What’s it like to travel Armenia today?

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It’s the same reason why I think it’s essential to visit the Killing Fields in Phnom Penh and the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg. And when I traveled to Armenia this summer as a guest of JayWay Travel, this history was always just beneath the surface.

Conversations with Armenians often lead back to their families, and those who survived the massacres. Any study of history brings back the horrors of that time period. And the Armenian Genocide Memorial looms over Yerevan, its sharp spire in the air.

Walking through Armenia, surrounded by the progeny of survivors, the trauma is palpable — and I recognize this feeling. When I first visited Cambodia in 2010, you could feel the underlying current there, too. It was knowing that everyone over the age of 35 remembered the horrors of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. It was seeing so many amputees and so few elderly people.

Here are the major points about Armenia...

• Turkey refuses to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide.
• Mount Ararat is Armenia’s most beloved landmark.
• Without a doubt, Yerevan is the coolest city that I discovered this year.
• Armenia is a land of water.
• Yerevan has been celebrating its 2800-year anniversary. That puts it on par with ancient Rome.
• The United States has not officially recognized the Armenian Genocide.
• Ararat is the high-end brandy of Armenia.
• There are a lot of spectacular monasteries around Armenia.

So, just keep enjoying and travelling easily, safely and adventurously.