on tourism in Armenia

Amazing: there ARE other backpackers like us! We found two of them in Sisian a few days ago. We were all at the same hotel, the only decent and affordable one in town. One of the two travellers was an Israeli mountain lover and the other a French guy of Armenian origin hiking from Goris to Yerevan.

Otherwise -- at least at this time of the year -- there are practically only organised tours of elderly people, many of them of Armenian descent, mostly French, but also some Italian, Swiss and the smattering of Anglophones. We were surprised to encounter already two small groups of young Russians, who are taking up the same traveling habits as their Western colleagues: traveling in order to GET TO KNOW a country, rather than roasting on some beach or getting drunk (like many Westerners too, of course).

It would be interesting to know how many tourists Armenia receives a year... anyone know?

The point is that there is still some progress to be made to cater even for backpackers. Take accomodation: in any given town we have been to the choice is between the old, unwelcoming Soviet hotel, perhaps one or two newer places (often quite pricey) and then, if you're lucky, a Bed and Breakfast or two. Which can be extremely welcoming and friendly, like the ones we were at in Goris and Eghegnadzor. But: how to find them??? The Lonely Planet is basically the only option, so whatever B&B opened up since the publishing of the guidebook will remain unknown... Some kind of B&B network or local tourism office would certainly help.

Or take transport. There are buses, which are slow and don't run often, but are cheap and usually on time. Plus you can meet people and leisurely watch the countryside. One notch up are the 'marshrutkas', the maxi taxis which leave their destination as soon as they are full. And finally taxis, which can also be used for longer distances. The tarif continues to be attractive, 100 dram (i.e. 20 Euro cents) per km. The problem is how to know the bus and marshrutka schedules... Of course no written schedules anywhere. So you ask around, provided you know Armenian or Russian, and everybody tells you something different. The thing to do is just go to the bus station and wait :-)

Of course all of this is also part of the fun and the challenge of traveling in such an un-touristy place as Armenia!