New train route to connect Turkey with Georgia and Azerbaijan

by Neil Woodburn on

I always get excited when new rail routes open up.

In my opinion, there is no better way to travel than by train. And when countries that are normally difficult to traverse by other means suddenly open up a new rail route, it makes travel and exploration all that much easier.

This will be the case in 2009 when work is completed on a rail link that will connect the Turkish city of Kars to Georgia, Azerbaijan, and onwards to China. The $600 million project, which was approved early this year, sadly excludes Armenia–a political oversight blamed on continued bad relations between Armenia and Turkey.

Nonetheless, the rail project opens up a very exciting new route that is no longer dependent on local buses and decrepit ferries. Instead, adventurous travelers can now embark on a simple rail journey through some very difficult, yet extremely rewarding countries.

Nagorno-Karabakh: A War Zone worth Visiting?

by Neil Woodburn on

It’s not so often that one hears about travel to Nagorno-Karabakh. After all, this was hell on earth during the 1990s when regional conflict ripped it apart as Armenia and Azerbaijan fought for control of this parcel of land–a predominantly Armenian enclave located in Azerbaijan.

I’d like to say that everything has been resolved and that peace has settled in the disputed region, but this is simply not true. Armenia technically won the war, but there are constant rumblings from neighboring Azerbaijan that the issue is far from dead.

Currently, there is peace in Nagorno-Karabakh. Is this a temporary peace between wars? Who knows? But if you want to visit, now would be a good time.

Yasha Levine, writing for The Exile did so last summer and sheds some interesting insights on the conflict and the present mindset dominating the region. Most importantly, he also reveals a stunning landscape that I had always envisioned as extraordinarily desolate. I’ll leave you with a nice quote describing what he came across and if you get out of it what I got out of it, Nagorno-Karabakh just might be bumped up your list of future travel plans.

“Nagorno-Karabakh was worth fighting for. The place is like a condensed version of the best scenery of Northern California and the Sierra Nevadas put together: 6,000 ft mountains, rolling golden-sunburned pastures, sandstone hills, steep limestone cliffs, and mountain streams.”

Fresno’s Saroyan Walking Tour

by Neil Woodburn on

Small towns are fiercely proud of their local heroes who have made it big on the world stage. Fresno is no exception. This blip of a metropolis in the center of California gave birth to Pulitzer Prize winner William Saroyan.

Today, the William Saroyan Society is dedicated to keeping the author’s memory alive and to “to educate the public about the human values depicted in his works; to promote the heritage of the Armenian/American culture and its unique and rich experience.”

Fresno has been home to a large Armenian community since the end of the 19th century when immigrants arrived in the Central Valley to work in the region’s rich agriculture sector. Today, the Armenian/American population is still an integral part of Fresno cultural diversity.

Delving into the city’s Armenian past and exploring Saroyan’s personal connection with it will be the focus of a walking tour on April 21 in downtown Fresno. Participants will tour the city’s Armenian Town and the important role various locations played in Saroyan’s writings. The event starts at 9:30 in front of the William Saroyan Theater (naturally).

Armenia Dispatches Redux

by Erik Olsen on

Someone just sent me yet another note asking what happened to all the dispatches on Armenia I did back in 2005. And sure enough, when I went to check for them myself, the link was not working. So I went back and resaved out into the Armenia section all those dispatches and created a link to them, which should work for the time being. Enjoy!

Read all ARMENIA DISPATCHES

Word for the Travel Wise (09/15/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

While our category list doesn’t reflect it a quick trip over to the Armenia link for travelers headed that way will prove differently. Erik visited the country just around this time last year and posted some amazing information on concerts, chess, the Genocide Museum and various things to see and do in Yerevan. Let’s call this one a very good blast from the past.

Today’s word is an Armenian word used in Armenia:

bari gisher – good night (Eastern)

Armenian is primarily spoken in Armenia and can be heard in parts of Russia, Georgia, Iran Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Turkey. The language is classified as an Indo-European lingo and has two similar yet, very different dialects. Eastern Armenian speakers keep the original pronunciation of the letters, pronouncing each of the 38 letters quite distinctively according to Wikipedia. List of the most common phrases in both Eastern and Western Armenian can be found in the Wiki and Armeniapedia.org has a more extensive set of lessons for those wishing to learn the Eastern dialect. Pimsleur has a five hour lang program on Western Armenian for purchase on Amazon.com. Lastly, you may wish to fish through the Lonely Planet guide to Georgia, Armenia, & Azerbaijan. It look as though the last edition published was in 2000, but the little glossary in the back should remain the same overtime.

Past Armenian words: khintrem