Highland village of Lahich

Getting from Sheki to Ismaili

Today I go halfway back to Baku, overnighting at Lahich (travelling via Ismaili).  After yesterday’s painfully slow transport experience, I was prepared to make life easier.  After breakfast, at 0830, I ordered a Bolt car to take me to Sheki’s bus station rather than spend 30 mins walking.  Why not?  For only AZN1.14!

As we arrived at the station, my heart sank as I saw a Baku-bound mashrutka leaving.  That would mean waiting a long time for another one to fill up.  But as I hopped out, a taxi driver accosted me and showed me to his waiting Mercedes. He said, he only needed one more person, being me.  The fare would be AZN15 to Ismaili (where I would transfer to Lahich), which may (or may not) be the same fare all the way to Baku.

He disappeared and came back with two other passengers after 10 mins, so I suspect I wasn’t the one that made the car full.  Regardless, I was happy that we hit the road at 0900.

After going through mist, much of the journey was green, compared to the wasteland that the bus took on the straight highway (more to the southwest).  Large trees lined the road and there was a portion that was beautifully forested with facilities for food, picnic and horse-riding.

Transferring at Ismaili for Lahich

I told the driver that I was looking to connect at Lahich, hoping that he would drop me off at the correct bus station at Ismaili as there are two.  Unfortunately, the dropped me at the wrong one where there were no services to Lahich.

Even though I knew that Bolt does not operate in Ismaili, I gave it a go.  It quoted me AZN10 for the 30+ km journey.  I had expected to pay around AZN20.  But when the driver turned up, he used Google Translate to say that it was an out-of-town journey for which he would be empty on the return, and it was uphill and windy.  He asked for AZN25.

My alternative was to go to the other station (by taxi) and wait for a bus departing at some unknown time.  After yesterday’s performance, I decided to just go with the driver.

Despite the 50 min ride indicated by Google Maps, it only took 30 mins including a photo stop at the Zarnava suspension foot-bridge.  I felt that the price was a bit high but there wasn’t much I could do but just protest lightly and go on my merry way.

The total of the two rides was still less than chartering a Bolt vehicle all the way from Sheki, which I considered in a moment of laziness.  And I probably would have encountered the same bargaining situation for the one-way travel.

My trip from Sheki to Lahich had only taken 3h including transferring at Ismaili. That’s about the non-stop time according to Google Maps.  I arrive at midday and was very pleased that today’s travel had been a lot faster than yesterday.

It was a 15 min uphill walk through the old, cobbled village to get to Evim Otel where the gardener eventually heard me knocking on the gate.  He took my payment by card and showed me to my room.  I was the only guest here!

I had quick a freshen up and noticed that my skin was very dry and powdery from the highland air (and maybe dust) over the last few days.  Having left my main luggage in Baku, there was nothing I could do for it.

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Exploring Lahich

Not many places are available for food here.  I found a garden tea house that made qutab and ordered a tea with it.  I asked the price for the food (including the halwa on the table) but not the tea.  How wrong could I be?  All the food items were AZN2 each but the tea was AZN5!  It was a special tea with saffron and flowers, served with a jar of homemade jam to eat.

At first, I felt cheated again but later realised other places had itemised things more clearly on their menu.  I would know better next time and send back the jam.  I had thought the jam was for stirring into the tea (instead of sugar) as in Russia.

After lunch, I took a walk through the cobbled streets, this time slowly and appreciating what I saw.  With my backpack on earlier, I simply just wanted to get to the hotel to offload it.  Taking my sweet time, I probably had a wander for about an hour.

I was in my room around 1415 for a rest till about 1600 before heading out again.  This time I explored the part of town on the other side of the hotel.  To my surprise, there old town and cobbled streets stretched far beyond what I could be bothered walking.  And I had thought earlier in the afternoon, that this was a one-street wonder.  It was nearly all residential without any touristy shops in this part.

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I had an early dinner near the river about 1800, enjoying possibly the best lamb mince kebab with a charred tomato. I noticed that the lady referred to kebab as chebap, somewhat like in chevap in the Balkans? Is it because they speak a different language called Tat here which is endangered?

[Edit:  I later realised that people in Baku do it too.  In fact, I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard “assalamualaichum” and “chilim” for kilim!   Maybe it all makes sense when one realises Baku is pronounced as Bachi.]

Having paid for the most expensive hotel in town, I had an early night in to enjoy the comfy bed.  When booking my accommodation, it was either the Evim or a couple of simple homestays that were well-rated.  But other guests had complained that they were hard to find, far away or the location on the map was wrong.  For a short stay, I wasn’t up to the hassle of lugging my backpack around trying to find the place.