Tag Archives: Artsakh

Janapar Trail in Karabakh ready for more hikers!

Posted by on October 8, 2012 1 comment

Janapar Trail - Zontik Waterall

I spent some quality time in the Republic of Mountainous Karabakh this year, hiking on the Janapar Trail and along with the help of others, we whipped the trail markers back into shape.  The trail is now not only very well marked, there’s a whole trail guide online (which I highly recommend taking along), high resolution topographic maps, and even an iPhone/Android app that can be used to follow the trails without even looking up from your phone screen!  Hikers from Israel, Russia, Austria and Belgium have already hiked the newly worked on trail, and no doubt others who I haven’t heard about.

It’s a beautiful time of year to hike in Karabakh, but I realize most people reading this won’t be able to make it over there before the winter.  You do, however, have loads of time to plan a great hike next year!  The trail takes you from the southernmost city of Hadrut, all the way up to Stepanakert.  The sights and nature along the way are really beautiful, and the hospitable people are even more so.  Your hike will be unforgettable, unless you accept too much of the mulberry vodka hospitality, and your memory is impaired by drinking too much.

The hike takes a week, and each night you’ll end up in a different village where you can stay the night at a villagers home if you don’t want to bring your own camping gear.  It’s not terribly difficult terrain, you’re hiking in the foothills, and most of the time the trail is wide and clear.

So plan on spending a little time hitting the trail on your next visit to Armenia!!  And meanwhile, please help spread the word about the Janapar Trail…  posting the link to the facebook page, emailing it to friends and talking about it will all help spread the word.  Here are the important links – please visit the facebook page and like it!

Beehives making jobs…

Posted by on May 13, 2012 1 comment
Ներկայացնում եմ Կորյուն Ալոյանին Վաղազին գյուղից.

Koryun Aloyan in his home with the honeycomb for his new hives

In Armenia, there are so many people who need assistance.  Some of the reasons are due to the governance.  Some are due to cultural reasons.  Some are luck.  There are many reasons, and they all need to be addressed – but it’s not easy of course.

Giving someone money though virtually never fixes the problem.  You can buy someone a house and a car, you can pay for an eye surgery or heart surgery or badly needed medicine, but almost without fail, the next day, the next week, the next month, the need is back.  It’s not fixed.  Only a job, an income can fix it.  Well creating a job is much more difficult than giving someone cash, so it’s a rare thing for this to happen.  One organization I’ve learned about is creating jobs and livelihoods in Kashatagh/Berdzor/Lachin for years.  The group is called MENK, and I heard of them through a settler in those regions who is a great scholar and I believe honest.

It seems like MENK has been running a very successful project now for about a decade, with their relatively limited funds.  They started out giving farm animals to settlers, who then had to pass on the babies to other families.  For the last few years though, they’ve been having really great success with introducing settlers to beekeeping.  These regions have vast fields of wildflowers, and mostly organic fields at that.  The honey produced is a high value product, and high demand.  It sells itself.  They only work with settlers who have a neighbor who will mentor them in beekeeping, to make sure the project has a good chance of success, and they loan the settler the beehives and bees for five years, during which time they earn enough money to pay back the loan.

The hives are not cheap at $100 each with bees, the sheets that go in them, etc, and each family needs more than a couple in order to make it worth their time and produce a good return.  But so far they’ve never had anyone default on these beekeeping loans.  Unfortunately the MENK website and materials are only in Armenian so far, but the program is quite simple.  You or anyone can give MENK a loan (which can be wire transferred to MENK, or picked up in Armenia or Karabakh), and then they in turn loan it to the settlers they have on a waiting list.  You can visit the families yourself if you are so inclined.  Each year the family will give you a jar of honey, and after 5 years they will return the full loan to MENK who will give it back to you.  Or you can agree to an extension if necessary.  I think recipients take the whole process much more seriously as a loan that needs to be repaid, than as a handout.  So really, this seems like a pretty great program…  and this is the time of year bee colonies are dividing, so if it sounds good to you get in touch with them.

Here are some families that MENK has helped with hives – you can see how badly they needed it, even if you can’t read Armenian…

There is more to Armenia than Yerevan

Posted by on November 12, 2011 1 comment

For the past year, I had been literally stuck to my work and for that reason, I had spent most of my time in Yerevan until May of this year when my agency, Deem Communications, was tasked to organize a Eurovision party in Vanadzor, Armenia’s 3rd largest city. Since that date, I have been traveling in and around Armenia very regularly, either for business or pleasure, and have rediscovered my love for this beautiful piece of land.

Vanadzor
In May 2011, I spent several days in this beautiful mountainous city. Once a vibrant industrial city, now a somewhat deserted and depressing place, Vanadzor reminds me a lot of what Yerevan used to be about 7 years ago. It is slowly coming out of the soviet era… key word is SLOWLY. Yes, there are businesses like the telecoms and banks and restaurant/café chains, but it is not at all doing well economically. In June, I had the pleasure of revisiting with another business trip (opening of Byblos Bank Armenia’s new branch). The most necessary thing right now is HOPE. The youth and young families need to have their hopes restored so that the city becomes, like its older years, a pleasant place to live and to visit. The lush green hills, the wide and clean streets offer a perfect setting for it!

Shushi, Karabagh (NKR)
When my parents were visiting, we all went down to Shushi. The drive was quite long as they had forgotten their passports thinking that Karabagh and Armenia did not need a checkpoint, let alone a separate visa – but that is a separate blog of its own. The scenery during the drive was breathtaking. July is a really nice time to make this trip. On the way, we stopped by Mirhav Hotel in Goris. This hotel is done very tastefully; bravo to the owner, a barsgahay from Germany. Once in Shushi, we took in the crisp fresh air. Did a bit of hiking in the medieval fortress Armenian city. We heard stories from before the war, during the struggle, after the victory and now. Not all these stories were enjoyable as one can imagine. Nonetheless, they mark me every time; the man, the wife, his children, her family, his land, her future, his life… The nature in Karabagh is just perfect. I met some kids whom I had worked with during my Land and Culture Organization (LCO) years back in 1999 and 2001… they had grown so much. It was also nice to see that 2 new hotels had opened, the roads are being built and new stores are popping up here and there. There is even a “marchrutka” that comes by our neighborhood. Two years ago, I had the chance to work on reviving the museum in Shushi. I highly recommend a visit there when visiting Karabagh (though they have messed it all up again… eh, what to do). The director of the museum, Ashot, is also a character!

Ashtarak
My oldest daughter was hounding us to take her to this ranch where she wanted to spend several nights. To my surprise, this place called Ayrudzi was one my favorite new discoveries along with the Ashtarak city Pascal and Diodato café! I think we have been back at least 15 times since July. They have great middle eastern dishes and a really wonderfully decorated space … and WIFI! The more I visited Ashtarak, the more I fell in love with its quaintness, lovely weather and many beautiful churches. During one trip last month, we dropped by Saghmosavank, an all time favorite of mine, which reminds me again of my earlier days in Armenia with the LCO.

Sevan
Another business trip to Sevan for our new client Bohemian Resort. Needless to say, any trip to Sevan is just great. It is soothing and refreshing. It takes you away from all your thoughts and hustle-bustle of the city. I went back and for on different occasions over the summer… great great great! So great in fact, that in July, we organized Yeprad’s baptism at Bohemian Resort. It was really a nice place to stay (although the rain prevented us from maximizing the 2 day stay). Prior to that, the entire Deem Team was invited for a staff retreat, which was exceptional!

Tsapatagh
After all the family visits and other duties Lara and I had to do, we decided we would need to get away from it all and be with the kids and only them for at least 4-5 days. Avan Tsapatagh from the Tufenkian Resorts is just the perfect place. The rooms are so nice and clean. The bed and couch are sooooo comfortable. The food is just good. The hikes up the mountain and to the lake are so relaxing… best experience in Armenian vacation destination. We used to spend much time there in 2004-2007… then, other neat places started popping up and we somehow forgot about this beautiful hotel. We really made the best of it and remembered all its unique attributes.

Dilijan
Another Best Western has opened in Dilijan. My agency was commissioned to do some creative and promotional work. The drive to Dilijan (not far from Sevan) is a special one with sceneries changing from rural to rocky mountainous to lakeside to green/lush mountainous… a photographers dream! We also visited Dilijan with my parents. Haghardzin… akh, what a beautiful ancient monastery it WAS. Yes, was! It has been commissioned to be renovated (not restored). It now looks like some new euro-stan trashy construction with white manufactured tiling… I do wish they decide it was a mistake and bring it back to what it used to be… a GEM! On this trip, we visited the new Tufenkian district (Old Dilijan). Deem had worked on some signage and the restoration of the museum. I am glad that the museum still is intact and has attracted many tourists since. Finally, we had coffee and desert at the Artbridge Café there. The kids loved this trip – we shall repeat!

This being said, after every trip outside of Yerevan, I always feel glad to be back – back HOME. Home to MY CITY, Yerevan!