NomadMania Shusha 26

I wrote, in 2022, that my trip to Nagorno Karabakh was a once in a lifetime experience. It turns out it's not, as I've been asked to go again. My invitation has come again from Harry Mitsidis, (arguably the best travelled person in the world, and founder of NomadMania, the website that serves the most well-travelled folk in the world). Last time it was Harry's fiftieth birthday, this time he's retiring (he says) and this is to celebrate him transitioning to a quieter life (he says). Nagorno Karabakh, now known as just Karabakh, is still a decidedly off limits travel destination. Access is highly restricted and generally advised against by most governments (it's on the FCDO don't go list) due to serious landmine risks and strict Azerbaijani authorization requirements, And there are going to be 80 or so fêted travellers attending NomadMania Shusha 26. How could I say no?

Getting to Azerbaijan 2026

Its not the most auspicious of flights, on Azerbaijan Airways. The stewardesses who don’t speak English, but look polished and lovely,  shower me with water droplets and lemon slices. accidentally I hope.  There’s a huge queue for the toilet. After 15 minutes a young man emerges with a book.

The Elusive Hotels of Baku

Immigration is a breeze. I have my e visa and the hotel is supposed to be sending me a a taxi, to take me back to the area near the old city, which I know from past experience is difficult to navigate. Except they don’t. So I take an airport taxi. And, true to form, the driver can't find the De Verneuil Hotel. To be fair, the whole of the new old city, to the north of the walled area, is closed off. They are replanning the roads, laying new blocks, putting in new trees. The works. The whole is builders’ dust, cement piles, plastic sheeting and narrow wobbly wooden walkways. It's no place to bring a wheelie bag. Or two.

To cut a long story short I spend two very fretful  hours wandering around, in the dark, with the heroic assistance of a young Azeri couple. The hotel does not answer their phone.

 They eventually reply to a message.  They are closed! Words fail me. They say they tried to call me today. Just a trifle late, in my opinion. I'm directed to another establishment, which is full. But they take me to yet another. I'm promised a discount for my trouble. The receptionist still tries to charge me full list price – I check on Booking.com. This is is possibly my worst city arrival ever. But my credit card statement says that he has posted the amount in manat (the Azeri currency) rather than US dollars. So he's accidentally given me a half price deal anyway.

Next day isn't promising either. No breakfast here. Or in the hotel round the corner where I'm directed. The receptionist there marches me back and then I'm taken to still another hotel. It's amazing how many there are hidden behind the facades of the grand buildings in this area. Their signs are all inside the doors. I'm surprised anyone can find any of them. 

Exploring the Centre of Baku - Again and Alone

This is my third visit to Baku, but my first opportunity to have a wander alone. None of the hotels have tourist maps. I'm not astonished. I'm directed to the tourist office, but that’s closed. It may open later. Maybe.

So, working off my Google download, it turns out I'm on Nizami Street, a major pedestrian and shopping boulevard in downtown Baku. Named after the classical Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi, it's famous for its grand nineteenth-century architecture, luxury boutiques (one of the most expensive streets in Southeast Europe), and lively atmosphere. Well, there's not much of that in evidence today.

I wander through the rubble, down to Fountain Square, the central area of the city. The fountain isn’t working and there’s a man standing in the water clearing it.   The Azeris are not exactly friendly, pragmatic veering to pessimistic. The women generally modestly clothed, in western style outfits; the masculine uniform hasn’t changed. Black leather jackets and jeans are almost mandatory. 

Novruz 2026

Round almond paste  buns were distributed liberally on my flight. These are to celebrate Novruz Bayrami, the Iranian New Year  festival, also recognized increasingly in other neighbouring countries.  In Azerbaijan,  the primary Novruz holiday period is usually  March 20–24.  However, due to several holidays overlapping with weekends this year, including the end of Ramadan, I've arrived to find  the country is currently observing an extended 11-day non-working period that runs from March 20 through March 30, 2026. Wow! It's like Christmas.

Around Fountain Square, colourful Nowruz bazaars bedecked with bunting, balloons and flowers. Again, think Christmas, the little market booths that appear then, but  with a spring theme. The most common decorations are large 'Semeni' (green sprouts representing spring), traditionally bound with a ribbon. There are also traditional Azerbaijani Novruz sweets like shakarbura (crescent-shaped pastries) and coloured eggs.

South, through the walled gates into the old city proper.  Another Nowruz Market. Attractive outdoor cafes beckon. If they don’t, then their owner does. Sitting at a table in the sun quickly lightens my mood.

Exploring with Famous Explorers

Time to set off, to join my group. The Boulevard Marriott is a decided improvement. And I have a great view of the bay and the Flames from my room. Old friends from my last trip four years ago are here: Sal, Per, Orest, Daniel, Boris. Mette from the Executive Committee and Harry too. It's good to catch up with old faces.

Fifty or so of us pile onto a coach to make (for me) a return visit to the Zoroastrian Ateshgah Temple. American Harris helps me to recreate the photo that Shane took last time. Then, a city tour which is typically slow, due to the rush hour traffic. Past the fields of nodding donkeys and through The White City reconstructed from the industrial Black City. The F1 monument - there's a Grand Prix here annually. The Zaha Hadid building. It's impossible to take photos that aren't blurred, through the coach windows.

To Mehraj (most famous Azeri traveller and expedition organiser)'s restaurant, Gizil Baligh, where the food keeps flowing. Salads, cheeses, bread and filled pide type flat pasty/ pancakes. Various kebabs made of beef and lamb. I think that must be the end and I'm stuffed. But no, now it's chicken and chips. Followed by a huge and  very sweet NomadMania Shusha 26 cake. We’ve also been given goodie bags containing a travel legends booklet, incorporating all our biographies, Shusha 2026 tee shirts, maps of the old city (just what I needed earlier), badges and key rings, all bearing the logo 'I did it in Azerbaijan'. I should be so lucky.

Karabakh Since My 2022 Visit

• On 19 September 2023, after the withdrawal of Russian troops (busy in Ukraine) and a blockade of Armenian access to Karabakh lasting several months, Azerbaijan launched a fresh large-scale military offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh.
• The Artsakh forces collapsed rapidly, resulting in an Azerbaijani victory, the dissolution of the Republic of Artsakh and the exodus of almost the entire Armenian population from the region, marking the end of a millennia-old Armenian presence in Nagorno-Karabakh
• Nagorno Karabagh (Soviet oblast name - highland or upper Karabagh) became known simply as Karabagh (Black Garden)
• Territory seized included the former Artsakh capital of Stepanakert, known as Khankendi by Azerbaijan.
• Various political analysts, along with residents of Nagorno-Karabakh, accused Azerbaijan of committing ethnic cleansing. The Azerbaijanis say that every Armenian was offered the opportunity to stay.
• President Trump says that he has been instrumental in brokering peace here. Where has he not? As of April 2026, the 'Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity' (TRIPP) is a US-brokered plan for the Zangezur Corridor, 20 miles of road, which will connect mainland Azerbaijan to its Nakhchivan exclave (and, consequently, Turkey), through the bottom of Armenian territory, parallel with the Iranian border. It suggests a 99-year U.S. lease for a private business company to develop and manage a railway, motorway, and pipeline infrastructure. Whilst the goal to provide a 'neutral' transit route, reducing reliance on Russian or Iranian transportation links and unlocking trade opportunities between Central Asia, Azerbaijan, and Europe is considered a good one, there are doubts over potential 'corridor colonialism' and the logistical challenges of having a US-managed corridor at a very sensitive regional fault line.

The Victory Museums of Baku

Time for a refresher on the geopolitics of Karabakh. This is reinforced by visits to the open-air War Trophies Museum and the newly opened Victory Museum. The Military Trophy Park opened in April 2021, to showcase over 300 pieces of military equipment, including tanks, armoured vehicles, and weaponry, captured from Armenian forces, during the 2020 Karabakh War. There are even model trenches, cut out of the ground. It's an interesting contrast with the futuristic hotels and business centres, on the skyline.

The Zefer Muzeyi (Victory Museum) is a monument-complex, opened in 2024 also celebrating Azerbaijan’s victory in the 2020 Second Karabakh War. The 44 columns of the towering arch, at the entrance to Victory Park, represent the 44-day war. Inside, teh main museum, there are eight exhibition halls, 'Iron Fist' installations, and 'Talking Photographs' honouring the dead.

Regular readers of this column will know that I am not fond of war museums. Fortunately, we spend most of the time chatting and catching up with old friends and just scanning the exhibits. There are 64 so called UN Masters, here, people who have been to every country in the world, from 40 different sovereign states. I'm told that's a world record. There are 540 people in total, I'm told, who claim to have done this and 440 verified claims. So, I'm in good company. We have our picture taken as a group, wearing our award tee shirts. And without our special tee shirts. and outside a lot of places. I've spared you most of them.

Harry's Gala Dinner

Tonight's dinner reminds us about the background to Karabakh (again) and congratulates Harry on his retirement. We all have to make awkward short speeches about our travels. And there are more group photos.

Agdam Revisited

Then, we are off to return to Karabakh. Most of the 50 or so of us on this part of the expedition are on a bus, the new Victory Road being deemed to have improved enough to take large vehicles. One coach, one minibus and a handful of cars. And, we still have our police escort, sweeping past cars, as far as possible, on the single lane each side of the road, once we leave the coast. Most of the traffic still Lada cars, square and nostalgia inducing.

It's a cloudy day, so Karabakh is not shown to best effect, the mountains gloomy, with almost no traces of snow, now it's early Spring.

First stop, this visit, is the former ghost town of Agdam, where it is now possible to visit by train, from Baku, and even stay at a new Hilton Garden Inn. Through Yevkhalax, sheep on the roadside verges. Flat fields of rape, just coming into blossom. Steeply angled tin roofs on squat houses.  Lada cars still proliferate, out here in the rural areas. These are interspersed with modern complexes, mostly named after the president. And stone built mock  manor or castle style hotels and restaurants. Crenellations and turrets are popular.

Agdam, the gateway to Karabakh is very different, now partially reconstructed. The nineteenth-century Juma Mosque is no longer a shell. The new apartment blocks are free to return to, if you can prove your family connection. 1100 people have now returned; there were 50000 originally.  But this was one of the most heavily mined areas and warning signs still proliferate, even in the town itself. There is a colourful mosaic on the wall of the ruined Bakery Museum. It's a curious atmosphere, the stark contrast of new flats being built behind the ruins, left as they were. It makes it difficult to shake off the shock of what has happened to this town, a bleak phoenix, with the ashes still remaining.

The Khojaly Massacre

There's a new road from Agdam to Susa – this is a surprise even to the drivers on our convoy. The new road is a dual carriageway. Well, for a while. but then we are into the construction zone. A plethora (or a rumble?) of JCBs.

En route, we stop at the brand new (still being constructed) Khojaly Monument. The Khojaly Massacre was the largest single massacre of the entire Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. In early 1992, Armenian forces, along with some troops of the 366th CIS (ex Soviet) regiment, took the town, after a blockade and, in the process, committed the mass killing of Azerbaijani civilians. The death toll given by the Azerbaijani authorities is 613 civilians, including 106 women and 63 children. Human Rights Watch say at least 200 Azerbaijanis were killed, though as many as 500–1,000 may have died either from fighting or the aftermath and cold.

Khankendi

Khankendi definitely wasn't on the programme last time. It was in Armenian hands, known as Stepanakert, the capital of the self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh. In September 2023, the city came under full Azerbaijani control, resulting in the exodus of its Armenian population of around 100,000. There's been more rebuilding, a university and the city is currently being resettled by Azerbaijanis.

We're not allowed to mention the Armenian name. And we're not allowed to take photographs, in case they include any of the many properties over which there are legal issues about disrupted ownership. So, we haven’t been there, or seen the stadium, or the town hall or the Victory Arch, in Victory Park. Just to make sure I've removed anything that looks remotely like a private dwelling from these images. The 'We Are Our Mountains' monument, also known colloquially as 'Tatik-Papik' (Grandma and Grandpa) is also contentious. It's red volcanic tuff and Armenian, originally intended to celebrate peace. There are ongoing calls for it to be removed.

Shusha Revisited

It's the turn of Shusha to be visited as the light fades. The Soviet era mountain is same, but different. The statues, the town hall, the fortress with Shusha in bold red, up top, are still there. The Shusha banners have gone, replaced by a huge welcome sign. The upper mosque has been renovated and there are new apartment blocks. However, it's still a work in progress, a mixture of modern, cleared areas and ruins.

Lachin and the Lachin Corridor

Lachin, along with villages like Aghavno, sat inside the original five-kilometre-wide corridor which linked Armenia with Karabakh. It was monitored by Russian peacekeepers, who escorted us through, on our last visit. In August 2022, Azerbaijan reclaimed control of the town of Lachin, and the old road passing through it was abandoned. The new, wider route bypasses the city, allowing traffic to go to Karabakh without going through the urban area.

The drive to Lachin is long and tortuous, on old roads, or new ones that haven’t been completed. I can't really see, in the dark. It's tough for the driver, especially as the convoy takes the wrong turning (none of us can understand why, as we are following the route on Google ) and the coach has to make a U turn on the narrow highway.

Eventually we arrive and it's time for bed huzzah. Except no, it's a restaurant in town first, for a slightly bizarre supper of soup and dolmades. When it's finally achieved we discover a swanky spa resort, complete with golf buggies. Very much an improvement on the accommodation from last visit, decorated beautifully for the holidays. But it's bathed in mist and in the morning it's full on rain.

I'm told that Lacin is a pretty town. I'll have to accept that piece of information. Running for cover, two art galleries and two ceramics displays. Again. it's a good moment for a chat.

The East Zangezur Corridor

South, to spend the rest of the day meandering along the newly established borders between Azerbaijan and Armenia. No-one crosses here and the original line land borders here have been closed since the 1990s. No matter, it's difficult enough to take decent pictures from a moving bus, but when the windows are covered in water droplets, it's impossible to see anything.

Here, there's a network of new roads and tunnels, along the border with Iran, leading to Armenia. The East Zangezur Corridor. We stop frequently for views across to everyday life in Iran the other side of the river Aras. Photos are forbidden here, on the grounds that army border points are secret and the Iranians of course are skittish, already being at war with the USA and Israel.  Though the many journalists not to mention the  drivers don't seem to be included in that ban. The main tunnel is closed on one side. And there's no other cover, for a bush toilet. The sign is large enough to duck behind.

At the far end of the tunnel is the tripoint between the three countries. This is where the proposed ‘Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity,’ linking Azerbaijan through Armenia to Nakhchivan and beyond, would begin.

Fusili

Back to Baku via Fusili, which now has an airport, a few apartment blocks and a supermarket. Again, it must be weird, living in characterless houses identical to everyone else, all modern and very utilitarian, amongst a bleak landscape, dotted with ruins.

The Media

The media have tracked our visit again. At most stops we are met with a host of pretty young girls waving microphones. But less energetically than last time. No press conferences, on this occasion. There have been maybe 20 other groups visiting since then. But it's still a novelty to watch ourselves on the television each night. Now it's time to leave Baku and the media behind and venture to the exclave of Nakhchivan. Reza, the photographer we met last time, has not been around on this trip. But he does have an exhibition of his wonderful photographs, at the airport.

Read more about Azerbaijan here.