TheFlyingDoctor

The problem with travel, is choice. There’s a big world out there, and with COVID restrictions fading into unpleasant memory in 2022, I was keen to see a lot more of it. But where exactly to visit during my year of revenge travel – and when best to do so – was hard to decide.

In the past, the choices were often made for me: my first big trip report was anchored upon a mathematics conference, and these determined my travel schedule for many years. Although I’ve long since moved on from academia – somehow, that report is a decade old – the habit remains. Thus, after 2022’s transcontinental opener, all my trips were to attend events: climbing world cups in Meiringen, Salt Lake City, and Edinburgh; Norse Atlantic’s first flight from London to Oslo; and the subject of this report, the Extraordinary Travel Festival.

This was a conference for people whose answer to the question of where to go is “everywhere”. Born out of the Counting Countries podcast, it aimed to bring together members of the extreme and systematic travel communities. Having become steadily more interested in the latter, this seemed like a great opportunity to check out somewhere entirely new: Armenia.

As usual, once I had the hook, I wasted no time in hanging an improbable journey off of it. My excuse was that there were no direct flights from the UK, and connections through Europe all arrived in Yerevan (the host city, and capital) between 1 and 5am. If I overshot massively to Dubai, however, there were more sensibly timed options. The UAE would add a second unfamiliar country to the trip, and I hoped to get there cheaply and comfortably via non-rev travel. Whilst that turned out to be possible, I wasn’t convinced I could get back, so instead I dipped into a pot of miles to lock in a flight home with Air France.

One of my most memorable travel experiences was visiting the near-abandoned Russian settlement Pyramiden on Svalbard. So I was hoping that I could somehow lean on this collection of highly-capable travellers to find my way to one of Armenia’s Soviet relics – an enormous radio telescope slowly decaying on the slopes of Mount Aragats. To my delight, someone else did the work for me: a post-conference tour, the “cosmic day trip”, was announced soon after I booked my ticket, so I quickly claimed a spot on that as well.

Here, then, is what’s coming up:

• London to Dubai (BA Club World)
• Sightseeing in Dubai
• Dubai to Yerevan (flydubai economy)
• The Extraordinary Travel Festival
• The Cosmic Day Trip
• Sightseeing in Yerevan
• Yerevan to Dubai (flydubai economy)
• Dubai to Paris (Air France business class)
• Paris to London (Air France business class)

As usual, this is a belated flyertalk treatment of a trip I previously covered on my blog – here I’ve gone for a largely chronological approach, whereas there I work thematically. That's also where you can find far more photos, as it's a lot easier to self-host than paste them into the forum.

TheFlyingDoctor

BA107
Dep: LHR London Heathrow Terminal 5 12:50 11th October 2022 (local time)
Arr: DXB Dubai Terminal 1 23:05 11th October 2022 (local time)
Flight duration: 7 hours 15 minutes
Seat: 15A Cabin: Club World (Business)
Operated by: British Airways (G-XLEF Airbus A380-841)

The holy grail of non-rev travel at BA is the ABC – the annual bookable concession. This takes the already attractive premium standby offer, strips out the fare component entirely, bumps the onload and cabin priority, and can even be confirmed in advance of travel. Sure enough, mine had cleared weeks ago, so I strode in to Terminal 5 confident that I would be flying to Dubai today.

However, whilst I knew I would be on the plane (barring a major upset such as the aircraft going tech), I didn’t know which cabin…. Manage by Booking showed World Traveller (economy), my electronic boarding pass reckoned Club World (business), and my seat assignment was for a spot in World Traveller Plus (premium economy).

None of this mattered prior to boarding, as I was entitled to use business bag drop and fast track security regardless of which cabin I would be in, and conversely wouldn’t be allowed in the lounges with such a ticket.

At the gate I was treated to the magic beep that announced a new seat assignment in Club. The A380s don’t yet have Club Suite, but my new boarding pass entitled me to my favourite location in Club World cabins – a rear facing window seat on the final row, which grants both direct aisle access and a great sense of privacy.

I was surprised this was still available, but on board I discovered why – power to the seat mechanisms (although not the IFE) had failed, so it was locked to the take-off/landing position. So, no flat bed for me – but for a relatively short day flight, I didn’t particularly mind. Besides, I’d only paid £150!


First item of business was lunch – menus were distributed and orders taken before we’d even completed boarding. Although the other cabins were back to pre-pandemic service levels, Club would still be on the single tray setup for a few more weeks. A risk of the last row is that some menu options may no longer be available, but on this occasion I was able to get my preferred main. When it arrived, about an hour in to the flight, I certainly couldn’t complain about the portion size!



Three hours in to the flight it was already dark outside and the cabin had been dimmed to just the blue mood lighting. Following our curious route – apparently avoiding Iran – on the moving map, I spotted my eventual destination, Yerevan, amongst the names of many unfamiliar places. Dubai would simultaneously be the furthest south and east I’d ever ventured, and this trip was my first foray into Asia.

WiFi was available at a variety of price points: basic messaging at £3 for an hour / £5 for the whole flight; or more capable ‘browse and stream’ packages at £5 / £12 / £15 for one hour / four hours / the flight. But I settled for remaining unplugged, relying on the IFE and some pre-loaded podcasts on my phone. Unfortunately my run of disappointing films on planes continues – I could not see why there was so much hype about Everything Everywhere All at Once.

A second, lighter, meal was delivered – in the dark! – about an hour before arrival. I had picked the vegetarian option, which was nothing fancy, but plenty tasty.



We landed a little ahead of schedule, at pretty much 11pm local. Unfortunately it took 25 minutes before we were released to the terminal, and it was only during a similarly lengthy wait in the visa-on-arrival queue that I discovered the consequences of these delays. I thought the metro would be an option until 1am, and had planned – or not – my onward travel accordingly. But whilst parts of the system might operate that late, the last train departing from here would be at a minute to midnight. Maddeningly, I cleared immigration and retrieved my luggage at a minute past…

TheFlyingDoctor

I have never understood the popularity of Dubai: a desert playground for the super-rich where I wasn’t sure which would be more oppressive, the heat or the laws. I like my cities walkable, or failing that, easily navigated by public transport. I can’t drive, and consider taxis a ridiculous extravagance for a single traveller in good health.

Sadly in my efforts to avoid a difficult middle of the night arrival in Yerevan I had simply traded it for a difficult middle of the night arrival in Dubai, a city where the car is king. Confronted with a taxi queue that I couldn’t see the end of, and with no idea how outrageous the fares might be or if I could even pay without local currency, I honestly considered just setting up camp until the metro restarted in a few hours.

But off to the side I spotted a sign for Uber pickup, and so ventured out to a car park area. It turns out the terminal doors marked the exact boundary of the comfort zone I had been hoping to step out of, for once outside the assault on the senses was immediate and near-overwhelming.

Despite being midnight in October, the temperature was 30°C and felt a few more than that: no dry heat here, the air thick. Drivers and officials were locked in a constant sonic battle, horns vs whistles, to no obvious effect. Dragging more luggage than I usually do, it seemed that wherever I stopped to get my bearings was in someone else’s way: a situation they resolved by barging past or ramming me with baggage trolleys. I wasn’t sure where the official pick up point was, but I couldn’t stray too far from the terminal anyway as I needed its faint wisps of free WiFi to make a booking.

There were no standard cars available, so I grudgingly stepped up to comfort class. For twenty sweltering minutes I was continually assured that my driver was only a few minutes away – and then, suddenly, that my journey had started. Amazingly, the app has no button for “I’m not in the car”, so my only option seemed to be to cancel the trip – and be charged for much of it, despite not having moved an inch.

A second booking did fortunately work out, but all told it took two hours from landing to hotel lobby – a mere 5km away. Once in the room, I dialled the a/c down from 25°C to 19, then hopped in the shower to cool off – only to find that it couldn’t produce cold water, only warm to hot. Cursing my decision to ever come here, I filed a complaint with Uber then tried to get some sleep, although I was too agitated to really succeed.

TheFlyingDoctor

Although I would spend three nights in Dubai on this trip, I only really had one day for sightseeing: much of my 52 hours in the UAE would be spent at the hotel, the airport, or travelling between them. I also had some study commitments back home, including a seminar I needed to attend live. But as an architecture geek, there was one thing I wanted to see: Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building. Sadly, I managed to mess this up too…



I woke to a ‘wrong rider’ refund from Uber and cooler water in the shower: the latter soon offset by the sweltering walk to the station alongside 6- to 8-lane roads. To be fair, the metro itself was very reasonably priced, straightforward to use, comfortable and efficient: I just wish it had been available the night before!

A lengthy series of airport-style enclosed walkways conveyed me to the maze-like Dubai Mall: a place I had no interest in, but explored a large amount of, having completely lost my bearings. Eventually I located my target, having probably covered a mile without ever stepping outside.

From the Burj Khalifa website I had previously determined that there were two different observation decks - confusingly, “At The Top” was the lower of the two. Spanning the 124th and 125th floors, it seemed sufficient to me: especially as “At The Top SKY” would triple the price, but only get me 23 storeys higher.

Unfortunately there is an even higher - in both altitude and price - lounge up at levels 152-154 which I had failed to spot. At the ticket desk, they offered a choice between that and the SKY package, rather than between the two observation decks. So although I asked for 'the cheaper one', I should have enquired further into "the cheapest one"... With peak-time pricing and a weak pound, my two hours in the tower cost £137: or roughly the same as my hotel bill for these first two nights!

Tickets are at least cumulative, so I was able to compare SKY with the standard offering, and admittedly it is much nicer: a far more peaceful experience elevated above crowds of selfie-seekers. But I’m not sure who it is for… given the price difference I can't in good conscience recommend it to most people. Conversely, for those of you with 10X my travel budget, you might as well go all-in with the Lounge - which is where you can find the world's highest open air terrace.

Whichever level you pick, the scale of the engineering achievement here is appreciable: from half a kilometre up, the rest of Dubai’s skyscrapers look like toys, and my photographs feel more like scenes from some city-building videogame. An unfinished game, however – for the actual views, I much preferred my time at 360 Chicago earlier in the year, which came at a fraction of the cost.

TheFlyingDoctor

EK2206
Dep: DXB Dubai Terminal 2 08:00 13th October 2022 (local time)
Arr: EVN Yerevan 11:15 13th October 2022 (local time)
Flight duration: 3 hours 15 minutes
Seat: 11E Cabin: Economy
Operated by: flydubai (A6-FEW Boeing B737-8KN)

I booked my flights to/from Yerevan on flydubai as an Emirates codeshare, which seemed to get me a slightly better deal on hold baggage than if I’d gone direct. Although advertised as a low cost airline, £405 in economy doesn’t strike me as particularly cheap for a return four months out. But the comparison to my previous leg was never going to favourable, and this was by far the most agreeable arrival time of the options I’d considered for getting to Armenia.

It did however mean quite an early start in Dubai, and I ditched my original plan of walk, metro, shuttle bus in favour of a pre-booked Uber from the hotel to DXB’s Terminal 2. This is a small but modern terminal separate from the main complex, and dedicated almost entirely to flydubai operations. Arriving at 5:30am, it took me less than a quarter hour to deal with check-in, bag drop, border control and security.

Once airside, seating seemed a bit limited, sandwiched between the shopping / food area and the dozen gates – which all lead you to buses rather than having direct aircraft access. There were a few indications that I was somewhere different from the airports I normally frequent: a prayer room in the bathroom; an absolutely packed smoking room; someone sat next to me wandering off with a friend, trustingly leaving their bag, passport and phone unattended.

Gate formalities began at 7:15, although having waited for the second bus rather than join the initial scrum, it was half an hour later before I actually got moving. I imagine we were waiting for one last passenger, but they never made it… after a long tour of the airfield - dominated by vast A380s – I took my seat on today’s aircraft at precisely our scheduled departure time of 8am.

Normally a window seat fan, for this 3+ hour economy stint I preferred the aisle, and managed to secure 11C in advance. In 11B was a mother with a lap infant, and it soon transpired that 11E was her partner, who I foolishly agreed to swap with. Nothing against my new companions – I chatted for a while to Mr 11D, a tour guide from Saudi Arabia who had travelled to many places I haven’t and collected plenty of souvenirs along the way. But economy just isn’t that spacious to begin with, and the middle seat felt particularly cramped without a wall to lean on or the aisle to spill into.

I had expected a short-haul flight on a 737 to be boringly familiar, but there were some differences there too – most notably that lifejackets were stored overhead! Over 200 flights in, it’s still important to pay attention to the safety briefing…

The catering situation was unusual – it seems that some, but not all, economy tickets entitled you to a meal; there was also a buy on board option. Having booked through Emirates, my ticket did include food – but it was of course delivered to my original seat, where the new occupant was happy to try and claim it. Fortunately staff were also checking names, and realised that he was not me. Here’s the hot breakfast I received - possibly my first time eating a chicken sausage! There was also a vegetarian option, something chickpea-based.

Otherwise, there is not much to report – there were seat back IFE screens, but they were inoperative. Instead, you could access films, TV shows and the moving map on your own devices, but WiFi was even more expensive than my BA long haul flight so I stuck to my podcasts.

At 10:50 we started our descent, to wonderful news of 14°C temperatures awaiting us. Twenty minutes later there was some sort of cabin spraying procedure, and at 11:20 we landed – not particularly softly – just five minutes behind schedule. Brits don’t need a visa for Armenia, so after a short queue, immigration was straightforward (although my beard was apparently a cause for some concern). Some days after leaving London, I was finally where I actually wanted to be – Yerevan!

TheFlyingDoctor

Well, not quite – I still needed to get from the airport to the city proper. Fortunately this went entirely to plan, unlike in Dubai…

I hadn’t been able to obtain any Armenian Dram prior to my arrival, so I was relieved to spot a number of ATMs in the terminal. Despite my visit coinciding with the UK’s brief, disastrous Trussonomics experiment, I still received about 440 AMD to the £. This does present a slight challenge for first-time visitors: on requesting 20,000AMD to get started, this was dispensed as a single crisp note – completely useless for the mere 300 dram bus fare! A second request, for just 1000 dram, seemed more appropriate, but ultimately proved too much, with the driver only able to offer 500 in change. Still obviously a bargain!

The airport express, route 201, is a minibus service operating every half an hour during the day. The main thing to know is that you pay when you leave, not when you board – so at the airport, just take a seat unless you need your luggage stowed. Express is the right word – the sliding side door would be flung open on the approach to each stop, and we’d set off again as soon as passengers were (mostly) aboard.

The bumpy ride into the capital takes about half an hour, depending on where you decide to disembark. Now that I know the city better, I’d have bailed out at the Blue Mosque, a short walk from my chosen hotel, the DoubleTree. But instead I continued to a different landmark, Yeritasardakan station, where I backtracked a couple of stops on the metro. This is even more of a bargain, at 100 dram / ride: you just need to exchange cash for a plastic token to operate the turnstiles.

I had had no trouble getting data service on a cheap e-sim I’d arranged in advance, but perhaps I should have navigated in a more analogue fashion, for google maps will send you on a bizarre route from Zoravar Andranik station to the DoubleTree. On the plus side, I met a varied cast of street cats as I dragged my luggage along some worse-for-wear side streets.

I ditched my AmEx platinum as soon as I was furloughed back in 2020, yet somehow the Hilton gold status I received from it has been repeatedly extended into a third year. Today that translated into a high level room, and an enormous bag of welcome gifts – although no DoubleTree cookie included! It also granted me free breakfast, which turned out to be excellent – the buffet seemingly designed to cover pretty much any cuisine from around the world.

Five nights in a king guest room came to almost exactly £500: although with the local price of 226,012 AMD reading like a phone number I had to triple check I had understood the exchange rate correctly! Cheaper pre-paid rates were available, but I wanted the flexibility to be able to cancel if my flight to Dubai had fallen through. Anyway, I was happy with what I received for the money: plenty of space; kitted out to a high standard, particularly the bathroom; and a view of Mount Ararat.

offerendum

That's a bathroom I would expect in a Radisson Blue

lamphs

I have not read the report yet, except post #1. I registered for the ETF early on, acquired award tickets when UA had its *A partner sale in April 2022. My trip was to include Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan.

A conflict arose, and while I still could have made the ETF in an extremely shortened trip, I was unable to change the award tickets without paying almost 100,000 miles additional. UA still had (has) its no penalty cancellation policy for awards, so I canceled and my only loss was the registration fee. I am planning to attend the 2024 event.

I hope you had a great time there!

TheFlyingDoctor

This would be not just my first time at the Extraordinary Travel Festival, but everyone’s – if it happened! Various events and speakers joined then left the programme, and a few months out the venue fell through… Armenia seems like a difficult place to do business (one of the organisers shared a blacklist of restaurants he’d had disagreements with), and inflation / currency shifts must have eroded the profitability of the $350 attendance fee. But I figured with this many extreme travellers descending upon Yerevan at the same time, something would happen - even if not quite as originally advertised...

Ultimately though it was a great debut for what I hope will be a repeating event. Even by flyertalk standards, the depth of experience of not just speakers but attendees was incredible. Dozens had already visited every UN country – two, twice – and considered this as a starting point, not the culmination, of their various personal quests to discover all the world has to offer.

It would be impossible to answer the question of who the most travelled person in the room was, but I think there’s an obvious candidate for least travelled: me! Nonetheless, I had a great time listening to tales of epic adventures and getting a glimpse into a community which seemed to be as much about the people as the places.

The final schedule offered plenty of interesting talks, and I find it impossible to choose a favourite between Tony Giles – born blind and now also 80% deaf, he’s nonetheless visited over 100 countries – and Thor Pedersen, who is nine years into an attempt to visit every country without flying or returning home to Denmark (with a handful of awkward pacific islands to go, he joined us via zoom from quarantine on a cargo ship off New Caledonia).

Other presentations offered practical advice – for a definition of practical which includes chasing 193 with children or visiting Sudan – and we also got to sample some local culture: from an opening performance on drums and duduk, an ancient instrument from the region; to a feast of barbecue, apparently the go-to for any group celebration in Armenia.

There won’t be an ETF23, for the simple reason that ETF22 took over a year to organise. But plans are taking shape for 2024, and it’s likely that the conference will, like its audience, roam from country to country. I’m definitely glad I attended this one, and look forward to seeing where it might lead me next!

lamphs

What was the Uber outcome? (NEVER MIND - I DIDN'T READ AHEAD) I had a similar issue at IAD a couple of months ago. Seemingly I was communicating the complaint to a human, who still didn't understand the concept of 'how could I be at my destination when I am again calling for a ride'. Uber only issued a credit when I threatened a credit card chargeback. (Many don't know it, but a credit card chargeback not only issues a credit, but the merchant is charged additional fees by the card issuer.)

TheFlyingDoctor

Similarly, I felt I had a pretty watertight claim as they could see a second ride which I would have to have teleported back to the airport to take. And I could cope financially even if the refund hadn't come through - it was more the frustration in the moment that I wasn't able to get anywhere or (seemingly) get any help. A good call on a chargeback though, that never occurred to me but clearly failure to provide a service charged for would be fair grounds.

I think this is the only bad experience I've had with Uber, and to be honest I'm largely annoyed at myself for not having been better prepared / informed. You even get given a free sim card on arrival, I just didn't have the appropriate tool to put it in my phone! Anyway, lessons learnt if I do transit through again some day - but I'm in no rush to do so.

Duck1981

I only had once a bad experience with Uber in Dubai - similar to you, long wait, and then the journey started without me. Otherwise the Uberists in Dubai are normally super friendly and have nice cars; but Uber is good in refunding anyway.

Nice TR!

TheFlyingDoctor

Although the conference proper wrapped on the Sunday, the next day saw a smaller group of us – including Tony - reconvene for a guided tour, the special cosmic day trip.This itinerary would lead us out of Yerevan to a research station perched 3200m above sea level. Both there and en route, access had been arranged to various facilities not normally open to the public.

First of these was Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory, less than an hour from the capital but already at an altitude of 1400m. For nearly 50 years this was the home base of Viktor Ambartsumian, one of the leading 20th century scientists not just of Armenia, but the entire Soviet Union. It remains a significant research centre today, and the current director explained some of its work before showing us around two of the observatories. As part of this, we met an engineer in his 80s who was here for the facility’s formal opening in 1960, so I can now make the strange claim of being a single handshake removed from Khrushchev.
The next stop was, as mentioned, a large factor in luring me to Armenia in the first place. A slightly perilous road lead 300m further up the mountain to an imposing gatehouse I would have had no hope of charming my way through even if I’d found a driver. Once through, however, were free to roam the site of the Orgov radio-optical telescope as we wished (albeit at our own risk: I nearly blundered over an unguarded edge into a two storey fall onto concrete).

It was the vast dish – 54m across, and built into the hillside – I had come to see, but once I realised we could also access the former control room, I spent more time exploring that. As well as a treasure-trove of vintage equipment, it also contained a fantastic mural:

Our final destination – and explanation for the trip name – was the Aragats cosmic ray research station. Before looking around, we were first treated to lunch: soviet style. We ate communally in an old-fashioned dining room, having queued for ladles of Borscht. After that we were given a tour of the tunnels running beneath the station, designed for easier movement between surface buildings and underground storage when snowed in.

Strangely, although we were allowed to walk through these – and I could easily draw you a map as a result – photography was strictly forbidden as they are considered of strategic significance. But if you’re interested, you can find plenty more shots from the rest of the day – including above ground at Aragats – in this gallery.

Most organised tours of Armenia seem to be focused on its religious landmarks – as the first country to adopt Christianity, a great number of monasteries, churches and temples dot the countryside. But I’m glad I had a chance to try something rather different – and with a level of access I’d never have got on my own!

lamphs

It had been my intention to do this side trip after ETF, had I not cancelled. It would have been one of those rare opportunities. It also would have been interesting to hear Tony's presentation.

TheFlyingDoctor

Between the festival and the cosmic trip, I didn’t actually have a clear day for sightseeing in Yerevan itself. So I had to make the most of my arrival afternoon. Top of my list was the Cascade Complex – a vast hillside structure that is both artwork and art gallery. My meandering route there ticked off a number of other places of interest – most notably Republic Square and the Opera – before reaching the sculpture garden at the foot of the stairs.



I think that if this was somewhere in Europe, it would be world famous – I found it more impressive than, say, Rome’s Spanish Steps. But fortunately relative obscurity means – at least on a Thursday afternoon in winter – that it wasn’t at all crowded, and I could easily get photos as I slowly worked my way up the levels. If you only have time for one thing in Yerevan, this should be it!

I had time and energy for more, however, so pressed on even higher: a little past the October Revolution memorial, an underpass allows access to Victory Park. Here a walk through the gardens, with views across the city, leads to the Mother Armenia statue. No meek monument to maternal instinct this, for she wields a sword the size of a school bus and looks ready to dispatch any threat to the nation.

Later in the week I also took an extended lunch break from the ETF to hike out to another hillside monument – the more sobering Armenian Genocide Memorial at Tsitsernakaberd. This was trickier to get to on foot, but worth the effort.

Overall, I found Yerevan surprisingly accessible. The central district, Kentron, is highly walkable, with an attractive collection of parks and squares dotted with cafes. It could easily be mistaken for a European city, although the use of distinctive tuff stone gives the capital a unique architectural identity. Visiting in mid-October, the weather was mild – warmer than home, mercifully cooler than Dubai – and my monolingualism was rarely a hindrance. Food was tasty, cheap and plentiful – I particularly enjoyed Lahmajun, usually translated as Armenian pizza but more of a flatbread.

If these have caught your interest, a larger collection of photos from my wanderings can be found here.

So this was an encouraging second step out of my European / North American bubble. I definitely wish I’d had more time here and less in Dubai, and would happily return to the region: whether to explore Armenia further, or perhaps try one of its neighbours.