Armenian Workshop on Graphs, Combinatorics, Probability,

Your Arrival

We expect that participants will arrive at the Tufenkian Avan Dzoraget Hotel during the day on June 1st, and we will have a pre-dinner opening session with open-problems at 5:00pm that same day.

If you arrive in Yerevan, we can arrange for your transportation from the city (either Zvartnots Airport (EVN) or city center) to the hotel; for that, you need to let us know your arrival time by filling up this document. Note that we are not arranging for transportation if you arrive in Tbilisy. However, if you need help finding transportation, please email the organizers.

Touristic Information

For touristic information about Armenia and about hikes in Armenia, check this out.

Armenia in bullet-points

Part of the former Soviet Union

Capital is Yerevan

Neighbors are Iran, Georgia, Turkey, Azerbaijan

Currency is Dram (AMD)

Alphabet looks like Ա Բ Գ Դ Ե Զ Է Ը Թ

Conference Location

The conference will take place in the town of Dzoraget, north of the capital Yerevan. Dzoraget is also halfway between Yerevan and Tbilisi (the capital of Georgia), about a 2.5-hour drive from each capital.

We will spend the week in the Tufenkian Avan Dzoraget Hotel, which is located on the banks of Debed river, and has a few popular hiking routes nearby. It hosts a spa, a restaurant, a large terrace, an indoor swimming pool, a conference hall, and common spaces where we can work.

Hotel Pricing

Conference participants will be staying either in double rooms (one double bed) or twin room (with two twin beds). Pricing is as follows (by occupancy)

Single occupancy: 30,000 AMD (~ 63 USD)

Double occupancy: 38,000 AMD (~ 80 USD)

This means that if you stay in a room alone, you pay 30,000 AMD, while if you share a room with a second person, you each pay half of 38,000 AMD.

Getting to the hotel

There are two easy ways to get to Dzoraget. Either

fly into Yerevan and take a taxi from the airport to the hotel, or

fly into Tbilisi and take a taxi from the airport to the hotel. Note that this means you will need to cross a border, which may cause some delays.

For the trip from the Yerevan airport to the hotel, we will organize taxis to take you from the hotel straight to Dzoraget. We will ask you to fill in your flight information sometime in April.

If you decide to fly into Tbilisi and need help organizing for a taxi, contact the organizers; one of them may be able to help.

Flying into Yerevan

The Zvartnots International Airport (code: EVN) is a 15-minute taxi ride to the center of town, and is an easy airport to get to. The major airlines with direct flights to Yerevan include

Air France from Paris

Aeroflot from Moscow

SN Brussels from Brussels

KLM from Amsterdam

Austrian Airlines from Vienna

Do you need a visa?

Citizens of most Western countries do not need a visa to enter Armenia, or can obtain a visa upon arrival.

For example, citizens of the following countries do not need entry visas: USA, UK, France, Australia. See the full list here or use the this online tool.

Check the website of the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for more information.

If you find that you need a visa, in most cases you can either obtain one upon arrival, or are eligible to apply for an e-visa online. Please note that the former case may be applicable only at the Zvartnots International Airport (and not at land crossings), so check before assuming otherwise.

Also remember: if you decide to fly into Georgia first and cross the Armenia border by land, make sure you have the proper documents to enter Georgia as well.

Hiking Information

Tuesday June 4th

On June 4th we will have a hike of about 12km along the route that connects Odzun Church (built in the 5th century) to Kobayr Monastery (built in the 10-13th centirues). We will have guided excursions on both sites accompanied by English-speaking guides. Lunch break will be held at a spot overlooking the Debed canyon. This will take about 5-5.5 hours, and we plan on being back to the hotel by 3:30-4pm. The transportation from and back to the hotel will be provided, and each person will have to carry their own lunch/water.

Thursday June 6th

On June 6th, there will be two options available for hiking.

Short option: This will be a 10km route from Sanahin Monastery to Haghpat Monastery, both built in the 10th century. There will be a guided tour for both monasteries. This will be an easy hike and you can leave after breakfast and either have lunch on the route or get back to the hotel, to be decided by participants. The transportation from and back to the hotel will be provided.

Long option: The second option is to climb Mount Lalvar. The perks of this hike are the view overlooking the Georgian landscape on one side and the Armenian on the other. This will be about a 22km hike, and will take up the full day. This means we will have to get started early at around 8am.

Participants wanting to take part in either hike should inform the organizers of which hike they intend to join; this will help in organizing the transportation.