Armenian Genocide

Armenia is a very beautiful country with a lot of very warm people.  I felt easily at home when I went for a short vacation in Armenia.  The family who adopted us for a while was so loving.  The people we mingle with, though the communication barrier is really an issue, are very welcoming and nice.  They are beautiful both inside and out.  But behind these warm welcome and smile, this small Caucasian country has gone through a lot in the past.  The saddest part of this country is the Armenian genocide.

The Genocide museum 

 I was lucky enough to be able to visit the Genocide museum.  The museum is situated in Tsitsernakaberd in Yerevan.  In 1915, the Ottoman empire arrested and eventually murdered about 1.5  million Armenians.  

Turks teasing the starving Armenian children with food

For the story of Armenian genocide, check on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_Genocide

How to budget travel to Armenia

Here is the breakdown of our budget travel to Armenia.  

• Air ticket

Whether you are backpacking or budget travelling, there are a lot of airlines that give lesser fare fee when the ticket is bought online months before.  In our case, i have checked the different airlines including Fly Dubai, Air Arabia and Armenian Airline.  Luckily, I have a cleartrip account and purchased an Air Arabia ticket for only 800 AED (Dubai-Yerevan and Yerevan-Dubai).  But six months before that, the fare was only 500 AED but we cannot decide because of leave issues at work

• Visa

Visa for Filipinos in Armenia can be taken upon arrival for only 3000 Armenian dram or about 27 dirhams for 10 days.  It is very easy to get Armenian visa from the airport.  Just remember to change dollars to Dram.  The immigration officers do not accept other currency except dram.  The exchange center inside the airport does not accept dirhams, only dollars or euros.  Always give them exact change or lesser amount at least 5000 drams or exact 3000 drams.  The officers will give you a "Russian eye" look if you give them 20,000 drams.

• Accommodation 

There a lot of accommodation booking sites online.  Always check the rating for these accommodations even for hotels.  For homestay and hostels, you can find on the following websites:

Air BNB

Booking.com

We had the best time in Homestay Yeravan.  The host family is very accommodating.  The food is great and the place is very near to the city center.  For only 372  dirhams for 5 days/4 nights with free abundant breakfast daily, what more can you ask  for?

The beautiful view from the balcony of Homestay Yerevan

• Things to do in Armenia for free or lesser budget

We love finding out things on our own, so we did not depend on any tours and beside, the tours are just too limited to know the country.  Before we left Dubai, i had planned our itinerary by the day.  Most if not all were fulfilled.  We only had 1000 dirhams as our pocket money and I am so proud to say that it was more than enough for all our DIY tours, food and even a 12,200-dram leather jacket on sale.

Another tip is to find other tourists to share taxi fees or transportation fees with you.  Luckily, we met several Filipinos who were travelling.  Some were on package but no tour included, so we asked then to join us in our plan.  They were so thankful that they joined us because what we had was more than a tour package.

Day 1:  Free walking tour (covered most of Yeravan) - we gave a tip of 10,000 drams and souvenir from Dubai.
           Dinner at Rossia Mall - Pork shawarma, fries and drinks - 3000 drams

Day 2:  Mountain tour                       80,000 drams for four persons
           Khor Virap
           Khor Virap cemetery
           Noravank
           Stone henge
           Tatev - Guinness book of world record

           Snacks and drinks                  1500 drams

           Dinner at Queen burger           2100 drams - three pork steak, fries and veggies

Day 3:  Churches, monastery and pagan temple             20,000 drams for four persons


      Etchmiadzin Cathedral 
      Roasted chicken dinner and half liter of beer each (street side) - 5500 drams for two

      Central Armenian Aposttolic Church where we found the first letter of our one true love :)
      Garni temple
      Geghard Monastery
      Vernissage market
      Republic square at night
      North ave
      Karabala statue
      Public market

                  
Day 4:  History tour                              15,000 for two persons

            Armenian alphabet monument
            Genocide museum
            Tsirani Restaurant complex       16,000 drams for three persons
            Mother Armenia
            Say cheese
            Sunset at Cascades
           
           Dinner at KFC                                   1450 drams for two persons


Day 5:  On our way to the airport           5000 drams

        The red piano inside the airport
        Airport sunrise

   

Cemetery

• Food

When budget travelling, do not eat in fancy restaurants.  We dared to eat local foods and most food in Armenia are handmade.  When on your feet, do not buy water from street kioks as it cost 300 drams for 500 ml mineral water.  There is a drinking fountain everywhere that you can drink free.  They said it is very clean and safe but since we do not want to take chances, we buy bottled water.  You can buy water, coffee and softdrinks from vendo machines also.  Water from vendo machine is only 150 drams but if you can go to SAS supermarket, a liter of water is only 200 drams, that saves you much.

Eat from small cafeterias and eateries.

Restaurants in North avenue is far more expensive compared to other branches out of North avenue.

There are a lot of fast food chains around Yerevan but there is no McDonald's and Starbucks.  You can find starbucks coffee for sale in SAS supermarket.

Buy the bread - puri, lavash, gata - they are very filling.

Remember to always eat your FREE breakfast from your accommodation.

• Friends

To lessen the burden for fees, be sociable.  There are other tourists who do not have plans and you can mutually both enjoy each other's company with a lesser budget.

New found friends

• Memories

Charge all your gadgets and get ready with a power bank.  Do not miss the memories.  You only travel once in a place and make the most out of it.

These are just few tips on how to budget travel to Armenia.  They may also be applicable to other places.  The most important thing in budget travelling is having fun with a little less budget.  Seize the moment for we you only live once.  

Budget travel to Armenia

If you are on a budget and would like to have a getaway, here are tips for a budget travel to Armenia.  

1.  Plan your trip.  Have a travel checklist.  A month or two before your flight list down all your itineraries, homestay and food plans, etc.  If you plan well, the budget is more than enough.  Our pocket money was only 1000 aed and it was enough including souvenirs.  :)

• Book tickets six months before on Air Arabia for real cheap tickets.
• Book homestay on Homestay Yerevan or Diana Hovakimyan.  This is the most loving and accommodating Armenian family I have ever met.
• Check out things to do on a budget in different blog sites or Virtual Tourist.

2.  Free walking Tour.  The free walking tour is all over world.  You just have to find one in the place you are visiting.  In Armenia, the best free walking tour is Yerevan free walking tour.  Vako, the tour guide is very passionate of his country.  I learned a lot of things from him about Armenian history and culture.  The free walking tour is obviously free :) but tips are accepted and drinking at a bar after is optional.  He gives away backpackers' map after the tour finishes on top of the Cascades.

Yerevan Free Walking Tour.

3. Taxi Service.  Though transportation options in Armenia are many - Metro, bus, taxis and marshrutka, there is no Engligh translation on the bus route, so it is quite hard to get in and out of public transportation.  What we did was ask the owner of homestay Yerevan to recommend a taxi driver.  Luckily, they have a wonderful family friend, Narek, who knows English and treated us like sisters.  At times, if he does not understand what we want, he would call his wife, Luce' (very loving) to interpret for us.  We used Narek's taxi for out of town tours and even nearby town  tours.  He always refused to eat with us but a day before we left Armenia, he agreed to have a lunch date with us in Tsirani Garden Restaurant Complex.  Narek can be contacted through Diana of Homestay Yerevan or through Whatsap on +374 99934488.  He can drive through zero visibility snowy foggy mountains, that is real taxi service.

Narek at the Zvartnots airport

3. Be sociable and find tourists who would like to share fees for tours.  To save up on on our budget, we always make it a point to smile at every one especially Filipinos on tour and that is where conversation starts.  Then, we ask "re you planning to go out of town or out of city? " Then say, we have this taxi and we can share the fare, etc, etc.  And so, we shared and it lessened the burden of tour fees.  

With Jess and Jobelle, our new found friends

For the breakdown of tour fees, please read my other blog on Armenia budget travel - How to budget travel to Armenia.

4. Go off the beaten path.  As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.  Find something that is not usually seen on FB or travel pages.  We went to public markets, street alleys, mountain tops out of the usual path (where we met an Azerbaijan man who prayed for us), bordering towns and even cemeteries.  In this way, there is no  tour fee but we learn from these places and got nice pictures too.  Narek, our driver, actually got the shock of his life when I told him to stop in the cemetery he he he.

One of the cemeteries in Armenia

5.  Eat on the streets and small cafeterias.  The street food in Armenia is amazing.  The taste is so fresh and hmmmm, really home made.  The bread is so delicious and warms my heart.  The coffee? one of the best!  One big whole roasted chicken is only 3,000 Dram which is about 23 dirhams.  Best to eat with Armenian beer, Kilikia.

Pork shawarma is <3

So, there goes my budget travel to Armenia.  To see the world with limited budget requires planning and meeting new friends.  Dare to get out of the usual paths, go out of your way and learn about the country with such a limited time and limited budget BUT with a fulfilled heart.

10 Travel Photo Challenge - Armenia

Before I traveled to Armenia, I have listed down 10 + 1 travel photo challenges.  The 10 + 1 (for anything goes) are as below:

1. Sunrise and sunset

Zvartnots airport sunrise

Took this atop the Cascades in Yerevan

2. Airport

Zvartnots Airport Armenia

3. View from balcony 

St. Gregory the Illuminator Church as seen from our balcony

4. Architecture

Garni pagan  temple

5. Local currency

Armenian dram

6. Local Food

Assorted Armenian food

7, Local People

Deacons, real karabala, vendors and our hosts

8. Coffee

Armenian coffee, one of the bests

9. Transportation

Old soviet car, bus, metro and matrhuska

10. Backpack shot

+1 Anything goes.

And all good things will be stored into memories.  Thank you Armenia!

Finding myself in Armenia

I have not been putting entries on my blog these past few days.  I am in Armenia.  Why did I go to Armenia?  I felt burnt out from work, from people around me and felt myself being a "monster".  Hurting people's, especially friends, feelings is the least thing I want to happen.  So, I packed my bag and decided to take a break away from Dubai.

Armenia is a rich country stripped off of their own original identity.  The Armenians are very passionate about their country.  Most, if not all, have not forgotten how the Soviet Union has occupied them.  The oldies would prefer being under Russia but the young ones don't.  The saddest part of their history is the Armenian Genocide.

The Armenian Genocide^[11] (Armenian: Հայոց ցեղասպանություն,^{[note 3]} Hayots tseghaspanutyun; Turkish: Ermeni Soykırımı), also known as the Armenian Holocaust,^[12] was the Ottoman government's systematic extermination of 1.5 million Armenians, mostly Ottoman citizens within the Ottoman Empire and its successor state, the Republic of Turkey.^[13][14]The starting date is conventionally held to be 24 April 1915, the day that Ottoman authorities rounded up, arrested, and deported 235 to 270 Armenian intellectuals and community leaders from Constantinople to Ankara, the majority of whom were eventually murdered. The genocide was carried out during and after World War I and implemented in two phases: the wholesale killing of the able-bodied male population through massacre and subjection of army conscripts to forced labour, followed by the deportation of women, children, the elderly, and the infirm on death marches leading to the Syrian desert. Driven forward by military escorts, the deportees were deprived of food and water and subjected to periodic robbery, rape, and massacre.^[15][16][17] Other indigenous and Christian ethnic groups such as the Assyrians and the Ottoman Greeks were similarly targeted for extermination by the Ottoman government in the Assyrian genocide and the Greek genocide, and their treatment is considered by some historians to be part of the same genocidal policy.^[18][19] Most Armenian diaspora communities around the world came into being as a direct result of the genocide.^[20]

(SOURCE:  Wikipedia)

The Genocide museum in Tsitsernakaberd, Armenia

Yerevan  (Երեւան) is the capital city of Armenia.  It is also the largest city in Armenia.  We can find the Republic Square, The Cascades, Yerevan Opera House, Kafesjian museum, St. Gregory the Illuminator Church, St. Sargis church and a lot of pink-looking buildings.  Yerevan is called the Pink City because most of the buildings are colored pink.  The pink impression is given by the stone used which is typical in the mountains of Armenia.  Most buildings and houses are of typical Soviet type structures.

Republic Square in Yerevan

Armenia is the first Christian country in the whole world adapting Christianity since 301.  The Armenians are passionate about their religion.  This is obvious with a lot of churches and monasteries in Armenia.  According to our driver, Armenia consists of 90% Christians who are passionately in love with Jesus Christ evidenced by their love of the cross - the Khachkar.  The Khachkar or the Armenian cross is all over Armenia.  Khachkar means the cross rock.  The Khachkar is an object of worship for the Armenians.

Khachkar

This country is also known for wine, cognac and brandy.  Armenia has the best tasting wine.  The beer is just right to taste.  Most Armenians drink and smoke maybe because of the cold weather.  It is normal for Armenians to smoke even in family restaurants.

Karas wine along the airport

May Hayrenik (Մեր Հայրենիք) or Our fatherland is national anthem of Armenia.  The Armenian flag is composed of three colors - red, blue and orange.  Orange symbolizes the apricot which is the national fruit of Armenia.  

The Armenian flag in front of a museum

The people of Armenia are very loving, sweet and one of the nicest people I have ever met.  The Homestay where we spent our vacation and soul searching made us feel like family.  Homestay Yerevan can be booked through Homestay Yeravan in booking.com.  This Armenian family made excellent homemade breakfast and introduced us to the best driver in Yerevan, Narek.

Narek, the best  Armenian driver with Lerma, my friend

Our homestay family

Armenia, oh Armenia, a place I fell in love with.

FILCOM Retreat Day 2: Pangarap

FILCOM Retreat Day One: PAG-IBIG Dubai

Retreat master:  Fr. Jboy Gonzales, SJ

DU30 themed birthday party

My very good friend, and mother shepherd in the handmaids of the Lord celebrated her birthday with a DU30 themed birthday party.  It was a surprise party.  She thought that her members (me, Sharon, Donna and Jannette) were having a brawl (that brutal!) but it was all for acting purposes.  So, how did we do it?

1.  Order a cake from Tita Dayline of D M Creative Cakes,  maker of yummy fondant cakes in Dubai and soon to be in the Philippines.

2.  Make DU30 loot cups.  It's easy.  Get an ordinary cupcake cup.  Cut out a DU30 fist with flag and face of president Duterte.  Glue on the cup front and back.  Fill the cup with goodies that are locally available in the Philippines.

3. The DU30 guestpad.  This small board was a giveaway from one of the restaurants in Dubai.  I just covered the restaurant's name with the DU30 fist and used colored pens for guests to write on the board.  Voila! DU30 guest pad.

4.  DU30 Backdrop.  Print out Philippine flags and anythung DU30 plus the birthday celebrant's picture.  Post in on a wall and you have a backdrop!

5. FOOD.  Order foods that are local recipes of the Philippines like palabok and puto, chicken is just addition :)

5.  Of course, last ingredient is FRIENDS.  If it weren't for friends (and the birthday celebrant), this DU30 party will not be possible.