高加索下的殇城 – 埃里温

位于欧亚交界的高加索(Caucasus)地区，在上个世纪是个多事之秋的区域。

翻开高加索地区的地图，三个鲜为人知的陌生小国在黑海和里海之间的陆地上挤成一团，乱七八糟的国界分裂在这个长期互相矛盾尔虞我诈的山峦地带 – 属于阿塞拜疆外飞地(Exclave) 的纳希切万(Naxçıvan)被隔离在亚美尼亚西南部，备受争议的纳戈尔诺-卡拉巴赫(Nagorno-Karabakh) 被孤立在亚美尼亚和阿塞拜疆之间，领土一样支离破碎的格鲁吉亚则在北部的高原疆域上挣扎求存，组成了现代版的三国鼎立的对峙局面。

                                           高加索                           (网络照片)

我从格鲁吉亚入境亚美尼亚，直接就来到首都埃里温(Yerevan)。埃里温坐落在小加索(Lesser Caucasus)山脉的西南面，源自塞万湖(Sevan)的贺拉兹丹河(Hrazdan River)潺潺流过，千百年来受到西部的亚拉拉特(Ararat)山的保佑。

走在埃里温大街上和当地人搭讪，赫然发现很多亚美尼亚人其实都散居在海外，从悉尼到洛杉矶均有他们的足迹，散居海外多年的他们通常是高品位时尚生活的拥护者，华丽宽敞的林荫大道上，皆是精品酒店、高级餐馆、潮流服饰店、时尚咖啡屋以及歌舞升平的酒吧和舞厅，名贵的跑车不时在陈旧却坚固的苏制老车身旁呼啸而过，高挺的人工鼻子寄生在金发碧眼和浓眉红唇的粉嫩脸蛋上，背心热库迷你裙高跟鞋肆无忌惮地在大街上招摇过市，显示欧式的自由开放生活是亚美尼亚人急于向外展示的精神面貌。

虽然中东地区招牌式的喧哗与热闹场面不见得在这里天天上映，但中东大家庭式的群体生活还是令我忍不住把他们归类为中东人，亚美尼亚人外冷内热，内敛的热情总收藏在不张扬的个性里，对于陌生人，提防之心总比助人之心捷足先登，举手投足与言谈之间也似乎离不开以家庭为中心的东方思想。

外冷内热的亚美尼亚人，其实憨厚非常

新颖的共和广场，取代了象征苏维埃主义的列宁广场

离开以共和广场为坐标的南部新区，我徒步到中心偏北的闹市，一座挺拔参天的纪念碑巍然耸立在呈梯形的花园顶端，把城里的一切归顺于其脚下。据说，这座梯园(Cascade)的构想出自上世纪30年代，其兴建过程和亚美尼亚的命运一样坎坷，建筑工程不断被内忧外患的动荡局势腰斩，直到亚美尼亚富商Gerald L. Cafesjian在2002年出资3千万美金重建，才成功把整个建筑改造成集美术馆和露天公园为一体的埃里温坐标。

宛若巴比伦空中花园的梯园，旨在纪念亚美尼亚苏维埃社会主义共和国成立50周年

依山而建的梯园，乍看之下犹如一个巨大的阶梯，山体内隐藏着不少的展览空间，整齐有致的花床间，散落着艺术大师的作品，是埃里温人竞相合影的城市雕塑。和其他受过苏维埃主义洗礼的城市一样，埃里温四处依然闪烁着苏联时期的影子，新旧交织的画面，让人透不过气来，譬如，那些体积庞大以苏联建筑为样本的国家博物馆、歌舞剧院、国家艺术画廊、纪念碑以及公园和广场，难免让人想起苏联统治时期的种种。繁华的背后，大概隐藏着绝非偶然的痛苦和辛酸，在昏暗的街角处勉强撑起一座城市的历史记忆。

简陋的苏联式公寓，仍然充斥在埃里温的地平线上

上世纪的苏维埃主义，仍然无远弗届

身为世界上第一个基督教国家，大约百分之九十的亚美尼亚人信仰基督教，虔诚的教徒在路过教堂或其他宗教场所时往往都会在胸口和额头之间连做三次的十字手势，然后念念有词向主祷告，显示了宗教与信仰在当地人心目中缺一不可的崇高地位。古老的修道院和烛光照耀的教堂遍布在全国大小的省份城镇以及穷乡僻壤的村落里，仿佛在任何时候都不缺带着信仰前来膜拜的教徒。亚美尼亚是历史最悠久的传统基督教国家，自中世纪以来，由于亚美尼亚人仍然坚持信仰基督教，以至不断受到周边伊斯兰教徒的迫害和屠杀，发生在第一次世界大战的亚美尼亚种族大屠杀在某种程度上正包含了宗教迫害的元素。

大约百分之九十的亚美尼亚人都是虔诚的基督教

哈格帕特修道院(Haghpat Monastery)是亚美尼亚第一个被列入世界文化遗产的遗址

我跳上往市郊的小巴(俄语: Marshrutka)上，往一个叫Tsitsernakaberd的地方奔去。亚美尼亚种族大屠杀博物馆坐落在一个犹如地下碉堡的灰色大石厅里。战乱时期，往往是人性坠入最低点的时期。在1915至1922年第一次世界大战时期，超过100万名亚美尼亚人惨遭当时还是奥斯曼帝国的土耳其士兵所屠杀，其他侥幸逃过此难的上万名亚美尼亚人则被迫流往海外。

亚美尼亚种族大屠杀博物馆，正坐落在这座灰色碉堡底下

我把头贴近一张又一张被放大的战争照片，橱窗里整齐排列着从世界各地拼凑回来的历史证据，每一位探访者似乎都在屏息地阅读，沉重的心情和展览厅里的气氛一样凝重。这所集博物馆与纪念馆于一身的黑色建筑物，并没有试图哗众取宠而把奥斯曼帝国妖魔化，反而选择让大量的图片和成篇的数据自行其说，旨在让迟来的公道烙印在正确的历史认知上。

展览厅里气氛凝重

从世界各地拼凑回来的历史证据

永恒的火焰与鲜花的吊唁，都是为了悼念那些死在亚美尼亚种族大屠杀下的亡魂

根据馆里的资料，美国、俄罗斯、阿根廷、黎巴嫩以及多数欧洲国家，皆官方承认那是一场由一国政府蓄意发动的计划性种族大屠杀，纪念馆外一棵棵栽种在公园里的小树，正是出自那些各国领袖代表之手。纵然跌证确凿如山，土耳其政府还是以“没有这回事”、“把亚美尼亚人遣送到叙利亚沙漠是为了他们的安全” 、“那纯粹是意外”、“所有的证据都是捏造的”、“死亡人数没那么多”、“土耳其人也是受害者”等诸多站不住脚的借口来试图掩盖或淡化那场惨无人道的战争罪行。土耳其和亚美尼亚到目前为止仍然没有邦交，两国边界也自1993年的纳戈尔诺-卡拉巴赫领土争议问题后无限期关闭，而土耳其和阿塞拜疆常年对亚美尼亚实施的经济与地理封锁，更是让这个处于欧亚交界的内陆小国雪上加霜。

一棵棵栽种在公园里的小树，皆是各国领袖代表对亚美尼亚种族大屠杀的官方承认

显然，与其让过去的创伤继续让自己一蹶不振，亚美尼亚选择把属于上世纪的一切心理包袱存放在分布全国上下的各种纪念碑及纪念馆内，然后果断地抖落昔日的历史尘埃，昂首迈入日渐明朗的现代。加入欧盟是亚美尼亚政府迎新送旧的目标，近年来的经济起飞更使她被冠上“高加索之虎”之称，单是当初因为战乱等各种悲剧而流亡海外的亚美尼亚人，从世界各地汇回来的款项就足以重建一座城市，而那座城市，正是高加索下的殇城 – 埃里温。

What the Hell I’m Doing in Armenia?

No single traveler I met on the road has stayed in Armenia for more than 5 days.

And I stayed in Armenia for a week. So, you must be wondering what the hell I’m doing in Armenia – the smallest country in the Caucasus. Well, I usually make my travel a bit slow not only because I can see and learn things better(apparently I’ve myopia and am a slow-learner) but also I don’t think I will revisit a country in the near future.

So, what the hell I’m doing in Armenia?

Well, I’m doing the heaven thing in Armenia. You don’t write for heaven, do you?

The Monastery of Sanahin and Haghpat

Sanahin Monastery

Haghpat Monastery

Note: The Monastery of Sanahin and Haghpat is one of the UNESCO World Heritage Site (Cultural Site) inscribed in 1996.

Nightmare in Pre-war Soviet Building

Well, Armenia isn’t very expensive as I expect but when it comes to accommodation, I almost succumbed. To find a budget hotel is like searching a needle on the seabed.

And this is the reason I stayed in Hotel Gugark – a gigantic pre-war Soviet building with a Soviet-made lift only operated by key. You need to ask someone holding the key to operate the lift whenever you need to go up and down. Otherwise, the ladder is your only choice. Yes, the ladder. My source of information told me that this should be the cheapest in town.

Hotel Gugark

In the shared room

After bargaining very hard and almost giving up, the lady finally allowed me to share a room on 4^th floor with an Armenian guy who eventually left me alone. That was another story. I didn’t really care. It might be better as I have the whole room by myself.

It wasn’t until something happened at that night that I realized staying alone in a 3-bed room wasn’t as good as I thought.

The night saw me running helplessly down the ladder. Yes, the ladder. Apparently I was chased by someone, if not something. I can’t remember the whole thing and how IT looked like after waking up from my bed. Covering in a white robe and with long black hair, I think IT is a SHE. Oh ya! She didn’t wear any shoes and there were some blood stain on her robe.

The nightmare quickly brought me to the cheap hostel in Meknès where I stayed when I was traveling in Morocco 3 years ago. That hotel was even more ghostly and horrible where I had to keep the light on during my entire sleep. I have been dreaming a lot since setting my foot on the road and this is the first nightmare I had as far as my trip goes.  

Phew~~what a…nightmare!

p/s: I’m fear of ghosts and I’m afraid of dogs, sometimes goats and cows as well. I know I’m a coward but a coward still insists on traveling on a shoestring alone and independently. This is the problem.

1915-1922 Armenian Genocide

 Despite the abundant evidences and the recognition from foreign leader all over the world on the genocide of Armenian, the Turkish government deny all, by giving lots of lame excuses ranging from ‘it never happened’, ‘the evidences are fake’, ‘not so many people died’, ‘Turkish also suffered’, ‘the deportation to Syrian desert without food and water was for their own safety’ to ‘it wasn’t deliberate’.

Until the issue resolved, the Turkey-Armenia border remains close.

One of the many recognition of foreign leader from all over the world

A monument was erected to commemorate the Armenian genocide by Turkish army during World War I 

Note: If I don’t travel by land, I wouldn’t know why there are some borders which are open while the others remain close. This is why I insist on traveling overland.

Lada

Can you manage to locate a house where the only information you got is the first name of the owner?

As soon as I alighted on Yerevan early in the morning from the night train, I have been trying hard to locate a very cheap place called Lada’s Homestay. The only clue I had is it is near the train station, yes, near the train station. And it is only 1000 Dram. These were the only information I had.

What? Do I think I’m a FBI agent or something? What is the definition of near? 50m radius from the train station? And I still gave it a try. I must be insane. But 1000 dram a night is so tempting and I can’t help myself.

So I started my aimless search by walking to the neighborhood within the vicinity of the train station and asking around. First to the north, and then to the east, followed by to the south and finally to the west. Unfortunately, not many Armenians spoke English here, at least here and nobody knew what I wanted and for those who spoke English, they didn’t know anything about Lada but they did know that Lada is a Soviet-made car. They asked me to go to hotel in the city centre.

You see, information is so important for those traveling on a shoestring. I can’t stop blaming myself why didn’t I ask for more information from Tomoko, at least a telephone number or something beforehand. Sometimes I salute to Japanese travelers as they always can find some cheaper places to stay and I know that is because they tend to stay in a place where most of the travelers of their kind have stayed before. They travel by guestbook.

Upon giving up, I checked in to a newly established hostel equipped with all the facilities a traveler needs. You know what?  I don’t need all of those. A bed or a shade is more than enough for me.

I had to pay almost 6 times more. Damn it.

Note: RM 1 ≈ 120 Dram