Article Trip to Xinaliqu

From Baku, take a bus to the metropolis of northern Azerbaijan – Quby. It is some 170 km and it should not take more than three hours to drive. From here, the local bus will only bring you closer, but nothing goes as far as Xinaliqu itself, so then stop, walk or share a taxi. But it really wants to get a little closer, because from Quba to Xinaliqu it's about 50km.

Xinaliq is a beautiful historic village, without satellites, as if time had stopped here.

Thanks to the stone houses, the village quite blends in with the surrounding landscape. The biggest shift was electrification and especially the completion of the road. It is now a popular middle-class excursion destination in Baku.

As in every village in the Caucasus, sheep breeding has been dominant for centuries

Of course, meeting a cow on the „street“ is not such a big coincidence

As in other mountain areas, the most ideal means of transport is often a truck that handles uncomfortable terrain well. The next chapter – shepherd dogs, often an unpleasant encounter, a stretched trekking stick and a stone in his hand fortunately occupy quite often

The girls are preparing to take care of the household from an early age. Here, where there is an enormous shortage of wood, cowsheds are dried to keep them warm for the winter

Xinaliq lies tactically on a hill above the valley. By who you came here / you can continue, you can continue, cross the main Caucasian ridge with a saddle about 3000 meters above sea level and descend to southern Lazy / about 30km /

The more common route is to northern Lazy, because this will take you to the highest mountains of Azerbaijan. Here you can get across the saddle on a decent jeep road.

Beautiful view of the village and the mountain Gizil Gaya „Golden Mountain“ – which is another popular but more challenging ascent from here