I finally booked my plane ticket to Yerevan today. I’m leaving DC on the evening of July 4 and coming back on July 15. On my way to Yerevan, and my way back to DC, I have 7+ hour layovers in London. As such, I intend to hop the Heathrow Express and have a few pints at a pub in Paddington in between my flights.
Why Armenia? I have two friends that currently work there – one for the U.S. State Department, and another for NDI. And how could you pass up the opportunity to visit a former Soviet republic? If all goes as planned, we may make a quick trip across the border to Tbilisi in order to enjoy some khachapuri and Georgian wine. My roommate, Laura, will be joining me (her first time in the former Soviet Union…always an interesting experience) and Crystal might fly out to Yerevan for a few days. Should be an interesting trip.
Also, I’m thinking of flying to Kiev for the Thanksgiving holiday so I can go on the Pripyat-Chernobyl tour. It’s actually cheaper to fly to Ukraine than to Palm Springs (figures, eh?) If anyone out here on the east coast is up for the trip, let me know and we’ll start hashing out the details.
Related posts:
- POTD: Stuck in no man’s land at the Georgia/Armenia border crossing Waiting in no man’s land at the Georgia/Armenia border so we could complete the final leg of our Baku-Tbilisi-Yerevan trip....
- “Don’t get shot” I’ve had two people tell me this in the past week…and these are friends of mine who studied the region at LSE. Comrades, be reasonable! I’m not looking to grab an AK-47 and hop into one of the various post-Soviet conflicts plaguing the region, I just want some homemade Georgian...
- POTD: Mother Armenia A statue of Mother Armenia located in Yerevan’s Haghtanak (Victory) Park....
From Joyce:
Isn’t Chernobyl a bit…radioactive?
From Lindsay:
A bit…but apparently it’s “safe” to visit…for a few hours…
From Sara:
I am traveling to Brazil this summer. On our way there we get to lay over for 10 hours in Miami. On the way back we get to lay over for 8 hours in Miami. Fun!
From beka Khakhnelidze:
Hi, My name is beqa from Georgia. I am glad you enjoyed my country!!!
From Chris:
Hello, I just wanted to say that your website is very cool. I very rarely payt attention to blogs and such but I somehow I happened to come across yours while looking for something or other and ended up spending an hour reading your entries and looking at the photos. I especially like the section on Chernobyl. Creepy and starkly beautiful in a post-apocalyptic kind of way. Love the Soviet block-style architecture.
Keep up the good work!
From luka khakhnelidze:
beka khakhnelidze i dont know who u r but… what a coincidence huh… a surname khakhnelidze only has about less that 100 ppl LOL but anyway it’s cool to see some1 with the same surname
From luka khakhnelidze:
beka
… what a coincidence huh… a surname khakhnelidze only has about less that 100 ppl and here i find u LOL but anyway it’s cool to see some1 with the same surname. and + when its ur relative 
From Beqa Khakhnelidze:
huh Luka? are you Tamaz’s grandson? or other? just making sure if youre other luka
From beka khakhnelidze:
is that you luka? dato’s son?
From Harald Smith:
Nice blog, great experiance, but In Dilijan was the worse hotel i ever been in…!!! Dili Villa B&B, and this is not a joke!!!!!i could barely give it a 2stars ,food was rubbish, i got food poisoning, diarrhoea, sickness… There is no sense of hygiene with food being left out with flys landing on it. I was very ill for 2 weeks a few days after my return and have since spoken to 5 other people stayed in the same hotel I know who were very ill (food poisoning symptoms) afterwards.
U want my advice?Do not send people there anymore otherwise nobody will use ur agency to book holidays again!!!!!!! On top of everything,when it rained we spend 2hours -without electricity in the middle of the night and nobody was there to tell u anything-trying to get the water out of my room as everywhere was flouting(6inch water in the rooms)!!!!!!!!!!
Do not get me wrong!!!!!!!i am not fussy,but all of this got on my nerves-u r paying for a hotel,u get there and everything is so,so disappointing!!!!!!!!!!Please check before u go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!don’t waste ur money!!We had to pay some money to get transferred to another hotel-which i would recommended to everyone: “TUFENKIAN”:best service,cleaning,best food and entertainment and amazing staff!! Just yesterday I saw the reviews made by travelleres on virtual tourist, you can find them here http://www.virtualtourist.com/hotels/Middle_East/Armenia/Kaghak_Ijevan/Dilijan-1710379/Hotels_and_Accommodations-Dilijan-TG-C-1.html
From Patrik Berhard:
Hi wishing you a nice trip, I would like to share our experiance. In summer 2010 we have been in Armenia, together with my family. I will never forget That small town of Armenia, “Dilijan”, its a touristic location, we have been advised by armenia info centere to visit Dilijan and other places too.
The trip started with a taxi from a main bus station in Yerevan, I loved the long way to Dilijan, crossing many villages till we reach.
upon arrival we had a short tour in the city center, nothing much to see or explore, then we have asked a local taxi driver to advise us with a hotel.
We have been introduced to Dili Villa B&B, which recently I found their services in the internet http://www.dilitours.de
This B&B services was very poor, very standard, nothing spoecial, the price is not corresponding to their services. small old furnished rooms,
not very clean, we avoided using the toilet all the time. We visited the 2 most popular monastries in Dilijan, two museums, and had a walk around the old city.
The best was the weather, the fresh air and the forests around. I also loved the mountains view from the hostel we stayed with a cup of tea
infront of the window. A good place for mountain climbing, and eco tourism.
In General Armenia is an active developing country that we liked, We recommend Armenia for tourists.