Sari Tagh, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Hetq Online

Today, after an absence of nearly two years I returned to Sari Tagh with Hetq Online journalist Arpi Maghakyan. Like Kond, another old and derelict part of the capital, Sari Tagh is one of the most run-down residential districts closest to the city center, but nobody in local government seems to give a damn. Hetq’s article will be ready in the next week or so.

Until then, and on the subject of accomodation, I might as well point you in the direction of two new posts on this matter. After recently writing an article for Hetq and posting what is probably the first ever video blog from Armenia on the construction going on his back yard for Hetq, Garo again posts another related entry on his blog, Notes from Hairenik.

Eviction has become a huge problem in Yerevan, with people either being paid insignificant sums of money for their homes or simply kicked out, depending on whether they protest by standing up for their rights and so forth. Now the courts will not hear their case against government-sponsored evictions, and the destruction of hundreds of homes continues. As a result there are homeless people roaming the streets—some of them entire families with small children—I’ve seen them with my own eyes. Some families managed to relocate, but for certain they no longer live in the area they’ve lived in for decades.

Meanwhile, Life Around Me’s Zarchka laments the loss of one of Yerevan’s most famous landmarks, the Palace of Youth. The dismantling of this building is really a crime, but one typical of what’s going on in Yerevan at present. Nothing is sacred or off limits if you have money to spend and connections in government.

Insult was even added to injury when the half-dismantled building even served as a giant billboard during the 27 November 2005 referendum and security guards in military fatigues prevented me from taking photos any closer. Basically, the new owners promised not to destroy the landmark, but went back on their word.

Today when we were about to start our lesson suddenly one of the girls yelled out “ Vay!! Where is Kukuruznik?” We all hurried to look through the window. Being busy with our everyday life and studies, before that we never paid attention that something was wrong with the view from our classroom window. A wave of “vays” followed then. Last year we were witnesses of how the building was being taken down day by day, though it wouldn’t come to our minds that it would be taken away totally.

Now, they’re going to build another luxury hotel in its place at a time when Yerevan sorely needs cheaper accomodation for budget travellers and backpackers. Even though the average monthly salary in Yerevan standing at $90-100, the cost of hotels and flights, as well as the lack of any real infrastructure in the regions, is still too high compared to Greece and Turkey.

“The average length of a tourist visit to Armenia is five to six days and a typical tourist spends between $800 and $1,000, including the cost of air tickets, during that time,” Petrosian told reporters.

Government officials and local travel agents admit that the sum does not make Armenia particularly attractive for budget travelers and hampers a more rapid growth of its tourism sector. Armenian travel costs have hardly decreased in recent years despite the emergence of new hotels and more frequent flights between Europe and Armenia.

Well, what can I say? As corruption sky rockets in Armenia and the democratization regresses, such a reality is to be expected. Unfortunately, as civil society is impotent and more concerned with chasing grants, nothing much is going to change any time soon. What’s most ironic, however, is that I warned about all of this happening in 2000. Of course, nobody listened.

Sari Tagh, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Hetq Online