We left for the border crossing at the Georgian/Armenian frontier. Customs and a transfer to an Armenian bus (along with new Armenian guide) for the remainder of the trip.

Armenia is an unusual country. The only reason Armenia isn’t as desperate as its neighbors is that millions of Armenians live in other countries and send money back to help their families and country. The average Armenian earns $30-50 a month, unemployment is 50-60% and pensionsers get, maybe, $10 a month to survive on. Kirk Kerkorian, a Nevada billionaire born to Armenian immigrants, is one of the most generous contributors. We were told that Kerkorian’s contribution kept the entire economy afloat for ONE YEAR.

map of Caucasus 

Yerevan is surrounded by mountains, most important of which is biblical Mt. Ararat where Noah’s Ark is said to have landed. Ironically, Mt. Ararat lies in Turkish territory. …View image…

Factoid #1 – Somewhere along the way, we picked up Obsidian rocks. They are very sharp, shiny black rocks compressed from volcanic lava (Obsidian is another word for “lava”) and between one to three million years old. Neolithic people used them to make tools because of their sharpness and the Armenians make souvenirs (boxes, key rings, etc.) out of them. I found this interesting, and brought back many shards for grandchildren (hoping they wouldn’t carelessly slash themselves or anyone else with them).

Factoid #2 – We also learned some information about Yoghurt. The Colombosians (an Armenian family) brought Yoghurt-making to the U.S. in 1939. They started Colombo & Sons Creamery, later bought out and renamed Yoplait-Colombo.

Factoid #3 – Armenia was the first nation to formally adopt Christianity in the early 4th century.

With these bits of information in mind, the group was ready to tour….