Opinion
Rendahl: From Yerevan to Athens
It was already evening in Yerevan when I boarded a bus bound for Istanbul. My round-trip ticket cost $70, it was January of 1998, and I was 22 years old. When I reached Istanbul the following day, I had planned I would spend a few days touring the city before taking another bus to meet my dearest college friend, Cathy, in the Plaka in Athens.
[caption id="attachment_16069" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Kristi Rendahl: You may expect this story to have an unfortunate ending, but I can
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Thank you Kristi! I’d love to hear more about your time in Armenia…where you lived, what your specific work entailed, how quickly you learned to speak Armenian, why a piano?, etc.
Thank you, Kristi, for your columns. I wait for them religiously every month!
I have read all your Articles. Why don’t you write a book or a journal about your different adventures in chronicle order.
You are very strong woman Kristi, god bless you, I’m Armenian living in Los Angeles and I don’t think i would able to last in that bus trip from Yerevan to Greece that you took :)
Kristi, the inset picture is a very nice photo of you! I have also read all your articles, and enjoyed and shared them all. I thought you were older before you gave away your age in the article. You are truly exceptional, and all the other adjectives that everyone has given you when commenting on [all]your articles. If you are ever in the Boston area, and have an hour to spare I would love to have a coffee, and a chat with you. And I assure you (and the other readers) that my intentions are as pure as George of the article! (read happily married with children) :)
One of the worst roads I have ever been on is the Armenian highway into Georgia. It is a very narrow series of hairpin twists at high elevation. You are always driving “on the edge.” It is dangerously soft after a rain. Here is just an excerpt from today’s Asbaraz:
“Of 35 vehicles reportedly buried by a wave of mud and rock only 11 cars and
four trucks were unearthed as of Wednesday evening. The cars were retrieved with
the help of military helicopters that were sent to the area on Tuesday.
The landslide, which followed heavy rain, submerged a 200-meter section of
Armenia’s main highway leading to the Georgian border. Its reopening will take
more time than initially thought.”
Fortunately, we stopped at Guymri. Don’t go with empty hands. Our people there are still in such heartbreaking need. Make room in your suitcase for colourful little gifts for children who often don’t even have the necessities. Take extra US money. Even a little goes a long way there.
I think the absolutely worst “toilet” on earth is the one at the Georgian checkpoint as you go in from Armenia. It is simply a pile of feces with huge swirling flies and a door anyone can see through. Every excuse possible can be found to keep you waiting as long as possible at the Georgian checkpoint. “Computers problems” is the common one. Inspecting all incoming baggage is another. You sit in your bus, afraid to go out because of the circling dogs and the armed soldiers. You buy a visa here in order to continue driving through Georgia to Turkey.
No one on the bus had any problem at the Turkish customs and Immigration checkpoint. Everyone buys their Turkey visa at the checkpoint. We were all from the US and Canada.We lined up, showed our passports, paid over – as I remember – about $100 US, cash only accepted, and quickly received a visa to enter. The visa was stamped showing how long we could stay, and more importantly, that we had permission to leave Turkey. I was very surprised that we were treated with courtesy. There was no holdup, no unnecessary chatter or questions. They just wanted to see your passport and get the money. Dogs and armed guards here too. Better outdoor toilet here, but the guard took you and stood outside the door with his sniffing dog.
Why do we endure all this? Because we have to see the pavements our people walked on, and the fields they plowed, and the remnants of the faith that sustained them. Because our blood is soaked in this land. Because it is ours.
Thanks, everyone!
Kristi jan, you keep surprising me – eyes wide open when I saw your articles. Thanks for your time in Yerevan, I always love to see you. Yes, let’s keep in touch and I will also now follow your column…
To ALL THOUSE TRAVELLING FROM ARMENIA TO GEORGIA and in need of using a restroom (cup of coffee оr tranquillizing armenian herb tea) – ask your driver to turn left in Dzoraget village and drop in to the most beautiful Tufenkian Dzoraget Hotel …
The situation since the time Kristi went to Turkey has evolved and improved. No American or Canadian passport holder needs a visa to enter Georgia (it is free). Armenian residency or passport holders get a visa at the Turkish border simply by presenting their passport and $ 15 in cash at the border post and it gets stamped. I was there on the same bus 2 years ago and it is very comfortable now and has a clean toilet on the bus.
Thank you Kristi for relating your adventures. I look forward to more.
Antoine
Your email indicates that things have definitely improved from five years ago. I wonder what has led Georgia to eliminating the visa requirement. I also wonder why Turkey has reduced the once very substantial visa cost so dramatically. How long were you held up at the check point in Georgia? I found entrance to Georgia far more difficult to navigate than Turkey. Better border conditions will certainly lead to more tourists. The main Armenia highway is still a major problem.
Perouz:
The $15 visa to enter Turkey only applies to “Armenian Passport” holders, not/NOT to US or Canadian passports, who still have to fork-out the smae substantial amount (around $ 100).
Georgia does not require a visa or any fees from Canadian and US passport holders. I believe it is to encourage tourism and investment. However, the line-up to enter Georgia, especially from Armenia can be very long for it is a small border post at Saddakhlu. Mind you there have been improvements there too on both sides. I went from Yerevan to Tbilissi by train, and when we reached Saddakhlu some Georgian taxi drivers were allowed to board the train and whoever wanted to go faster to Tbilissi would pay the taxi driver in advance some $15 and the taxi driver would go and get the passport stamped ahead of the line-up and get you in their taxt in 10 minutes and 40 minutes later you are in Tbilissi. Otherwise I would have reached Tbilissi 6 hours later.
I hope this helps.
Best regards, and thank you for your very well thought comments.
Thanks for the clarification, Antoine. I was beginning to get my hopes up that Turkey was showing a “softening” towards Armenian pilgrims. In order to avoid Georgia, I have also gone to historical Armenia by flying in to Istanbul. I definitely prefer landing at Zvartnots airport. You are immediately surrounded by the Armenian language and greeted with warmth. You can sense the hostility at Istanbul airport. If going first to Armenia, you have to allow at least an extra week or two in order to visit the museums and see the historical sites, no matter how often you have seen them before. It requires an entire day just at the memorial. I have seen many memorials in many countries. Absolutely no other compares with the architectural design of ours. I have not seen it in winter, and wonder if the flame is kept burning even then.
Antoine, I am trying to locate a hotel in Armenia whose name I have forgotten. It is located in a very high part of the city. Balconies face Ararat, and you can see the city spread out below. It is away from the centre of the city, but worth it just to get up every moring and eat breakfast looking at our mountain. Do you know the name of this hotel? I want to go back in the spring.
There are Armenians in Georgia who have overnight accomodation with breakfast. It`s probably only one or two star, but who cares? They are our people, and they live in difficut times. They are so happy that you seek them out. They tell you their stories.
Anna, thanks for reminding us of the Tufenkian.
Thank you Perouz. I also felt apprehensive every time I went to Turkey (4 times), but must admit that in many cases my apprehension was unwarranted, for most times (not always), when I told my Turkish hosts that I was of Armenian descent, I was met with increased generosity and magnanimity.
Please let me know of the Armenian-owned B&B’s for the next time I go to Georgia, you can contact me directly aterjanian (at) yahoo.com.
There are many great hotels now in Yerevan and many of them have a stupendous view of Ararat. You can for instance visit hotel Terjan to the west of Yerevan. However I am guessing that the hotel you remember is ARMA Hotel http://www.arma.am
Should you come to Armenia again, try and experience the hospitality offered by Armenian B&b’s, they are excellent too, and if you come to Yeghegnadzor, ask about us, we have helped improve the housing conditions in our neighborhood so they can receive paying visitors and improve their living conditions. When you stay with them, you experience “real Armenia”. Here is the link for the photos I have up-loaded so far, the site is in progress: https://skydrive.live.com/?sc=photos&cid=037b84b6a25aed44
I don’t think any further comment from me is necessary, except to say that 1998 was a very different time for the region!
Antoine:
I have forgotten the name of the B&B owners in Tbilisi Georgia, but Ani Tours in Yerevan knows them well. The following day, we went to an Armenian resturant run by Georgians. Other Tibilisi Armenians came to meet us. They pushed tables together and brought out one Armenian dish after another. Glasses were raised and toasts made again and again. We lingered at table for a very long time with our new-made friends. After much toasting and cmplimentary speeches, soorj cups were turned over and then read. I come from a long line of visionary soorj cup readers – there, I have blown my cover!
They told us about a cemetery close-by where a famous Armenian was buried. We wanted to make sure his grave-site was well maintained. When we got there, we found that the cemetery was surrounded by a high iron fence. And it was locked. Ani tours located the caretaker, but he refused to open the gates. Well, this made us even more determined. The youngest and slimmest of us (not me) was boosted up onto strong shoulders, and many hands held tight as she was dangled over the iron fence and then dropped several feet to the ground. The gate was unlocked, and we found the grave site, cleaned it up, and said our prayers. We left the gate open on our way out – after all, another Armenian might be wanting in.
Thank you very much, Antoine, for giving me the name of the ARMA hotel. My father wrote that he had climbed a hill and stayed at an inn in the highest part of Yerevan. I like to think this hotel is built on that site. I am hoping to come again next spring. I regret very much that the street vendors are no longer there. I will miss them. How will we fill our pockets with fruits and nuts to take with us when we spend the day at the memorial?
I first went to Yerevan during the USSR days. The memorial was not in a complex with other buildings as it is now. The bus could not drive up to it. Except for the wind, there was complete silence as we walked over fields of high grass and wild flowers towards it. I’m sure we all thought about the terrible suffering of our people as we silently walked over the difficult terrain, and when we got there, we still could not speak. Men and women both were in tears as we went up towards the flame and layed our white flowers.
Antoine, I will be in touch with you about the Yerevan B&Bs, and I thank you for the info. If you contact Ani about the Tbilisi B&B, be sure to ask him about the tavern with the Georgian Kinkali. Go there and order some of each kind. Yes, you will eat them all. And if you can scale a high iron fence, go and make sure they are showing our unger proper respect.