The peculiarities of national driving - Part 1

I know I wrote about driving and traffic in Yerevan when I first came here, but the longer we live here, the more interesting facts we find out.

For example, isn't it funny that for the less than one million inhabitants in the capital there are several hundred (!) registered taxi companies, with anywhere between 1 to 100 cars each, and just as many unregistered taxis. Taxis are cheap (50 cents per mile, give or take), and the city is relatively small, so it makes sense to take a taxi just about anywhere. Still, the sheer amount of different companies is astonishing. What's even more amusing, is what those taxis are called.

There is a wide variety of names, from personal (Sofia, Ella, Tatev, Lida, David) to geographical (Yerevan, Malibu, Rio, Galaxy) to zoological (Panther, Golden Eagle) or bothanical (Rose, Willow, Daisy). There are names as short as one letter (Taxi L, Taxi Z, Taxi X) and as long as two-three words, like Caravan of Hope (with colorful camels striding across the side doors). There are names referring to the service area (Opera, Armenian Market) and service quality (Fast, Best, Busy, Cosy), or just the owner's personal ambitions (No 1, Dream, VIP). There is the royalty (Royal, King, Queen) and aristocracy (Baron, Marquise, Golden Duke, Don Maestro). There are Russian names like Kalinka (a famous Russian folk song), Elki-Palki (literally pines and sticks - a profanity substitute phrase, like "Oh, fudge"), Just You Wait (famous Soviet cartoon series), Ot ee Do (From and To). There are English names (Sheriff, Star, Sherlock Holmes), Spanish and Latin names (Amigo, Viva, Santos) and, of course, Armenian names. There is a taxi called Barev (Hello) with a handshake picture on it, taxi Bari (Kind), and our personal favorite Tanem-Berem, literally: "I'll take you there and back".