My Armenian trip....

hello,

I am thinking of visiting Armenia next year January/ February and wondering if a 5 day vac would do me any good..

I would love to stay in the city center of Yerevan - does anyone have an address or phone number to an apartment I can rent?

And are there any direct flights from London to Yerevan?

I would be so grateful for any help at all !

Thank you.

M

My Armenian trip....

Hi, I have been to Armenia 5 times in the past 2 years. It is a time capsule of post soviet influence. Very different pace, men all stand around the streets and look at women. Even with that, the city is very safe and people are friendly once you smile and try to talk to them. They are not used to tourists.

During January and February, there will only be city points of interest to explore. There are multiple out of the city points of interest, but there is no real road maintenance or relaibility of getting out of the city for tours at that time of the year. If the weather is mild, you may have more of a chance to leave the city limits. There are monestaries and churches dating back to 600A.D. and before. There is a greek temple that was rebuilt by the Soviets from the helenistic times before the Armenians adopted Christianity around 300 A.D. With the greek temple, there is a recontructed roman bath house with a mosiac from the time period.

You will find plenty to do for five days.

There are also multiple tour companies you can call and they can arrange for an apt for you to rent. I stayed there this past summer and was able to rent from an owner of apt directly and stayed for less than $20 per day. Apartments for rent are easy to locate on the internet if you just google ';Yerevan tour companies';. Once you get to their sites, they have information about apartments for rent.

The food in restaurants is excellent. They are artists there and they love to dress the plate in interesting ways with garnishes.

Taxi%26#39;s and mini buses are the usual way to get around the city. If you are in semi-good physical shape, you can easily walk the whole city.

The city is loud, they like to honk their car horns if they are mad,angry or saying thank you, so it is a seranade of sorts from early morning to late into the evening.

There is also a subway, (metro) for you to use to get to more distant locales in the city. About 20 cents American for a one way ride.

The main languages are Armenian and Russian. They have developed a custom language combining Armenian and Russian together. If you only speak English, you will also be able to get around pretty good. I speak only english and always manage to find someone who can intepret if I can%26#39;t communicate with smiles and sign language. Pointing works well in stores for what you want.

Things are getting more expensive there, the dollar and euro have continually fallen since my first visit in the fall of 2004.

Of course, like all countries, there are a good share of those who would like to seperate you from your money. When they see a foreigner, they immediately increase their prices on many items.Taxi drivers who do not use a meter in the cab will charge you double of what the fare should be if you can%26#39;t speak the language. There are a couple of taxi services who speak english and if you rent thru a tour company, they will help you with that.

On Saturday%26#39;s and Sunday%26#39;s there is a craft fair in the main part called the ';Vernasage';. You can purchase jewelry, crafts, paintings, woven rugs, books, pets and a multiple other items. It is a must see if you are planning on visiting the city. They are such talented people and deserve many good things.

I hope you have a delightful time there. If I can help you any further, please post again and I will try to help.

Have fun!

TMM

My Armenian trip....

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