Armenia Mania - The Journey Begins....

I was raised with a huge Armenian influence, always hearing stories of Armenia, celebrating Armenian holidays. -Kim Kardashian

Never in my wildest dream have I thought that I would be brave enough to travel solo to Armenia, an ex-USSR country.

It  was a typical 27th of November 2013, in an almost-winter-but-we-are-wearing-our-winter-boots-and-scarf Wednesday when my great Armenian journey began. My ex-colleague Tat and her hubby Erwin (who happens to be my University schoolmates, ummm...they are younger than me by tiny-weeny-bit-of-three-years? or maybe four?) and their big-time friend Christian were having our late night drinking session at TECOM's Belgium Cafe. (If you are my friend and you really know me, you might recall that I'm the lucky low-alcohol-tolerant social drinker...I socialize and they drink..) 

For some drunken reason, our conversation have turned into a more exciting topic, which is "holiday". UAE National Holiday to be exact! If my memory serves me right, it was Christian who informed us that Philippines Passport holders are visa-on-arrival in Armenia and the country was full of history (and since we are Architects, we are supposed to be history bunnies). Maybe I was just out of touch of the US Showbiz news that I was not even aware of the Kardashian connection with the country called Armenia. At first, he talks like a travel agent doing an impromptu presentation of the pros of holidaying in the ex-USSR country. Then, Tat added that there is an on-going Cebu Pacific cheap flights to Philippines. For a mere forty minutes and a few more beers, a great discussion of flying to Armenia versus Philippines was debated in detail. I was just an observer who occassionally smile here and there waiting for them to finish the debate of which country we are going to fly into. A few calculations of how much money will be spent and in the end, Philippines won as our country of destination!!! (its reallllly more fun in the Philippines...plus you get to see your beloved families who will be in for a big surprise as we will just show up in our own houses. -Christian). The lovely couple are working their Iphones to the max, with a hint of impatience on the edge when the Cebu Pacific mobile app stopped working during the process of booking our flights (after another 40 minutes of typing and re-typing our personal information!). At the end, we parted ways agreeing that as soon as we get home, we will open our respective laptops and book ourselves the Manila flight.

the listeners a.k.a. voters

my favorite couple among my friends
(not to mention good traveling mates!)

the debaters

True to my word, I did actually opened my laptop at past 12 midnight when I reached home. But like a stubborn child, I researched the country of Armenia. Lo and behold! Booking.com offered a very, and I mean super duper veryyyyyy cheap hotel accommodation and Flydubai return flights to Dubai-Yerevan at AED1,284.47 (with 7kg hand baggage with 20kg check-in luggage!!!).

Travel tip: It is always wise to insure yourself during traveling. Travel Guard of Flydubai cost me a mere AED37.  

It was like a dangling gold chain, and all I have to do is pull and a shower of colorful balloons will fall from heaven. But it also happened to be the most difficult, tormenting but heart-stopping decision I ever made. I didn't even bothered to open the Cebu Pacific website as the total of the trip to Armenia will cost me roughly AED 1400++ which is AED400 cheaper than the flight to Manila excluding the pasalubongs, shopping spree and dine outs. But the best part or shall I say, the Armenian "magnet pull" on my persona was the Almost-December weather of 4 to 8 degrees which translates to a word for me... SNOWWWWW!!!!

Yerevan...here I come!!!!

Who can blame a typical Filipina dreaming of a white almost-Christmas in a mountainous country of the South Caucasus region in Euroasia which is only 3.5 hours away from UAE? Plus I get to see the Ark of Noah's final resting place which is visible in the mountains? Also, this solo adventure to an unknown non-English speaking country might also give me a 90% chance of experiencing my first "snowfall' out of my entire 33 years existence on earth??? My life strongest belief was, if something is meant for you regardless of whatever it is, everything will go your way. I mean, it was a real super-budget-friendly-way-cheaper-than-a-Groupon-travel-offer opportunity? So, I booked and called my friends to send my deepest apologies for being unable to travel with them to Manila (which I know in time they will surely understand once they see my adventure photos). I guess, I'm so lucky to have very understanding friends and a company who issued me the documents I needed in just one day...talk about things falling right into place!!!

How did I feel after organizing my first solo adventure??? Excited and ready! For some unfathomable reason, I felt quite alright, I was not even agitated and thinking negatively because I will be alone in a foreign country (web travel advice even includes not talking to strangers!!!). In fact, I was so cool about embarking into this short holiday or perhaps it was the much needed R&R away from the dry desert that kept me nonchalant on the impending journey.