Dis-Utility

So as I noted in “Yes busaker em,” Armenia was my first country that did not have a McDonald’s awaiting my custom at some random location, something that even Lichtenstein was able to provide.

But that was not all that made Armenia different for me.

Armenia is also the first place I’ve visited where things that I normally take for granted were not always there.

Take, for instance, the supply of water. Water at Kapan’s Hotel Lernagordz (the Armenian word for “miner,” logical because Kapan is a mining town), was shaky at best: several times I went to wash my hands in the sink, turned the knob (cold water only) and got nothing. The shower had a hot water heater attached to it—but the shower was in the bathroom, not a separated out space, something I last experienced onboard the Superferry to Cork.

The same issue faced me at the bed and breakfast in Vanadzor—in fact there was no water Monday morning. I had to use water from a kettle to brush my teeth and skip my daily shower.

“Armenian Problem,” my hosts remarked as they explained there the water wouldn’t be turned on until 1pm. My taxi, of course, was scheduled to pick me up at 10:30.

At least, for the most part, the electricity was fine. I noticed a couple of blips in the electricity my first evening in Vanadzor.