11/13 - Touring Armenia

The past few weeks have been travel-filled. At the end of October schools had a fall break which enabled me to do some sightseeing in the southern part of the country as well as get together with other PCVs for a Halloween get together. The sightseeing getaway took me to the village of Tatev in Syunik Marz. The main sight here is an old monastery overlooking an absolutely beautiful gorge. There also is a cable car running between Tatev and a village across the gorge, Halidzor. Both were pretty cool to see. Mostly, I was blown away by the scenery of this area. Southern Armenia has some absolutely breathtaking sites. Definitely better looking than my area; I envy the PCVs in that area just a bit. However I do not envy them for the weather. The second day we were in Tatev, it was extremely foggy. The bus ride (and subsequent taxi ride) were pretty scary. There were a ton of swtichbacks over steep mountain cliffs that the drivers just barely got by. Like I said, I do not envy the PCVs in southern Armenia!

The rest of my fall break was spent in the northern part of the country, in a town called Berd.

Another Volunteer hosted a Halloween get together there. Again, this is another very foggy part of the country. At least this time it made for a great Halloween atmosphere! Overall, this gathering was great. I got to meet some A18 Volunteers whom I hadn't laid eyes on yet and catch up with some Volunteers from my group whom I hadn't seen in a while. I hope to go back to Berd sometime in the spring or summer; it seemed like it's very pretty in the non-foggy months!

After this fall break extravaganza, I returned to my site for a week, only to leave again the next! This past week we had our first in-service training with PC. We spent four days in a hotel in Dilijan where we attended various sessions on language, safety, teaching practices, etc. It was required that all A19 volunteers attend this conference so I got to catch up with a lot of people again. Many A18 volunteers attended as well. All in all, it was an enjoyable conference. The hotel was beautiful and so were the surroundings. Dilijan is a very wooded, mountainous region. Some other volunteers concluded that it looks a bit like Vermont or Washington. I’ve never been to either one, so who knows!

All this traveling got me thinking about public transportation in Armenia. I can’t make quite up my mind about it. On one hand, it’s a lot more simple and accessible than public transportation in the States. On the other, it’s not entirely reliable or comfortable.

The most common form of public transportation is marshutni, also known as minibuses. Really, they are 14-seater vans that often cram 20+ people into their seats. Marshutnis travel predetermined routes and schedules. However, one can flag down a marshutni along this route at any point. Likewise, you can get off at any point. Marshutnis travel within bigger cities (Yerevan, Gyumri, etc.), but also service the regional areas. A marshutni to my town (one way) costs 500 drams, roughly $1.50. In addition to marshutnis, there are trains, taxis, and regular buses that travel throughout Armenia and its cities – these all work just as you would imagine elsewhere in the world. I’m lucky enough to have all options available from my site to Yerevan.

So in a sense, this is great. In each town and most villages, there are marshutnis and taxis available. In many others you will find buses and in some, trains. In this respect, Armenia public transportation trumps the States’. I can’t recall the number of times I wished to myself back home that there was some public transportation to or from lil’ ol’ Delaware.

However, the transportation isn’t always reliable here. There have been a few times when marshutnis and buses don’t run due to political happenings in the capital. Also, when they do run, all seats are often taken. You’d think that this means no one else can get on, but nope! the drivers generally allow as many people on as there is space for. One often ends up standing or sitting with someone else’s child or groceries in one’s lap. Needless to say, hilarity ensues. One time, this summer, I was on a marshutni that was so packed, any time someone open the door, I nearly fell out! And whenever someone tried to close the door, I had to move my butt out of the way first!

Winter is starting to set in around here. Mine is one of the few sites that hasn’t gotten snow. I don’t know how much I’ll be able to travel during the winter months, but I hope it’s frequently enough to avoid cabin fever!

Until next time…!