Maybe but I assume people are truthful unless I see a clear reason for them to lie.
Not gonna go around suspecting that everyone’s a liar especially in such a low-stakes conversation.
Some things are sometimes private from strangers, no?
I don’t think he is saying she necessarily lied. She just may not have given the whole story.
Then she can say that.
Anyway, I’m not gonna psychoanalyze a 2 minute exchange. I take people at their word unless I have a clear reason to not do so.
A lot of people feel it’s rude to reply to a seemingly innocent question with “That’s private” because it’s akin to saying “Mind your own business”".
So they give an incomplete answer instead.
How did you find a board game night with randos in Armenia?
Couchsurfing community
Not a couchsurfer but it’s a good way to meet a mix of tourists, expats and locals if MeetUp isn’t a thing there.
Tbilisi has a larger CS community and has more diverse activities on there. Looking forward to some of that.
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At least in Georgia, it’s pretty clear that old people probably speak Russian and younger people speak English. Often I’d ask a young person if they spoke English and the response was kinda like “yah, obviously”.
Can’t speak to Armenia, but maybe since they’re a lot friendlier to Russia, it is still somewhat common for younger people to still speak Russian? In Georgia, Russians are mostly disliked and I even saw ads for apartment rentals that read “no Russians”. Is there any graffiti that says “Fuck Russia” or “Fuck Putin” in Armenia? It’s everywhere in Georgia.
That being said, the mentality in Georgia is still quite similar to how Russians behave. Gruff with strangers, always seeming angry at the world, etc. I took a dance class with my wife and you usually rotate partners and the class is about 50% Russians and I liked pretty much all the non-Russians (fun, friendly, etc.) and disliked all the Russians. It was a beginner’s class and they would often yell in frustration if they didn’t get something right away, were often rude with their partners, etc. Just a different mentality.
In Tbilisi, you prob already know about the place called Lokal, but just in case, it’s like the expat/tourist epicenter. I think there’s at least 1 event every night, if not more.
Bob mentioned Couchsurfing, and Facebook would likely have groups too, possibly Reddit, and could sign up for Nomadlist to see which other nomads are there.
In most places, except ones that receive pretty much no English speaking tourists, it should be possible to find something going on most nights.
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Board game meeting on the 19th. Haven’t planned out my trips just yet. I’m gonna pass on group tours for Georgia. They’re pretty expensive compared to Armenia. Think I’ll just travel independently on day trips.
As for hating Russians, I haven’t heard much of that here. I also assume most graffiti would be in Armenian or Russian rather than English.
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Canceled my stay on Lake Sevan. The logistics of getting around without a car is too much. My messages asking about that (the house is not in Sevan but a short distance away) were ignored and my phone call was unreturned. Bad service is one thing but no service is a whole different ballgame.
Instead, I extended my AirBnB stay and used the money saved to go on an additional group tour. Plus, there are still a couple of places that I missed in Yerevan due to them being closed today. 
Sure, it’s a bit of a curveball but I think it will work out for the better.
My stay in Armenia is nearing an end. Some general feelings.
Yerevan is definitely an imperfect city. It’s got way too many cars and inadequate public transport. It’s actually a bit more expensive than I expected it to be though still cheaper than Prague. But what I do like is that it’s a city that feels lived in. I mean you can go to a city in Europe during the summer and see almost exclusively tourists during your entire stay if you stick to well-trodden areas. In Prague, locals tend to leave the city during the summer if they can and are replaced by temps from either other countries or other parts of the Czech Republic. So if you’re sticking to Old Town (already a depopulated area) and other known attractions, you can probably go a whole weekend or more without speaking to an actual Praguer. In Yerevan, tourists are very clearly a small minority with exception to super obvious areas such as in front of travel agencies. Yes, it is becoming more cosmopolitan but I don’t think it will ever leave its roots and become a city of the world. It is a very distinctly Armenian place and will stay that way barring being conquered by foreign powers.
The real appeal to the country is what’s outside of Yerevan. It’s quite a beautiful place but getting to those sites (Lake Sevan, Dilijan, numerous monasteries etc) either requires participating in an organized tour or a rental car. It’s quaint, peaceful, and a great escape from the chaos of the city. Tons of green as far as the eye can see in all directions. And if you have any interest in the history of Armenia, it’s even better.
The only Americans I’ve run into who traveled from America to Armenia so far are members of the Armenian diaspora. It’s always cool to see them visiting their roots often for the first time after being told about them by relatives for decades. They really seem to be enthralled by the experience and I’m happy for them. But as a tour guide pointed out today, the diversity in tourists is increasing significantly especially since Wizz Air opened direct flights from multiple destinations in Europe just this year (Dortmund, Sofia, Katowice, Prague). I think it’s only a matter of a short few years before it becomes the new trendy destination.
I’m going to the southern part of the country tomorrow. Gonna be a long, tiring day but hopefully a fun one as well. Hope I can get some sleep.
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I just finished 2.5 months in Poland and was pleasantly surprised with how nice it was. Most of the cities are clean, picturesque, pleasant for pedestrians, and quite livable. Our favorite was Warsaw, just b/c we’re fans of big, cosmopolitan cities, but Krakow, Wroclaw, Poznan, and Torun were all quite nice in their own way as well. Poznan seems like a super under the radar city with a ton of potential.
We just arrived to Bucharest today and it’s quite…gritty. It’s kinda how I imagined Poland (other than Krakow) to be. I figured that the 2 countries would be in a somewhat similar spot economically, but it seems like Poland has really taken off after the fall of Communism and Romania hasn’t. As for Bucharest, there are some really nice buildings, but everything is just a lot more rundown, dirtier, far less modern, and people struggling everywhere.
But we already knew going in that Bucharest wasn’t gonna be a highlight. Those are later to come when we hit up Brasov, Sibiu, and others.
Also, seems like we’re in a heatwave in Europe. The average high over the next week in Bucharest will be 100. My Aunt and her family are visiting Spain soon and I fear that might be a miserable trip if these temps continue.
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97F in Prague on Saturday
I’ll be in Tbilisi then where it’ll be in the 90s every day until Monday. Basically what Yerevan has been since I landed. Meh.
It was mid 90s in Spain this week. Barcelona wasn’t bad, with a breeze but Mallorca was awful.
Good description of what I thought about the city when I was there about 10 years ago. Are there still dogs everywhere?
If Bucharest is like the rest of the Balkans and much of the Middle East, the answer is almost certainly yes.
The question is, “Are they being taken care of?” In Istanbul, a ton of strays are immunized and neutered which is recorded by an ear tag they have. The people there also take great care of the cats. In Yerevan, it’s pretty hit or miss with that stuff. It’s clear that they’re trying but appear not to have the resources or the will to solve the problem.
Romania is definitely a future summer trip for me. I’d like to have someone with a car to go with though since a lot of the good stuff isn’t easily reached by public transport.
Yeah, Bucharest was the dodgiest Balkan city I’ve been to in a weird way. Pristina and Tirana are poorer, but are colorful and a bit charming.
The cool thing about Bucharest is there’s no other city like it. It’s like Paris where Napoleon III cut through the city with all these grand boulevards except they’re all lined with these old cold war era mid rises. Supposedly it was a beautiful city before that, now it’s more dystopian looking than beautiful. The whole thing feels disjointed.
I’m always comparing places I travel to on this list, and Romania is one of those headscratchers. It does not feel wealthier than Greece, or significantly wealthier than Bulgaria.
Transylvania is more charming (in a conventional way). Try to rent a car and check out the small fortified church towns and Transylvanian countryside.
You summed it up pretty well. Like Calle Victoria is their “Champs-Élysées” and there are bits and pieces that are really cool, some nice palatial buildings, but then in between, tons of Communist era garbage, and even condemned buildings. Kinda odd for your main street. Like I think you could take a handful of pics of all the highlights and a couple cool streets and make Bucharest look awesome, but pretty much everything not shown in the pics would be dystopian and rundown.
I’m really interested to learn more about the history though. Like how was it in their heyday?
Ha, that’s funny you mention GDP per Capita, b/c the first thing I did after exploring a bit here was compare Poland and Romania’s GDPs as well as a handful of other countries I’ve been to.
One thing I will say, is that the pride people have in their own country can play a big factor. Some countries just make a concerted effort to make sure everything is clean and maintained well. Mexico is a great example. In CDMX, you can visit the principal parks, Paseo de la Reforma, etc. and everything will usually be immaculate. Poland, from what I understand, funded a lot of their reformation projects by pooling together funds in individual cities and towns. They really care about their country, and it shows. It’s hard to believe that there is such a small difference in the GDP per capita of Poland and Romania.
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Once spoke to a Romanian woman visiting Prague who said the best Christmas gift she received as a child was the execution of the Ceaușescu’s.
I mean that’s a dark childhood.