Papik and Tatik, Nagorno Karabakh

soooooooooooooooooooooo.....Heeeeelllloooooouuuuuuuu!! After, how long? It's been almost two months of silence here! Can you believe it?! Could be the longest time ive let pass without an update maybe, I have to check that...but yeah...it's definitely been 'long time no see'...and it really was an extremely busy and tough on the overall period for me, where i barely had time for anything else but work...i still have a lot of work pending, but with the training courses having finished, it seems a bit easier right now...though i must say i will miss that...but for the near future, after all these pending stuff are done, i hope to first get some rest, recharge my batteries and hopefully set off to some new challenges later...

also, for the period being, i have received bunch of great mail and the idea for my introductory post changed several times until this arrived in my mailbox and solved my indecisiveness....i hope you wont hate me for this im gonna post, but well, sorry, i just HAVE to share it with everyone....you dont get such a surprise in your mailbox just every other day! Yes, the fact i totally didnt expect this one to arrive is what took the whole thing to a totally new level of excitement and joy!
A card ladies and gentleman, from the territory of, as the title had already indicated...NAGORNO KARABAKH!!! Wohoo!! Wohoo! Wohooo!! Yayyyyyyy!!

im still in awe and find it hard to believe i have this card....i think this is a REAL gem in every deltiologist's/philatelist's collection!
The guilty one for this is Herbert who had some nice Caucasian adventures and also had the chance to visit some post offices too and mail out a few cards...for which im extremely and wholeheartedly thankful for being on that list!
And it is such a lovely card too! May I please introduce you Papik and Tatik, or the Grandpa and Grandma, the two sculptures which are widely regarded as a symbol of Armenian heritage of Nagorno-Karabakh. The monument is made from volcanic tufa, and depicts an old man and woman hewn from rock, representing the mountain people of Karabakh. These sculptures are also well known as "We are our mountains" and can be found north of Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno Karabakh (which is also known as Artsakh)
As you may know, Nagorno Karabakh is one of those disputed territories, recognized by only 3 other non-UN states....yet it has its own stamps issued, which compared to some French territories, where you only see French stamps on all of them, here you have the special Nagorno Karabakh stamps!! Ahhhhhhhh....

this stamp was issued this year in a set of two stamps, commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Shushi liberation (Shushi is a town in Nagorno Karabakh).
And just look at that interesting cancellation! I dont know if the numbers represent the hour of the day or not, since they start from 00 and end with 23, but either way it is a very very interesting one...I mean, ok, the whole postcard is just fantastic! :)

Herbert, I really dont know how to ever thank you for cheering up my mailbox with your surprises! Thank you thank you thank you thank you!! I wish you more interesting trips in the future *wink wink* :P