We got up pretty early in the morning and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast at the hotel dining area. The breakfast buffet was a nice simple one, with eggs, yogurt, fried buckwheat, sausages, fruits in a sweet sauce (that was meant to be combined with the yogurt) and plenty of kinds of juice. Unfortunately the coffee there was a bit watery, but if that was our biggest complaint we were doing OK. The nice thing about the dining area was that there were two concrete balconies outside with tables, so we could sit out there and enjoy a view of the city from the 7th floor before the sun came out and really heated things up.
Afterwards we hit the town for some sightseeing and shopping. We saw the Blue Mosque (at least the back of it – the front entrance was closed that early), and then we walked across town to see the impressive Saint Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral. The streets were empty, the temperature was cool, and once again we were happy to be able to take advantage of an early wake up time.
Since this was our last day in Yerevan we did some shopping at several shops, including the surprisingly big Yerevan City grocery store that was just a few minutes’ walk from out hotel. We got lots of little candies to give out to our students, some water for the train ride back later on, and some snacks for the train since there was no food for sale on board. I had a little scare when the cashier almost didn’t accept one of my bills which had a slight tear, but later another cashier accepted it so everything was OK.
On the way back from the supermarket we passed a young woman playing with a new puppy – the puppy was off the leash and pouncing on the lady playfully. As we walked by the puppy decided Kuniko would be fun to pounce on, and that kind of freaked her out a little. For some reason on this trip the dogs were attracted to us. Even after we turned the corner the puppy came running after us, and we had to stop so that the lady could collect her little dog and take it home.
Despite feeling better I wasn’t at 100% yet, so we figured we’d spend the rest of the morning resting in our room, using the air conditioner (and the clean toilet) as much as possible before we checked out. We stayed until the last minute, checked out at noon, and then stashed our bag at the hotel and went outside to find a shady place to relax. We had three and a half hours to kill before the train departed, but we are really good at killing time and relaxing when we need to.
Our strategy was to first go to a sidewalk cafe, sit in the shade of some trees, and have something cold. I started with a frappe, Kuniko had a milkshake, and again they were both pretty watery. I refrained from eating the ice, just in case. Later I had a cold beer and that turned out to be the better choice on a hot day. While we enjoyed drinking outside little kids played in the fountains, and apparently this is a perfectly normal thing to do during summer. They came prepared with swimsuits and goggles and jumped into the fountains like they were public swimming pools. I felt like joining them but didn’t want to cause an international incident.
We spent almost two hours relaxing, drinking and talking about all kinds of topics, and then decided to go look for a deck of cards for the long train ride back. At a nearby toy store I asked if they had some, and the clerk passed me a deck. My first impression was that it was quite thin, but I didn’t think much of it, and the price was less than a dollar so who cares? Later we discovered that the deck had only 36 cards, and they were in Russian so they were a little hard to understand. All the face cards were there, but some of the number cards were missing. Some kind of Russian card game? Who knows…
Since the train station was only five or ten minutes away by taxi we weren’t in any rush to get to the station. The station itself was pretty short on shopping and waiting areas – it was really just a platform. We killed our time in town, and then finally wandered back to our hotel to pick up our suitcase around 2:45. We asked the hotel to call us a taxi, and they said that it would be out in front of the hotel in five to seven minutes. We went down to the lobby, and the hotel lobby staff stepped outside and waited alongside us.
A few taxis were visible driving by, but apparently they were from a different company than the one the hotel had called, so we patiently waited. There was still 35-40 minutes before the train left, so no problem.
Ten minutes pass, and then fifteen. No more taxis pass our hotel but in the distance on the main street we can see them occasionally driving by. The hotel staff calls the taxi company again and promises that it will be here in 3-4 minutes maximum. He guarantees this and for fun I set the timer on my phone. We are starting to feel a little stressed. If we somehow miss the train there is no other train until two days later. There are no flights between Yerevan and Tbilisi, and we would have to take a primitive minibus ride for six hours between the two cities. I didn’t want to think about the condition of the bathrooms that we would encounter on a long shared minibus ride through the hot desert on the way. I much preferred to catch the train we had tickets for.
It was now twenty minutes to departure and we were officially concerned. Long past the four minutes that the guy guaranteed. Down the street a taxi came our way, but the staff said it wasn’t the company that they had ordered from. Too bad, dude – I hailed it. The taxi driver stopped and looked a little confused as we tried to explain that we wanted to go to the train station. Picture two panicked people playing charades and acting out “choo-choo train”. Kuniko found a picture of the map on her phone, and finally it worked. The hotel staff had a stern conversation with the taxi driver as I loaded our suitcase in the back, and then he apologized for the long wait. We said goodbye, and hit the road.
And as soon as we turned the corner, we saw the problem. There was apparently some big road construction project and traffic was at a standstill. Lanes of cars waited in the hot sun to get past a closed lane between us and the train station. 15 minutes until our train rolled out of the station.
Deep breaths! I thought of the ending of every season of Amazing Race as teams rode a taxi to the finish line – maybe this is a tiny bit like how they feel. We inched forward, and the taxi driver seemed to sense the tension in the air and he aggressively pushed past some cars and cut off others to get priority.
Suddenly we passed the construction, and then it was a wide open street. The taxi driver hit the gas, and we made it to the station with ten minutes to spare. I paid him (with a little extra for the speedy delivery) and then scrambled after Kuniko who was running ahead to identify our train platform. Luckily our train was right in front of us, and we rushed to the correct car and boarded. Hooray!
There was some confusion as we arrived at our cabin and found an old Russian guy sitting inside. In my mind I had thought that we had reserved a private cabin for the return trip, but later upon reviewing my emails the travel agent hadn’t been able to book a private one and so we had to share with our Russian friend. He didn’t speak a word of English, so we worked out through gestures which beds were ours, and then we stashed our suitcase and settled in to wait for departure.
It was hot in the train car! There was no air conditioning, and as the metal cars sat in the sun the temperature was rising inside. I was flushed and sweaty from the panicked scramble and stressful taxi ride, combined with the hot air in the cabin. I drank water, used our tickets as a fan, and soaked up as much sweat as my towel could take. Eventually we got underway, and just sitting down and relaxing was enough to cool my body down. I think everyone in our cabin was amazed how much sweat a human body could produce.
As soon as we left the staff walked by and closed all the open windows on the side of the train, and wouldn’t allow anyone to open them. I was hoping for some fresh air blowing through the train car, but no luck. Kuniko had heard that maybe it had something to do with passing so close to the border with Turkey, since Turkey and Armenia don’t have a very good relationship. Unfortunately this cost me a chance to take a nice picture of snow-topped Mt. Ararat as we went past. I should have got my picture through the dirty windows on my way to Yerevan.
It was a long, slow ride back to Georgia. The train initially passed through desert, and since the terrain was less than interesting I spent my time on the bottom bunk writing this journal and drinking water to rehydrate. Kuniko moved up to the top bunk and slept on and off for most of the trip. The Russian guy came and went, sometimes walking up and down the train car, sometimes making calls on a gold plated flip phone. At some point I ate some of our snacks – lemon cakes that we had bought in the supermarket – and offered them to the Russian guy. He smiled and shook his head and held his stomach, and I got the impression that he had recently eaten.
After a while I laid back myself and tried to get some rest. The rocking of the train really does wonders to put you to sleep, and I dozed off at some point.
I woke up suddenly, and the Russian guy was holding a knife in front of my face.
There was only a moment of panic before I realized that he was cutting up a tomato on the table positioned right next to my head, but since he was standing up in the aisle between our seats the knife was right there. He looked down and saw I had woken up, and smiled at me and offered me a freshly cut tomato wedge. I smiled back, shook my head and held my stomach. It was a nice gesture of him, though.
Since I probably couldn’t fall back asleep after being surprised by the knife, I decided instead to listen to some music and enjoy the scenery. While I had slept the landscape had changed from dry desert to lush green fields. There were some beautiful grassy hillsides, some cattle roaming out on green pasture, and we crossed over a river or two. We occasionally went though a tunnel plunging the cabin in darkness, and I could see why so many murder mysteries are set on trains.
Watching the scenery go by was a relaxing way to travel – it is something you don’t get so much when you take an airplane. I enjoyed the train trip, and it turned out to be a highlight of the trip for both us. I hope someday we’ll have a chance to do a long train trip again.
In the late evening we approached the border. Kuniko moved down to share my bunk, and we waited patiently for the passport inspection. Georgia wasn’t so strict about visas for Americans and Japanese, so it was a smooth crossing for both of us. One passing border agent saw Kuniko lying on the bed with me and ordered us to stand up, and for Kuniko to open her bag. We complied, and then he flipped up our bunk to check for stowaways hidden underneath. I’m happy to report that nobody was under our bunk, and he let us lay back down. Still, he only checked our bunk, so maybe there was something unusual about a Japanese lady curled up on a bed that set off a warning flag for him.
Finally, after a nine hour train ride we pulled into Tbilisi just after midnight. Our Russian roommate was continuing on the train to the resort town of Batumi, and he gave us a cheerful wave as we said goodbye. I’ll never forget you, knife-wielding Russian guy!
Since we were arriving so late Kuniko had arranged with our hotel through email to pick us up on the platform. From the darkness emerged a giant of a man holding a tiny paper sign with Kuniko’s name on it. He motioned for us to follow, and then walked up the big stone steps to the overpass and the exit of the train station. I lugged our heavy suitcase all the way up the steps, and it was cute when the big guy turned to me soon after and offered to take my bag. Good timing!
Outside he pointed at his old Mercedes Benz that was parked near the exit, and we loaded the suitcase and watched as the car almost didn’t start. Finally we got going, and after a pretty speedy drive through town arrived at our hotel. The driver escorted us inside, where a young lady looking a little sleepy checked us in. While Kuniko did the paperwork the driver urged us to have a shot of cha-cha as a welcome drink. I took him up on it, and he explained that the only way to drink it was as a shot. Knowing I had a bed within a few meters of my current location I went ahead and did the shot. The cha-cha was like lighter fluid… nasty stuff. He offered another one, but I begged off and we said goodnight. The hotel room was decorated in an interesting style – kind of Elizabethan style, with an undercurrent of Arabia. It was very clean with a beautiful bathroom and shower, so I was very satisfied.
Since Kuniko had slept most of the train ride she was not ready to sleep, and so she stayed up watching YouTube videos and snacking on our leftovers in our bag. I crashed right out – it was a long day for me.
