Spring in Armenia... cafes, elections, Karabakh, hiking
Spring is definitely here - finally. Also, because of the way outdoor cafe seating works (they get taxed by the month), today will mark the opening a huge number of cafes and outdoor restaurant seating. A few are brave enough to open April 1, but May 1 definitely transforms the city. For those of us sick of smoky establishments, this is the day of liberation. It is also May Day (or Labor Day) in Armenia - and many people also had yesterday off, making this a four day weekend.
The election campaign is in full swing. I have never seen such a campaign before... the city is plastered with billboards and posters for candidates - they are developing strategies and opening offices absolutely everywhere. I am also hearing very interesting speculation as to what the results will be - massively differing views of what will happen. I'm really quite curious now as to how things will go and who gets how many votes - it promises to be one of the more interesting elections Armenia has ever seen, setting the stage for the next presidential elections.
After the elections, we will also start to hear about a Karabakh peace deal again, as talks have been postponed until after the elections. Yet again they are saying we have a perfect window for a peace deal, and that they are close, etc. We'll see, they've raised hope too many times before to get excited, plus with Azerbaijan spending hundreds of millions to build a railroad around Armenia, I don't believe they intend to sign a peace deal anytime soon.
Speaking of Karabakh, I am running a project which is building a hiking trail all the way across Karabakh. The main trail will take 2 weeks to hike, and there will be homestays available every night for hikers. The first few sections will be marked in the coming weeks, and the website, though up an running, needs a little more work before I share it with you. But if you are planning on coming this year, and this sounds good to you, set aside some extra time, and bring along some friends to hike the Janapar!
The election campaign is in full swing. I have never seen such a campaign before... the city is plastered with billboards and posters for candidates - they are developing strategies and opening offices absolutely everywhere. I am also hearing very interesting speculation as to what the results will be - massively differing views of what will happen. I'm really quite curious now as to how things will go and who gets how many votes - it promises to be one of the more interesting elections Armenia has ever seen, setting the stage for the next presidential elections.
After the elections, we will also start to hear about a Karabakh peace deal again, as talks have been postponed until after the elections. Yet again they are saying we have a perfect window for a peace deal, and that they are close, etc. We'll see, they've raised hope too many times before to get excited, plus with Azerbaijan spending hundreds of millions to build a railroad around Armenia, I don't believe they intend to sign a peace deal anytime soon.
Speaking of Karabakh, I am running a project which is building a hiking trail all the way across Karabakh. The main trail will take 2 weeks to hike, and there will be homestays available every night for hikers. The first few sections will be marked in the coming weeks, and the website, though up an running, needs a little more work before I share it with you. But if you are planning on coming this year, and this sounds good to you, set aside some extra time, and bring along some friends to hike the Janapar!
posted by Raffi K. at 9:58 AM
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