While this country count project might sound silly at times and like Bon Jovi at worst, it has its moments. Every time you enter a new country you feel like you've achieved something - even if the country was stupid like Liechtenstein.
In a way you've reached a certain culmination point: You've gotten your tick in the box so you could move on to the next country, but you want to linger on to enjoy the grapes of the trouble of getting there. Thus you face a gut wrenching decision between the two extremes, knowing, that choosing to stay means jeopordizing your whole mission in life. To go or not to go?
(Wait a sec... I'm just gonna call my friend Jon and tip him on a great idea for a song... Done... He loved it! I so knew he would. In deed, that is both the question and the title song for the next Bon Jovi album.)
There are however country moments which pass with a no anxiety at all. I had one of those moments today when I found out that I have actually been to Azerbaijan but somehow forgotten about it.
Above is the photo to prove it. It was taken by my dad in June 1985 on the M1 highway from Tbilisi, nowaday Georgia, to Yerevan, nowaday Armenia. On the way we passed through Azerbaijan and stopped on the Azerbaijan side of the border to have this photo of me, 7, and my mom, young, taken. What a stunning country it was! Picture perfect gem of the Caucasus. Glorious architecture, marvelous statues and scenery to match the seven new natural wonders of the world.
I live to tell.
2 comments:
Mun mielestä matkustaminen ei saisi olla suorittamista, ja tuollainen maiden laskeminen kuulostaa mielestäni siltä, että matkustamisen koko pointti on kertoa jollekulle toiselle, että olin siellä ja täällä, ei elämysten kokeminen, kulttuureihin tutustuminen. Siksi en jaksa laskea maita, joissa olen ollut. En tosin usko, että ikinä niitä edes muistaisin. Ja lasketaanko siis jos on ollut lentokentällä?
That's exciting to find a photo of you in a country you didn't know you had visited! Especially with such an odd and impressive feature in the background. You were a cute 7-year-old (which should come as no surprise, I suppose).
I looked at the map of Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. That's one incredibly fractured frontier, with numerous exclaves and enclaves.
PS Liechtenstein isn't stupid; it's a perfectly good country, just conveniently sized!
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