When I arrived in Armenia, I realized that it was forbidden to hold cameras in subway stations, but the clear springs on the streets were generously available to everyone.

Armenia is located in the Caucasus, and many passports are visa-free, so it has naturally become a must-stop for many travelers walking the Asia-Africa-Europe Great Ring Road.

Before I set off, I always had a vague guess in my mind-although it may not be accurate.

I remember watching The Fast and the Furious many years ago. The protagonist drove through a beautiful road to meet people by the seaside or lake, while the other protagonist lived in a hut by the water. In my impression, the place name flashing in the picture seems to be “Armenia”?

I can’t remember which film and scene it is for a long time. I only vaguely think that it is a four-character country name, which is very similar to “Armenia”. Of course, it may be that I remember it completely wrong.

But it is this specious impression that makes Armenia a place I want to see.

When I actually got there, I realized that many things were different from what I imagined.

What struck me the most was the local subway. Like neighboring Georgia, Armenia’s metro is built extremely deep.

Later, I deliberately used my mobile phone to time, and found that it took two minutes to take the elevator from some platforms to the station hall!

As a person who never fears heights, I felt a little dizzy on the steep and long elevator, which seemed to be bottomless. Two minutes, really a long time. Fortunately, there is usually a small sentry box at the bottom of the elevator, where staff are on duty.

In Armenia, it is forbidden to take pictures inside subway stations. At first, I didn’t know this rule. I just thought the elevator was special, so I raised my mobile phone and took a few pictures.

Immediately a staff member came to stop it. At that time, I only understood “no photos” and thought it was a special regulation of this platform-after all, this kind of situation is rarely encountered in China.

Then I turned to another platform, and there was a train entering the tunnel. The appearance of Armenia’s subway is completely different from what we usually see, and its style is unique. I couldn’t help but press the shutter on the train again.

At this moment, a local girl came over, and after her explanation, I realized that it was not that a certain station was forbidden to take pictures, but that all subway stations were forbidden to take pictures.

Even if passers-by see it, they will take the initiative to remind them. The subway system is a sensitive facility for local people, and public shooting is not allowed.

So, I didn’t leave a photo of what the Armenian subway looked like, and the memory gradually faded away. But the experience of taking the subway itself is still very interesting.

Interestingly, when I tell others that “there is a subway in Cairo”, they are often surprised: So there is a subway in Cairo?

But Cairo’s subway is even air-conditioned! I forgot whether it was an Armenian or Georgian subway. It was riding like an old-fashioned train-maybe both.

Moreover, there is no air conditioning in the carriage, even in the duty cabin at the bottom of the elevator, there is no air conditioning equipment.

More memorable than the subway is the free drinking water on the streets of Armenia-there are public water piles almost every few hundred meters.

Later, I heard that the water here is a mountain spring drawn down from a nearby mountain.

As a backpacker, most people can save money when traveling, but everyone understands a truth: water cannot be saved.

Drinking the wrong water is easy to get acclimatized, so even if you travel poorly, you won’t be too frugal on drinking water.

In the downtown shopping mall of Tbilisi, Georgia, I even bought a bottle of water equivalent to more than ten yuan, and the monthly drinking water expenses are really not small.

But in Armenia, I didn’t spend a penny on drinking water. Especially on the streets of Yerevan, the capital, water piles can be seen everywhere, and even pigeons know how to go there to quench their thirst.

Furthermore, this water tastes a little sweet. Maybe because it’s free and comfortable, even the water becomes sweeter?

Because drinking water costs nothing, I was more willing to try various local drinks in those days.

There is a green tarragon water that has a long aftertaste after drinking it-as for whether this aftertaste is good or bad, it varies from person to person.