Think I’m usually fairly liberal, but I’d been feeling a bit conservative over the last few days. I’d been labouring under the misunderstanding that shorts were considered rude in Azerbaijan, a secular state but with Islam the dominant religion. But no, I was told in Sheki, perfectly acceptable for cycling. With temperatures easily in the mid-twenties, welcome news.
East of Sheki a decent road, good progress towards the town of Gabala. Sturdy bridges across wide river beds, the torrents of icy melt water now passed. Snows remaining now just on the upper slopes and faces of the Greater Caucasus Range, peaks of over twelve thousand feet. Stark contrast with the ever increasing temperatures in the valleys below.
Not exactly the beaten track, but you sensed tourists did come this way. I’d stopped to try some warm, freshly baked bread, cooked in brick pits at the roadside. “Photo?” I was asked. But I felt certain that the bread making wasn’t staged just for visitors, for much of the traffic on the road seemed to be local. And what did bring people here – sight of the Greater Caucasus Range, or the local flora?
But then back to the road, heading for the Capital Baku on the shores of the Caspian Sea. Just needed to keep the mountains on the left.
Tags: Azerbaijan, Caucasus, Silk Roads
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