May 9th Celebration in Shushi

After spending close to 16 hours on the road, finally getting to the city of Shushi was a great  relief. During the Karabakh liberation war, taking the city of Shushi marked a great victory for the Armenian's- and it happened on May 8th. But nowadays, it is celebrated on May 9th because it coincides with an old soviet holiday having to do with a WW2 victory. So you get two holidays for the price of one. But really, May 9th is a great celebration for Karabakh- and that is the day we got there. 

During the war, the city of Shushi was controlled by the Azeri's and Stepanakert belonged to the Armenian's. Since Shushi is situated on a mountain, it was very easy to bomb Armenian controlled Stepanakert from up there. That is why the Armenian capture of the city of Shushi was so important strategically. It essentially  established the Armenian victory. Although there is no formal victor since the war is technically still ongoing,  a ceasefire is currently in effect. But Armenia was able to take back control of Shushi, Stepanakert, and all of mountainous Karabakh. 

Karabakh is interesting because it is separated into either stretches of mountains or vast valleys. When you enter the region, even before the formal border, the landscape changes dramatically. There is greenery around you on every side, stretching for miles and miles. The nature really is unbelievable. 

On our first night there, we had the requisite May 9th celebrations at the Shushi hotel, with lots of food and free flowing homemade apricot vodka (like eating Apricot and fire....literally)! Another thing I learned on this trip- the right way to drink vodka. Apparently, you can't follow a shot of vodka with a chaser because it multiplies the effect, so you have to follow it with some type of food. You learn something new every day.

(Images from top: The first view of Karabakh from the car, the dinner table set out for us at the Shushi hotel, Martiros drinking a toast to our local hosts, our group- Haykak Gabrielle yours truly Mikael Mandy and Hratch, more toasting, a spyurkahay man who was staying at the hotel and loved our group so much that he decided to buy us a bottle of wine- we gave him some apricot vodka in return, Sevan showcasing his musical talents in the hotel).