BOOK DESCRIPTION

This book from Stone Garden Guides is unique as the largest and most colorful guidebook available for Armenia and Karabagh. Its 304 pages are filled with 75 vibrant color photographs, and 25 detailed color maps.

This is also the only travel book on Armenia that is truly an "insider’s guide." This is because its authors, Matthew Karanian and Robert Kurkjian, have each lived, worked, and traveled throughout the region for a decade. The text—which is written in a conversational tone that’s easy to read—is also comprehensive and filled with the wisdom of travelers who are as comfortable in Armenia as they are when traveling back home in the US.

Visitors will find that this book is essential gear when traveling throughout Armenia and Karabagh, in the villages as well as in the cities. This guide will help travelers make the best choices when deciding where to go, what to see, and where to eat and sleep.

Short term visitors who don’t speak Armenian will be able to communicate with the assistance of the glossary of phrases. Travelers who have never been to Armenia, and also those who have made a dozen trips, will find the information about the country’s historic sites to be equally fascinating and readable. Nature and conservation are also featured prominently.

The book’s beautiful photography and intriguing background information makes this a book for armchair travelers, too. In addition to being a valuable field guide for seasoned travelers it is also an ideal introduction to the region with lots of intriguing facts and interesting anecdotes about the land and people.

This quality paperback has a durable binding and is a standard 5 x 8 inches to easily fit into your backpack while you’re traveling. Detailed and full color maps, prepared by the American University of Armenia, cover every region of Armenia. Accurate street maps are included for every major city and town. Color tabs make it easy to locate information in any of the book’s ten chapters.




FROM THE PUBLISHER

Stone Garden Productions made history in June 2001 when it published the first English-language stand-alone guidebook for Armenia and Karabagh. That book, "Edge of Time: Traveling in Armenia and Karabagh," sold out within a year and a revised second edition was rushed into print in 2002. Stone Garden has built upon this proud legacy with its publication in 2004 of "The Stone Garden Guide: Armenia and Karabagh." As a small, independent publishing company, we take great pride in our work, and we are truly proud of this fine book about Armenia and Karabagh.

FROM THE FOREWORD

By Robert Glenn Ketchum (the renowned author of several books on nature and conservation):

It is seldom that a traveler is presented with a guide such as this, which is accurate because of actual on-the-ground investigation, and rich with history, research, and anecdotes that broaden the reader’s viewpoints, particularly regarding Armenia’s biodiversity. This is a guide that the traveler should not do without. And for the traveler who enjoys a more profound experience of the natural world, this guide is unparalleled. We would all be much better informed as visitors if all guidebooks provided this breadth of information, revealing not only what we need to know in order to be comfortable, but also what we should know about the place we are visiting.


EXCERPTED FROM CHAPTER ONE, "LAND AND PEOPLE," AT P. 21
INTRODUCTION

When Armenia re-established its independence in 1991, it was not particularly concerned about positioning itself as a tourist destination. The fledgling republic had other priorities. Except for a brief blip from 1918 to 1920, the Armenian nation had not been self-ruled for more than 600 years. The institutions of statehood had to be created. Armenia needed to develop a foreign policy and establish its place in the world. And it needed to start a market economy almost from scratch.

On the home front, Armenia was struggling to care for the victims of a 1988 earthquake who, three years later, were still homeless. Everywhere, even in the capital, there was almost no electricity and no fuel. There was little industry. There was little work. But somehow, contrary to the forecasts of the pundits, the Armenians made their tiny country work.

During its first decade of renewed independence, Armenia had made progress in its state-building efforts. It had developed into the most stable democracy in the Caucasus, and it had plotted a course of Western-style reform. But it hadn’t developed as a tourist destination.
Only in the past few years have travelers discovered Armenia. Travelers have continued to go to Armenia for the humanitarian reasons that had brought so many foreigners here during the first few years of independence. With greater frequency, travelers are now visiting Armenia on holiday, to have fun! Foreign tourists have ceased to be a novelty in the capital. The number of tourists broke the 100,000 mark in 2001, and it has continued to grow each year, according to Armenia’s National Statistical Service. Almost half of these visitors are from the United States and Europe.

Private investors have responded to this increased interest. They have added hundreds of new hotel rooms in Yerevan, the capital city, as well as many more in the countryside. Business people have opened dozens and dozens of restaurants offering Armenian and international cuisine. There are scores of new shops offering Western-manufactured goods.

By 2004 it seemed that renting a car in Yerevan had become as easy as sending out for Thai food or getting a pizza delivered.

All this progress hasn’t spoiled Armenia. This is a land of magnificent mountains and vistas, with a treasure trove of ancient cultural sites. This is a country where you can still get a cup of coffee for 20 cents, and where you can still get invited back for a homemade dinner each time you visit a different village. Despite the changes, the heart of Armenia is still there, and it’s bigger than ever.



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