Welcome to Part 2 of my Quba and Khinaliq Tour. As a quick recap, in
Part 1, I covered the journey from Baku to Quba with two brief stops at a convenience store along the highway to see Beshbarmag Dag, and at Qachrash Forest respectively. The day tour saw me getting pretty close to Russia, the closest I've ever been to that largest country in the world, in fact.
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AZE: Quba and Khinaliq Tour (Part 2) <YOU ARE HERE!>
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From Qudyalchay Canyon, we continued our journey to admire the natural landscape of Azerbaijan.
We reached an open space where there were quite a number of visitors stopping by.
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| I suppose camping is allowed there. |
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| Fresh, cold water fit for consumption! |
Be awed by the following male entertainer.
We only spent about 15 minutes there, but it was enough for me to marvel at the view.
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As much as it was an adventure, it was also a journey to rediscover inner peace. |
After that, it was another 20-minute ride to our next stop.
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| I must say the road is maintained pretty well. |
One of things that I always look forward to during such a road trip is to see herds of animals.
We spotted a few settlements along the way.
Before arriving at Khinaliq, we stopped at the so-called Eagle Peak. We were lucky to observe two eagles fling in the sky of the Northern Caucasus, but they were too far away for me to take a photo.
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| I don't really mind the graffiti on the stones, but not on the right wing. |
Our guide, Elsever, brought us to the tip of the cliff.
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| Somewhat acrophobic me thought my feet would tremble there, but they didn't at all. |
After another 20 minutes or so, we finally reached Khinaliq, the most remote village not only in the country, but also in the entire Caucasus region.
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| Melon was certainly enjoying her trip. |
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| Ah, the sight of snow-capped mountain! |
Khinaliq is situated at 2,350 m above sea level. The villagers speak a distinct language that's not at all similar to Azerbaijani.
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| Despite it being a remote settlement, there's electricity in Khinaliq. |
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| Sleeping so peacefully~ |
We had a delicious lunch at one of the villager's house.
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| The lunch costs AZN 12.00 (~S$9.55) per person, which is to be paid directly to the villager. |
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| That's the adorable kid of the couple who owns the house. |
After lunch, it was time to burn some calories by exploring the village.
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| Remnants of snow! |
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| That solitary building marks the border between Azerbaijan and Russia. |
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| I suppose it must be nice to throw yourself into that pile of wool. |
We went up to the topmost point of the village.
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| The temperature in the village can go down to -35 degree Celsius during winter. |
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| Cheers! Do you like my smile? |
We saw piles of cubes made of manure mixed with hay, which serve as important biofuels especially during winter as a source of heat.
Goodbye, Khinaliq! Thank you for the experience!
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| Pikachu was rather sad as the trip would be coming to an end. |
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| Would you like to live in such a remote area? |
Our Pakistani friends were looking for honey to bring back home. On our way back, we spotted a street vendor selling them, as well as some circular-shaped sweets. My BFF and I shared one infused with cornelia flowers. If my memory serves me right, we paid AZN 2.00 (~S$1.60) a piece.
We dropped by a mosque in the town of Quba for our Muslim friends to do their Maghrib prayer.
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| It's interesting to see that the minaret is separate from the main building. |
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| One of the core elements of a mosque's aesthetics is lighting. That's where chandeliers come in. |
I eventually fell asleep as we made our way back to Baku.
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