The Land of Large Abandoned Objects

I was driving to Yerevan from Tbilisi to work on the Armenia Lifeline Road Improvement Project. It was not a fun drive as we got hit by  a very bad snow storm in the mountains with 100 m visibility.  I seem to have such luck with my Armenian trips – last time driving from Yerevan we had to leave late and so did it in the dark. Fortunately, I had a very safe driver, and an excellent book to distract me.

In ‘Stories I Stole’ the English author Wendell Steavenson shares her observations of the South Caucasus’ – mainly Georgia – from 1998 – 2001. This was a turbulent time with great hardship, such as no power and limited law-and-order. It makes for a fascinating read as so much has changed in Georgia in these ten years. But one thing has not changed, the fact that both Georgia and Armenia are littered with ‘Large Abandoned  Objects’ (LOA).

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