I did the opposite of this route almost a year ago, with hopes that Georgia would be a fun experience and something more long term for me; though in the end that wasn't the case. Now, with moving into a place it takes time to really see its true colours, the good, the bad, and the ugly. I think I saw more of the bad and the ugly in Tbilisi, and the good was outside of the city. The train ride on the way to Tbilisi was a sleeper train but taken near the height of summer during the daytime. There was no reason to sleep or even make the beds given the arrival just as night began. Yesterday, I took the sleeper train on the off season, which is the same route all the way back, but actually at night. The real sleeper train experience. I was conflicted with writing about this experience given I had technically already done so, but made that decision in the end given I do think it was a fundamentally different experience in the end. One that really tested my patience, while also slowly managing to win me over as something I thoroughly enjoyed. I will quickly add one thing to this post: if you're ever to take a long trip on a sleeper train, ensure you have plenty of food with you, not just snacks. You will get hungry. This was also around ten hours in total.
Sitting in the Soviet built and still operational Tbilisi Central Train Station, feeling the vibrations of the odd train passing right beneath as we sat in the food court, we felt the excitement to finally get moving, the excitement to finally be back in Yerevan, and in Armenia. We didn't leave for any major reason, we just wanted to weigh the options around the region. So that love for the wonderful nation of Hayastan was always there, and especially during those bad and ugly times back in Tbilisi. Sitting in the food court, the last few hours were counted and felt like forever. We were just about to get some quick dense food to get something in us before hopping on the train with some snacks, but I noticed that the train was already sitting at the station. The only train to leave from that station for the entire day. It was already possible to board. And we hadn't eaten, nor did we manage to buy additional water or some extra light snacks for the ride. I ran out of the station to the shop next to it and grabbed a few bread sticks and two Twix bars. A big mistake but that's all the place actually had to offer, and time was running out due to long queues.
I feel it tends to be this way with boarding a train. Something near the last minute is a bit of a struggle. And the main struggle was actually our luggage. An entire year's supply of clothing and various other goods. Way too much for just two people to run around with: three small luggage bags. Three backpacks. One giant bag full of a bit of everything. And another full of fragile items wrapped quickly in foil and other bags. Oh, and two other sealed bags that held a few desperately thrown together items like towels, a sketchbook, some of my comics, and blankets. Thinking about it now, I have no idea how we managed to pull that off. I have a picture of some of those items as we finally boarded the train, taking numerous trips in the moment. To much bad luck, it was one of the warmest days of spring so far. And that train got hot very quickly. Idle, waiting for more people to board. A small train with about three wagons. A bit of a small train but this is considered the off season train; and I believe the more desired trips are taken during the day. Most people instead just taking the much faster Marshrutka minibus.
Once we finally got going, we opened the window to let some of that breeze in. It didn't do a whole lot, and much of the ride was quite stuffy. But that's something that can't be avoided. There's no air conditioning on these things. And in the peak of summer that's definitely where you'd want to avoid it. But it was already evening and cooling off outside, the best moments were when we stopped and the doors opened, letting in even more of that cool mountainous air. Quiet little villages and towns of former Soviet industrialism. The odd person getting off or on at these locations. Though mostly we arrived to empty stations and moved on a few minutes later. A surprise to many here is that your luggage isn't actually checked. You get off the train at one stop to stamp in or out of Georgia, and the rest is Armenian passport control entering the train and going wagon to wagon with electronic laptop-like devices. That was about two or three hours in. And these are by far the worst parts of the trip. No longer moving, the train gets incredibly warm. And you can't really sleep just yet given the lights are on and various border agents and customs people are walking around asking questions. Again, your luggage is never really checked unless it's to see if you have anything to declare. Such a strange world for me. By that aforementioned minibus, you stop at a road border, remove all the bags and put them through the machines.
People at this point still had some energy, before there were groups of tourists in one small room just talking about their lives and travels. To much disdain from others. You'd hear the odd joke or complaint about them and their noise in Russian or English, whispered to others. Surprisingly, this was quite a quiet trip. Nobody had any children onboard. People weren't particularly loud (outside of those people). Perhaps most already having some of that tiredness of starting the trip at the later part of the day. Around 8:30PM.
Once the border checks were done, I think everyone had that deep relieving sigh. The realisation that we could all make the beds and sleep knowing there's nothing to wake us up until we're pretty much in Yerevan. That's about five hours of solid rocky sleep as the wagons weave between the mountains on old rail. A bumpy ride for sure. It took me forever to get to sleep finally. Mostly because of the warmth. I didn't want to pull out clothing and get changed in the toilets (of which there is a working shower as well) knowing I'd have to pack things again later. The lights would come on and off, workers passing through the wagon checking things. People at this point were mostly silent. Most people basically put their heads down and went straight to sleep. At around a midway point we stopped for a bit longer at the industrial town of Vanadzor, a location I really want to visit. It's a little more north and near Dilijan. Trees and mountains all over. I stepped to the side of the train and snapped a quick phone picture before walking back to the bed and attempting to get some more sleep.
I tossed and turned a lot during the night. The rocking of the wagon was actually quite peaceful. Though the warmth soon returned when the person above closed the window. That's something that happens often. The conflicting opinions over temperature. Some want the window open at all times, some want it closed even if it's boiling inside. A little bit of suffering is inevitable regardless of your preferences. That tiredness of the chaotic day beforehand finally hit me though, and I crashed into a deep sleep. Finally waking up with the pink sunset around the infamous town of Metsamor. Its huge nuclear power station cooling towers visible, throwing out all kinds of things into the air. The snowy mountains behind them. And a low coating of fog just above the fields. Old buildings surrounding. Old factories and little offices no longer in use. Some 70 years old at this point. That's Armenia. It's old. It's rundown, it's barely functional. But it has its beauty and charm to it nonetheless. And that long, uncomfortable and warm train ride through the night made that arrival feel all that more special. Worth it for the experience. Oh, and of course cute ragged stray dogs were ready to greet us upon arrival.