Dashkäsän

A couple of weeks ago I went to this old mining town with some of my English Teacher friends. One of whom grew up here. It was a beautiful day and I wanted mainly to share some of the pictures and the interesting points from the day.
Hiking in Azerbaijan is not like hiking in the U.S. or Europe. Appropriate clothing and footwear according to Western Standards is not required- in fact I would have felt very strange decked out in full hiking garb. Although I definitely could have used the hiking boots and anything other than jeans! Being able to afford 250 dollar leather boots is a privilege and you can hike reasonably well in regular shoes- if you don't mind slipping and sliding all over the place. It is also not necessary to wear pants- one of my friends can't because her brother won't allow it. I would even wager that a skirt would be easier to move and cooler than a pair of pants.
We also had some local boys act as our "guides." I think it was not so much that we would get lost but more that a group of women should not be out hiking alone. We hiked down to the valley instead of up since Daskäshän is located on a hilltop. We walked to an old mining cave. Which was the coolest part of the hike (in both senses of the word!). The local cows had also discovered its amiable tempartures and had used it as a 'rest area' (if you know what I mean! : )

The town used to be famous for its marble (the name Dashkäsän means cut stone). So There were brilliant purple marble stones all along the way and in the streams. The picture doesn't quite do the colors justice.

We finished our descent at a stream that had seen cleaner days but was still pretty to look at if you didn't get too close!
Finally it was time to turn around and go back. I had thought our 'guides' would find us a different way back instead of straight up the treaterous slopes we had just come down. Silly me! It was straight up back the way we came.

My first reverse hike! But reverse according to whom? I actually liked walking back up, my knees didn't hurt as much. It seemed quite strange and maybe even 'backward' at first but I could definitely see the advantages to hiking this way. You even get to see the view twice! Its a bit like life here in general...hmmm another point to ponder. Besides who needs toilet paper anyway? (more on that later :) )