9 - Post-Soviet Nations of the Caucasus

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The Post-Soviet Nations of the Caucasus

In another (more peaceful) world, Russia would’ve undoubtedly made it on my itinerary. I still desired to get a feel of the Soviet culture, immerse myself in the former and ongoing history, and grasp the impact of the Ukraine war on the surrounding region, so I added former areas of the USSR: Georgia & Armenia to the docket. TC & Muldowney made it to Moscow, and their journal entries from the fall of ‘89 quoted the constant feeling of being watched - no surprise for two Americans traveling through the USSR just two years before the collapse and end of the Cold War. Assessing my risk traveling there today as quite high, I figured going to former parts of the USSR would suffice. 

The mountainous region of the Caucasus countries (hands down the most difficult name for me to pronounce), which sit between the Black and Caspian Seas, came highly recommended by other intrepid travelers I’ve connected with (shoutout to travelers from the Izmir hostels, and family friend Chipp Naylon for the destination inspiration, who trained there as a US Marine with the Georgian military before being deployed to Afghanistan, and Indagare Travel, as Kial also played a role in adding Georgia to my list) and travelers I met in Turkey who were saying the region was “not to be missed”.  Also known as the Near East, West Asia or EurAsia, the Caucasus region consists of Georgia, Armenia & Azerbaijan. It’s a region rich of history yet rife with land disputes, closed borders, still struggling for identity in a post USSR worlds. Don’t forget they are small nations tucked between the assertive powers of Russia, Turkey and Iran. Sometimes they are considered as “Middle Eastern” but geopolitically, at least Georgia & Armenia are very European. 

Both of these countries has peppered international news this year, largely due to territorial integrity issues but  each with their own unique nuances. Besides the ongoing war on Ukraine (hard to believe it’s nearly been two years), the Azerbaijan vs. Armenia Nagorno-Karabakh land conflict had just “settled down” days before I arrived. The past year Georgia also got swarmed with Russians, mostly young men escaping the draft mandate issued last fall. Georgia is also desperately (or at least some of the government members are) trying to join the EU, fearing it could be next on Russia’s manifest “list” after Ukraine. And one cannot forget the ‘08 invasion and occupation of Russia into the South Ossetia region in northern Georgia. And Azerbaijan, perceived (at least by the “west”)  as the aggressor in the Armenia conflict is the only country besides North Korea who still has their land borders closed.

One couldn’t miss the anti-Russian sentiment in the region. Ukraine flags covered the streets in Georgia and “fuck Russia” graffiti on countless abandoned buildings. On the flip side, we had elderly in Georgia interrupt our walking tour to shout “our country was better under communism” and then days later I played billiards with a Russian friend in Georgia, only to challenge two Georgians in a game and have them be in utter disgust that I was hanging with a Russian, proclaiming to his face “well fuck Russia right”. (He had also left Russia to avoid the draft and show support against the war. More below). 

Outskirts of Yerevan, Armenia

As both Christian nations, I was expecting Armenia to have a similar feel culturally as Georgia. In reality I couldn’t have been more wrong. Besides the unique languages and alphabets, Georgia, well Tblisi at least, gave off a counter-culture European vibe, a blend of youthful hipster and old culture. I found the people a bit abrasive and curt. Armenia gave off a distinctive culture that felt more posh, dare I compare the friendly Armenians to give off the feel of those from countries in Western Europe like Spain -  not only a homogenous looking bunch (all dark hair dark eyes) but all with similar polite mannerisms and smiles. 

I wish I could’ve made it to Azerbaijan, which is uniquely the only Muslim-dominated country in the Caucasus, but I was short on time and it required expensive flights both in and out of Baku as the land borders still remained closed.  - they cite Covid but you dig a bit deeper and it’s likely to deter Russians from entering. Next time? Who knows, doubtful I’ll ever be back in this distant and lesser known but beautiful region of the world. 

Georgia

A Christian Orthodox nation, the birthplace of Stalin, and a claim as the oldest wine making region in the world, Georgia had a short lived three years of independence in 1920. After the formation of the Soviet Union Georgia was ruled by the republic for 70 years until its independence in 1991. 

The anti Russian sentiment in the capital Tblisi was palpable. Graffiti everywhere bashing Russia, Ukraine flags on street corners and inside restaurants. 

I hung out for a couple nights with Eugene, who I met at the hostel. Eugene, 28, from Moscow, left Russia in the fall last year (2022) to escape the draft order. Flights out of Moscow were insanely expensive at the time, so he left via car and ferry through Finland. He found temporary accommodations in Tblisi where he was working remotely building a travel company designing adventurous international trips catered to young Russians. 

Hanging with Eugene was fascinating. He described the anti war sentiment of young Russians, the pro war stance of his parents, and the 30 mile long lineup of cars last year at the Russia Georgia land border - which I would visit a couple days later - that all started when Russia implanted the draft mandate last fall. He said a few of his friends had already received draft tickets and are trying to leave Russia. Some waited 3-5 days in their cars to cross into Georgia, which maintains its open borders and allows visas for up to a year - which reset year after year as long as you leave the country for a day during that time period. (Georgia has topped the list of countries which Russian exiles departed to after the war began; Russians are allowed to stay in Georgia for at least one year without a visa). Unsurprisingly this also made Tblisi a hotbed for other remote workers from all over.

Playing pool with Eugene. We challenged two Armenian. Asking where we were from, they were disgusted to hear Eugene’s Russian roots, even asking me why “I would hang out with a Russian”

Tblisi had a well developed tourism infrastructure with flyers everywhere for day trips to the vineyards, mountains and nearby countryside monasteries. Visiting the wine museum, national history museum, a walking tour I got a solid feel for Georgia. The national dishes of Kachapuri, chicken soup and cha cha shots were fabulous. 

Fun facts: 

• Georgia has been a wine production site since 6,000 BC, being the earliest known location of winemaking in the world.
• Georgia was the first non-Baltic republic of the Soviet Union to officially declare independence. In August 1991, Romania became the first country to recognize Georgia

Tblisi Center Square

Khachapuri, a cheese filled traditional Georgian dish with two English teachers living in Kuwait (to double the salary the UK would pay them and pay no tax), visiting Tblisi for a three day vacation. 

Rugs for sale everywhere. Gents enjoying tea. (Film shot)

These homes have bridges linking them so that those dissenting the USSR could flee with the assistance of their neighbors if the Red army was looking for them.

Rug shopping continued

Renting a car and driving up north to hike in the mountains

Getting quite close to the Russian border

Which looks like it’s a scene out of a James Bond movie

Hiking up in northern Georgia in the Kazbegi region 

Fabulous two nights at this bed and breakfast overlooking the mountains

Armenia 

As the oldest country in the world to adopt Christianity as the official religion in year 301, (Ethiopia followed), Armenia is a small landlocked country, that besides Georgia to the North, is surrounded by closed borders on all sides - Turkey to the West, Azerbaijan to the East and Iran to the South. It’s a unique nation with an “against all odds” history of survival through constant territorial disputes, and most notably, religious massacres that became one of the worlds worst genocides. Fortunately Armenia today is experiencing growth driven by healthy population increases, developing ties with Europe, and economic success. 

Anyone who knows me will be surprised to see I’m notating that Kim Kardashian and Dan Blizerian are Armenian. Kayne even performed a concert in Yerevan a few years ago and jumped in their historic city fountain pool. Dan owns a few vape shops in Yerevan. 

I arrived by minibus from Tblisi, driving through the gorgeous mountainous border, and into the capital, Yerevan. Desiring to rotate things up from the hostel circuit and spent a few days solo, I found a guesthouse in Yerevan city center. Greeted by a family of four and a barking dog in a third story walk up apartment , only the eldest daughter could converse English as she welcomed me into her family’s home. 

There were two other guests staying in another room, a young boy and a mother, who I found out were “refugees” from the recent Nagarno-Karabah land dispute and conflict. I unfortunately put refugees in quotes because technically the people aren’t classified as refugees by the UN and international organizations because they are Armenian citizens, which prohibits them from receiving international aide as easily as formally defined refugees. Although I wasn’t able to communicate with them, I smiled and would sit in the room by myself contemplating the gravity of their situation getting displaced from their home just a few weeks prior by the Azers. The eldest daughter the next day said “we’ve been doing what we can to help them, but eventually they will need to find work and a new home in Armenia”. 

Like Georgia, Armenia was part of the USSR. Even with its large diaspora (countries like the US have large Armenian populations who have left for better opportunity and peace) - The last 30 years since independence it has developed, and now boasts a culture unique from its disparate neighbors and IMO stripped of soviet influence. It’s a highly educated nation, in fact the Turks used to prefer their kids to be sent to Armenian schools back in the early 1900s. I bought a chess board at the market after being inspired to learn they are the only country to teach chess in middle school, up until 5th grade! 

Although I loved my four days in Yerevan exploring the city and outskirts, I would love to return to explore the Armenian countryside and smaller cities. 

Posted in downtown corridor condemning Azerbaijani conflict

The metro is tucked deep underground to double as nuclear shelters. Although I found the rule rather stilly, they don’t want you taking pictures in of the metro stations for “security reasons”. But I snuck a few

Soviet style cars

Armenian Genocide 

I took a ton of notes walking somber and starstruck through the genocide memorial and museum, so using this space to reflect on the history. 

Regarded as the first genocide of the modern era, 1.5m ethnic Armenians were massacred as part of a religious purification led by the Ottoman Turks during WWI. 

Although many Armenians were peacefully living with the Turks in the early 1900s as far west as Constantinople (modern day Istanbul) they were slowly treated as tolerated infadels. Under a new Turkish regime in ~1910 they began a mission based on the perceived necessity to Islamize the population. The “Turkification” called for the elimination of Christian’s. Fighting for the central powers in WWI, one of the goals of the war was to  capitalize on the opportunity to implement their plan to exterminate the Armenian population. Working with Germany to agree on expanding its eastern border - into Armenia- after the war, of course if the Central Powers won. Well that was the plan, and although Armenians served in the war, they were first used as pawns for hard labor and killed when no longer found useful. Children spared were given Muslim names and forbidden to pray or speak Armenian. The death marches into the Syrian desert began towards the end of WWI in 1915 where hundreds of thousands were walked into the desert and either died of starvation or execution 

The Turks falsifying history and suppressing historical facts. Many monuments in Turkey are named after the leaders of the genocide

Notable Genocides:

1915 - Armenian. 1.5m

1940- Holocaust. 6m

1975 - Cambodian 1.7m

1994 - Rwanda. 1m in 100 days

Eternal flame in memory of the victims

1915 NYT article on the genocide

Chessboard in tow to Oman