Day 15 Thursday

Today we go to Sheki. In Azerbaijan, Sheki is spelled with four letters, the sound “sh” is achieved in one letter. It is an S with a small hook or line off the bottom of it.


Sheki is approximately two hours drive from Ganja, and we depart about 11:00AM. Sheki is a city in the mountains, about 3,000 feet up.

Sheki City Gate

Side note--nothing around here seems to start early, even the doctors offices don’t open until 9:00 in the morning. The banks open at ten, and nobody I’ve talked to can even believe that someone would start working at 7:00AM, let alone any earlier. Even England, the proper British gentleman refers to appointments starting at ten-ish or two-ish. I guess his many years hear have made him accustomed to the thought of punctuality being a fluid thing.

The drive is okay--the roads here are terrible. I have only seen roads like these in high, off-road Colorado, but they use them for all traffic, cars, busses, trucks, everything drives these roads everyday. We are headed east for about 45 minutes and then north, into the Caucus mountains. We rise three times, and then arrive at Sheki. This is a very agricultural area, there are lots of plowed acres, and even some sheep and a few cattle. No fences though, twice we see cows in the middle of the road.

Today we go around to meet customers of The Bank and get an idea of the clientele like we did yesterday in Ganja. We also get to see a lot of the city of Sheki at the same time. It is Beloved and I, a young lady named Aynera whom is our translator, and two employees of the bank. Our first stop is at a small shop, the owner is not present, but his work is--it is a small cabinet, with a sink, I thought it was a childrens play-thing--it’s so small, but I am assured that this will be used every day. The upper portion above the sink is a tank, the faucet works by gravity, the drain is collected underneath the sink in a jug or bucket. I assume it is very inexpensive, but apparently the craftsman can turn a couple of bucks for his efforts. It is the most basic construction, the drawer has no slides or stops, all the joints are just butted and nailed, quite primitive, but the paint shows an obvious pride for his work.


The next stop is a small confectioner. Here we get to meet the owner and talk a little bit more. He gives us samples of his work and is very cordial. He says he would show us the operation but it is all closed up--they make the candies and pastries overnight and sell them in the morning.

From there we go to a small shop more in the center of the town to visit with and see the work of an artist. His shop is small, humble, but the work is really pretty good. He does some fine art and some signs.

We then went to see a man that raises cows. In his back yard. Really. Things that would never ever pass any zoning ordinance in any city in the USA seems to be commonplace over here. This man, a very pleasant and friendly fellow, has 20 acres outside town that he grows hay on, brings it into town to his five cows, which he keeps in a shed behind the house. (Note: Every house in this country seems to have an eight-foot-tall wall around the entire property. I’ve been told they value their privacy. No kidding.) He borrows money from The Bank in the spring when cows and calves are plentiful and cheap, feeds them all year and sells them in the late fall and winter when the prices are up. Good business plan.

The Bank has several clients doing the same thing.

About 6:00PM England is finished up with his business and one of the employees drives the three of us to The Caravan Hotel. Sheki is situated on “the Silk Road,” the caravan trail that attached the Far East with Europe in the 1400’s, back in the time Columbus was looking for a way to sail west to Asia. There are a few reminders of this era, though most do not exist any more.  

The hotel we are staying the night at is situated on the remains of a caravan stop, a place where you could park you camels inside the walls and do some trading and then grab some tea and a nights sleep. So that's pretty much what we did, we grabbed some dinner and some tea and went to bed. Unfortunately the gas had been off in the city most of the day and the place was cold. Pretty cold. 

I slept in my all my clothes under all the blankets there were on my side of the room (oh yeah--two single beds) and my head under the covers and didn’t sleep very good. The ambiance gets an 8, though the function will have to remain about a 3. Shelter? Yes. Smoking room? Unfortunately yes. Heat? Not till about 4:00 in the morning, then not much. Bed? Yes. Bed you can sleep with your wife in? No. Toilet? Yes. Toilet seat secured to the toilet? No. Mirror in the bathroom? Yes, 4x15 inches. Shower? Yes. Functional shower door? No. I must confess, I was a bit of a whiner that night, and I apologize to my precious wife for taking the fun out of the adventure that night. Sorry Babe.