As you may have noticed, I have moved the site from the domain name to my personal site, kylegifford.com. I will not be updating this blog anymore, but will leave it up indefinitely as a reference for people considering the Peace Corps or want to learn more about Armenia. That being said, Peace Corps for me [...]

The last few days here in Beijing have been a really great time. Mainly, we have been keeping busy with going to various Olympic games, all of which have been interesting in their own ways. In between, we have been enjoying the delightful cuisine, people and culture that Beijing has to offer. (This is a somewhat [...]

After surviving Russia, things could only get better on our trip. And they have, as we made our way south through Asia into Mongolia and into China the past few days. We arrived in Ulan Bator, the capital of Mongolia, late on the night of the 6th. So, we did not really get to see [...]

The most careful readers of my blog may have noticed that I said our Trans-Siberian train traveled from Moscow to Ulan Bator (almost…). Perhaps a better phrasing would have been, “our Trans-Siberian train traveled from Moscow to Ulan Bator, but Kathy, Heather and I were left at the border because of some bad visa advice.” [...]

Riding across Russia in an old Soviet train car has always sounded appealing to me, for some reason. Whether for the excitement of traveling across a land which once seemed so inaccessible, or to meet travelers from around the world, or to simple make a (not so) quick getaway from Armenia, I boarded train #4 [...]

I will write a post later tonight about the railroad experience itself, but wanted to let you know you I posted ~100 photos from the rest of my time in Russia on my Flickr photos. Take a look in the photo gallery!

As you may have figured out, it’s been about 5 days since I’ve updated this. That’s because I just finished my trek from Moscow to Ulan Bator (almost…) on the Trans-Siberian Railroad! The train trip, which from Moscow to Ulan Bator alone covers over 5,000 km, has been something I’ve always wanted to do in [...]

Our last two days in St. Petersburg were quite exciting, as we had the opportunity to visit some of the most remarkable landmarks. Thursday we visited the world-famous Hermitage Museum, which is the largest museum in the world and had some impressive collections. They had a rather impressive collection of Piccaso, Rembrandt and other European [...]

Beyond all expectations, we had a perfectly normal final flight out of Yerevan. Despite waking up at 4:30 AM, paying our last 10,000 dram exit tax, and other possible setbacks, we made it on time out of Yerevan and landed early in the international terminal of Moscow’s airport. Phew, we thought, we made it. We [...]

So, it’s official. I’m a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer! After 25 months and 21 days, I’m ready to leave Armenia tomorrow morning to start the next phase of my life. I can’t believe the day is finally here! I’ve spent my last few weeks in Armenia saying my last goodbyes, selling my wares (computer, cell phone, [...]