Nagorno-Karabakh (Feb 2023)

Day 1

I was invited as part of a travel group by the Azerbaijan government to visit Nagorno-Karabakh. This was an area of the world that few travellers currently get to go to, and although I knew I would only hear one side of the story, I thought that before I lose my eyesight, I would take the opportunity to visit this region that has spent much time in conflict. I am not political and I am not going to apologise for going to see with my own eyes an area that is on my travel bucket list.

We started early in the morning (4am) with most of us still half asleep and we drove with police escort in convoy until sunrise which was on the border to the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Our stop was at a mosque that had been damaged during the conflict - it was covered in signs of war and destruction.

Next we moved on to the newly built Fuzili airport which was magnificent with the sim shining through the ceiling to floor windows. This airport will be one of three in the region that will allow movement of people once they are living nearby.

We then moved on the the devastated city of Fuzuli. The devastation was significant and we were shown photos of what certain building looked like prior to the conflict. As this was still early on in our trip, we still hasn't seen another person or car on the road - a result of the locals being unable to return to their homes.

After, we continued to the Azykh cave where we climbed what felt like 1000's of steps up to the beautiful entrance to a cave, I doubt you would ever find by yourself if the stairs didn't lead you there. This was our first real interaction with the paparazzi who would be appearing constantly throughout of trip to literally photo bomb the photo we were trying to take and then refusing to move!! The cave was a natural cave that was of prehistoric origins and was thought to have housed Neanderthals around 300,000 years ago.

After the cave we moved onto the Lachin Corridor. This is the only route from Nagorno-Karabakh into Armenia and a route that it has been claimed has been closed off to supplies going into Armenia for several months. We saw the protesters, the Russian peacekeepers and the constant stream of paparazzi following us around. We were quite surprised to hear the protesters chanting in English, in a region where English is not a common language so you have to consider what message was trying to be sent to us. We were also advised several times that vehicles were allowed though and that the protesters were not blocking the route - we even got to witness a vehicles being let through - however on the way back and at the other end of the corridor, we did not see any vehicles come through in the time we were there.

Following on was the city of Susa or Shusha. The town had a number of warn torn buildings that had clearly been destroyed by various types of ammunition, and a beautiful well maintained building with statues and flags outside.

The Ganja gate of the Shusha fortress with the sun behind the sign was quite an impressive site. The fortress is situated on a mountainous plateau at an elevation of 1,600m.

The city of around 20,000 people, used to be considered the home of intellectuals, however, at present, there was barely a person in sight and the city was empty. Although there was some construction work going ahead, the focus seemed to be on the mosque with the surrounding area to follow.

The last stop of the day was getting to watch the process of landmine removal. The region is covered with landmines - many times when we stopped, we were warned not to leave the road as it has not yet been identified where all the landmines are in order to remove them. We were given an explanation as to the process and shown a lot of hard wear and signage to the area being reviewed. Sadly, around the world, we have seen, that with landmines, it tends to be innocent victims that are hurt and killed, rather than the target of the opposition military. We then got to watch ten landmines being detonated. There were a good distance away from us and we heard the countdown both in local dialect and English, before we saw this flash of light. I remember thinning, "why is it so quiet?" - I expected it to be deafening. And then it was, the sound and shockwave from the explosion hit within a few seconds and I could not even keep my phone straight that was recording the event. It was a truly incredible experience I don't think I would ever feel/see/hear again.

The landmine detonation was instant and the flash of light was seem all around, yet it took a few seconds for us to hear the noise of the blast, which hit us at the same time as the enormous shockwave that pushed all our cameras off focus and went straight through your body. It was a feeling I'd never experienced before and was quite overwhelming. It took your breath away and left you feeling quite unsettled for a few minutes afterwards.

The signs that help those removing the landmines understand the "safe" areas and those that are still needing to be cleared.

By the time we had finished here, we were all keen for food and sleep, having been up so early, so we were slightly dismayed to learn we still had a four hour drive to the hotel! Time for a nap in the car, although the group whatsapp repeatedly saw messages of, "are we stopping for beer" or hint: "a beer would be nice." We did make a cheeky stop, but didn't arrive at the hotels until late and were ordered to dinner (without going to our rooms!). I didn't even manage to finish my beer, before I was nodding dog and heading to bed.

Day 2

The next day was a slightly later start - 6am! A lie in, how amazing. We started the drive with tired eyes drifting in and out of sleep, however entering the mountains, and sunrise appearing quickly, there was no more tiredness, no more sleepy eyes. The stunning mountain scenery of the Omar Pass, blew us away. It was stunning, untouched snow capped mountains and the roads were icy as barely a car passed through this remote place.

The hot springs appeared randomly on our second day of the trip. I am a big fan of hot springs and was hoping we could get in. However, before we even got to view this magnificent water feature, the paparazzi were all over it and it took a long time to be able to get a picture hot springs. The springs were constantly overflowing and being a bit over excited to warm up (I am ALWAYS cold!!!) I managed to get my very inadequate footwear for a few days in the mountains - my running trainers, soaking wet and covered in mineral filled water! Not my finest moment given we would be in the mountains and therefore the cold for the rest of the day!!

The springs were constantly overflowing and being a bit over excited to warm up (I am ALWAYS cold!!!) I managed to get my very inadequate footwear for a few days in the mountains - my running trainers, soaking wet and covered in mineral filled water! Not my finest moment given we would be in the mountains and therefore the cold for the rest of the day!!

The rocky sides of the hot springs had experienced many years of overflow and this had turned the rocks a beautiful mix of reds, greens and yellows, that I hadn't seen before. It was impossible to get a good photo of this natural wonder without feet and people in it, so you'll have to be content with the above!

The next stop was in the town of Lachin, what was the other side of the Lachin Corridor where we saw the protesters the previous day. Lachin had a vast amount of construction work that was proceeding rapidly with many houses being finished.

The final stop and our overnight stop was staying at a military camp within Nagorno-Karabakh. As we were being escorted by Azerbaijani's this was an Azeri military camp with tanks, helicopters, a shooting range and mess tent. As a disabled person with sight problems, its unlikely I would ever be on the front line of any military operations and therefore this was a rare opportunity to attempt to understand what it would be like to be military personnel who would spend day and night using or being transported in this equipment.

The tanks I always find fascinating. They are a sign of war and I had seen many before. One is even on display in Tiraspol, Transnistria which I had seen last year. I had never been in one before though. There were hatches where we stood and barely anywhere to hold on. We travelled a few kilometers, juddering along, feeling every bump of the ground and generally feeling like anymore time than the short ride, would be incredibly uncomfortable and not something I would generally want to do on a regular basis!

I got to see what a military helicopter looked like. Much smaller than I was necessarily expecting it to be, but still incredible to see. However, despite its size, quite a few people could fit in there with various amounts of kit. I don't imagine this would have been anymore comfortable than the tank!!

The last experience of the day before our delicious feed, was the shooting range. Again, being partially sighted and being from a country that doesn't allow guns unless with a special permit, I have very limited opportunity to experience such a thing. I fired a pistol, AK47 and a sniper weeapon. None of them I came anywhere close to hitting the target (although I aimed for it!) and in reality, like when I hit a golf ball, I had no idea where it went :(

Day 3

Next day we were to return to Baku and conclude our trip in the region. We drove along the Iranian border - the closest I have been to Iran and waited for sunrise at the Khodaafarin Bridge - a thirteenth century bridge with 15 arches that crosses the Aras river. On one side is Azerbaijan and the other side is Iran. It is prohibited to cross into Iran and the bridge is gated off at the Azerbaijan side (I couldn't see far enough to the other side!)

Our final stop before returning to Baku was the town of Agban which was previously home to around 140,000 residents. The town had been virtually flattened and needs totally rebuilding - there were many buildings with only part of a wall still standing that barely resembled the homes they once were.. We saw the new conference center, that had been built at record speed and could see the evidence of the start of a lot more construction in the area.

We also saw a memorial to those Azerbaijanis that had died during the conflict. It was very sad to see the memorial and reminds you how precious life is and to live everyday as if its your last. A very sobering moment on the last day.

We were driven back to Baku, which seemed to take most of the afternoon with police escort and taken to a farewell dinner at the impressive Gulustan Palace. We were very under dressed and had been without a shower for three days so it felt a little strange to be in such a beautiful venue especially when we were being served a 7 course meal and being addressed by an Azeri MP.

Overall, you could tell this was one side of the story and I am keen to hear the other side, however, I doubt in my life, given my disabled status that I will ever get to go in a tank, shoot guns on a firing range, see landmines blown up and be in such a closed off region that still very much has an air of conflict. I sincerely wish that the people can be resettled in their homes and that there will be a peaceful long term resolution in this beautiful region. A massive thank you to those that made this possible and for the invite to see this region, so rarely visited by travellers.