Georgia to Armenia

So I’ve been in Georgia for two days and it’s rainy. What to do?

Leave the country. Hope it gets better when I return.

I walk from Luka’s to the Tbilisi avtovokzal and hop in a marshrutka that’s due to leave in five minutes. Forty minutes later, we leave. The driver asks me for 300 lari for the trip. I don’t even think for a minute and hand over the money ($195 AUD), the driver takes 30 lari, he said 300 but meant to say 30. From this point on, no one on the marshrutka talks to me, the crazy foreigner that wanted to pay over $150USD for a six hour ride.

I fall asleep within five minutes of taking off, realising that I hadn’t slept the night before (a potentially expensive mistake). I wake up just as we arrive at the Georgia/Armenia border (a mere two hours from Tbilisi by marshrutka). The customs officer on the Georgian side of the border isn’t convinced that I am the person in my passport photo. He asks me for further proof. I make my second mistake of the trip, I show my second passport. The officer starts making calls via the radio, after five minutes he decides to let me leave the country.

I get to the Armenian side of the border, the customs officer points to the queue for visas and says visa. My westerner disguise must be working. I reply ruskiy, head to the queue to get my passport stamped. The soldier starts going through every page in my Russian passport. Where is the Georgian exit stamp? he asks. I have to show my second passport.

The soldier starts working extra hard, he senses a bribe coming. He continues to leaf through the passport, finding the gold nugget he was looking for.

Soldier: So you’ve been to Azerbaijan ey?

Me: Yes.

Soldier: Why?

Me: I’m a traveller and want to see as much of the world as possible.

Soldier: What do you think of Azerbaijan?

Me: It’s nice.

Soldier: Bullsh*t, it’s a f*cked up country, the president is a terrorist and they should all die.

Me: Can you stamp my passport please?

Soldier (realising he’s getting no bribe from me): *stamp* Get out of my sight.

Border crossing between Georgia and Armenia, taken from the Armenian side.

I hop back into the marshrutka and spend the rest of the trip drifting in and out of sleep (catching glimpses of Haghpat and Sanahin amidst the rain. I decide to not stop here due to the bad weather and make a choice to see them on the way back into Georgia).

I arrive in Yerevan avtovokzal to the sight of this amazing monument. I walk around my surroundings and change currency in the first booth I see. Moments later, I’m on the internet, looking at the wikitravel article for Yerevan to find a place to stay since I didn’t organise any couches to surf. I settle on the Envoy Hostel in Yerevan, Armenia.

After checking in and taking my first shower in over a week, I take a quick tour…

… try some local food …

… and laugh my head off before heading back to the hostel for more sleep.