and sat next to a Soccer loving, Robert Baggio fan. What are the odds of that ? I had a very nice flight with David Galaty, who works for USAID, which promotes business opportunities in such far off (read: Godforsaken) places.
Baggage Woes
I finally landed in Yerevan, walked down some stairs onto the tarmac and was escorted to the Immigration area in a bus. The flight had been at least an hour and half late. The bus was filled with Armenians, most of whom were locals, as they whipped out their cell phones and started making phone calls. People it seems, are the same everywhere ;) The arrivals lounge at the Zvartnots airport was absolutely fabulous. People in military looking uniforms (they were just the Customs and Immigration people, I think) were everywhere, and a lot of women wore those uniforms too.
I waited for my baggage to arrive. And what a wait that would turn out to be! I was hopeful until the last few rotations of the baggage carousel, until it stopped completely. I was shocked. Luckily my backpack did, which had some of my stuff. I had squirrelled away 3 pairs of shirts, 2 pairs of pants, and 3 pairs of "clothing that everybody wears", so I was safe. Waiting at the counter was an interesting experience, as I tried to stand in line, while all of the others in my predicament all darted straight to the counter. Hhmmn, this looked vaguely familiar to me! It was my turn finally, and the BMED woman helped me. She said that the system showed my luggage having made it to the flight, but had not been unloaded. That was her best guess. What this meant, was that my luggage was on its way to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. My lucky baggage! I still have not received my compensation. :)
Not having baggage has its unfortunate side effects. Because of the recent clampdown on "gels" and like substances (way to go, TSA!), I had put all of these "essentials" in my checked-in baggage. I was going to have to go shopping, but I was not sure if anything would be open at this hour. I would have to wake up and do some shopping tomorrow morning, or beg the hotel for something. What better way to start off a business trip than by begging or shopping?!
Immigration
I only had a tourist visa and was quite worried about getting grilled by the officers, and was very nervous. I was after all entering on business, and was cheating, despite the fact that a tourist visa (US $60) to Armenia cost more than a Business Visa (US $50). The officer took one long look at my face, another one at the Electronic Visa, another look at the passport, stamped it and said "Welcome to Armenia" with a beaming smile. Apparently, those were the only words of English that he spoke. I think I am very affected shall we say, by all my border crossings into the US from Canada, where the border guards revel in their power over those poor Canadians, who make the awful mistake of trying to enter the US.
The FUN begins
I finally came out of the airport, and the first thing I noticed was that there was cigarette smoke everywhere. Now, I am suffer from Bronchitis every winter, and while I don't wheeze and am not severely asthmatic, cigarette smoke upsets me on many a front; chiefly that of "don't take me along with you, you brain-dead bozo". This would be a problem wherever we went in Yerevan, as most facilities were smoking facilities, with absolutely no separation between the two areas. This would be a source of much consternation for my hosts in Armenia, as I constantly b*****ed and moaned about this.
Before I could exit I was "accosted" by this guy asking me if I wanted a cab. there was a guy who spoke some English, who escorted me to a desk, while proclaiming that he was the "City Taxi Service". I (mis?) understood this to be the official cab company appointed by the government so that tourists would not get ripped off. But first I wanted to make sure that nobody from Boomerang had come to get me. There wasn't anybody. This was not wholly unexpected. So, I followed him, much like a lamb to slaughter. He had a key-chain with a Canadian flag, and so I gave him a certain amount of leeway (I am a Canadian citizen after all). It turns out that he has lived in Toronto and Montreal.
He recommended a cab driver to me, and I asked him if he took credit Cards. He did not understand what that means, so I asked him MasterCard? - Blank look. "Visa"? Ha! His eyes lit up. There was hope yet. He then led me to a corner of the airport where there was a cash withdrawal machine, and pointed to the MasterCard logo. I told him that I was not going to take a Cash Advance on my credit card. He did not get this. Language was becoming a problem.
As we stood discussing this, I was the cynosure of all eyes at the airport terminal. I have a "sonorous" voice, and am rather loud when I argue or when I am upset. So, the terminal is getting its kicks from looking at an Indian looking guy having trouble with taxi cab guys. Nobody came to help. I chalked that up to a lack of English. Pardonable offense.
The cabbie who was supposed to take me to the hotel, now came very close to me and started talking agitatedly, as he was unsure of how I was going to pay him. I smelled alcohol in his breath immediately, and told him that I was not going to get into a car driven by him, even if he was the last guy left in Yerevan Airport who could get me to the hotel. He could not believe this! I spotted an "Information" booth, and told a really cute girl (wait till I tell you about Armenian girls, and let us pray my wife is not reading this blog), that I wanted to get to the Marriott, that I was coming from the US, and needed a cab. She gave me the number, but could not give me a phone. There were quite a few cabbies around me now, as they smelled blood - the blood of a newbie.
A guy standing behind me handed me his cellphone. I took this very kindly, and spoke to the night manager at the Marriott, who mentioned that he would send the hotel's cab. I was sure the cab service run by the hotel would be expensive, but I did not want to become a drunk driving statistic on my first night in Armenia (the damage that would do to Armenia's reputation as a tourist haven cannot be underestimated). So, I handed the cell phone back to him, and thanked him. What happened in the next 10 minutes would make me instantly realize where I was.
"10 Dollars for phone call", he said - I was taken aback. I told him I was not paying him $10 for a 2 minute phone call. Apparently not getting what I just said, he replied "Okay. $40; $30 for cab; $10 for phone". I told the information booth girl to tell him I was not going to pay him 5$ a minute in Armenia. That was an outrage! I knew that it could not possibly cost $30 for a 15km cab ride to Downtown Yerevan. (Moral: Always read your tourist brochures).
These guys were trying to rip me off!I asked her if $30 was normal, and she said "Yes, it is the normal rate". This was exactly the moment that I realized where I was. I was in my hometown. I was a stranger here, but the environment here was the same as there! In my jetlag-ged brain something clicked; trust me, it is not often that things click in a jet-lagged brain, and especially mine. When travelling in a country you have to think about expenses in that country's currency and economic strength; for instance a cab ride of 15km in London would cost considerably more than a cab ride of the same length in say, Tashkent. The latter would most certainly be cheaper when convered to US$. I would not be scammed!
I turned, looked at the phone-loaner cabbie in the eye and said "I am not paying you even $1 for that phone call", and walked away. I could not stay in the terminal any longer as it was filled with cigarette smoke anyways, and I was getting really angry. I do have a bit of a short fuse. The phone-loaner cabbie started chasing me out of the Terminal, and right as I got out of the terminal building, he stood in front of me blocking my path, and demanded his money. I refused it and when he became quite insistent I started looking for Police. There were two uniformed men smoking, and I approached them for help, they just shrugged their shoulders and kept on smoking.
One guy walked up to me and said "I am Police", and I said "Can I see some identification?!", to which the gentleman in question hastily walked away. I now walked to the edge of the terminal building, and waited in the cold. The time was now 1.30a. The phone-loaner cabbie, and another guy hung around. One guy came up to me and said "If the hotel taxi does not come, I will take you". I told him I was fine. He seemed nice enough, but who knows what monster he would become once I got to the Marriott?! Bad experiences at the outset of a trip colour your perception of a country wrongly, and I wanted to avoid that.
I waited outside, but there were too much cigarette smoke to hang around there, and it was cold. I made my way back to the terminal, knowing full well that the Marriott cabbie would hold a piece of paper with my name. A lot of people arrived on later flights, and I saw them all leave the airport. It was really quite small, with only one terminal to speak of. Not unlike Madras Airport in the olden days (Pre-1998).
Freedom at Last
Finally around 2p, the cab driver came, and I was finally comfortably seated in a Mercedes-Benz! As the driver pulled out, and the phone-loaner cabbie blocked our way. Our driver - a man in his 50's I think - blasted his horn, while the man stared us down. He finally gave us way, and we were off.
This just feels like Madras
Armenia was very much like Madras. The roads were not in the greatest of shape, and the lights, buildings and infrastructure are certainly not Downtown Seattle-esque, but it was like being in Madras. I loved that. My driver was quite chatty, and he sang "Mera Jootha Hai Japani". It seems like Raj Kapoor was everywhere. He said "Hindi Movie, good movie!". I got a good kick out of that one, as I cannot stand Hindi Movies. I bit my tongue though; no point in telling him that Hindi Movies are mostly junk! "India, Armenia good friends", he said. My Armenian was non-existent, and his English was spotty, so we communicated mostly in sign language. We passed by the French Embassy, and the US Embassy, which was a huge building.
At one point, we came to a red light. We stopped, and after cross-traffic had cleared, we were still on Red. Our driver took one look, and darted clear through the intersection! I was shocked. I asked him if he was not afraid of getting in trouble with police, to which he calmly showed me the sign of "counting money", said they were his friends and that it would get him out of any trouble.
We finally made it out to the hotel. We entered the Public Square in Armenia ("Hara Barag" in Armenian), and it was a grand sight. It was a huge roundabout in the center of the city, with very beautiful buildings set around it. I checked in, my eyes burning, but my head as fresh as a daisy. I begged them for some Toothpaste and a Toothbrush, which they said they would send to my room in the morning. I set a wake up call for 7a. I chatted with my boss and my wife, sent a couple of emails, and then went to bed. Richard of Boomerang Software would come to get me at 8a, and I had to be ready for that.
Pictures are here. Part 2 of Armenia trip to follow. It won't have quite the same level of detail as this entry, but I will try and capture the highlights, of which there were many. I will also point out some of the connection between India and Armenia, of which I was very interested in finding more about.
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