Armenia Archives - Wanderwiles

Yerevan, Armenia

Our last three nights in the Caucasus would be in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. After charming boutique hotels in Baku, Azerbaijan, and Tblisi, Georgia, I planned a little big-hotel luxury for the end of our trip. I used Marriott points to book affiliate The Alexander, reputedly the most luxurious hotel in Armenia, with its spa, indoor pool, sauna and steam room. Our driver from Tblisi, Garnik, dropped us off at The Alexander in the early evening. We were greeted warmly and quickly checked into an elegant and spacious room decorated in neutral tones. A welcome note awaited us beside a plate of dried fruit and churchkhela, that popular Georgian sweet made of walnuts and grape paste, a promising start to our time in Yerevan.

The Alexander is just a block away from vast Republic Square, a popular plaza with fountains bracketed by impressive government buildings, wide avenues and the History Museum of Armenia. We headed there our first night and every evening after during our stay to listen to music and people watch.

I didn’t have a lot of must-sees in Yerevan, but The Cascades topped my short list. [See lead photo above.] The Cascades is a huge structure consisting of an interior building and a series of white stone terraces with fountains, modern statuary and gardens that rise 302 meters and 572 steps up a hillside. The building itself houses the Cafesjian Center for the Arts. Even when the Center is closed, there are a series of interior escalators open to the public that provide transport between each of the terraces. Exhibits by the escalators create a free, modern art museum of their own. The Cascades connect the center of Yerevan with Victory Park, which commemorates the Soviet Army’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. On a good day, terraces of The Cascades offer spectacular views of Mount Ararat beyond the city. The day we went, we were lucky to see Ararat rising above clouds that shrouded lower mountains.

Many cafés surround the modern-art filled square at the base of The Cascades and we circled the square twice before we could make a choice. An abundance of café life is a hallmark of Yerevan. We found a dizzying array of selections for food and drink wherever we walked in the city. We went to a popular bar for a tasting of Armenian wines, had dinner at an upscale open-kitchen Armenian restaurant, and enjoyed local craft beer in a garden pub near our hotel. Unfortunately, prices in Yerevan are more in line with Paris than other places in the Caucasus and we’d gotten a little spoiled. Oh well, c’est la vie!

Three nights was a good length of time for us in Yerevan. As I said, not many must-sees. We enjoyed The Alexander, we enjoyed just wandering the city on foot, admiring architecture, exploring parks and neighborhoods, and people-watching. Yerevan is not as oil-money posh or as historic as Baku or as crumbling-yet-fascinating as Tblisi. In a lot of ways, Yerevan felt like a middling European city, a worthwhile stop, but not as intriguing as our earlier days in the Caucasus.

Practical info:

We used YandexGo to hail a 1800 dram (appx. $4.66) ride to the airport. YandexGo is the most popular ride-hailing app in Yerevan and was much cheaper than the taxi the hotel offered to call for us.

We flew Transavia from Yerevan to Paris, approximately 5h15m, non-stop. The Yerevan airport is not big and it didn’t take long to get through security. The plane was new and the flight pleasant.

Abovyan 12’s open-air café, in a garden somewhat hidden behind shops lining Abovyan Street across from The Alexander, is terrific. (You actually walk through the shops to get to the pretty garden restaurant.) We liked it so much we went twice for lunch. [Note: There is an inside restaurant as well which we did not try.]

Sherep is that upscale, open-kitchen restaurant I mentioned above. Reservations are highly recommended, probably necessary. They’ve got lots of traditional Armenian dishes as well as Georgian items. The staff is professional and very friendly. When a recommended “salad” turned out to be nothing like a salad to us (more an extra-creamy coleslaw), they happily took it back and removed the charge.

Wine tasting at In Vino was fun and interesting. Book ahead.

Beer Academy has a modest selection of their own tasty beers with both indoor and outdoor garden seating.

By car from Tblisi, Georgia, to Yerevan, Armenia

Sevanavank (Sevan Monastery and churches) on Lake Sevan

I planned our Caucasus trip with a one-way Azerbaijan Airways flight from Paris (our current home) to Baku, Azerbaijan, with 6 nights in Georgia before a return flight from Yeravan, Armenia, to Paris. We hopped a short Azerbaijan Airways flight from Baku to Tblisi, Georgia. When doing my usual pre-trip research, I quickly decided that combining a transfer by car from Tblisi to Yerevan with a little touring along the way would be a great alternative to the hassle and expense of another flight or a no-frills minibus or private direct transfer. Once again, Viator made finding what I was looking for in the way of Caucasus tours and transfers easy. I connected with Sergey at Private Tours in Armenia and we settled on a Sunday transfer with stops in a couple of monasteries including one at Lake Sevan, the largest body of water in the Caucasus and one of the largest freshwater high-altitude lakes in Eurasia.

As with our first day trip in Georgia, a different driver showed up on the day of our transfer. Garnik arrived in front of our hotel promptly a few minutes before 8am and WhatsApped me a greeting and a photo of his car. This change in names was a little disconcerting, but Sergey replied promptly when I checked in with him that Garnik was his cousin and covering this transfer. Good enough.

It turned out that Garnik lived in Yeravan and had gotten up in the wee hours to drive to Tblisi to pick us up. These tour guides and drivers are some hard-working folks! Despite a treaty last fall between Armenia and Azerbaijan, there were still people not happy with the terms resulting in on-going disputes and Garnik wasn’t sure his first choice of places to cross the border would be open. We were also a little concerned that we might have trouble crossing since we had Azerbaijan stamps in our passports, but Garnik didn’t think it would be a problem. At the Georgia-Armenia border, Garnik pointed out where we needed to walk through passport control. We had no problems at all, although there was some hold up with an Asian tour group and we did hear the words “Baku” and “Azerbaijan.” Mostly, though, there seemed to be a big language problem with English as a common language in which no one seemed fluent. Sergey appeared at this point to introduce himself and say that he was driving other clients on a similar route to ours. He’d tried an up-sell online a few days before, but we’d declined extra stops that included more monasteries and a MiG airplane museum. I gathered he was hoping to caravan with Garnik, but we declined once more and we didn’t see Sergey again until hours later in the parking area below Sevanavank although he and Garnik stayed in touch by phone. I felt Sergey wanted to coordinate and make sure all went well for us. Once we had our passports stamped, we walked through security and browsed a duty-free shop while Garnik took the car through vehicle border security. The whole process went quickly and we met him on the Armenia side of the border to resume our ride.

Garnik said Sergey had suggested a route a little different that what we’d originally planned as he wanted to add a free stop to our agenda. Unfortunately, this route had us running up against a roadblock due to border disputes and protests. Faced by police and locals, Garnik had to turn the car around and retrace our path some distance back.

Road blocked due to border protests; time to turn back

Despite this (interesting) setback, we arrived at Monastery of Sanahin – Church of the Redeemer (966AD), a UNESCO World Heritage Site as planned. Garnik parked the car near a series of vendors booths and sent us ahead to explore the monastery on our own. The abandoned monastery provides a hauntingly beautiful site with its gray stone arches and jumble of ancient tombstones serving as a floor.

An open skylight through a domed ceiling lit the scene. Recorded music played in a small chapel which offered the only sign of current use aside from the scattering of tourists and a group of students that arrived near the end of our visit.

After Sanahin, we enjoyed a fun stop at a huge roadside restaurant/deli/bakery/fuel stop. This place was fascinating. The bakery featured big open brick ovens for bread like we’d see in Kakheti, a huge fireplace in the restaurant area, and spiffy bathrooms reminiscent of a “Buc-ee’s” in Texas. We bought Armenian pastries suggested by Garnik and enjoyed them with coffee before resuming our journey.

Since we were running behind schedule due to the border dispute that blocked the road, Garnik asked if I wanted to skip Lake Sevan. No way! (Besides when I looked at Google Maps, it didn’t seem to make any difference if we drove to Yeravan via Lake Sevan or by another route. Of course, the whole idea was to stop at Lake Sevan and see the monastery there, so that would take some time.) Garnik was game for whatever we wanted to do, so we headed to Lake Sevan.

A major benefit of traveling by car instead of airplane is the ability to see a country beyond its major cities. We passed through several towns and villages during our drive, struck by how often we saw large factories standing abandoned and derelict. Remnants of Soviet rule, they stand as testament to the economic upheaval in the region brought on by the collapse of the Soviet Union.

At 1,900 m (6234 ft) and with clouds rolling in and a breeze off the water, it was chilly when we arrived at Lake Sevan. Garnik waited below as David and I hiked up a lot of stairs to the top of a steep hill to where Sevanavank (Sevan Monastery and its two churches) overlooks Lake Sevan. [See lead photo above.] Founded in 874AD, the monastery sits on a peninsula that was once an island before the lake lowered by draining during the Stalin era. Only one of the two small churches was open to the public, ornate and filled with flowers.

Starting on a path towards the tip of the peninsula, David turned back to wait in the warmth of the church while I hiked to the tip. I enjoyed the rugged, barren view, but he may have been the smarter of the two of us.

Descending into Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, the skies cleared and the temperature warmed. As we entered the city, Garnik told us how much he loved his city, clearly glad to be home. We arrived late afternoon at The Alexander, billed as the most luxurious hotel in Armenia and a fun splurge for the last three nights of our Caucasus travels.

Practical info:

I booked The Alexander, a Luxury Collection Hotel, with a Marriott free night and points. It’s a fabulous hotel and a great point value, in my opinion. We enjoyed our stay and made use of the indoor pool, sauna and steam room. The view of Mt. Ararat from the spa seating area and balcony is spectacular. The Alexander is a short walk to Republic Square. There is also an elegant-looking Marriott just off Republic Square, but it is substantially cheaper and I found The Alexander a better use of my certificate and points.

I booked our transfer/tour with Private Tours in Armenia (+37441023333) via Viator. I paid $190 for the transfer and stops, a luxury price in the region, but it made for a comfortable, hassle-free day entirely suited to our interests. There was no charge for entry to the monasteries, so our only additional costs were for refreshments and a tip.

May 2024

A Photo of Baku leads to 12 Nights in the Caucasus

This photo is my own, but similar to the one that originally caught my attention.

I can’t say how many times an interesting photo has caught my eye and led me to plan yet another trip, but Baku, Azerbaijan, was definitely one of those times. I don’t even remember where I first saw that intriguing image of a classic Islamic medina (“old town”) with three flame-shaped skyscrapers looming in the background, but I do know I started researching straight away. Baku. Even the name was unfamiliar and intriguing. Azerbaijan I knew nothing about. “The Caucasus” for me was a region usually in the news because of some conflict involving Russia and/or Turkey. I clearly needed to know more.

Having traveled Uzbekistan last September, I was interested in seeing more of the old Silk Road. A quick search showed non-stop flights to Baku from Paris (our current home) on Azerbaijan Airlines. This was a new airline for me so merited a little more research even though I’m usually reassured by EU safety standards for airlines servicing the European Union. Reviews looked good, the timing was reasonable, the price was fair.

I originally pondered making this a short, one-city visit, but naturally looked at what was nearby as well. Researching Baku put the Caucasus in general on my radar screen and that meant Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia and part of Russia. Current international relations and the war in Ukraine meant Russia was off the table, and I’d traveled in Russia before anyway. Tblisi, Georgia, is a short flight away from Baku, once again on Azerbaijan Airlines. That sounded promising and a Scotsman we’d met in Uzbekistan gave it a thumbs-up. The more I read about Tblisi and Georgia, the more appealing the whole country became and Tblisi became a definite follow-up to Baku.

Armenia came into focus when I realized there were day tours to some Armenian monasteries from Tblisi. If you could do a day tour, could we maybe combine a day tour with a transfer all the way to Yerevan, the capital of Armenia? We could! And Transavia offered reasonably-priced non-stop flights back to Paris from Yerevan. Better and better.

However, research also led to more info about the recent war between Azerbaijan and Armenia. A cease-fire was signed last November, so things seemed to be settling down. But still… And there were posts about problems getting into Armenia with an Azerbaijani stamp in a passport, but they were not very recent. Hmm. I read some more and decided to go for it. I had a plan: 4 nights in Baku (with 1 day tour), 6 nights in Tblisi (with 2 day tours spaced between free days in Tblisi), and 3 nights in Yerevan. I chose highly-rated boutique hotels in Baku (in the old town) and Tblisi (across from the opera on the main avenue) and a luxury hotel in Yerevan for a final hurrah paid for entirely with hotel points. I booked the iconic day tour from Baku directly with the tour operator: “mud volcanoes”, an ancient dwelling place full of cave drawings, a Zoroastrian temple, and “Fire Mountain” where natural gas burned perpetually on a hillside. I booked the day tours from Tblisi via Viator: monasteries, the historic old capital and cathedral, Stalin’s childhood home, a cave city one day; and, a great day wine tasting and cooking on Georgia’s preeminent wine route.

The only hiccup in my plans came weeks in advance when Azerbaijan Airlines canceled our Thursday flight, offering to re-booked us on the same flight on Friday. It was a disappointing loss of one day in Baku, but not a big deal. The hotel changed our booking and deducted the cost of a night, we still had a great time both on the tour and exploring on our own, and while we would have enjoyed the extra day, we hit all my Baku must-sees in the time we had.

The trip itself was fun and a learning experience. We witnessed mass pro-democracy demonstrations nightly in Tblisi passing under our balcony, were obliged to re-route due to an Armenia-Azerbaijan border dispute, and heard both sides of clashes that have marked the history of the region. Now that I’ve set the scene for our Caucasus adventure, I’ll write about each destination in separate posts. There’s much to share!

May 2024