Tirchkan Waterfall- June 24th, 2023
I have to tell you about the time some of us PCVs went on our memorable trip to Tirchkan Waterfall to go hiking. First of all, I have to mention that, we'd been at site for a few weeks and our Armenian was not that great yet... not that it is great now... but at that point, it really wasn't great. Anyways, Becky's birthday was coming up and she had mentioned that she wanted to do this hike in the Shirak Marz. Several of us thought it'd be fun to do and would be a good way to celebrate her birthday.
In Armenia there are a few taxi services you can use to get around. One is Yandex which is a Russian based company and the other is GG which is Armenian-based. Each has pros and cons but for this trip we decided GG was the better option. I love apps because you can order a taxi driver without having to talk on the phone...which is great when your Armenian is not that great.
Tenzin, Pablo, Jorge, and I had all agreed to meet up at my apartment to take the taxi to Tirchkan. The plan was that we'd cut through the mountains to get there so we didnt have to go the long way through Gyumri. We didn't think about the recent rain and that not all cars are equipped with 4-wheel drive...Halfway through the drive (cutting through the mountain on the back roads), we got stuck in the mud in the middle of nowhere. We had to hop out of the car to help push and get unstuck. We debated on what we should do. Was it worth it to turn back and go through Gyumri or should we just call it quits? We were now going to be late and we weren't sure if the Taxi driver was upset or not with us. Luckily my host mom Tamara jan was great and spoke on the phone with him to help explain the situation. We decided to carry on and take the long way through Gyumri.
We eventually made it to Tirchkan and met up with the other volunteers who were nice enough to wait for us. The taxi driver asked if we wanted him to wait, but we said we'd call another GG taxi to pick us up. Because obviously if a taxi could drop us off, it could definitely pick us up right? Plus with the detour, our first taxi was already expensive, we didn't want to have to pay even more to have him wait for us.
I'm sure everyone has different opinions about the hike, but I enjoyed it! We crossed through the 1st river which none of us were prepared for (lesson learned, bring water shoes) and we balanced across logs and rocks for the 2nd. The hike was about 6 miles, beautiful, and definitely worth the trip to see the waterfall. We all brought food to eat and Pablo hiked the whole way with a cake for us to celebrate and sing Happy Birthday to Becky. It really was a fun day.
After the hike when we reached back to the starting point a few people collapsed from tiredness...ok collapsed is a strong word, but people were definitely ready to sit down. We started ordering GG taxis to come pick us up and just waited on the side of the road. A few people passed by asking if we wanted a ride, but of course we said "no", because our taxi was on its way...We should have taken them up on their offer... An hour or 2 had passed by and each group had had at least 3 taxis cancel on them. We couldn't figure out why the taxi drivers couldn't find us...All they had to do was follow the coordinates we put into the app. The first driver brought us, so why was it so difficult for these drivers? We talked with them on the phone and even the dispatcher, but due to our limited Armenian it was a little difficult to give directions.
The sun would be setting soon, and I was tired of waiting. I knew we had to do something or else we were going to be stuck on the side of the road. I remembered on the drive in that we had passed a small village. So I looked on Google Maps and saw that the village was about a mile walk up the road. I talked with the other volunteers and convinced a few of them to go with me. I figured someone in the village would either be a taxi driver or would have a phone number for one that we could call.
I called our safety director to let him know what was going on and our plan, then set off for the village. The village Sarapat is very small and consists of 1 road. When we reached the village we didnt see many people, but we did see some kids and talked with them. They told us that there were no taxis in the village. We stood on the side of the road trying to figure out what to do. A few houses up the road I saw some women standing outside staring at us. I decided to go talk with them and ask if I could use their restroom. They were kind enough to oblige. They even invited us all in and gave us some water, crackers, fruit, and juice. Traditional Armenian hospitality.
Our safety director was able to coordinate to have a taxi come pick us up from the village. We called the other volunteers who were still waiting back on the main road to come to the village as well. The other group had been able to get a taxi to come close, but he couldn't find the village. So one of the men from the house offered to take that group to go meet their taxi driver, while we waited for the taxi our safety director called for us.
Soon our little waiting room turned into a house party/community event, with everyone wanting to meet the stranded Americans. All the neighbors started showing up offering us more food. One lady walked in hiding something under her coat which turned out to be a bottle of vodka... many toasts were given that night in honor of us. I was happy enough with my juice. I am so grateful for that Armenian family who were kind enough to take us under their wing. They even helped us when a rightfully so disgruntled taxi driver that the other group had ordered showed up. We couldn't leave with him, because we already had our own taxi driver coming that would take us back to Vanadzor. I felt so bad for him. Our correct taxi driver eventually showed up and we had a sweet goodbye with our new Armenian friends from Sarapat. We hope to be able to visit them again...albeit, next time with better planning. It was definitely a memorable experience where we all learned a lot and we can all laugh about it now.
Tirchkan Waterfall is a beautiful hike and I highly recommend it to anyone in the area if they enjoy hiking. Just a few key points to think about.
Coordinate a taxi ride there and back before you go. Don't just wing it!
Bring water shoes to cross through the river (especially if the water is high from recent rain). The second option is to bring a 2nd pair of dry socks and just cross barefoot...just an FYI, the rocks are sharp and will hurt your feet.
If you have time to visit Sarapat, go and become friends with the locals. They are so kind!
Also just a quick shout-out to our PC Safety Director who came in clutch and made sure we were all safe. He probably thinks we're all idiots who shouldn't be allowed to travel, but we really appreciate him!
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