Day 16 Sunday 5th October

Another day,another country. In order to lighten the load we have left the largest case with Tina, to be collected on our return. That wonderful man, Tina's husband whose name we never did learn, took us to the bus station in his big Mercedes staff car. We arrived at 11 o'clock in good time for the 11-40 marshrutky. As we were the only passengers so far we got in and picked the best seats.

You can see clearly from the sign on the front that it's headed for Yerevan. One of the problems with information in this part of the world is that you have to contend with four different alphabets. Roman, Cyrillic, Georgian and Armenian. 

At 11-30 I bought a couple of cups of coffee before departure, l thought. At 12 noon we are still sitting in the bus. A little later we are invited to get in a different minibus. Nobody tells us anything, but then nobody speaks English except for a guy who is married to a Greek woman and has a smattering. Another passenger arrives, she introduces herself as Zophina but with no shared languages we can't really chat but we talk away in our respective tongues without any understanding. It is now past 1-00 and three other rather swanky women appear with men in tow who leave with much kissing. We are told to move seats to the back whilst the dames are put in the best ( our) seats. Zophina loudly and at considerable length argues the toss, to no avail. Still we sit around. Another guy shows up. We now have a full compliment of 8 passengers. Half an hour later we leave for Armenia.

This is a 6 hours journey so a 3 hours wait wasn't the start we were looking for. It was going to be at least 8 in the evening before we would arrive, then we don't really know where we are going or how to get a key. However I have a phone number, if only I can get the phone to work.

The journey was a bit tedious but with some good views of dramatic gorges and sylvan, verdant hills and valleys. The border crossing went smoothly and we drove on through Armenia.

There are plenty of examples of deserted Soviet industrial plants. Huge ruins lie roofless and with broken windows. In many cases they must have been the major employers in the town. God knows what they do for a living now.  I suppose they could employ people to tidy the place up, but that would only be state aid again. 

When we eventually arrived in Yerevan, we saw a huge urban sprawl. However would we find our apartment in this lot. We left the marshrutky and, as usual were immediately approached by taxi drivers. This is the point that most tourists worry that they are being ripped off. In fact this is rarely the case. Our driver couldn't have been more helpful. He phoned the number I had and took us to Sakharov Square, where after a short wait the owner arrived and let us in.

I expected to be a bit disappointed in the place, but it turned out to be really great. A split new refurbished flat with excellent facilities. Have a look at the photos. They don't do it justice. 

We are in a superb location, all our worries are dissolved. I think I am going to enjoy this place.