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The moment had arrived. Our flight from Nur Sultan to Yerevan was booked with SCAT Airlines ( an unfortunate name). Reviews had not been promising, so our expectations were not high. However a seamless check in, on time departure, pleasant crew, a meal better in quality and quantity than you'd get on Qantas, and an on time arrival, resulted in 2 very happy travellers. Our first Arnenian lesson came via a "cab driver". Having negotiated him down ( with almost no effort) from 8000Drm to 3000Drm for the ride to our hotel, we then had to show him Google maps to get us to the right location. Then he explained that the fare was 3000Drm for each of us. We politely explained that it wasn't, to which he eventually agreed. And whilst we stood on the footpath looking at a sign that pointed towards our hotel we were b*****ed if we could see it. Only by opening a non descript door did we see another door with our hotel name on it. That's right, our hotel was inside another building. Our room was another glorified broom closet, but it was cheap, and the "window" that was painted on the wall could do nothing other than bring a smile to our faces. Yerevan was instantly recognisable as being different from the Stans. The architecture had its own style, people were dressed more casually, and despite the city only having a population of 1 million, it felt bigger. The other noticeable aspect were the tree lined streets and parks (similar to Almaty), fountains and the proliferation of places to eat and drink. It almost made the dining scene in Melbourne look inadequate.
Sunday was a day for exploring. The Cafesjian Centre for the Arts is an imposing building. Using the natural slope of the hill and appearing like a giant staircase it houses an impressive collection of contemporary art works. From here we headed to the Centre of Popular Creation. The collection of folk art here including intricate silverwork wood carvings, lace and embroidery were astonishing. The craftsmanship and detail were amazing. A stroll back thru the streets with a stop for a great meal and to make a booking for the next day's tour rounded out the day. The cold i was trying to throw off was taking its toll on my stamina. Just outside of Yerevan are 2 of Armenias best attractions. Garni is the only surviving pagan temple in Armenia. Paganism was the main religion until King Trdat 1 converted to Christianity. He ordered all the pagan temples to be destroyed, except for this one which was his sister's favourite. Next stop was Geghard Monastery. World heritage listed and built high in the hills the monastery is built of stone, with no colour at all. The only decorations are carvings in the stonework. This lack of colour, together with the dimness inside, gives it a rather grim feeling. There are a number of rooms that come off the main room in the church, and as it is still an operating church a great number of the people that come here, do so to worship. Burning candles, a stream of holy water with a queue of people lined up to drink from it and shafts of sunlight coming through skylights in the ceiling add up to an intriguing atmosphere. From here we went to one of the more unusual places i have visited - Levon's Divine Underground. Basically this is a cave that a local resident decided to dig beneath his house. It's a series of tunnels, staircases and rooms reaching a depth of 15 metres. His dreams told him where to dig and what to create. And he continued digging for 23 years until his death! It's a little hard to describe what it was like, but it's definitely a testament to dedication. A couple of beers in a leafy street side bar seemed like the ideal way to wind up what had been a good day. All in all Yerevan had turned out to be so much better than we expected. A very relaxed and comfortable city to move around, cosmopolitan atmosphere and seemingly limitless dining options. And with history thrown in. From here we're heading to the countryside. Just need to work out the transport arrangements. And that might be interesting.
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