I had made up my mind to go to our distant neighbor Armenia months ago. Do you want books, documentaries or movies, I even visited the Armenian Cultural Center in Istanbul to get information. I bought my plane ticket thinking that I could handle it.
I won’t give any information about Armenia visa in this article because I shared it in the link.
I was at Tbilisi Airport around 02:40 at night. I came to Tbilisi Ortacala Bus Station by taking advantage of the free shuttle service of Atlasjet. There was no one at the bus station, and when the taxi drivers saw people with backpacks in the middle of the night, they started to approach. I tried, but when I couldn’t get what I wanted in the bargain, I started to wait. The worst part is that the minibuses start to move around 09:00 and they don’t go out before they are full. They don’t buy Turkish Lira either. Only Georgian Lari
A taxi with Armenian license plate approached the stop and said she could take it. The driver doesn’t speak Turkish or English; he only spoke Armenian but was such a positive person that 70 Thanks to those close to us, we shook hands by delivering to the address in Yerevan. As a condition, I had to give the money in advance. The driver was trying to explain that he wouldn’t want to have wasted all the way if there were problems such as passports at the border.
The taxi intimidated us a little. because it is 30 years old made in the USSR and is very similar to our Murat 131 cars. When Aram (the driver) realized that we were hesitant, he immediately showed the engine and tried to explain its durability. The name of these vehicles was Jiguli. It was known as the “flying coffin” among the people. Of course, I learned this later
It’s not just Jiguli that is antique. This is the highway right after crossing the border with Armenia
I got to know Aram Abi’s family from the photos by gesturing in the car. Although it seems like it’s 1.5 hours away, we arrived at the gate in 2.5 hours. We stopped at some places, but the vehicle was going slower than we thought. I checked out with my wallet and did not pay the stamp fee of 15 TL, which is a ridiculous practice. The Georgian border guard stamped my passport and sent it to the Armenia region. As you can see, I did not pay the stamp money on this trip. Then we went straight through the door. My bag wasn’t even touched. Frankly, I didn’t think it was possible that I would pass through the door that easily. .
With its tuff stone walls, Hello Yerevan / Barev Yerevan
We were able to complete the road in about 7 hours, which would normally take 4.5 hours. Tired of not sleeping for hours, I went to sleep as soon as I put my head on the pillow after I ate dinner at the house where I was a guest.