What to bring

From Janapar

First of all, remember, whatever you bring, you have to carry. If you're on an extended trip and stop along the way for the hike, you can stow some of your belongings which you don't need on the actual hike at a hotel or home in Karabakh (or Armenia).

If you do the entire Himnakar Janapar, you'll be hiking for 2 weeks at least, without taking side routes, dilly dallying or succumbing to villager hospitality related delays. You'll want to bring enough to make sure you're comfortable on the way, but bring the lightest, most versatile things you can, and know you can do some wash along the way, and a bit of dirt won't shock anyone.

The final major consideration is whether you plan to camp or not. You have the option to stay at homestays/villager homes all along the hike, so you certainly can go without a tent or sleeping bag. This will be an important planning consideration, which you need to decide before setting out.

Now that you've digested all of that, here are some items you might find you'll be happy to have with you on the Janapar.

• A good pair of walking shoes!! (and some good socks)
• A pair of sandals or tevas (most people wear sandals/slippers in their homes in Karabakh).
• Pants - bring a light pair, and some shorts in the summer. Perhaps ideally a pair of pants you can unzip the bottoms off to turn into shorts.
• A jacket which can keep you quite warm on a cool night, but weighs little and is compact.
• A sleeping liner. (what are these properly called?) This is like a cloth bag you sleep inside of in a bed or sleeping bag. It is very nice to have when you're not quite satisfied with the cleanliness of your surroundings.
• Immodium. It is likely this will come in very handy.
• Insect repellent.
• Hat, sunscreen and any other sun protection you like to use.
• Printouts of the maps are always helpful. You can try to buy some at the Shoushi hotel in Shushi, or the ArmeniaInfo office in Yerevan at Nalbandyan 3 (not available yet!).
• Cash, ATMs might not be easily available except in Stepanakert if they work with your card.

You might consider bringing some little gifts for people who are particularly kind or helpful along the way. You can either get things locally, like ground Armenian coffee, chocolates, etc, or bring some little things along like LED flashlights, pocket knives, seeds, postcards from your hometown, etc which they might like. One of the best gifts, which takes some effort, is actually mailing them prints of photos you take of them on your trip.

And, you can always get some t-shirts or other stuff with the Janapar logo online!