“If Timmy Mallet made hotels, this would be it”. – Jonny Blair. A short intro first – I stayed here in 2013 (so five years ago and never finished this article) BUT this is far and away the most ridiculous hotel in my backpacking history. A hotel shaped like a boat in the middle of…
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Burnt out trucks, tanks chasing me, a country that doesn’t exist, a once vibrant city that is completely destroyed, angry stray dogs, dead end roads, rubble. My Halloween experience in 2013 was a tad eerie, spooky, scary and extreme. It was up there with my visit to Saddam Hussein’s House of Horrors in Iraq, the Venezuela border…
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I couldn’t decide whether this was a Thirsty Thursdays or a Friday’s Featured Food but I ate quite a bit and so I’ve gone with food. You might also be thinking “what is so special about pizza and beer?” And you’d be right – essentially nothing. Pizza and Beer are what I love – there…
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The tiny republic of Nagorno Karabakh is easily one of the oddest places I have ever been. It completely feels like a separate country here. It should be and while I’ll certainly class it as a country on my own terms having seen the place with my eyes, United Nations and FIFA still don’t recognise…
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Don’t paint yourself a picture of travelling as beaches, hot sun and cocktails please. That’s not backpacking, and in all honesty it’s not reflective of travel as a whole and it’s certainly biased. You’re only seeing the good things. Yes we love the good moments, but on my travels I feel the need to explore…
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Vank is an extraordinary place that you can’t believe it exists. This wannabe tourist resort is nestled into unknown countryside in the enigma that is Nagorno Karabakh. Vank is a small town which has some crazy things going on in it, and is also the perfect base for exploring Gandzasar Monastery. Local lad Levon Hairapetian…
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OK so down the years, I’ve been on some crazy types of transport on my travels and some absolutely manic journeys: – Turbo Jet in New Zealand (world’s fastest speedboat) – Cruise Ship to Antarctica – Mini-bus to Harar, Ethiopia (broke down, killed a cow, got stopped by police, windscreen smashed, stopped off for 4…
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While backpacking in Nagorno Karabakh, there are more sights to see and things to do than I first imagined. In the end 3 days and 3 nights in the region wasn’t enough, but we did squeeze in some awesome stuff in that time. Having a choice between Dadivank and Gandzasar Monasteries (we didn’t have time…
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This place is completely off the wall (excuse the pun). Here’s an overview on visiting Askeran Fortress in Nagorno Karabakh. When backpacking in Nagorno Karabakh, nothing will be normal or even remotely straight forward. My journey to Askeran could have been made easier by getting a direct Marshrutky from Stepanakert out to the site. However…
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I write this blog post live from the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh. Nagorno Karabakh is a country which is basically recognised by no-one but itself, and Armenia. As far as backpacking goes, you will need to get a visa to visit Nagorno Karabakh. It is classed separately to Armenia, and the country itself sits on…
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