The center of ecotourism in Armenia. Diary of an avid traveler

Wow, I set out on my journey! What did you say? Am I too risky to accept such offers from someone unknown? But you never know until you try. So, I set off!

Diary

Since last year, there has been buzz in social networks that Dilijan and the adjacent area has become a center of ecotourism in Armenia.

Route taxis leave to Dilijan every hour. 100 kilometers, about two dollars and an hour and a half – and here I am; I have already met with Matevos Barseghyan, an organizer of many hike tours.

The city has obviously become well-tended. Fresh asphalt on many streets, recently renovated bridges, new playgrounds… Dilijan is famous for two things – a spa resort, and, what is more, it is one of the most intelligent cities of Armenia; more artists, composers, scientists and filmmakers live or come from here than from any other place in Armenia.

The city is not very ancient. It was built in the late 19th century. But it has its ‘old city’ and after its rehabilitation the number of tourists here has increased.

Rigas Zafeiriou is from Greece and his girlfriend Alexandra El Kakhivagin – from Lebanon. They are hitchhiking from Georgia.

‘We stopped a car on the border with Georgia; it was a family from Yerevan, that was returning home’, – says Alexandra. ‘Not only did they drive us to Dilijan, but they also put aside their plans and took us to show Haghpat and Sanahin monasteries.’

What’s interesting is that Alexandra and Rigas have also decided to take a hike in the national park. However, Matevos Barseghyan, a professional guide, still believes that the ‘ecotourism center’ title, attributed to Dilijan, is still quite outstated. ‘Simply the people’s vision of the rest and recreation is changing; nowadays many people prefer to spend a weekend in the nature instead of sitting in front of the TV set.’

But, I need a place to stay a night. I cannot afford what the travel agency has offered me: there were no places cheaper than 8-9 drams (US$15-18) in ordinary hotels (B&B type). I found grandmom Sveta through the Internet.

Sveta and Marzpet, the pensioners, have been renting a room in their house for tourists for already a year – AMD 5000 per person. Their acquaintances often send tourists to them and now their grandson has posted an ad on the Internet.

Barseghyan was already booked and I had to look for another guide. We agreed on US $ 20. It could have been more expensive, it all depends on the route complexity.

Dilijan National Park’s web-site provides detailed description of 11 routes with maps. I signed up for such a route:

Now I need to pay approximately three more dollars – a dollar for hiking and two dollars for a permission to put a tent. I brought it along with me, that’s why my backpack is so huge. The friends of mine gave it to me, so I will not include it in the tour cost. Actually, there are plenty of places in Yerevan, where one can buy a new tent for AMD40thousand (US$200) and even more expensive or buy a used one for AMD 20-25 thousand (US$ 40-50).

I spent another 1 thousand drams (US$2) on sandwiches and water.

Later, when I happily returned from a hike tour, ‘Dilijan’ National Park official, Samvel Zhamharyan, explained why I had to pay AMD 1,500 (US$ 3) there. ‘You’ve probably seen in the national park the route guidance, that help one not to get lost. Also, the forest is regularly cleaned from waste, left by tourists. And special places have been arranged for groups to have a rest there. ‘

Azniv Sargsyan, also an avid traveler like me, often takes such hike trips.

Azniv says, she always looks for a “little twist when choosing the route. ‘For example, once the evening of guitar music in a cave was included in Noravakan hike trip program. And there are some times ‘thematic’ trips dedicated to, for instance, gathering snowdrops. ‘

Dilijan residents’ good idea to arrange an information center in the reserve very much helped to choose the route and prepare.

First we saw a metal composition of the ‘Mimino’ film characters.

And the information center’s house was right behind it.

Last year, the information center operated on its own funds. Since this year, it has been under the state tutelage.

‘Our work is not yet systematized enough, we simply provide information, help to the extent possible, – said Mikael Torosyan, the center employee.

By the way, apart from Dilijan, similar information centers for tourists have been opened this year in Garni, Goris, Sevan and Tsakhkadzor. It is said that this is only the first step and it is planned to open a huge information center network throughout the country. The Economy Ministry is going to draw a map of 40 hiking routes across Armenia this year. This map will be published on a separate official website, introducing tourism in Armenia.

As it turned out, the volume of public funding for tourism has actually increased four times compared with 2013 year. Then, the state allocated about US$100 thousand dollars.

Armenia mainly attracts tourists from Russia, Georgia, Iran and Europe. However, over 230 thousand tourists arrived in Armenia in January-March this year, that is by 4 % less than in the same period in 2014.

‘This is due to the financial crisis in Russia, since Russia is leading by the number of tourists. But I think it will not affect the annual rate, since Q1 is the worst season of the year,’ believes Mekhak Apresyan, the Head of the Economy Ministry’s Tourism Division.

As for ecotourism, i.e, hiking lovers – there is no statistics in this regard. Or, perhaps, there is something like this: ‘Mainly youth take part in our tours and ¾ of them are young girls,’ – says hiking professional, Barseghyan.

Perhaps an explanation for this phenomenon lies in the words of Armen Yeranosyan, the head of one of the travel agencies: ‘Our mountains are not attractive for professional climbers, because it is not that difficult to ascend them. Yet, he believes there are many other ways to sharply increase the number of ‘eco-tourists’.

My personal funding of this adventurous trip totaled approximately US$40 … So, an avid and reckless traveler had a stroke of luck as usual; I had a holiday “cheap and cheerful!

Diary

Route taxis leave to Dilijan every hour. 100 kilometers, about two dollars and an hour and a half – and here I am; I have already met with Matevos Barseghyan, an organizer of many hike tours.

Since last year, there has been buzz in social networks that Dilijan and the adjacent area has become a center of ecotourism in Armenia.

The city has obviously become well-tended. Fresh asphalt on many streets, recently renovated bridges, new playgrounds… Dilijan is famous for two things – a spa resort, and, what is more, it is one of the most intelligent cities of Armenia; more artists, composers, scientists and filmmakers live or come from here than from any other place in Armenia.

The city is not very ancient. It was built in the late 19th century. But it has its ‘old city’ and after its rehabilitation the number of tourists here has increased.

Rigas Zafeiriou is from Greece and his girlfriend Alexandra El Kakhivagin – from Lebanon. They are hitchhiking from Georgia.

‘We stopped a car on the border with Georgia; it was a family from Yerevan, that was returning home’, – says Alexandra. ‘Not only did they drive us to Dilijan, but they also put aside their plans and took us to show Haghpat and Sanahin monasteries.’

What’s interesting is that Alexandra and Rigas have also decided to take a hike in the national park. However, Matevos Barseghyan, a professional guide, still believes that the ‘ecotourism center’ title, attributed to Dilijan, is still quite outstated. ‘Simply the people’s vision of the rest and recreation is changing; nowadays many people prefer to spend a weekend in the nature instead of sitting in front of the TV set.’

But, I need a place to stay a night. I cannot afford what the travel agency has offered me: there were no places cheaper than 8-9 drams (US$15-18) in ordinary hotels (B&B type). I found grandmom Sveta through the Internet.

Sveta and Marzpet, the pensioners, have been renting a room in their house for tourists for already a year – AMD 5000 per person. Their acquaintances often send tourists to them and now their grandson has posted an ad on the Internet.

Barseghyan was already booked and I had to look for another guide. We agreed on US $ 20. It could have been more expensive, it all depends on the route complexity.

Dilijan National Park’s web-site provides detailed description of 11 routes with maps. I signed up for such a route:

Now I need to pay approximately three more dollars – a dollar for hiking and two dollars for a permission to put a tent. I brought it along with me, that’s why my backpack is so huge. The friends of mine gave it to me, so I will not include it in the tour cost. Actually, there are plenty of places in Yerevan, where one can buy a new tent for AMD40thousand (US$200) and even more expensive or buy a used one for AMD 20-25 thousand (US$ 40-50).

I spent another 1 thousand drams (US$2) on sandwiches and water.

Later, when I happily returned from a hike tour, ‘Dilijan’ National Park official, Samvel Zhamharyan, explained why I had to pay AMD 1,500 (US$ 3) there. ‘You’ve probably seen in the national park the route guidance, that help one not to get lost. Also, the forest is regularly cleaned from waste, left by tourists. And special places have been arranged for groups to have a rest there. ‘

Azniv Sargsyan, also an avid traveler like me, often takes such hike trips.

Azniv says, she always looks for a “little twist when choosing the route. ‘For example, once the evening of guitar music in a cave was included in Noravakan hike trip program. And there are some times ‘thematic’ trips dedicated to, for instance, gathering snowdrops. ‘

Dilijan residents’ good idea to arrange an information center in the reserve very much helped to choose the route and prepare.

First we saw a metal composition of the ‘Mimino’ film characters.

And the information center’s house was right behind it.

Last year, the information center operated on its own funds. Since this year, it has been under the state tutelage.

‘Our work is not yet systematized enough, we simply provide information, help to the extent possible, – said Mikael Torosyan, the center employee.

By the way, apart from Dilijan, similar information centers for tourists have been opened this year in Garni, Goris, Sevan and Tsakhkadzor. It is said that this is only the first step and it is planned to open a huge information center network throughout the country. The Economy Ministry is going to draw a map of 40 hiking routes across Armenia this year. This map will be published on a separate official website, introducing tourism in Armenia.

As it turned out, the volume of public funding for tourism has actually increased four times compared with 2013 year. Then, the state allocated about US$100 thousand dollars.

Armenia mainly attracts tourists from Russia, Georgia, Iran and Europe. However, over 230 thousand tourists arrived in Armenia in January-March this year, that is by 4 % less than in the same period in 2014.

‘This is due to the financial crisis in Russia, since Russia is leading by the number of tourists. But I think it will not affect the annual rate, since Q1 is the worst season of the year,’ believes Mekhak Apresyan, the Head of the Economy Ministry’s Tourism Division.

As for ecotourism, i.e, hiking lovers – there is no statistics in this regard. Or, perhaps, there is something like this: ‘Mainly youth take part in our tours and ¾ of them are young girls,’ – says hiking professional, Barseghyan.

Perhaps an explanation for this phenomenon lies in the words of Armen Yeranosyan, the head of one of the travel agencies: ‘Our mountains are not attractive for professional climbers, because it is not that difficult to ascend them. Yet, he believes there are many other ways to sharply increase the number of ‘eco-tourists’.

My personal funding of this adventurous trip totaled approximately US$40 … So, an avid and reckless traveler had a stroke of luck as usual; I had a holiday “cheap and cheerful!