Today I did an excursion to the highlands at Khinalug (spelled Xinaliq in Azeri language). There were five customers including myself, plus the guide and the driver.
Leaving at 0900, we saw the rush hour traffic coming into Baku and were pleased that we weren’t travelling in that direction. As we headed into the countryside, I noticed it wasn’t as dry as the Absheron Peninsular, the area that I explored yesterday.
About 1h40 later (including a brief supermarket stop), we made a stop at a petrol station and looked up at the Five Fingers Mountain (Beshbarmag Dag) (382m). There is a legend of how a prophet searched for a spring that gave immortality. The landmark was useful for navigation as well.
We saw some vineyards along the way also, cruising on the good motorways and then roads. Around midday we reached Quba city. The slight elevation of 600m meant that there was a hint of autumn leaves in the forests.
We didn’t spend any time in the city but continued to Qachrash Forest in the Qudyalchay area for a tea and comfort stop. Here I tried a qutab, filled with coriander and dill. It is made from rolled dough and done on a griddle without oil, similar to the Turkish gozleme.
The ride from here on started to get windy as we entered a gorge. I’m normally one of the first to get carsick but I held up well. The Filipino lady and the Korean guy (fluent in Russian) both felt so bad they needed to stop the car.
We made a second stop to look at the view and saw an eagle soaring. The wingspan of the eagles here can be about the width of a car. They can pick up a lamb and fly off with it, then drop it from altitude to smash it to make it easier to eat.
We made a third stop at another viewpoint which was stunning, overlooking a valley, before continuing to Khinalug village at 2350m. It had been a five hour trip to get here and we were ready for lunch.
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- Five Finger Mountain.
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- Just as I thought the country was a wasteland, we struck the Qachrash Forest in Qudyalchay.
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- Just as I thought the country was a wasteland, we struck the Qachrash Forest in Qudyalchay.
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- Canyon on the way to Khinalug.
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- Canyon on the way to Khinalug.
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- Canyon on the way to Khinalug.
Our lunch was served in a local home. We had a lentil soup (orange, looking like pumpkin) with bread, mini dolma filled with lamb and rice. The group had lots of nice chit-chats afterwards over tea before our guide, Elmar, took us for a walk around the village.
I noticed that the dogs in the village all had rounded bear-like ears. Elmar explained that they have all been trimmed because it’s the most vulnerable part of the dog when wolves attack.
Near the 8th Century Mosque and the local communication tower, we climbed on to a rooftop for a panorama of the area. Dagestan Republic in Russia was only 30km away. Even for the Swiss in the group, the sight was awesome.
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- In the village of Khinalug.
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- 8th Century mosque in Khinalug.
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- Panorama from Khinalug; the Republic of Dagestan in Russia lies 30km from here beyond those mountains.
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- Panorama from Khinalug; the Republic of Dagestan in Russia lies 30km from here beyond those mountains.
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- In the village of Khinalug.
We were given plenty of time to absorb the view before returning to the car about 1630 for the return journey. As we entered the gorge, it got foggy and then rainy.
I was pleased to get out of the gorge and on to the straight roads. With a prayer stop along the way, we got back to Baku’s old city around 2030, only 4h after setting off. The return journey was an hour shorter due to no stop at the supermarket and for sightseeing.