Reading my Lonely Planet before leaving for Armenia, the section on Nagorno Karabakh drew my attention. Vaguely I remembered a conflict over this Caucasus region, without having any specific knowledge of the reasons behind it. After walking through the bombed out areas of the town of Shushi, 23 years after the war, I will never forget. Azerbaijan and Armenia each claimed this territory for themselves. After a three-year war that left 400.000 people dead, Nagorno Karabagh is now a de-facto independent state, with a population that is predominantly Armenian.
Sushi bombed house
Nagorno Karabagh has close relations with the Republic of Armenia and uses the same currency, the dram. As a tourist you don’t notice the volatile situation. Locals told me of daily skirmishes on the border with Azerbaijan. One week after I left 33 people got killed.