It is always now!: Relief in Karabakh

The original plan was to go further to the south of Armenia. But plans are made to be changed. The people on the way to Goris convinced me to visit Nagorno-Karabakh (which is officially the Republic of Artsakh).

It was a very good decision because one one hand there is much to see, the landscape is nice and here I could see how Armenia can look with less corruption when the people stand together.

With some help I found the only marshrutka that goes from Goris to Stepanakert. I have been in hundreds of marshrutkas but remember this ride because the driver had the Tourette syndrome or something. He was ranting and yelling and all the time and everyone just ignored him. Therefore I turned on some music and enjoyed
Bonobo - Nothing Owed

At first the road goes to Tegh which is also known for its caves. Then the road crosses the Aghavno valley. This valley forms the Lachin corridor that separated Karabakh from Armenia. The narrowest width is only about 5 km but the valley is 500 m deep.

The caves of Tegh.

In the corridor below the town Lachin (also called Berdzor). These are new houses in built for the people who lost their homes in the war.

Entering Karabakh was like driving to another country: The road is in a good condition, there were bulldozers on the passes to keep the road free from snow. The inhabitants were proud of that their main roads can be used every time, not like in the rest of Armenia. The road goes to 1800 m at the Lisagor pass (here are some images of the landscape) and then down to 800 m in Stepanakert. This is important to understand the strange history of Karabakh. So there are high mountains (the Karabakh range) in the west separated from Armenia by the corridor. Stepanakert is located in the east of the mountains towards Azerbaijan.

Stepanakert is a new city which became first important after the Shushi massacre. (I will report about the history in a separate post.) It is located at the hillside of a mountain. Since it it is in the valley, it could easily bombarded from the mountains around Sushi. After bombardments until 1992 Stepanakert was heavily destroyed. I have seen images in the history museum of the destruction (strange that I cannot find such images in the Internet). I was so impressed how they were able to rebuild the city so fast and in such a way. In 2015 there was still lot of construction work going on to build homes. What impressed me the most was that culture is important. I mean when I have to rebuild a city I would give houses for living the highest priority. They did but they also rebuilt cultural buildings and even the mosques although Armenians are Christians.

A typical new house for living. Location.

When one enters the Republic of Artsakh one needs to register. there was a border building in the Lachin corridor but my crazy marshrutka driver did not stop although the others told him that I need to register as visitor. But no problem I asked at the bus station and they sent me to the ministry of foreign policies which is nearby. By the way, the bus station is a nightmare for a tourist. I have never been surrounded by so many taxi drivers who begged to drive me. It was really hard to leave the terminal.

The registration was the perfect start for 3 relaxing days in Artsakh. Since I cannot speak Russian they called a high person of the ministry who invited me to his bureau. He welcomes me an gave me a brief introduction to the history, the political situation, how to travel, where to go, eat, go out etc. His English was almost perfect and it turned out that the government is looking in the schools for talented students. These are sent out to other countries to study. Afterwards they have to work for the government for some years before they can decide to stay or leave the job. He was a young man who turned back from England. One has to apply to visit different regions of Artsakh because of the mined frontier zone. I did not want to go to the front line but when I said I want to stay only 3 days, he was a bit disappointed and gave me the maximum days for a visa with all possible visit zones. I should just call him when I have problems of when I want to stay for a year ;-). One can decide to get a stamp in the passport for the visa or just a sheet of paper. It is advisable to chose the latter because otherwise one needs a new passport if one wants to visit Azerbaijan or some countries that doesn't accept Artsakh.

The ministry of foreign policies.

My visa.

Let's walk around through the city:

Azatamartikneri Avenue, the main road of Stepanakert.

New building use for a theater and choirs.

The small park in the center contains a small
amusement park (like every former Soviet city). It was even open
in the evenings when I was there in March.


The palace of culture.

This hotel is incredible. It is massive and very expensive. It contains a Spa,
tennis courts etc. The rest of the city looks totally different.

Lower part of the hotel. Behind me is a basketball court and the employees
of the hotel invited me for a quick game.

The main attraction of Stepanakert is maybe the Lover's alley. At the left
side is the hotel the building in the middle is the Presidential Palace, at the
right is the building of the Union of Artsakh Freedom Fighters.

The building of the Union of Artsakh Freedom Fighters. It was hard to get some information. As I understood it it is a kind of palace of culture for the fighters of the war and the solders serving at the front line.

The door was open but nobody was in there.
The inner architecture is impressive.

A nice gag are the lamps besides the Lover's alley.

The building of the the National Assembly.

The state history museum. It was not in a good shape but there was a nice young lady speaking English. Nevertheless, the history museum in Shushi is better to learn about history.