8/6/14

Riding the train yesterday/this morning reminds me of why it is enjoyable to ride platskart. Shortly after boarding, I began speaking with my neighbors--this time I had the side with only two bunks parallel to the corridor. Turns out, one of the sons (it was a family of 6) could speak decent english, and we got along quite well. It turns out that he too studies economics, and he had some idea of philosophy. Of course, the food was broken out shortly (all the stuff I had bought was rendered useless) and it was a proper feast. There was some chicken, some potatoes and bread type stuff, vegetables, and some pastries, and it was all homemade. This is why riding platskart can be very rewarding if you don't mind being crammed in with tons of other people--if you know even a bit of Russian and are friendly enough people warm up to you. As the mother of the family said, "You're our guest". There were also some people a few places down with a guitar, and I went over to see what they were playing. It was a bunch of teenage girls playing pop-ish stuff (including an acoustic cover of the first few lines of "Not Afraid" by Eminem) but it was still relatively interesting. Of course, once I got there I had even more food shoved in my face so I munched on that too. They asked if I could sing (one of them spoke english) and pretty soon I had worked my way into singing "Wagon Wheel", which of course was not very impressive but it would be even less so had I shied away from the challenge. I will say this about food and drink: take it if offered to you and stuff yourself as far as you possibly can. I think it makes people feel good when they're helping you out (backstory: I feel bad I didn't drink the bottled soda drink they handed me). Anyway, it was pretty great and the scenery was amazing too.

About the train itself: The Yerevan--Batumi "Armenia" leaves Yerevan at 15:30 and arrives in Batumi at 7:10 the next day, with various stops, including one in Tbilisi around midnight. The schedules are not posted online, though they are available at the station. I booked a day in advance and had no problem; the train seemed relatively full but it was 18 cars long and various people get on/off along the way (Gyumri, at around 18:00 or 19:00, and Tbilisi amongst others). Platskart wound up costing me about 10500 AMD, so it was relatively cheap. I am not sure what the rates for Kupe/Lux are, but both classes appear to be available. The journey itself is to be recommended; though the train moves at a relatively slow pace (maxed out at probably 50 or 60 mph on a few sections, usually around 40) it goes through some spectacular scenery. It gets interesting about an hour in when the line begins to follow the border with Turkey, sandwiched between said border and some tall, rocky hills devoid of vegetation. It travels through a bunch of half-dead villages and through some deep, rocky cuts before getting to Gyumri. It's a real backwater (according to my compatriot one of the villages we stopped in was "the Mexico of Armenia" because so many people grew weed there. From the looks of it, I don't know if they can be blamed). Some of the villages are so run down it's hard to believe people live there, but every now and then you'll see a functioning car or some laundry. After Gyumri, the train climbs higher and higher, finally getting into the mountains where some spectacular views are available as the train travels along the mountainside and looks out over massive valleys. There are a few smaller old factory towns here that are clearly on their last legs. At this point, more vegetation is appearing, and the line twists and turns as it swiftly gains elevation. Finally, after punching through a few tunnels, you emerge in what can only be  described as a gorge, with correspondingly beautiful views. Unfortunately, my journey was largely overcast but that added to the gloom of these boondocks places and run down towns in a way that sort of reminded me of Whitesburg, KY. Though the gorge was quite beautiful, it was here that we ran out of light shortly after passing through a once-large town with abandoned and decaying industry everywhere. Apparently a landslide killed around 2500 people here a few years ago. After that, it was on into darkness, Tbilisi, and finally, this morning, Batumi. I woke disappointed to find that it was still overcast, but the last leg of the journey into Batumi was again quite scenic, as the line was sandwiched between the highway, the mountains, and the Black Sea, passing through a few tunnels in the last several kilometers. All in all, this train is a highly recommended experience and probably very underrated as far as scenic rail journeys go.

Mountains in Armenia

Morning near Batumi, Georgia

 

Upon arrival in Batumi, I set out to find the hostel.  Turns out that what the Lonely Planet calls the "Batumi Hostel" is actually the "Batumi Paradise Hostel", as I found out after waking the owner at 8:30. After realizing that this was not it and I had no idea where the hostel actually was, I searched for wifi. Finding none, I was about to head to another spot to try my luck when some guy getting tea with his buddy asked if I was looking for a hostel. When I said that I was actually looking for wifi, he told me to sit down and wait as the restaurant next door would open in 30 minutes and they had it. I talked with the dude for a while and it struck me that he was about as pirate-looking as  they get. I didn't believe that he was a "student" for one minute. He was probably in his mid-thirties, swarthy, wearing a bandana over his head, with skull-and-crossbones earrings, a tank top, and shorts. I remember thinking that if it was warm, sunny, and we had margaritas, it would be about as Jimmy Buffett a moment as you can get. Yeah. So he was clearly not a student but he was super helpful. He tried to convince me to rent a room in his place (at 30 Lari for one night, and then he later said he was leaving for Turkey today???) but I declined. This  had also happened when I was looking for the other hostel; a lady approached me as I was nearing the destination and offered me a room for 15 lari for one night, but I declined. I guess the lesson to be learned is that it is possible to find last minute accommodations in Batumi, but I wouldn't recommend it as you may find yourself in some pirate's apartment or some old lady's house and you have no idea of the level of sketchiness involved. Plus they're no cheaper, and if the pirate's estimate is to be trusted more expensive, than hostels. Anyway, the pirate and I got the address online and when we used the STREET ADDRESS--not the map coordinates because every map service I tried had the location wrong, we finally made it to the hostel. Note to folks booking this hostel: though HostelWorld says to look at "Map and Directions" for the real address, it is still confusing. The map there is still wrong, though the directions are right. Nowhere in the directions is the actual address mentioned, so you're left wondering if the 10 Lermontovi at the top is right or not--in fact it is. Just use this and you'll be fine. After checking in I worked on going to the beach. As far as I can tell, the hostel is decent--probably the closest I've come to a classic European hostel with tons of people and kind of beat down facilities (10 bunks in a room and the bathrooms could use a little TLC/more than one lightbulb) but I will say that the staff is very enthusiastic and helpful, and you can't really be too greedy at $10 a night in this relatively expensive place. I was trying to go to some of the southern beaches (I looked at the beach in Batumi and it was way too crowded to sit out comfortably and drink the 2 liter beer I bought) on Marschrutka 33, but it never came. After waiting a good 35 minute I just hopped on 31, which goes to the Botanical Gardens according to the Lonely Planet. I didn't ride all the way there but instead bailed right before we got there and crossed the railroad tracks towards the sea. This was a great idea as people in Batumi really, really don't spread out--everyone stays in town. Whether this is because of low car ownership rates or the convenience or what, I have no idea, but even 2 or 3 km north of town the place was quite empty. There are various bars though, and they'll also rent you deck chairs for 3 lari (in my case) so you can get a relatively wide open stretch of beach (nearest people were about 30 yards to my right) and a chair on the cheap if you just decide to take public transit out of town. Disclaimer: perhaps the beach was so open because of the quasi-overcast weather, but when I looked at the beach in Batumi, it was packed even at that time so your best bet is always one way or the other. The clouds did clear a little bit and I began to enjoy my 12% ABV 2 liter beer, which by the way is a great invention, when I had another classic and as always inconvenient bloody nose, and most of my beach time was spent attending to this. That being said, I did get to swim in the ocean (not for long, though, out of fear that I would agitate the napkin jammed up my nostril and re-open the floodgates) and nap on the beach. The sun came out for long enough for me to put on sunscreen but at around 3:15 the rain really hit and I finally found a not-packed marschrutka to take home. One observation about the Georgians: they are super nice. As I was messing around near the bar trying to get rid of the now blood-soaked napkin in my nostril without bursting the floodgates wide open, one of the teenagers working the bar just came out and handed me a pile of napkins. Luckily, I wound up not needing them (at least not yet) but I didn't even go in an ask for any--I had just been outside fretting around the trash can.  So that was nice. I made it back and now I'm working on trying to find something to do, or mainly something to eat, this evening since it looks like the rain is not letting up.