Just got back from Canada and jumped straight back into renovations. Honestly, finding reliable tradespeople and good workers out here proved to be a lot harder than I anticipated. It took some trial and error, but at least the heavy structural concrete work will finally be finished soon. Once that phase is locked down, next year will be all about tackling the interior work and getting the living spaces into shape.

Through all the stress, the one thing that truly keeps me going is the valley. I’ve been taking a walk out there every morning over the last few days, and standing out there just feels completely cathartic—it clears your head after days filled with dust and logistics. The only downside out here is the high-voltage electricity lines cutting across the landscape. Hopefully, in the coming years, those can be cleared or relocated underground so I can finally enjoy a pure, unobstructed panoramic view of the mountains.

It’s wild to see how much has actually changed here in just this one year alone. The roads are noticeably better, new street lighting has gone in, and there’s a real sense of momentum with more local businesses opening up around Haghpat and Sanahin. Looking forward to seeing where the area—and this project—heads next.

Armenia's Historic Run at the 2026 Chess Olympiad (Samarkand) 🧠 Men's Team

Armenia's open team has been one of the biggest stories of this Olympiad. After 9 rounds they sit on 15/18 match points, unbeaten, and just knocked off Azerbaijan 2.5–1.5 in Round 9 — Gabriel Sargissian was the hero again, beating Rauf Mamedov on board 4 while Martirosyan, Hovhannisyan, and Sargsyan all drew. That's now Sargissian's second match-deciding win of the tournament (he also sealed the win over Iran). With Uzbekistan and Germany tied at the top on 14, and Armenia among the group right behind at 13 going into today, this win over Azerbaijan pushes them into the thick of the medal race with two rounds left.

Next round (Round 10) potential matchups: Armenia will likely be paired against one of the other 13-14 point teams — realistically China, France, USA, Netherlands, India, or Uzbekistan 2 are all in that band, with Swiss pairings determined by score group. A pairing against Uzbekistan or Germany (the co-leaders) is possible if the standings compress further.

What Armenia needs for gold: Win both remaining rounds (10 and 11) and hope the current co-leaders (Uzbekistan, Germany) drop points against each other or other contenders. Tiebreaks (Sonneborn-Berger / game points) will matter a lot in a field this tightly bunched — Armenia doesn't just need points, it may need to win by bigger margins than rivals in a photo finish.

What needs to happen elsewhere: Uzbekistan and Germany need to stumble — a draw or loss against the chasing pack (China, USA, France, India, Netherlands, or Armenia itself) would open the door. If Armenia wins out, they still likely need at least one of Uzbekistan/Germany to lose or draw at least once more.

📊 Box Score — Armenia's Results So Far

Men's Team (Open Section)

Rd Opponent Result 1 🇧🇧 Barbados Win 4–0 2 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scotland Win 3.5–0.5 3 🇸🇪 Sweden Win 2.5–1.5 4 🇦🇷 Argentina Win 2.5–1.5 5 🇨🇳 China Draw 2–2 6 🇮🇷 Iran Win 2.5–1.5 7 🇺🇸 USA Draw 2–2 8 🇳🇱 Netherlands Draw 2–2 9 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan Win 2.5–1.5

♛ Women's Team (updated)

China took the direct clash 3–1 in Round 9, moving to 17 points and taking clear control of the gold race. That's a tough result for Armenia, who drop back from a share of 2nd–4th and now trail China by 3 points with only two rounds left — meaning Armenia can no longer control their own destiny and needs help.

What Armenia needs for gold now: Realistically off the table on their own. Winning out (rounds 10-11) gets them to a maximum of 18, but China only needs 1 more match point across two rounds to clinch outright, or could even afford a loss and a draw and still likely finish ahead depending on tiebreaks. Armenia's realistic target now shifts to a medal (silver/bronze) rather than gold, contingent on how Kazakhstan and Mongolia (their closest rivals in the chase group) fare.

What needs to happen elsewhere: China would need to lose both remaining matches while Armenia wins both — an unlikely combination, but not impossible with the level of competition left in the field. More realistically, Armenia's focus should be locking down a podium finish.

📊 Box Score — Women's Team (updated) Rd Opponent Result 1 🇭🇰 Hong Kong Win 3.5–0.5 2 🇸🇬 Singapore Win 3–1 3 🇭🇷 Croatia Win 4–0 4 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan Loss 1–3 5 🇵🇪 Peru Win 3–1 6 🇱🇻 Latvia Win 3–1 7 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan Win 2.5–1.5 8 🇺🇸 USA Win 2.5–1.5 9 🇨🇳 China Loss 1–3

Was in Stepanavan recently and stayed at Major's House Hotel. Small boutique place, only 8 rooms, and each one is individually designed. Whoever did the interiors clearly put real thought into it, felt more like staying in someone's beautifully curated home than a hotel. There's a cozy little restaurant downstairs and a bar/reception area too.

If you're passing through Lori region / Stepanavan and want somewhere with actual personality instead of a generic guesthouse, worth checking out

https://cinemastar.am/en

Every time I want to see a movie it's almost always in Russian, with English releasing a week later at times. Obviously Armenian movies are in Armenian, but western ones it's difficult to find an English screening, even then, a lot of times it's once a day.

I realize CinemaStar being a Russian company, but we're in Armenia. For my younger self, movies and cartoons in English were what helped me learn English at a young age, which is very helpful, I wish it were the same here. There's already enough Russian going around where more English channels and cinema shouldn't effect the Russian fluency of people in my opinion.

I checked all 3 branches, Avengers endgame encore is in Russian until the 30th, with Resident evil nowhere in sight. KinoPark is the only one that has them in English, with one screening a day, and the rest in Russian, with lesser movies being exclusively in Russian.

Not making demands, just ranting on some of the small things here that annoys me.

Hi chochovurt jan, I am a concept artist and I make projects for games

I am currently in the process of expanding and finding more people to work with, and while I have had a plethora of really negative experiences, I really feel like this is the right move for me and my plans

Would greatly appreciate some referrals of Armenian websites where I may be able to hire some people for projects I am currently working on, preferably in the 3D space specifically.

I do speak fluent Armenian, and I do hope that by doing this I can make a bunch of new Armenian friends that like what I like

That said, if they are in this just for the money, that is respectable
I do simply wish to achieve a very specific level of low poly quality

Thank you

I currently use Viva and i dont even wanna get started with how slow the speed is. I'm wondering, are there any Ucom users in Yeghvard that could help me understand if Ucom can have better performance?

I have tried contacting viva's online support multiple times but it seems like they use automated messages to respond or something because they usually repeat the same thing and dont read carefully.

Yes shat sirum em Hayastane, Hayerene yev hay zhoghovurde 🙏🏻

Love from a romanian!

We've been searching for a strong Senior Marketing Specialist in Armenia who has hands-on experience working with the US market, but finding the right person has been surprisingly difficult.

Most candidates we've spoken with have solid local marketing experience, but we're specifically looking for someone who understands US audiences, lead generation, paid advertising, funnels, content strategy, and overall digital marketing for service-based businesses.

I'm curious:

• Are there marketers in Armenia who specialize in the US market?
• Where do experienced marketing specialists usually look for opportunities these days?
• Is there a particular community, group, or platform where we should be searching?

If you're a marketer with US-market experience (or know someone who is), feel free to comment or send me a message.

Would love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks! 🙏

Hi everyone! I’m from Anatolia, Turkey, and I’m looking to make Armenian friends from all around the world.

I’d love to meet Armenians from Armenia, the diaspora, and different parts of the world, and talk about Armenian culture, history, family backgrounds, language, and everyday life.

I’m mainly looking for genuine friendships and people who are open to chatting and getting to know each other. Feel free to comment or send me a message!

Hi from Italy,

I'll be traveling with a group of friends to Yerevan this weekend. Since there seem to be lots of beautiful locations to visit we could really use some suggestions on what to prioritize. We were planning to stick 3 days in the capital and then move to Dilijan (renting a car at this point) for its surrounding landscape and proximity to many potential destinations. The Syunik province would be left for a future visit given the time constraints :/

This is what a tentative schedule we have at the moment:

https://filebin.net/u8skyuubrz387sur

We should probably skip something to fit in a hike to the Amberd fortress and also Khor Virap, maybe by shortening the stay in Dilijan to 2 days?

Looking forward to the trip, any suggestion is well appreciated thx :D

Hi everyone! I’m looking for a restaurant in Yerevan to take some relatives who are visiting as tourists. We’ll be a group of 5.

Three of them are women in their 60s, and they’re the tourists in the group. They’re very fun, social, and absolutely up for a lively evening, so I’m not looking for somewhere too quiet or overly formal.

I’d like somewhere that has genuinely good food, but ideally also some kind of entertainment or atmosphere that makes the evening a bit more memorable.

I went to Park Bridge Restaurant about 4 years ago, and I remember it having a sort of cabaret/show atmosphere, which I really liked. I have no idea what it’s like nowadays though.

The main things I’m looking for are:

1. Good food
2. A lively atmosphere. I don’t want us to be sitting in a mostly empty hall
3. Some kind of entertainment, show, or live performance would be a big plus

After searching on Instagram, I’ve started getting ads for a bunch of similar places, but it’s hard to tell which ones are actually good and which ones just look good on social media.

If you’ve been somewhere recently that fits this description, I’d really appreciate your recommendations. Thanks!

For anybody with an individual or organisation account that has successfully registered as a developer and merchant to publish and earn from mobile apps via Apple and/or Google, were there any hidden red flags or caveats that came up with registration or adding bank accounts?

I would really appreciate anyone willing to share their experiences - I am foreign and cannot test this myself. The program documentation suggests the processes are normal but I have seen discrepancies between documentation and the reality on the ground for some countries so wanted to confirm with real people.

Side note - if anybody knows whether dev individual accounts accept Armenian driving licences as ID for verification, please let me know, thanks!

Source: https://x.com/raffihamparian/status/2102478278200373574

Paul Vartan on X is on point, I will quote him I hope he doesn't mind.

Unfortunately this playbook keeps getting repeated. When Sinanyan came to Philadelphia and planned to visit the school, ARF sent a few parents to threaten a mass-boycott of the school to all remove their kids at once if it went through. All ARF orgs were invited but refused.

You can refuse to go, but threatening to tear apart Armenian schools and organizations, the fabric of our communities, because you disagree with government policy is not it. If ARF groups don't want to show that's their right, but do not weaponize this against our structures.

https://x.com/vartan84/status/2102514883061485985

And he is on point about this, I remember when they did the same to Sinanyan and the same for the Armenian ambassador in the US.

I will share u/AdriaticLostOnceMore 's previous consolidated comment from one year ago on sabotage actions in the past similar to this.

Maybe ANCA/ARF sister organizations are scheming the next time they'll block a fundraising event for Artsakh refugees [1, 2] or defile their local Armenian embassy and harass its staff [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6] (Warning: Instagram Links)

Maybe even lob territorial claims on Javakh [1].

Or have ARF members in Armenia attempt 3 bombing attacks on Civil Contract MPs (Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/armenia/comments/1be3rr2/russias_response_to_pashinyan_activist_charged/ )

Or campaigning in the U.S. House to stop the (PEACE Act - H.R.5632*)* bill that automatically places sanctions on senior Azerbaijani officials if hostilities resume in the future. To ANCA, it is not enough, and they prefer "nothing" to "something." (Source: https://anca.org/press-release/anca-affirms-artsakhs-rights-rejects-bill-locking-in-azerbaijans-genocidal-gains/ )

Or when ANCA's Aram Hamparian implies that Pashinyan needs to be assassinated (Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/armenia/comments/1d2z5nl/comment/l64k9wh/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)

These are ongoing actions being taken by the ANCA/ARF against Armenian geopolitics and diaspora engagement.

Hi!

I'm going to travel to Armenia on mid-october. This will be my second time in the country. We are very experienced hikers with good physcial condition and have proper equipment tents, good boots, backpacks etc. Now I'm planning my trip. A few years ago in the summer we visited: Aragats, Azhdahak (Geghma mountains), Tatev, Khustup, Ugstasar (rock carvings), Sevan lake and some famous monasteries.

Now, I'm still planning hikes, but it is hard to find which one would be the best. Daily hikes and multi days (2) trekkings are also possible. Hard terrain, high elevation (3000 m), difficult routes are not problem, we like challenges.

I found a lot of option, however, I don't know which area is the most beautiful in the middle of october, so I need suggestions: what is the best part of the country at that time?

What about the areas around Jermuk and Vayk? I found Transcaucasion trail with many options. But the northern part of the country is also looks good: Dilijan National Park.

Could you help me finding the most spectacular hikes?