Travel Blogs Nearby
Charity Stuff
... equipment, but also helped arrange new transport for us after the car accident in Kosovo. Without Siranoush (and the help of her son, Andrew), our charitable task would have been immeasurably more difficult as she basically paved the way for everything to run smoothly for the donation. We miss you and cannot thank you enough Siranoush!!
Anyway, we left for Gyumri in the ...
Came for the bus, and wanted to stay for the bed
We'd already caught a glimpse of the depressing city of Vanadzor on the marshrutka drive towards Yerevan. It looked so derelict and ugly that we tried all we could to avoid the city on our trip North towards Tbilisi, but sadly, the Armenia marshrutka-system did not really allow a detour over the much prettier (or so they say) beer-brewing city of Gyumri that I had wanted to go to.
And so the microbus (no, not a marshrutka minivan, but an actual bus, the yellow American ...
Earthquake City
... needed to get away too and negotiated a taxi for part of the way where we switched to a minibus. This ended up really crowded and the journey was really slow as the roads were so bad. We arrived at the quietest border post in the country. We had to wait a while as a woman transporting a budgie in a shoebox and a guinea pig in a bucket seemed to take a while to get past the officials. Good roads soon appeared and I was back in Tbilisi for a few hours....
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Gyumri, North Armenia
... to great effect. A couple of the larger churches for example are mainly built from black basalt but use the red for arches and window frames.
And the main market or shruk is something else. Crammed between some old buildings and surrounded by others damaged by the earthquake it is full of smells and colours and life. Fruit, vegetables, fresh meat, cheeses, pies {yes I am obsessed with them} and clothes ...
Exploring Gyumri and trying to find monasteries
... to crowded buses, the train was almost empty and I had several seats (hard wooden) for myself, I enjoyed reading and eating the sweets I boughts from the marked the day before. Secondly, the views from the train were great as it passed mountains and lakes. I am sure I saw more Armenia than I would have with the bus. It's not the destination, it's the journey, right!? Btw for those who are taking the train, be careful with ...

