Dicing with Death: Armenia: The Resistance of the Caucasus

In this acclaimed series, we journey on some of the world’s most dangerous routes and explore the lengths people go to in order to change their destinies.

They say of Armenia that it is like an inaccessible fortress. Situated at the crossroads of Asia and Europe, 90% of the territory of this tiny Caucasian republic lies above 1,000 meters.

On December 7 1988, within eight seconds, a violent earthquake wiped out entire villages: 30,000 dead. Since then, many have left. Arman, 32, and his father decided to remain. Before the earthquake their village had a population of more than 1,000. Today, they are a mere dozen. With their ancient Jigouli, a sturdy Russian car, they tackle the snowbound tracks to deliver to remote villages their one source of wealth: potatoes.

Independent since 1991, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Armenia is slowly rebuilding its economy. Through the clinging mists, the hulks of former Russian factories loom up like ghosts. Work is scarce here. Aris is an engineer. With five of his friends, including a restaurant owner and a taxi driver, they become makeshift loggers: the only work they can find to earn a pittance. And their ancient Russian truck still has to make it through the forest tracks! Armin is Russian, Arman Armenian. The two comrades, great lovers of “home-brewed vodka”, live at the end of the world: the village of Tsar, set on a plateau, ringed by sheer cliffs. Once a month, they have to drive the village women to fetch supplies: their survival depends on it. The nearest town is only forty kilometres away, but the snow and the head-spinning tracks make the journey a perilous one.

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