7th September: Sheki, Azerbaijan
Today was a chilled day. Again, we had breakfast in the garden at half 8 with tea and breathed in to the sounds of Sheki. It was the first time I’d needed an extra layer so far on this trip, as morning air was refreshingly crisp. The morning was spent writing, sorting a few loose ends from before we left, and doing trip admin. Hopefully, this blog will be up online soon! Although I still don’t know my host from my DNS. Send help, tech people!
Around lunchtime, we wandered down the hill and picked up various sweet treats. Kaja had discovered that many local pastries were accidentally (nearly) vegan, so we had to try! Sheki halva is made from gauze-like dough sheets of rice flour – all from water mills – and cooked in big round pans before being layered with ground nuts and a mixed sugar and honey syrup, then decorated with sumac. Probably the sweetest thing I’ve ever tasted! The pakhlava was delicous though.
Some other nut-based goodies were picked up for tomorrow’s onward trip. Salman the taxi driver confirmed with us on WhatsApp that he can take us and the two people we met yesterday, Kylian and Jakob, to the border for 45 Manat (around £21). We then bumped into him later and he jumped out to greet us. We then also bumped into the boys at the restaurant (who needs phones in a small town!). We should be all set to cross to Georgia tomorrow!
Otherwise, we walked up to the viewpoint to get an overview of town and the foothills of the Caucasus range. Apparently, there are bears near here at the moment, so I’m glad we didn’t go too far. More food-based adventures had us trying local grapes – which had pips (natural, really) and were not as tasty we’d hoped and some deliciously sweet plums. Sheki definitely has a small village feel, despite having long outgrown village size.
Dinner was similar to previous nights at the same place – the view was just too good. Lentil soup, herb qutabs, lecho, roasted potatoes and, today, the unusual elements of buckwheat and pickled blackthorn berries. Lots of goodness to keep us going. The blackthorn berries were interesting in that they were face-scrunchingly tart and vinegary at first taste, before gradually becoming more enjoyably sweet and somehow slightly moreish (for the first 3 or 4 anyway!). I had an allergic reaction to something today. I’m not sure if it’s some sort of pollen, something I ate, the multiple mosquito bites I’ve picked up, or maybe another insect? Either way, my arms, face, and throat are warm and slightly swollen.
Azerbaijan spend: £29.04 per person per day,