geography nerds: ever hear of Nakhchivan??

[Paul Varmuza]

Was fascinated to recently read this BBC travel piece about one of the world's least known "countries" - as well as the world's largest landlocked enclave - an autonomous republic cut off from the rest of Azerbaijan by a slice of Armenia. In addition to having natural beauty and monuments, one of its main claims to fame is as the place where the biblical Noah's ark supposedly came to rest, with locals tracing their ancestry to Noah and his clan. And it's predictably authoritarian, of ourse, like most places in the former Soviet Union. A fascinating read!