Georgia To Armenia

[Iran Forever]

Hello my friends...I am planning a second trip to Georgia Republic...last time I took the train from Baku to Tbilisi (two months ago). And no I was NOT in Baku out of any love for Azerbaijan, but simply out of curiosity. Anyways, left Baku on an overnight train at around 8 pm, arrived Tbilisi the next day around 11 am. I have never seen as many churches and monasteries anywhere in the world as I did in Georgia. But I must admit, I have a hard time telling the difference between Georgian and Armenian churches...both have those funnel shaped domes, and are very similar architecturally.

 

Anyways, I am now very curious about the churches and monasteries of Armenia, and would LOVE to go to Armenia this time...but via Georgia again, since I fell in love with "Sakartvelo" (Vrastan as you would call it, Gorjestan, as they would say in Persian). Do you know if there is a regular train from Tbilisi to Yerevan? I would love to visit HAYASTAN, first country in the world to make Christianity the state religion, and discover its rich heritage.

 

By the way, do Armenians in Armenia know any English? I had an EXTREMELY difficult time in Georgia, since I spoke no Georgian or Russian...learning the Cyrillic script turned out to be futile. Georgians hate Russians, and you won't see a single sign in Russian Cyrillic except on old buildings or occasionally an old grocery store with the sign "Otkrito" on it...all signs are now in Georgian, which I find about as difficult as the Armenian script, and occasionally you'll see signs in English (you see more signs in English now than Russian)! I did not have much of a problem in Azerbaijan, as I know some Azerbaijani...and Azerbaijani has borrowed heavily from Persian, so many words were easily recognizable. Not knowing the language drove me insane in Tbilisi. I finally found a Pontic Greek whose parents were originally from Trabzon, who was born and raised in Georgia, and I would speak to him in a jumbled up combination of Anatolian Turkish, Azerbaijani and the little Greek that I know, and he was my interpreter during my short stay. I stayed at a cheap hotel in downtown Tbilisi where nobody spoke English, and had to call this Greek guy on his cell phone to have him translate some of the most basic things for me. Frustrated I decided to spend the last day at the Sheraton Metekhi where AT LEAST you had a staff that spoke enough English.

 

Bottom line, I don't want to go through that in Armenia...are there enough Diaspora Armenians who have returned to the motherland from USA, Canada, Australia, etc. who speak English and who can help me? I'd like some info and travel tips if possible...Thanks!

[De Niro]

Iran,

 

I enjoy reading your posts. Have fun in Armenia. Yes most Armenians over there speak basic English, at least enough to converse. I would almost say that the younger generation of Armenians (25 and under) in Armenia speak as much English as they do Russian in Yerevan. I just got back from there a few months ago and some of the road signs have also been converted to English letters beneath Armenian. I saw a few supermarkets with the titke MARKET in English. Also, please note that Persian and Russian languages have no stigma in Armenia like they might in Georgia, Azerbedjan, or Turkey and there are also plenty of Parskahyes (Persian-Armenians) who you might run into in Yerevan. I would definately recommend that you visit Khor-Virap (Gregory the Illuminator's pit), Edjmiadzin church, and Garni Temple since you will be there. Also, there are a lot of Persian students at Yerevan State University that you might also run into.

 

Good Luck