Although our camping spot was picturesque by a stream, the water flow was in fact quite loud and coupled with the fact that a massive thunderstorm arrived overnight none of us got much sleep. We arose early and packed up our camping gear and headed 3 miles down the road the border. As Paul is named as owner/driver of the vehicle on all our paperwork and visas he drives us into and out of all border crossings to avoid any confusions. We had also recently decided that when going through orders we should all sit in the front three seats rather than have one person in the back as border guards often assumeweare only a party of two and upon discovering a third headoeering through the front seats they tend to get suspicious.
Prepared for our first really non-European border we arrived at around 8am to the small border where a few local Azeri’s were already waiting. Katie and Tom were asked to leave the vehicle and crossing as foot passengers leaving Paul with the van. After Tom and Katie’s passports being scrutinised, a short stroll across the no man’s land between the borders and being asked whether we had ever been to Armenia (never ever?) we were let through into Azerbaijan in a matter of minutes.
On the other side we couldn’t see Paul or the van we so sat on the pavement metres within Azerbaijan to wait for him. Even though it wasn’t even 9am we were regretting not bringing any water with us. Unsure as to whether the stand a few metres away selling cigarettes and snakes would accept Georgian money we went over and to our delight found he did, and he also exchanged money too! We got rid of the last Georgian Lari on some delicious local bread and water and not even 10 minutes later Paul and Stan came through the barrier. Another border crossing complete!
The road to a town called Sheki we had planned to make our way to for the night was a straight one, although the tarmaced roads were only half built. It was hard to spot the constant drops in the road and pot holes and a few times poor Stan took a battering. The road speed limit was supposed to be 90km per hour but how anyone could drive shoves 70 without killing themselves we had no idea!
A few short hours later we arrived into the large town of Sheki. The town roads seeming steep and narrow we decided against driving into the very centre of town but parked ages roads away and wandered into the historical centre. It was 30 degrees already and we hadn’t had any food yet so the first stop was a local cafe for some lunch (vine leaf dolmas being our favourite item on the menu) and then on to the tourist information office to see if there was anywhere to camp that night nearby. Whilst speaking amazing English the tourist officer said there would be nowhere to camp and then gave us a map. We decided to wander about the town and explore what the lonely planet deem Azerbaijans prettiest town (we are not sure we agree) and then head towards the mountains and find somewhere to free camp. However we soon discovered a caravansaray which was an old accommodation for travellers which had been restored and for a bargain 36 manat a night for all three of us (a mere £15) we decided to spend the night there. It was a beautiful and very peaceful place.
Sheki is famous for its sweets and halva so we did a bit of shopping for these caramelised treats and then headed to a local restaurant to try typical local food such as Piti and have tea. There was an art to eating the Piti and the waiter was thrilled to show us how to rip up bread into small chunks and then drain the liquid stock from the clay pot containing lamb, onions, chickpeas and other ingredients into the bowl so you first get a delicious bread style soup. Once drained you then blend the solid ingredients still in the clay pot into a paste and eat that separately. It was probably one of the best meals we have had on the trip so far. We finished off the meal with a steaming silver pot of Azerbaijan tea which our waiter seemed to be very proud of.
We finished off the night but finishing the remainder of the bottle of wine from Georgia and an early night.
Team Yes We Khan 