Vanadzor, Armenia

...had I. We chanced on Vanadzor, needing somewhere to break up the long journey between the Armenian capital, Yerevan, and Tbilisi, capital of Georgia to the north.

In fact, Vanadzor is the third largest city in Armenia with a population of either 76, 000 or 175, 000 depending on which source you believe. Personally, having now been there, I’d be inclined to go for the latter figure.

Amongst Armenians, Vanadzor is regarded ...
...flowers that are well tended. Vanadzor, as it is now, is mainly a Soviet town, having been destroyed totally in 1826 during the Russo-Persian Wars. It was only very slowly re-built and not considered important at all until the Soviets came and saw its industrial potential; it was known as “Kirovakan” (to honour a Bolshevik politician) until 1992. So the many of the buildings in the centre of town are typical Soviet apartment blocks of the sort that ... more

Vanadzor – so small and insignificant in international terms that you probably haven’t even heard of it. Until I went to Armenia, neither had I. We chanced on Vanadzor, needing somewhere to break up the long journey between the Armenian capital, Yerevan, and Tbilisi, capital of Georgia to the north.

In fact, Vanadzor is the third largest city in Armenia with a population of either 76, 000 or 175, 000 depending on which source you believe. Personally, having now been there, I’d be inclined to go for the latter figure.

Amongst Armenians, Vanadzor is regarded as a rather nice place – not quite up there with the capital but still given nicknames like “Sanatorium City” or “The Beauty of Lory” (after the Lory region it is in). Unfortunate then that our first view of the city was the massive chemical plant on the outskirts. Only a small part of this now operates but this Soviet behemoth still dominates the landscape.

We arrived mid-afternoon having been unceremoniously dumped at a road junction by a minivan driver; we had assumed that he was taking us into Vanadzor and so were disappointed when we surveyed our surroundings, hoping another bus would appear soon to take us away again. We tried to make sense of the basic map provided in our Lonely Planet guide but it bore no relation to the streets before us. Tired, hungry and a little concerned, we decided to use our favourite trick in this situation – look lost and someone will help.

Before long the director of the town’s orphanage was on the scene trying to assist us – I hope he has an excellent rapport with kids because his map reading skills are non-existent. He called his soon who swapped cars with him (I have no idea what was going on there) and then took us into town. We were relieved to learn that this was merely the outskirts of town and things started to look up when we hit Vanadzor-proper.

It’s a leafy place with rich green shades, sitting 2000 metres above sea level. All the streets are tree-lined and the town has several parks although after only a few minutes walk in any direction, you are in the countryside.

Our rescuer delivered us safely to a homestay we had read about but we decided against staying there because we were being asked to pay a ridiculous price. Instead we walked back into town and made our way to Hotel Gugark – a former Intourist Hotel, state-run in Soviet times. It’s a mammoth building but now only operates as a hotel on two floors. The other floors are taken up mainly by International NGOs. The hotel has a range of room options as long as your arm and the “provodnitsa” (floor manager) reels them off quickly. The hotel does have hot water but not in all rooms and you must go to the provodnitsa’s office and ask her to switch the pump on when you want hot water and how long you want it for. You should over-estimate the time because she watches the clock and will switch it off exactly at the time you agreed. No event, no matter how dramatic, will stop her switching it off at the agreed time.

I won’t say much more about Hotel Gugark (but do ask me to write a full review if you want to know more about this memorable experience) other than to say it was clean, comfortable and well located – and cheap – about £12 a night for a double room. Vanadzor's only other hotel was a nasty looking motel on the other side of town.

Vanadzor is a rather pretty town but this is mainly because of the scenic backdrop of the mountains and the trees and flowers that are well tended. Vanadzor, as it is now, is mainly a Soviet town, having been destroyed totally in 1826 during the Russo-Persian Wars. It was only very slowly re-built and not considered important at all until the Soviets came and saw its industrial potential; it was known as “Kirovakan” (to honour a Bolshevik politician) until 1992. So the many of the buildings in the centre of town are typical Soviet apartment blocks of the sort that can be seen everywhere from Belgrade to Prague and further on to Moscow. In 1988 over five hundred people died as a result of an earthquake centred near Vanadzor and in the event nearly 70 per cent of the city’s buildings were left in total runs or merely uninhabitable. What was hastily erected in some places makes the place look like a shanty town. On the drive through the mountains from Yerevan we saw that many people still live in shipping containers no doubt used as a “temporary” shelter in the immediate aftermath of the quake.

Vanadzor has no “shopping centre” and very few conventional shops; most people shop at the market for nearly everything – Vanadzor doesn’t even have a “supermarket” (not that this is necessarily one of my criteria for civilisation but it may help paint a picture). The market is fabulous – lively and compelling with piles of juicy soft fruit (in summer of course) , old ladies selling sunflower seeds, other stalls selling dried fish and buckets of shrimps. If you can read Armenian, Vanadzor does have a bookshop but the best shop is an amazingly modern shop selling a baffling variety of spirits, in particular Armenian cognac that is very good.

So what exactly can you do in Vanadzor? Well in the town itself not much, it must be said. There is a small museum which houses Bronze age relics found in the area but it was closed for Independence Day weekend when we were there. And, other than visit the decrepit “fun fair” in one of the parks, that is all there is to do.

Being fairly adaptable and able to entertain ourselves quite easily we were more than happy, however, to put on our walking shoes and explore. I mentioned earlier that one of the epithets given to Vanadzor is “Sanatorium City”; we did find the sanatoria but most are now disused and have fallen into disrepair. However they are eerily attractive and quite striking in the typical Soviet sanatorium style – modernist white buildings set among the lush greenery. There are also some attractive dachas (summer holiday homes) along the way.

Nearby is the almost touristy town of Dilijan that is celebrated throughout Armenia for its chalet style houses and wonderful scenery – Armenians call it “Little Switzerland” and its easy to see why. You can get there easily by bus but a taxi is also an affordable option. From the moment we arrived in Vanadzor people were telling us to go to Dilijan. Some even offered to arrange a hotel there too.

Other places worth visiting are the ancient monasteries of Haghpats and Sanahin; they really do need to be accessed by private vehicle and there are always plenty of drivers willing to wait while you explore and bring you back to town.

Although Vanadzor is regarded as quite cultured (apparently because it has a Polytechnic and a teacher training college) there is very little in the way of cultural diversions or night-time activities. There are a few café-bars and two restaurants (more accurately upper level cafes) but nothing to get excited about. Cappucino comes from a packet (Nescafe can never be escaped no matter how hard you try), pizzas taste like cardboard. We ate some great meals in Armenia, none of them in Vanadzor. Even the kvas (a slightly alcoholic drink made from fermented rye) made me ill – I should have known when I saw the old lady selling it from a tank on the street – she was completely bald and I blame that on the kvas.

We managed to stay nearly three days in Vanadzor and although my appraisal appears negative we really did find it a pleasant and attractive little town. I would recommend it as a base to explore northern Armenia but I do feel that younger backpackers would find it quite dull, especially in the evenings. Having come from the hustle and bustle of the Armenian capital, we found the quiet pace rather agreeable but we were happy enough to leave for somewhere more lively.

Photographs to follow when gremlins are eradicated 

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