2019 Eurasia Adventure - The Road To Yerevan

Our time in Georgia came to a close and it was time to head to the third of the Caucasus countries, Armenia. We chose to have a driver drive us there as the inconvenience of other forms of transportation were just too much. However, it turned out that our driver who had been recommended to us by mutual friend and had been very good in Georgia had never really driven in Armenia or to its capital Yerevan before. So the driving part was a bit more stressful than it needed to be.

Crossing the border was an interesting experience going through passport control out of one country and into another. Most of the time when we travel, it is by air so you don't get the two experiences back to back. We had been warned that our Azerbaijan passport stamps might cause us problems when we entered Armenia since the two are still technically at war with each other. But no mention was made.

The whole drive to Yerevan from the Georgia border was depressing. It is very mountainous. The roads are in poor condition. It was a grey day. And the countryside is completely populated by buildings that look run down and buildings that are abandoned, particularly so many factories. It just cries out economic distress.

Then you arrive in Yerevan and you feel like you have gone from a black and white picture to a colored one. It was if you were in two separate countries. As we were driving the whole time these pictures were taken from the car which is not the ideal situation. But it will give you a general sense of the countryside and their people.

And then to the land of Oz that is Yerevan

Click here for a panorama of Republic Square