YEREVAN. - Naira Sarkisian, an Armenian woman who had left for Russia by bus with her two minor children, to see her daughter residing in Russia, had to pass through a nightmare on her way, Sarkisian told Armenian News – NEWS.am 

When the bus reached the Georgian border, Naira asked the driver how much time it would take to reach Russia’s city of Vladimir.

“What Vladimir are you talking about? We are going to Moscow,” the driver said. Getting into a panic, the woman messaged her Armenia-based sister, who in her turn phoned the tour agency which had sold the tickets to Naira. Little later the driver approached Naira and said they would be met in Moscow and taken to Vladimir. 

Naira got anxious, since she had two minors with her, and had taken a direct ticket in order not to change buses and avoid crowds. Besides, the distance between Moscow and Vladimir is 180 km.

They reached Moscow at 2 a.m. According to Naira, the night was cold and it was raining.

Standing outside in the rain with her 15-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son, Naira was waiting to be taken to Vladimir. The driver was pointing to his phone saying that the man who was to meet them wasn’t available.

Later the driver of one of the microbuses standing in the area, who was carrying out a route to Nizhni Novgorod, approached Naira and offered to take them to Vladimir. 

Naira agreed, but the Armenian driver who didn’t know the area, passed Vladimir city. Naira had to phone her son-in-law, who could hardly find them and take them home in the morning.

The woman’s children got ill, being caught in the rain, and had to spend several days in bed.

“Vana tour” agency which had sold the bus tickets to Naira told Armenian News – NEWS.am they had sold the bus tickets, but the transportation was carried out by “Pantera Tour”. To clarify the issue, “Vana Tour” proposed to hold a meeting with Naira and Pantera Tour, to which Naira refused.

Pantera Tour insists that Naira wasn’t left in the street in Moscow with her children. According to them, Naira’s family was taken to Voronezh and not Moscow.

“She wasn’t left en route. When they got on the bus in Armenia’s Sevan town, they were told there were issues with the car. Thus, our driver took them from Voronezh to Vladimir and we had paid for the microbus,” “Pantera Tour” LLC Deputy Director Samvel Petrosyan said.

Naira is demanding nothing for her nightmare trip, saying that the apology is enough, and that the only thing she wants is to voice the problem so that others do not suffer.