An interesting journey through the foothills of the Caucasus
Xinaliq was once one of the most isolated villages in the Caucasus, now a road to it has been built and is a popular trekking destination. The road to Xinaliqu itself is very nice, especially a canyon-shaped passage.
Qırızdəhnə
The road from Quby to Xinaliqu is about 50km. You can take it all simply by taxi or practically for free by a combination of public transport, tracks and walking. We took a bus to the final stop in the town of Gimilgazma, from where we stopped the car up to the 24km kilometer to Xinaliqu. This is where the most beautiful part of the journey begins. The first place of interest is Qırızdəhnə, a village with massive rock walls
Canyon
The most beautiful part of the whole trip is a long walk through the canyon
Road over the river
The road eventually rises above the canyon and stretches to the horizon.
Limestone mountains
In this part of the Caucasus you will find beautiful limestone parallel bars. The surrounding hills are only about 1,800 meters above sea level.
View back from the pass
The road climbs to the places where the river made its way through the rock massif. Here the gorge is the narrowest
Descent into the valley
Now you will descend to a wide valley that leads to where you would definitely not meet a tourist
Check
From the river you will climb to the mountain village of Cek (1,755 m above sea level). You have to cross the mountains to the right valley below Xinaliq
View from Cek
From Cek it is beautiful to see the gorge through the rock massif
In Xinaliqu
Fortunately, we stopped a car with excursionists from Baku behind Cek and saved 12 kilometers long by a less interesting monotonous valley.
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