Sheki

It's no wonder Formula 1 is so popular here... this is a FLAT country. Leaving Baku, we skimmed for four hours across this arid, desolate pancake of a place, seeing nothing taller than a two-storey building. The earth here is salty—the legacy of the Caspian Sea, which once covered the whole land—so agriculture is impossible. Azerbaijan is extremely rich thanks to its oil reserves, but if demand for oil dries up, it's hard to see what else will fuel their economy. This is one of the most bizarrely imbalanced countries we've visited this year.

Fortunately, the northern and western edges of Azerbaijan rise up to the leafy Caucasus mountains. At last, hills! Trees! Rivers! We spent two nights in the old silk road outpost of Sheki, enjoying the autumn colours creeping across the mountains and seeing a different (less opulent) side of Azerbaijani culture.

Sheki is a beautiful, provincial village, with a well-preserved historic centre, stunning Khan's Palace, and winding, hillside streets. We were ushered into an old Soviet cafe during an evening stroll and drank too much extra-strength tea, sweetened in the traditional way with jam. Dan convinced a cafe owner to play a couple scenic games of chess over breakfast the next day: it turns out Alishen was a chess professional in Kyiv back in the 80s, so Dan got off lightly with a 1-1 score. We also watched the beginning of a very steep half marathon going through the village, which must be an absolute dream to run (although tough on the knees).

We stayed two nights in the caravanserai, which is a strong contender as the most iconic place we've stayed all year—a centuries-old stone courtyard and travellers' inn, for the ludicrous price of just £15 a night. This stop we were aesthetically spoilt. The Sheki Art Museum presented some interesting pieces, much of it memorialising WWII. They continue the former-Soviet trend of shortening the war to 1941-1945. One in ten Azerbaijanis died in WWII, answering the question of how Russia fronted so many soldiers.

The highlight of the stop was an Azerbaijani wine tasting. Our sommelier, Vusal, hangs out in his wine cellar all day smoking shisha and playing guitar, until guests arrive so he can regale them with stories about his collection. This includes some incredible local varietals neither of us had ever heard of, the product of a much-lauded but defunct vineyard Marandi (the owner jailed!), as well as a sharp and undrinkable pomegranate wine which we endured for the experience. 10/10 would do again though.

Five days has been a good amount of time in Azerbaijan. We were concerned a little that we might be rushing through, but there is so much exciting stuff in our next country... stay tuned!Baca lagi