Yerevan, city of wonders

Central square, streets, the general atmosphere of life, independence day

Quick Tips:

Best Way To Get Around:

walking

In Yerevan it's possible to find a place to stay only by walking down the streets. Especially when you are hanging around bus stations you can be found by people who will ask you if you do not need place to sleep. It's nothing hard. They are usually satisfied with 2-10 USD for a room per night. From my experience, rooms are usually OK in the houses of people who invited you. It's very nice to spend some time with them, because you can see how the world is turning in neighborhoods of Armenia, eat local food and drink a lot of vodka...

BTW, be careful about drinking too much vodka. People who do not often drink this fire water can go down to the ground very quickly!

When walking along the main street (I think it's Puskin street, but I am not sure) to the north toward the monument with many statues at the end of it, a few hundred metres before the street ends, you'll find the small antikvariat on the left side of the street. It's very small, but nice. It has quite an ancient atmosphere, because of the many old books in it. Owner is a nice guy who doesn't speak English, but you can communicate with him in Russian. I spent three hours in a dialog about the history of Armenia, politics, Russia, the western world and many other great themes. And he has many good (quite old) books written in English. Few paperbacks and many books with hard covers. Especially novels by British writers. It's a good place to spent your last Armenian drams for some books.

When you are hanging in the northern part of the city (near the Metro station) you'll find a small park with many people in it. This is the Yerevanian book market. Books are sold on the street there. You can even sell some books you have. Buying a dictionary there is especially reasonable. They also have there many books for students, books about Armenia, novels, cookbooks...anything you need. And it is great to speak with the sellers. I found there a man who was previously working as a teacher in the secondary school, but after recognizing that selling books is more economical he turned to doing that. It's a good place for spending free time, or when you need somebody to speak with.

22nd of September is independence day in Armenia. It's a very touching event. Hundreds of soldiers are walking through the Republica Square, there are tanks, famous Katushja riots, many kinds of infantry units, and we cannot forget army airplane fighter shows with the famous MIG machines. In one word: 'nice'. It's a majestic presentation of the previous power of a part of the former Soviet Union's troops. Also today proud Armenians say that their units in the USSR army were some of the best. And you can check it out on 22nd of Sept. every year.

At this time you can also find many Armenians who are living abroad (in the USA or in Canada) back in Yerevan watching this great show. Many concerts and parties keep the place alive during these days.

One can say 'What is so special about trams in Yerevan?' Maybe nothing. But have you ever seen a tramway wagon which is about 15 years old, rusty from the bottom to the top, and still working in the streets? You can see such wagons Yerevan. I feel that they are something like local attractions, however no one says that they are. But if these wagons disappear from Yerevan, it will make me really sad...