Armenia has one time zone, GMT +3 hours. In the past few years, they have experimented with daylights savings time, so check for the correct time before you leave between October and April. Otherwise, it is the same time as Moscow.

When it’s 5 p.m. in Armenia (standard time), it is…

6 a.m. in Los Angeles
8 a.m. in Chicago
9 a.m. in New York
2 p.m. in London
3 p.m. in Paris
4 p.m. in Cairo, Athens and Tel Aviv
7:30 p.m. in Bombay and Delhi
9 p.m. in Tokyo
11 p.m. in winter Sydney;
1 a.m. in summer Sydney

ELECTRICITY
Armenia operates on 220V, 50 cycle AC. The plugs a re equipped for the thinner round pins, so bring a converter plug if you have newer 220V hair dryer or shaver.

LAUNDRY
Most all is done by hand, and there aren’t any automatic Laundromats. In your hotel, you can get your floor attendant to clean clothes for you, for about $5 load (includes pressing the underwear and T-shirts). On your own, bring a universal plug stopper (the flat kind works best). Markets and shops have inexpensive detergent imported from Turkey and Iran. Having a portable clothes line and some pins is handy.

TOILETS
Hotel toilets are passable, but you may not want to go near a public toilet. Most are squatters, which is just as well, since you’d be fearful of touching the rim of a seater. Bring toilet paper or tissues with you, as free access toilets have no paper, and attendants at pay toilets dole out the "wipers" two squares at a time. If you don’t know where a toilet is, ask for a zugaran, or as the locals say, "follow the scent." Toilets are marked with a Russian M for Men (mushkoy ) or a Æ for women (zhenskiy). Cleaner public toilets cost between 40 and 50 AMD, but it is marginally cleaner. Most public buildings have free toilets for their workers (you can sneak in), and all theaters and concert halls have fairly clean places to relive yourself. Showers and bath-tubs may not be as clean as you would prefer, and several friends brought along scouring powder (also available at markets) to wash before use.

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES
Armenia uses the metric system. Restaurants list the weight of food and amount of drinks in grams. Single items, like eggs, are sold by the piece (hart).

General

Lonely Planet’s new guide to Central Asia, lumps Armenia with the Central Asian States, but is still a notable source of practical advice for travelers in the former Soviet Union. The short-shrift given to the Armenia hopefully will be corrected in the near future with a separate guide to the Caucasus. Detailed reading for influences by the "new Russian empire" on the CIS republics.

Other practical guides simply do not exist, or they are travelogues written by writers waxing poetic about their experiences. This is by no means a degradation to their work, since it is hard to imagine anyone visiting without vivid impressions. Michael Arlen’s "Passage to Ararat" is considered one of the best books about a lonely traveler tracing his roots from Old Armenia through the Soviet Republic. Another is Philip Marsden’s "The Crossing Place" (Flamingo, London, 1994).

History, Social Aspects and Culture
The Armenians, by John M. Douglas (J. J. Winthrop Corp., 1992) is a recent addition to the numerous titles. Other include The Armenians, Their History and Culture, by Ara Beliozian (AGBU Press, 1980); Histoire de l’Armenie by Pardejian, A History of the Armenian People, Volumes I and II, by George Bournoutian (Mazda Press, 1994).

Books dealing with the Diaspora and the Genocide and its aftermath include Dennis Papazian’s What Every Armenian Should Know: How to Defend the Truth (Armenian Research Center, 1991); Mark Bedossyan’s The First Genocide of the 20th Century (Vosedar, 1983); H. H. Haig’s Return To Ararat, or the Education of Nshan (Vantage Press, 1980); Sarkis Narzarian’s Memoirs of Sarkis Narzarian (Gomidas Institute, 1995) and Gerard Chalion’s La Tragedie de Choumkaia. H. Jack Aslanian’s Fixed Movements (Straw Berry Hill Press, 1986) is a story of a tour group in Soviet Armenia during perestroika. Not a practical guide as much as a study in Diaspora feelings about their identity. H. J. Touryantz’s Search For a Homeland (1987), is a moving tale of the repatriate Armenians who accepted Stalin’s invitation to return to the homeland in 1946-48, and their lives apart from the local population, and later when they escaped, form the unforgiving Diaspora.

Literature
The essence of the Armenian experience is in its literature as much as it is in its stone and dance, which stretches back to the beginning of the 5th century c.e., when Mesrop Mashtots created the Armenian Alphabet. It is hard to understand Armenian contradictions without at least glancing through some of its greatest treasures: the manuscripts, stories and poetry of 1500 years of literature. A short list:

If you can get your hands on a translation of Movses Khorenatsi’s History of Armenia, it is a treasure to behold and read. Khorenatsi wrote his book in the 5th century c.e., and drew his work on the basis of pagan folklore and earlier manuscripts. The History of Vardan, by Eliseaeus, another author of the 5th century describes the struggles of the Armenian people against the Sassanids. Illustrations of the tremendous contributions by Armenians to philosophy, medicine and law are the Chronicle of Eusebius (the only extant version of the original Greek treatise); David Anakht’s Definition of Philosophy, Ananius of Shirak’s Cosmography (7th c. c.e.), Mechitar Geradzi’s Comfort in Fevers (12th c. c.e.), the Armenian legal code of Mechitar Gosh (1184 c.e.) and the Azzizes of Antioch, one of the greatest juridical monuments of the middle ages. Originally written in French, the extant version is preserved in Armenian at the Matenadaran in Yerevan.

The epic poem Dare-Devils of Sassoun (9th Century) describes the feats of David of Sassoun against Arab invaders. Other writers of note who have been translated into various languages are Gregor Nartekatsi (10th century), Nerses Shnorhali (Nerses the Gracious) (12th century) wrote The Lament of the Fall of Edessa, and his Riddles is still a mind-tickling experience for readers. Frik (13th century) is one of the earliest critics of social injustice in Complaints. Sayat Nova (a writer and troubadour of the 17th century) is considered one of the best romantic writers, and significantly took writing from religious to secular themes.

Khachatur Abovian (19th century) is considered the founder of the new Armenian literature and new literary language, known as "Ashkarabar", which could be understood by simple folks as well as the erudite. His Wounds of Armenia is both moving and an advocate of linking the liberation of Armenia from the Persians and Ottomans through Russia. Mikael Nalbandian, a contemporary of Abovian, was a proponent of the views of Herzen, Chernyshevsky and Ogarev, and died in exile in Tsarist Russia. Hovannes Toumanian is perhaps the best-known of all modern Armenian poets, along with Avetik Isahakian. Two Armenian writers who were murdered in the prime of their lives during the genocide of 1915 were Daniel Varuzhan and Siamanto. Varuzhan’s works include Tremors, Heart of a Nation, Worker’s Songs, Heathen Songs and Song of Bread.

Vahan Terian and Yeghisheh Charents are two writers spanning the revolution and emergence of Soviet Armenian literature. Others are Avetik Isahakian, Nairi Zarian, Pariur Sevak, Gevorg Emin and Hovannes Shiraz, still revered in the homeland.