Shäki, Xinaliq and Quba, the oil fortune is not visible here.
When you leave Baku (The little Dubai), Ganja, Shäki, Xinaliq, and Quba are natural and exciting towns to visit. In travel to Azerbaijan’s countryside, it is evident that the oil money has not reached out so far. In this post, I will visit Shäki, Xinaliq and Quba. Unfortunately, the charming places are scarce and far between when travelling by train or bus. You must know what you are looking for to find the tiny jewels. They say the world is divided into nine climate zones. Seven of these are present in the small country of Azerbaijan. Because of this, you will see the desert as soon as you leave Baku. You also find beautiful mountain landscapes in the Caucasus mountains.
Shäki
The towns in this post are not necessarily written in the order that I visited them. I went on a day trip with a group and travelled alone to the other side of the country. Shäki is a town situated in the lover Caucasus. It probably houses one of the most decorated buildings in Azerbaijan and one of its main tourist draws. The Xan Saray Kans Palace is relatively small and unfurnished. However, it is full of colourful murals and glass windows and is worth visiting. Shäki also has a winter palace and the Caravansaray, which is of interest.
Kiş
A few kilometres from Säkhi, you find the little village Kiş. I hiked there, but because of the rain, I hitchhiked back. Here, you will find the little Albanian church. The Norwegian government sponsored the Kiş project to restore this small church, a monument from Caucasian Albania. It is also interesting for us Norwegians that there is a statue of Thor Heyerdhal outside the church gate. I reached Shäki by train and bus via Ganja.
Quba and the “big red village.”
The twin city of Quba is called the Big Red Village or Little Jerusalem. This is the capital of Azerbaijan’s mountain Jews. Perhaps the only all-Jewish town outside Jerusalem. The name comes from the more expensive red bricks they used to build the village. In The Six Dome Synagogue, this is very evident. Apart from this building, which was closed, there is not much to see in this village. We could also see some really big houses behind high gates belonging to Russian Jewish oligarchs.
The Cultural Landscape of Xinaliq People
On the day trip to Xinaliq, we first passed the town of Quba. Then, we started to drive up the Caucasus mountains. It has similarities to Georgia. It is pretty green and, in many places, dramatic. I know parts of this road are not open in the winter. Several hiking trails surround Xinaliq; unfortunately, you cannot do any of those on a day trip. From a distance, Xinaliq looks like a floating stone boat.
Xinaliq village and its people are on the UNESCO heritage list due to its traditions of semi-nomadic communal life, and the Council of Elders continues to act as an informal self-governing body in charge of collective affairs such as the seasonal migration, turns for grazing, and shared use of water and pastures. They have their own language and might be Europe’s highest-altitude full-year habitates, on about 2 200 meters.
Besh Barmag Mountain (translated to Five Finger) rises to 382 m above sea level, overlooking the Baku-Quba Highway. The mountain is a solid rock and is one of the most famous mountains in the Caucasus, known for its mythical stories. It is a sacred place for regular visitation by pilgrims.
There is no doubt that Azerbaijan has several friendly towns to visit, and nature can be spectacular, so even if my first post on Azerbaijan seems quite negative, if you look behind that, the nature is magnificent, and the people are generally very welcoming. Next week, I will write about Ganja before I finish with Baku.
