Originally posted by HyeJinx1984
As for Artsakh....akh...where to begin?
We went to Artsakh for only two nights. The whole experience, from the moment you drive by the sign that says "Azad Artsakhe Voghchunum e Tsez", is out of this world. The drive there, while pretty long, offers breathtaking scenaries and interesting conversations with whoever your minibus driver may be. We actually got our passports stamped with an Artsakh visa, which was quite a thrill also. We headed straight for Shushi, which was pretty depressing, I must admit. Seeing such a beautiful city reduced to rubble was tough....and motivating at the same time. We spent the night at Hotel Shushi (great accomodations, even better food) and headed to the hospital the next morning, where LCO volunteers from LA and France were working with locals, renovating the building. So we got to know them, and decided to go for a huge picnic together. After buying our provisions, we headed down to a beatiful spot next to waterfalls, and set up our table. Actually, we didn't have a table, so we made a tablecloth out of the plastic bags we had brought along. We then noticed that we had forgot both salt and cups. One of the locals said that he was sure that there would be some salt lying around. Indeed, he found a bag of salt placed behind a tree. It seems people leave their extra provisions on location, so the next picnickers can use them. As for the cups, we had to be a little more original. We used cut out bottles, and carved out peppers and cucumbers to make our toasts. The oghi was flowing, and in no time, we were singing and toasting and not shutting up. We were supposed to return to Yerevan on that very day, but one of the locals (a war hero, actually) told us to spend the night at their house in a village called Karindag. When we arrived there, the fedayis were telling us stories about how they defended the village. It was really special because you could actually SEE the places and mountains that they were talking about. We then had a big conversation around the "entrik" table, and went to sleep. The next day, we left the house (everybody being very emotional.....even the fedayis were crying) and headed for Stepanakert. For a city that was in war 10 years ago, Stepanakert blew me away. It was sooooo cleaaaaan and new. Nicer than Yerevan, some might say. Seeing the Parliament of Artsakh was definitely quite an experience, and we then drove to the notorious statue of Mamik and Dadik, which was suprisingly small, but nobody really cared. We bought some honey (ok, lots of honey) from an old lady in Stepanakert, and headed back to Yerevan.
Definitely one of the greatest experiences of my life.
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