Sheki, the cultural heart of Azerbaijan

To make up for my last posting having no pictures and all text, ( I assume nobody liked it since I didn't get any comments on it) this entry will be more pictures and less of my blabbering on about my woes here in Azerbaijan. I've been meaning to write about Sheki since I went about a month ago but I didn't get around to it. So anyway here it is, a little information about and photos from Sheki, my favorite place in Azerbaijan so far. You may want to ask, "Kate, why is it your favorite place in Azerbaijan?" and now I will tell you. I like Sheki because it is in the mountains and considerably cooler than Ganja. Mountains mean hiking, and this time up than down and not down than up. It is a tourist city so the people are a bit more open to foreigners walking around- example: it is not wierd for women to order alcohol in restaurants. I like the history and culture here. Sheki is famous for the Khans palace, which although small, is very beautiful and special in that it is one of the only palaces that has not been looted and destroyed by various invading forces.
While in Sehki I stayed at the Caravanserai which was an ancient stopping over place (like a motel) for large caravans traveling across the country. If I breath really deeply I think I can still smell the camels ! :) The rooms are really cool, in both senses of the word. They are dark and made of stone which keeps the heat out and the cold in. Upon entering there is a sitting room with couches and chairs and then you walk through anothe door way into the bed room. Although it definitely was not luxurious the atmosphere completely compensated for it.

The rooms all face into a central courtyard and garden with large fountain with benches. It really is beautiful with the afternoon sunlight.

The first two days in Sheki I went hiking, and although it was not the Alps or even the White Mountains it was very beautiful. There are plans to develop the area as a ski resort town. That is why this road/path was built to the top of the mountain. Who knows if these plans will be realized. As with everything here- if it is the will of God then it will happen if it isn't ,than it won't.

On day three I toured the Khan's palace. There were many other tourists there even though the weather had turned bad. The outside facade is all mosaic and the inside has beautiful painted walls with scenes of various historical signifcance. The colors are all natural dyes and the story goes that the palace was built without any nails. What I found most intersting was that photos were not allowed unless you paid an extra fee. So basically its okay to ruin the artwork with flash photography, you just have to pay for it. There was definitely a seeming lack of respect for these national treasures. Which is strange to me considering how nationalistic many Azerbaijanis are here.

Sheki is a cute little romantic getaway type of town. With great sunsets!