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Armenia prides itself on being the first nation to formally adopt Christianity (early 4th century). Despite periods of autonomy, over the centuries Armenia came under the sway of various empires including the Roman, Byzantine, Arab, Persian, and Ottoman. It was incorporated into Russia in 1828 and the USSR in 1920. Armenian leaders remain preoccupied by the long conflict with Muslim Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, a primarily Armenian-populated region, assigned to Soviet Azerbaijan in the 1920s by Moscow. Armenia and Azerbaijan began fighting over the area in 1988; the struggle escalated after both countries attained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. By May 1994, when a cease-fire took hold, Armenian forces held not only Nagorno-Karabakh but also a significant portion of Azerbaijan proper. The economies of both sides have been hurt by their inability to make substantial progress toward a peaceful resolution. Turkey imposed an economic blockade on Armenia and closed the common border because of the Armenian occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding areas. To be updated

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By Nebraska Nomad
April 24th 2007

Back in the USSR - Armenia Part I

Asia » Armenia » West » Yerevan

Stairs to Heaven

It’s been three years now since I departed my life from deep behind the Iron Curtain: Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan…and over a year since I departed my life in the Balkans….they seem like only distant dreams to me now. But it took roughly three seconds to revert to the behavior necessary to survive in this place. My first sign that I was back was the contingent of soldiers waiting for us at the bottom of the air-stairs which allowed us to de-board the plane—despite the presence of unused jet-bridges just 300 meters from my now parked 737. The deplaning Czech A [View Full Entry]

By bedreddin
April 24th 2007

The Republic of Yerevan

Asia » Armenia » West » Yerevan

love at first sight
my freedom fighter and me... certainly not the reception i was expecting

It's Genocide Memorial Day. You know, remembering the 1.5 million (exact amount disputed) Ottoman Armenians killed during their deportation in WWI. 92 years later, and there's still a pretty big turnout; an unending throng of people bearing flowers or wreaths to the Memorial to be placed around the eternal flame as dramatic music is played on loudspeakers and the whole thing is broadcasted live on TV. It's April 24 and if you think that means it's warm and sunny you're very much mistaken. It's snowing heavily, giving the whole thing an even more dramatic and eerie atmosphere. Not the be [View Full Entry]

By Bernii
September 9th 2006

Out Before You Know It and No News is Good News

Asia » Armenia

Wow, wow, wow! Can't believe I'm in another country and have to tackle another language / alphabet / exchange rate! The road out of Tbilisi was as roads are out of capitals - quite uninspiring. But from Marneuli onwards the road cut through a beautiful valley. Add to this heavenly blue skies, puffy white clouds, a gentle tail wind, a mild temperature (finally below 30C - yay) and you have a perfect cycling day. Although I had actually planned to stop near the border of Georgia and Armenia I decided to cross instead. In fact, this part of the country, on [View Full Entry]

By kristine
August 31st 2006

recommand

Asia » Armenia

My husband and me, we traveled to Nepal last autumn. We trusted an internet recommendation and chose Sherpa Paseng Dendi trekking company while still at home in Luxembourg. We were so pleasantly surprised upon arrival in Kathmandu as Dendi Pasang had succesfully organised everything starting from airport pickup, city tour, friendship dinner, hotel arrangement, plane tickets to Lukla etc. Our trekking guides for the 2 week trekking tour into Khumbu Everest region were Furwa Lama and Karma Gyalzen and we could not have wished better companions for that! Apart from ensuring smooth functioning (in [View Full Entry]

By His Dudeness
July 31st 2006

Monasteries and bad bills...

Asia » Armenia » West » Yerevan

Alaverdi
Soviet mines and factories in Alaverdi

So what is Armenia all about...? Well, there are a lot of old beautiful monasteries and the nature is fantastic... But be warned it is also a country where you are constantly fighting with waiters, taxi drivers, marshrutka drivers and store clerks... Non existing drinks are put on the bills in restaurants, the taxi drivers always grossly overcharge you and nobody seems to be happy with your business... When you enter a shop you get the feeling that you have disturbed them from drinking coffee or the fine art of staring at the wall and that they rather have you leave... [View Full Entry]

By Dr Jon
July 17th 2006

Against the wall

Asia » Armenia » West » Yerevan

Sneaky Peet
The remnants of my two pound bag of Peets hiding under the cabinet.

Each morning I pull myself out of bed, shuffle into the kitchen, and light a burner. I can usually do this without opening my eyes. This morning the match burned down to my fingers before I realized something was wrong. No gas. I'm good at thinking under stress. It must be from my days working as an orderly in the ER. Even in my half conscious state my mind quickly mapped out plan B: Art Bridge. Every Third World capitol has an Art Bridge. In Colombo it was Deli France, in Harare it was Italian Bakery. This is the cafe where [View Full Entry]

By Dr Jon
July 10th 2006

Christmas in July

Asia » Armenia » West » Yerevan

Midterm
These are my students who dutifully distributed themselves about the Great Auditorium. I almost had a heart attach running from student to student answering questions.

I'm bracing for tomorrow's onslaught. I passed back the midterms on Friday, but told them no grade grubbing until Monday, tomorrow. The students at AUA have taken the art of cajoling the extra point to an extreme that I have never before witnessed. They managed to reduce my TA to tears the night she handed back their homework assignments. I had been warned to take extra precautions against cheating, so I gave the midterm in the Great Auditorium. AUA used to be the commie equivalent of a corporate retreat. Every year faithful party members would pack themselves into the lecture rooms [View Full Entry]

By Dr Jon
July 3rd 2006

Brushes with fame and Kalfka

Asia » Armenia » West » Yerevan

Mayr Tachar
The Mother Church of Armenia

Dilapidated minivans called marshrutkas are the preferred mode of travel in the Caucuses. They are cheap and fast and will take you across town, across the country, even across international borders. The downside is that they can get crowded. To make matters worse, Armenians have a strange fear of drafts, believing that a single gust virtually guarantees pneumonia. As a result, all of the windows are closed tight in a marshrutka, which makes it like a rolling sauna. This morning I took a marshrutka an hour out of town to Echmiadzin, the "Vatican" of the Armenian Apostolic Faith. Founded in [View Full Entry]

By Dr Jon
June 26th 2006

Penis sheers and the Matrix unplugged

Asia » Armenia » West » Yerevan

Barf
This is a popular brand of laundry soap.

The turnstiles in the Yerevan subway work the opposite way that turnstiles normally work. They are open all of the time, unless you try to walk through without depositing a token, then they snap shut. There is a line of turnstiles at the entrance, so it's not clear if the token goes in the right slot or the left. Despite surging crowds behind me, I always hesitate as I approach. I notice the other men in line doing the same. +++++ When I moved into my apartment I commented that the numerous valves and pipes reminded me of the inside of [View Full Entry]

By Dr Jon
June 19th 2006

Unaligned Planets and Crossed Stars

Asia » Armenia » West » Yerevan

Follow that horse
Our bus was led to the picnic site by a man on a horse. If you look carefully, you might be able to see him galloping ahead of us.

It's Sunday night and I just returned from the third annual AUA School of Engineering picnic. The students (and some of the faculty) had to be coaxed into going this year because the previous two picnics weren't well organized. That's an understatement. In both cases they simply loaded 80 people into a couple of busses and spent the next few hours aimlessly driving around the countryside looking for a place to spread out. In one instance they set up in a meadow owned by a farmer who became irate when he discovered 80 people trampling down his prime grazing grass. They [View Full Entry]

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Travel Blog » Asia » Armenia