If you visit the village of Vanand, in Armavir Marz, a few times, you’ll probably need a new pair of shoes.

The dusty and rocky roads are nothing new to local residents who still hope that someone in government will take an interest in their plight in the run-up to the elections in Armenia. Many villagers believe that their community doesn’t even appear on the official map.

Vanand and a few surrounding villages don’t even have a bus for public transport. Most get to the regional center of Armavir or Yerevan by hitching a ride with passing motorists on the main highway.

Taxi drivers avoid the area due to the impassable roads.

During our visit to Vanand, we came across no one in the streets. Even the ramshackle mayor’s office was empty.

I suddenly heard a sound from afar and ran in its direction, hoping to finally see someone.

I came upon a man near a wall seemingly having a dispute with a pile of manure.

“I bring the Yezidi manure here by hand to dry and make dung chips for fuel. We can’t afford to heat the home with gas,” said Grisha Smbatyan.

Mr. Smbatyan asked if we would edit out his words of criticism like the TV stations do. When I said that nothing would be edited out, the man began to list the problems facing the village.

For a start, he said that the village’s artesian well water has been showing heavy traces of salt for the past several months.

Mr. Smbatyan noted that the village mayor was a good man but that he had no assistants. He pointed to the poles without any street lights and said it was a shame given that Turkey was only a few kilometres away.

He said his sons are in Russia working but that their situation isn’t that good.

The man also touched on the agricultural problems – expensive fertilizers, irrigation water prices, no market for selling ones produce, etc.

“I have 5 hectares of land but haven’t farmed it for the past 7 years. I can hardly pay the land taxes. We senior citizens have lived our lives, but what about the young generations. How will they survive?” Mr. Smbatyan asked.

Before he could finish, Hmayak Haroutunyan, another village resident approached and also chided the TV stations for presenting rural life through rose-colored glasses.

“We are displeased with our government. If you are dedicated and a concerned citizen, then there is no place for you in today’s Armenia” he said.

“Maybe I’m saying the wrong thing, but we might be better off living under foreign rule. I am ashamed at what this government is doing; ashamed of being an Armenian. I am disgusted that the country is being depopulated and that we can’t do a thing.”

“They say that the Soviet Union was a dictatorship. Fine, but at least we had dreams back then. We dreamt of uniting the Armenian lands on the other side of the Turkish border. I can see my grandfather’s house on the other side of the river. Forget all those dreams. Today, I am disgusted with the situation I am faced with. I too wanted independence back then. But if I knew it would turn out like this I wouldn’t have been so keen. I am disgusted with myself. We are living in an era of lies and deceit. The government has corrupted us all,” Hmayak said.

I tried to reach the mayor by phone for his side of the story.

Jivan Manoukyan said he had given enough TV interviews and didn’t wish to meet with any more reporters.