Pot holes make a country bigger...

I just got back from a 4 day trip to Karabakh, and having been away from badly potholed roads for a while, I was reminded how much further places become when the road is a minefield of potholes. Every day was something like 8 hours of driving, and except for the new highway from Armenia to Stepanakert, and the portions of the North=South highway in Karabakh that are complete, it was some very rough going. The road that the Armenia Fund is building heads northwest, then northeast to Martakert - or will. They have not even gotten to the Sarsang Reservoir yet and winter is coming fast. I drove through Mardakert as well and am not sure what I expected to see, since the last Armenia Fund telethon was to create economic activity there, but I didn't see a change from May in any case.

I finally returned to Yerits Mankants Monastery - deep in the north of Karabakh. It is a really cool one in stunning scenery that this time was completely shrouded in clouds. There were so many helpful people along the way, it was amazing. Ended up having some cabbage soup with some soldiers, exchanging stories, and then feeling rather funny from the massive overdose of salt that was their soup. Ended up driving back to Stepanakert in the dark, through the potholes, getting lost and ending up at another military base, before making it to the familiar road. I also saw Dadivank again and took some nice pics with the fall colors. I haven't uploaded those photos on Flickr yet, but eventually will if my computer behaves long enough.