Mt. Ararat in Armenia

Last week I had the incredible opportunity to travel to Yerevan, Armenia. Armenia is just west of Turkey, north of Iran, south of Georgia and east of Azerbaijan. It's part of former 'CIS', Commonwealth of Independent States, and is in a political hotbed. It has no formal relations with Azerbaijan, in part due to a dispute over the Nagorno-Karabakh territory.

In my American mindset, I had a rather gloom perspective as to what to expect from a former Soviet satelite state. But to say I was impressed in an understatement. The country, while underdeveloped, is undergoing major reforms and investment. Cranes line the sky of Yerevan; industry is booming.

One of the most interesting parts of Armenia is Mt. Ararat, which rests between Turkey, Armenia and Iran. Besides its enormity, it is believed Ararat is the rest place of Noah's Ark, in the massive ice caps of the mountain. The link above has additional information.

Getting to Armenia is easier than one might think. First, there is a huge Armenian diaspora in the Los Angeles area (approx. 2/3 of the entire population of Armenia are in Los Angeles) and Buenos Aires (Argentina-Armenian investors own the airport). Air France, bmi, Lufthansa and Austrian all serve Yerevan. I cannot speak for Lufthansa or Austrian, but Air France and bmi both use an A-320 on the route, thrice weekly. bmi's service, which has a traditional business class, is far superior to Air France, which uses the all-economy A-320s with business class only separated by blocking the middle seat. Flights are around 6 hours from continental Europe.