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

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.