Maldives was initially my destination for a short vacation in March. I did a lot of research, watched plenty of YouTube videos and spoke to a few who had travelled there as a prelude to confirming the bookings for a four-night, five-day tour of one of the most talked about holiday destinations, particularly for young couples and honeymooners. Belonging to neither group I just thought it would be the ideal destination to spend in the 60th country of my travels thus far and the 45th to drive in. Drive in Maldives – sounds crazy, right? I had planned to hire a car for ticking off the driving box during the two days I had intended to be in Male and Hulhumale!
I was helped in the detailed planning process by my dentist cousin, Abraham James, who had worked in the idyllic country many moons ago and his close friend who is actively involved in the tourism industry in Maldives. Of course, the prime attraction of travelling to Maldives was that Indians do not require a visa for the tour. The downside is the almost scandalous tariff of hotels, resorts, beach accommodation and even food. Thanks to many YouTube videos on budget travel, I decided to drop the boutique resorts and hotels from my list and zeroed in on public beaches and islands, where I could source decent accommodation.
As all this was on, while weather-wise it is a decent time to visit the atolls, I was requested to consider changing the dates to after the festival of Id. Being a conservative Muslim country, I fathomed that there would be many restrictions during the festival time and that would be a dampener in enjoying the not so cheap vacation. I decided to try out another country where I would be able to gain entry without too much hassle.
That is how I ‘discovered’ Armenia. Though there is no ‘visa on arrival’ system for the country it has a simple e-visa arrangement for Indian citizens. The form can be filled out on-line with a few supporting documents to be uploaded such as the passport copy, passport size photo, travel insurance, any ‘live’ visa for USA, UK, etc. and accommodation in the country. I filled out the application in ten minutes, paid the visa fee of approximately Rs. 650 and received the e-visa in three working days, as guaranteed on the website.
A little research into the history of the country provided me with a religious and historical underpinning for my vacation. Armenia was the first country in the world to adopt Christianity as its state religion Christianity, which has been the central religion of the country since 301 AD – 30 years before Rome! The apostles of Jesus, Bartholomew (35-43 AD) and Thaddeus (44-60 AD), are reputed to have visited Armenia in the 1st century and sowed the seeds of Christianity in the country. St Gregory the Illuminator, the Patron Saint of Armenia, converted King Tiridates III of Armenia to Christianity around 300 AD. The first church in the world was established in Armenia; the Echmiadzin Cathedral in 303 AD. The invention of the Armenian Alphabet around 400 AD led to the translation of the Bible into Armenian. Thus, it is no surprise that the majority official religion in Armenia is the Armenian Apostolic Church, which is a part of the Oriental Orthodox family of Christian churches. 97% of the 3 million Armenians profess Christianity. The religious festival of Armenia, Vardavar, blends Christian traditions, cultural heritage and community celebration. Part of the celebration involves dousing others with water, symbolizing purification and renewal.
These are certain basic facts about Armenia.
a.
Armenia’s currency is Armenian Dram (AMD). The denominations of AMD are 1000, 2000, 5000, 10000, 20000, 50000, 100000 in currency notes and 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 in coins. The exchange rate is approximately 1 INR = 4.5 AMD.
b. Armenian is the most popularly spoken language (97%) in Armenia with Russian being the most popular second language (89%); Kurmanji is the largest minority language spoken by 1.3% of the population
c.
Armenia is a land-locked West Asian country, bordered by Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran and Turkey; known for its dramatic landscapes of mountains, valleys, waterfalls and lakes. Land area is approximately 28,500 sq km; the main cities of Armenia are Yerevan, where more than 30% of the population reside, Gyumri and Vanadzor
d. The interesting fact about Armenian population is that while 3 million Armenians live in their own country, close to 4 million live in over 100 countries with about 2.5 million Armenians living in USA and Russia. 64% of Armenians live in urban areas and median age is 37 years with life expectancy of 75 years. 97% of Armenians are Christians
e. The Armenian Flag is a tricolor, rectangular in shape with equal horizontal bands of red, blue and orange. The current flag was adopted in August 1994. The colors of the flag symbolize Armenian people’s struggle for survival, the people’s will to live under peaceful skies and their creative talent and hard-working nature.
f.
The popular sports in Armenia are football, basketball, ice hockey and volleyball. In the Olympics they take part in swimming, diving, track and field, boxing, gymnastics and shooting.
g. The Armenian GDP grows at over 8% per annum with the GDP per capita of over USD 20,000 on purchasing power parity, almost double that of India. The country has a declining birth rate. The major exports from the country are gold, copper ore, jewelry and broadcasting equipment.
