As I had good experience at Envoy Tbilisi, at Yerevan I stayed also at Envoy Hostel. After checking in I laid down a bit on the bed to recover from the journey.
After a short rest I wend down to the common area of the hostel where I socialized with my fellow travelers all over the world. I made new friends like Colleen and Daniel from France. Colleens grandmother was Armenian and she was currently on busy to be more involved to the Armenian culture and history. Initially I hide that I was Turkish origin but during some conversations I felt comfortable to admit my background. Although Turkish and Armenians are sharing a bad history, I never felt a single sight of enmity. I understood that it used to be better but after Armenia lost Nagorno Karabakh and gave 5000 casualties, the situation could be quite tense if you meet wrong persons. Colleen and Daniel were going out to the pub next door and I agreed that I will join them later at the evening. First I needed to experience Yerevan at night and have a proper dinner.
I was advised to have the dinner at the Tavern Yerevan at the Amiryan street. But again as in Tbilisi these kind of restaurants are fully booked. Even when I wanted to make a reservation for the next day it was fully booked as well. At least I could get in and enjoy a bit of the live performance..
I had my dinner in a regular restaurant and with full energy I continued exploring Yerevan. First place to see is the Republic square:
I arrived at the right time at the square. Every day at 21:00 there is a Singing and Dancing Fountains Show at this square:
From the Republic square I walked trough the Abovyan street to the north part of Yerevan where I arrived to the Cascade complex (also known as the Cafesjian Center for the Arts). This open-air museum is the heart of the capital, and where many people go to get their heart pumping! Yes, we’re talking as much about Armenia’s lovers’ favorite meeting spot, as the people climbing the 572 steps!
On top of the complex I enjoyed the magnificent view of Yerevan at night..
From the Cascade complex I went to the Beatles Pub, next to my hostel to meetup with Colleen and Daniel. I took some beers while they were having the one cocktail shot after the other. It was a nice atmosphere but I was too tired to spent the whole night with them. While they continued drinking, I went back to the hostel....
The next day I had a full day to visit as many spots I could in Yerevan. I started first to visit an interesting district of Yerevan, which is called Kond. Kond is the oldest district in Yerevan. Kond is in the center of the city, but it is separated from the capital somehow, like a city inside of the city. There you forget, that you are in the center of the city. Narrow stony streets, roads, which are not paved, small houses and silence. Unfortunately, in Yerevan there is few corners of the old city. Almost all the central part of Yerevan was reconstructed during the Soviet Union or during the years of independence.
From Kond it was just a short walk to the Blue Mosque of Yerevan. On the way I took some shots of Typical Armenian architecture built with TUFF stone. Tuff is a type of rock formed from volcanic ash that is expelled during a volcanic eruption.
Then I arrived to the Blue Mosque, an 18th-century Persian Shia mosque in Yerevan, Armenia. It was commissioned by Hoseyn Ali Khan, the khan of the Iranian Erivan Khanate. It is one of the oldest extant structures in central Yerevan and the most significant structure from the city's Iranian period. It was the largest of the eight mosques of Yerevan in the 19th century and is the only active mosque in Armenia today.
At the Mosque and its courtyard I met up with some tourist from Iran and understood that Armenia is a very popular destination for Iranians for cultural tourism or just an escape from the Iranian government just to drink and party.
From the Blue Mosque I went again to the Republic square, this time to see it during daytime. During day you can see more the material is used for the buildings, TUFF stone as I mentioned earlier..
Close to the Republic square is a park with ancient Armenian cross stones, Khachkar Park. A Khachar is a carved, memorial stele bearing a cross, and often with additional motifs such as rosettes, interlaces, and botanical motifs. Khachkars are characteristic of medieval Christian Armenian art. 
Next stop was the Vernissage Market, a large open-air market. The name of the market is the derived from the French word vernissage. The market lies along Aram Street and Buzand Street at a length of 350 metres (1,150 ft), connecting the Hanrapetutyun street with the Khanjyan street. The market mainly features a collection of different types of traditional Armenian art works.
After some souvenir hunting and a short lunch break I went again to the Cascade Complex. This time to see the view of Yerevan during day. Exhausted as I was after climbing the 572 steps stairs I dropped myself down and enjoyed of the panoramic view of Yerevan with in the background the mighty mountain Ararat, which is rising from the plain landscape in Turkey...
I used the remaining time I had left to visit the Katoghike Church and Saint Gregory The Illuminator Cathedral, where an Armenian wedding was ongoing.
After my dinner I went back to the hostel for a power nap as I had to travel back to the Netherlands. My last hours I spent at the common area with socializing with fellow travelers and playing the game Jenga with them. And then it was time to leave.. After the check out procedure I took a taxi via the YandexGo app for 1800 Armenian Dram (4,50 Euro) to the airport.
Exiting Armenia was a bit more challenging then to enter. At the Passport check after handing over my passport, the customs officer took her time. Every single page has been checked under a UV light if there were some wiped out stamps. I understood that you could expect some questions if you had stamps from Azerbaijan, which I didn't had but I had a plenty of stamps from Turkey, where are Armenia has difficulties with it as well. Then the million dollar question came: "Where are you actually from?" I explained that I'm 3rd generation Turkish, born in the Netherlands. "Do you have a Turkish Passport?" was the next question. I had only a Turkish ID card with me and had to hand it over to her. She took all my documents and said "Wait a moment, I will be back." and left her post.... While I was waiting and thinking about different scenarios and going to an interrogation room, she returned. "First time in Armenia?" she asked. I said yes. She stamped my passport and said "Ok, have a nice journey".
Luckily no doom scenario and went to the security check. After I got trough the X-Ray machine, there were two gentlemen waiting for me who were warned probably by the custom officer. Before I told where I would go or where I came from, the first question one of the security officers asked: "Did you came from Istanbul" I stayed very professional and after a polite interrogation regarding how many cash and tobacco I had with me, they probably realized that they had no reason to interrogate me further.
And then the moment where this small Caucasian trip will end. I flew back with AirBaltic to Amsterdam with a stop in Riga...
This featured blog entry was written by sadikdeger from the blog Short Caucasus trip.
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