| The Caucasus - My Journal |
The Difference Between Going for a Long Ride and Being Taken for a Ride
Tbilisi -> Yerevan (Armenia), 24th August
Having decided that I really couldn't face another kachupuri, I'd cleverly bought some breakfast type items last night. So, after a much healthier breakfast of omelette, toast and yoghurt I was all ready to go to Armenia...almost. During my wanders, I'd noticed that a nearby McDonalds (yep...they have MaccyDs in Tbilisi!) have a fantastic early morning deal of coffee only costing 10p, so I took a quick caffeine fix before jumping in a cab bound for the international bus station.
Now, don't think the words "international bus station" mean anything too grand...it's just a large piece of tarmac with dozens of buses and mashrutkas milling around. The cab driver dropped me off by a guy who was shouting "Yerevan, Yerevan" at me, the noisiest person I could see nearby. However, it quickly turned out that he was actually a long-distance taxi, looking to make the trip to Yerevan for about $250...a little out of my price range. Using broken words, I turned him flat down explaining that I only wanted pay 30 lari (10 pounds, $18). He tried dropping his price to $200, but of course I still wasn't interested. I kept saying Mashrutka, Mashrutka, but his friends and him kept shaking their heads and making gestures to indicate that the last one had already left. Seeing as it was about 10:30am, this was possible but unlikely. However, I couldn't see much activity in the bus station and no buses nearby that seemed to be going to Tbilisi. And every time I went to check it out, they kept waving me back and indicating that I should wait there...but I wasn't sure what I was waiting for.
Suddenly, the taxi driver seemed to have a flash of inspiration and told me that he could take me to a mashtruka at a different bus station which would take me to Yerevan for a total price of 50 lari (for the taxi ride and the mashrutka ride). This was less than 20 pounds, but still seemed to be a bit more than the journey should cost, even though the journey was about 6 hours. However, if he could find me a mashrutka that would get me to Yerevan today I was happy to pay a bit of a service charge, so I nodded in agreement and we jumped into his flash Mercedes.
After driving around the city at a crazy, breakneck speed (I'm surprised we didn't crash) I suddenly realised he was taking me to the main train station where, as he said, a Mashrutka with Yerevan written in Russian on a sign in the front could be seen. Now, you'd think I'd be happy by this, however, it was a tad annoying. The train station is very close to the homestay I stayed at and I'd noticed yesterday (when we visited the train station) that a couple of Yerevan bound mashrutkas seemed to depart from here. However, I'd trusted my guide book that it would be better to go to main bus station. But, after two long taxi rides and the payment of a substantial service charge, I was at a station about a 10 minute walk from the homestay. Typical. And if I'd come straight to the train station, I'd probably been able to find an earlier mashrutka and been well on my way to Yerevan. But, as it was, I had to wait with the mashtruka until 1pm (2.5 hours later) when it was due to leave.
And, to make matters worse, the "helpful" taxi driver, had run off with the 50 lari instead of paying the mashrutka driver for my ticket. So, basically, I'd paid 50 lari (16 pounds) for a taxi journey that normal costs 5 (1 pound 60). Normally, I've found the local people to be very helpful and trustworthy, sorting out payments and connections for me. But, of course, there's always at least one bad apple. And he happened to be a taxi driver, thus increasing my already considerable hatred for them. I was really annoyed by this, especially when I had to fork over another 30 lari (10 pounds), the correct fare. But after some pacing and seething, I slowly began to calm down. If I only lost 16 pounds through rip-offs and scams, it wasn't a big loss.
As 1pm approached, the mashrutka began to fill up, but thankfully it only reached half full, the driver, me and about 6 other passengers. Also, while I was waiting, I had a friendly chat with the brother of one of the passengers who spoke excellent French and seemed very excited to meet a European. He said that his cousin lived in Belgium with a Belgian wife and he was desperate to get out to Europe as well, where life was much better. He was very keen to meet up when I returned to Tbilisi, and he seemed like a friendly and interesting guy, so I agreed and we swapped numbers. However, just before we were due to leave, he asked to see my passport, which was a bit strange. Why would he want to see it? There can't be any honest or innocent reason why he'd want to see it. Frankly, I don't trust anyone who wants to see my passport (and isn't an official or hotel clerk). I'd heard about the problems in Turkey a few years ago where Europeans who looked Turkish, Middle-Eastern or Asian were being killed and having their passports stolen so others could get into Europe with their paperwork. And as my looks could easily be confused for a Georgian (among other nationalities) I'm always very wary of this. So I made a mental note NOT to meet up with him when I returned.
We soon set off on the long journey to Yerevan. I was hoping for smooth, main roads all the way as the journey was between too capitals. However, I soon realised that this was very false optimism and most of the journey turned out to be on small, windy and very bumpy roads. Nevertheless, the 6 hours of bumpy roads went smoothly (ironically) with no more problems other than getting a sore bum...apart from the border crossing...
The border seemed fairly innocent, the standard border crossing with long lines of cargo trucks and slow moving lines of cars and buses. We crawled slowly forward as the people in front made their way through the fairly comprehensive looking checks and passport stamping. Leaving Georgia went without problem, even though it took about an hour. However, entering Armenia proved a bit more difficult
In order to enter Armenia, I needed a visa, but this can be obtained easily at the border. And, indeed, after handing over $30 and filling in a form, the visa was issued and stuck into my passport. I then went to the next desk to have my passport stamped for entry, but the official looked very closely at my passport, turning it over in his hands a number of times and looking very, very dubious. I'd recently had my passport re-issued, so it was in the new UK style, very different to the previous one. Up to now, this new style had caused nothing more than extended looks of interest and maybe a 5 minute delay while they confirmed with their superiors that it was acceptable. However, this time, the official disappeared for some time with my passport, and I could see the other passengers in the mashrutka (all locals) getting restless at the hold up.
Another official eventually returned with my passport and started asking my lots of questions about where I was going, how long I was going to stay, why I was coming to Armenia. During the extended questioning, I noticed that he was holding my passport open at the page with the Azerbaijani Visa (I needed to obtain this in advance at the embassy in London). In case you don't know, Armenia and Azerbaijan don't like each other very much. The animosity between the two states goes back for a long time and their mutual border is still firmly closed and heavily guarded. They also each hold an enclave of land that the other country demands to have returned. The frosty..actually, hostile relationship between the two shows no sign of ending any time soon. I couldn't be sure, but I guess the officials were suspicious of this visa and weren't going to let me through easily.
However, after only(!) an hour's hold up, they eventually stamped my passport and returned it to me, reluctantly. I then hurried over to the waiting mashrutka, hoping the other passengers weren't too angry and we quickly continued on our way to Yerevan...
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