Yerevan
It's some 27 years since I was last in Yerevan, in the days of the USSR and if memory serves me correctly, alcohol was pretty scarce then . How things have changed. Yerevan is now a vibrant bustling city, full of cafes and bars and young people. It's probably not a city that will ever be known for it's attractive skyline but don't be put off by that. I found plenty of things to see and do during my visit.
A full collection of photos from the trip can be found on Flickr
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Katoghike Church |
The Guinness
I had a feeling from the very outset of my challenge, some twelve years ago, that Yerevan may be one of the most challenging places to find a Guinness in and so it proved to be. Back then I recall trawling the internet and coming across a blog describing the scarcity of Guinness in the city. I contacted Christian again who confirmed the situation was no easier now and Guinness hunting equally challenging.
For quite a while I felt optimistic I'd found a solution when I discovered that BEERevan was advertising being the only outlet for draught Guinness in Yerevan and yes, they were kind enough to confirm that in a message to me. They were also however kind enough to inform me the week before my trip that they had unfortunately run out.
It was therefore back to the fall-back plan of taking a couple of 'emergency' cans with me. Fortunately I was travelling Air France so didn't have to pay an arm and a leg for taking hold baggage.
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| National Gallery |
In desperation I had contacted the Irish Consul in Yerevan asking if he knew anywhere serving Guinness but sadly not. His alternative idea however made eminent sense, that I brought a few extra cans then we could indeed share them and the occasion together.
Plans however were somewhat blown apart by the arrival of Daniel, the young driver who my hostel had arranged to pick me up from the airport. Daniel was one of these people you trusted immediately and upon hearing my story took it upon himself to personally solve my dilemma. The next night we met up and set off in search of Guinness. The first place drew a blank but Danial's experience as a bar owner in Yerevan came to the fore. A few phone calls later and we were heading to the Irish Bar. From the depths of their fridge they did indeed drag out one cold Guinness glass and two bottles of Guinness. Problem solved! A very pleasant evening ensued, sampling the local beer and a Lebanese cocktail in another nearby bar and learning a lot more about Armenia and it's people. Thank you Daniel.
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| Enjoying a cool rare Guinness in the Irish Bar |
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| Daniel picks out Rome as my next destination. |
At the end of my visit I kept to my prearranged plan of meeting up with the Irish Consul. We had a lovely evening sampling Armenian wine and it was an excellent opportunity to learn more about the history and culture of this fascinating country. Many thanks.
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| I can certainly recommend a glass of Armenian wine in fine company. |
I had four full days in Yerevan. I'd originally hoped to get out of the city on a tour but as it was low-season it was there didn't seem to be any running. There was plenty to do I found in the city itself. Each day I explored in a different direction. There's old churches, lots of art work and the inevitable monuments dating back to Soviet times.
I revisited the Genocide Memorial, again somewhere I'd been in 1987, but this time a new museum has been added that let's just sat, doesn't pull any punches. It's not for the faint hearted.
I was staying close to the Opera house and for once I succeeded in getting a ticket for an event. Often I'm unlucky with timings or have just failed to find out how to get a ticket but here even the box office was prepared to deal with someone like me who spoke zero of the native language. I saw soprano Anahit Nersisyan giving it her all. There's a tradition in Armenia it seems to show your appreciation by gifting the singer a bunch of flowers at the end of songs. The stage looked like a flower shop by the end of the concert.
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| Anahit Nersisyan, an Armenian now living in California, returns to Yerevan and gives it her all. |
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| The Genocide Memorial and Eternal Flame |
The Geocaching
As is often the case I set myself a target of finding at least one geocache in a new country. They shouldn't have been too difficult in Armenia as there are 39 caches in the country, and about eight in or near central Yerevan. After a couple of days however I had drawn a blank. Either they had all been stolen or I had suddenly got very bad a geocaching.
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| An Armenian geocache sits proudly on top of an Armenian trig point. What more could a man want! |
I stayed at the Envoy Hostel which is very central indeed. Although I had my own room there was plenty of opportunity to meet other hostellers in the lounge area. As is often the case, others were being much more adventurous than me and had either traveled over from Mongolia and through all the ...stans or had come up from Iran and were on their way back through Europe.
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| The Fat Cat and the Cascade |
Well, I think I've already mentioned the beer and wine, so that just leaves the food. Again, I don't think I did the country justice and failed to track down a traditional Armenian meal. There's a shawarma (kebab) restaurant Artashi Mot not far from the hostel that serves some excellent food and is always busy. I spent far too much time in there!
Getting there and back
There are no cheap flights from Western Europe to Armenia that I could find so I chose to fly Air France via Paris. You would normally expect such a flight to be totally uneventful but not in this case.
About half an hour in to the Paris to Yerevan flight I heard shouting coming from the back of the plane, some seven rows behind me. At first I thought it was someone having a bad dream or being ill. On turning around I saw quite a commotion and bloody hand prints on the walls. It turned out that an escorted prisoner attempted to slash himself, probably to avoid repatriation. He was wrestled to the floor, patched up, bound up and tied to the toilet for the rest of the flight. Enough to put you off your dinner.
On the way back I shared the Paris to Birmingham leg with the Stade Francais rugby team coming over to England to play Leicester. This was poignant as it was the day preceding the shootings in Paris at Stade Francais that killed 130 people.
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| Yerevan Cathedral |
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| Mother Armenia |
