I’ve put off writing this piece for quite a while now. It’s been over a year (15 months, in fact) since we were in Yerevan, and part of me hoped the distance from the place would make my heart grow fonder of it. Unfortunately, that hasn’t been quite the case. And while I don’t actively dislike Yerevan – we actually had quite a good time there, all things considered – I have become sort of ambivalent about visiting again. 
Typically when I am not spewing rainbows and puppy dog kisses about a place, I am more compelled to go back – to prove that I was wrong about a place. And to be sure, there are a ton of places in Armenia that I’d love to go back and see – I’d like to chill at a sanatorium on Lake Sevan, hike in the mountains around Aragats, ride the cable car to Tatev Monastery, and visit the contested region of Nagorno-Karabagh (or Artsakh, depending who you ask), but Yerevan isn’t on the list just now.
I guess a little framing context would help. David and I arrived in Yerevan after spending a week at breakneck pace exploring Istanbul, Tbilisi, and Kazbegi. It was our first really big trip to a very different part of the world together, we had just gotten engaged, and were running on fumes by the time we got to Yerevan. This, and the December weather was catching up with us – our bodies were developing resistances to Russian off brand Theraflu, and we were both sick.
I was very excited about visiting Yerevan. I had been captivated by the rose stone used to build it, as well as by the great examples of Soviet modernist architecture present in the city. To this day, I contend that Yerevan has some of the best examples of Brutalist architecture of any Post-Soviet capital I’ve visited (a close second being Vilnius, Lithuania).
BUT. We had some hangups in Yerevan. It seemed as though people were not impressed with us there. On three separate occasions I was harassed for taking pictures in public places. Now, I’m well aware that some parts of the world (especially those recovering from the Cold War) are inherently suspicious of outsiders. I also know not to take pictures (conspicuously, at least) in the Yerevan metro, as it runs underneath the Presidential Palace of the city. When I go to a place, I prepare rigorously so as to know etiquette and customs of a place.
I don’t think I was breaking any laws trying to photograph a Soviet theater turned shopping mall. But when taking a few snaps, we were promptly yelled at by locals. One man took it upon himself to follow us several blocks as we hastily retreated to safer ground. And when things don’t feel safe for me and my husband (who I drag to these far flung places around the world), I can get defensive really, really quickly.
Two more encounters (one in a grocery store, for pete’s sake) like this led to me fluffing my porcupine quills as a defense mechanism. And I’m afraid I never put my guard down again after that, despite having some lovely times in Yerevan. That night, for example, we had a lovely dinner in a woman’s apartment who serenaded us on her piano despite being the only guests present. We had a brief conversation with a barista about Seattle, and coffee cultures in our respective cities. We walked up the Cascade and saw brief views of Mt. Ararat while contemplating the nature of Armenia’s relationships with its neighbors, Turkey and Azerbaijan. All of this was great, but didn’t detract from the bad taste in my mouth.
We stayed in Yerevan for three days as we ventured out on various excursions (all great, and I highly recommend Envoy Hostel’s tour services if you’re heading that way), but didn’t make much extra effort to connect with the city. As we checked out of our hotel before heading back to Tbilisi, the reception staff tried to charge us for a cup that they said was “lost”. Luckily enough, our ride came to our rescue, and we headed back to friendlier Georgia.
All of this said, go to Yerevan. I am one of a sole dissenting opinions (or maybe experiences) of the city – both Megan Starr and Kami and the Rest of the World cite the city as one of their favorites in the world. While I don’t think I’ll be making a dedicated trip back there in the near future, I do look forward to the day (whether in five or twenty years) that I am able to explore Yerevan with some new, unbiased lenses.
And I hope it’s not in December.
PIN ME!
4 comments
Hi Friend,
I loved your post this is just amazing. I myself always wish to visit Armenia. Hopefully one day I will..!
You should definitely try to make it there! 🙂
FINALLLLLLLLLLY got to read this. so sad and so behind i am.
i completely understand your impression of the city. ive had some of those before too. yerevan is an odd one. i am not sure i would have the same reaction to it had i not stayed with a family when there. staying with a family there came unexpectedly as a blog reader of mine had her extended family there (her immediate family and herself came to the US via moscow via armenia when she was 10). she lived in denver (still does haha)… i cant believe a stranger reached out to me and set me up with her family in a country i hadnt been to and i accepted. but i did and the family was the nicest group of people i have ever had the pleasure of meeting. i think my time there was destined to be terrific.
i will say, if you ever have the chance to go back, i would do it. i really think youll like the city so much more than the first go ’round. i found tbilisi to be too touristy in 2013 for my liking (not in a bad way, just i wanted a bit more peace) and i found it to be a little fake in certain parts. i found yerevan to be a breath of fresh air when it came to this as the city was what it was. just grey. and teeming w/ soviet architecture.
so im rambling now. but i really hope one day you get back there! i genuinely think youll love it! i know this doesnt matter to you, but when in the caucasus i was harassed soooooo much in georgia. it made me cry on more than one occasion from the stress (im fairly tough-skinned too). but in armenia, the men were super respectful and never made any notions of try to get with random females. this alone made a massive difference in my comfort level in a place. i was so shocked the difference in just a single border crossing. abkhazia was a mixture of both. then i learned that like 1/2 or 1/3 of abkhazians are actually armenian. lol.
anyways, stoked to finally have the chance to read this!
Thanks so much for sharing your experience, Megan! I already know we’ll go back at some point (I want to go to a sanatorium on Lake Sevan in the summer), and I’m pretty sure Yerevan will win me over. It’s always a tough call for us about whether or not we stay with families. We have shied away from it in the past because we don’t want to be put in a place where we’ll have to lie about our relationship. Don’t get me wrong, I totally understand differences in culture regarding levels of acceptance of homosexuality, but I’m not willing to fully closet myself if people ask me questions – and unfortunately, that’s a part of the world where I wouldn’t feel super safe about disclosing more personal information (like, I’m married to a dude, etc.)
All of that said, what an amazing introduction you had to Armenia and Yerevan. Your serendipitous connection to that family is amazing, and really the primary reason why I write about travel online – to make those kinds of connections. I already feel like I’ve met some amazing people just by sharing my experiences, and having the chance to meet up with connections is so rewarding.
And your experience in Georgia certainly matters to me! I’m so sorry to hear about your experiences with street harassment there. I consider myself a pretty ardent feminist (though maybe it’s contrite to call oneself a feminist), and because I only travel with my husband, I rarely get a look into what the experience I’m having in place would be like for a solo woman traveler. I feel like not caring would be like a straight person saying they don’t care about riots at pride parades (haha, also Tbilisi…and Belgrade…and, well lots of others!).
Thanks for commenting, and selling me on a inevitable return to Yerevan. 🙂