Hakloot

From Baku to Tbilisi by car

From Sunday 6 December through
Wednesday 9 December I drove with colleagues of mine from Baku to Tbilisi. It was winter so the weather was cold and rainy. Yet, it was a great opportunity to get off the beaten track, away from the capitals and see the inside of country. We traveled in Northwestern Azerbaijan from Baku to Shemakha, Ismayili and Qabala where we stayed in the nearby Qafqaz hotel. From there we continued to Sheki and Zakatala to then return and stay the night at the hotel in Sheki. The next day we crossed the border into Georgia at Balakon. Quite an experience in itself. In Georgia, on the way to Tbilisi we stopped in the idyllic restored mountain top village of Sighnaghi. Bringing the GPS along helped to record the route and the locations visited. You can find a copy of the actual route on Wikiloc

Ismayili is a non-descriptive little town like so many others in Azerbaijan. Like many other city centers in Azerbaijan it has its Haidar Aliyev Park and Government and administrative buildings which all have a new and clean appearance standing out from the surrounding areas. They seem to provide the locals with an island of cleanliness, manicured gardens and modernity brought to them by the father of the nation.

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