Sheki and Kish: Days up north in the Greater Caucasus Mountains

Azerbaijan is not a country that sees much tourism, but when tourists do go there, many tend to stay in Baku for their entire trip, maybe with a few day trips in the nearby area. But Azerbaijan is a lot more than its modern capital. Azerbaijan is mountains, ancient churches and palaces of old khans.

One day, I decided to seek out just that. And my curiousness brought me all the way up in the Greater Caucasus Mountains in the north of Azerbaijan to the city of Sheki, located close by the borders to Russia and Georgia. Sheki is one of the oldest cities in Azerbaijan and is said to date back more than 2700 years to the Late Bronze Age. The name of the city derives from the Sakas, an Iranian people that wandered up from the Black Sea through the South Caucasus to Anatolia. They reached the territory of modern-day Azerbaijan in the 7th century BC and populated the country for many following centuries.

It was on my second day in Azerbaijan that I decided to catch a bus to Sheki, to escape to the mountains, and stay there for a few days. Getting to Sheki from Baku takes quite a while and definitely requires some patience. First, I had to catch a bus to the international bus station, Baki Beynalxalq Avtovagzal Kompleksi, located 10 km from the city center. I had been told to catch bus 2 from the Winter Park, but when it hadn’t come after 20 minutes, I gave up and caught a taxi instead. I wanted to get to Sheki somewhat early, and the bus ride there is about 6 hours! The taxi cost me 7 manat, which was the same as the bus ticket all the way to Sheki, but the taxi driver was a lovely elderly man, who was very excited about driving a tourist, so I didn’t mind.

At the bus station, I asked around for a bus to Sheki and found one leaving at 11 AM. The bus took quite a while to get going, waiting for it to fill up and for the many people going in and out of the bus trying to sell everything from oranges to socks. When it was full and we finally started driving, the driver turned on the music… My god. It was so loud and quite terrible music as well (think Eurovision, and not the good kind). Six hours like that. I never understood why so many busses (especially in former USSR countries) show music videos or movies without people having to use headphones to listen to it, as clearly not everyone wants to be listening to the same thing for six hours in a row. I wasn’t the only one getting frustrated with the driver who kept turning the volume up…

The ride itself wasn’t bad. We had one stop for food, and a few stops to let people off. Six hours after we set off, we arrived in Sheki. It was raining hard, so I couldn’t really get a sense of how beautiful the city could be (or how beautiful I’d been told it was). I walked a few kilometres to my hostel, Canal Hostel, where I was lucky enough to get an entire dorm room to myself! It was just what I needed after my crazy experience in Baku and such a long journey!

The next morning, I got up early so I could spend the whole day sightseeing. I started the day off by going to Kish, a nearby village located even higher up in the mountains.

Getting to Kish should be quite easy on bus 15, apart from the fact that I just could not find the bus stop. I ended up waiting for 30 minutes at the wrong bus stop, before finally asking a local who was able to help. Once I was on the bus, it went as smoothly as anything, and I was in Kish in no time. I had actually wanted to walk there originally, as it’s only 5 km away from Sheki, but the owner of my hostel said it would take too long as it’s all uphill. And I’m so glad he said that, because Kish is WAY higher in elevation than Sheki and it IS literally uphill all the way! I would’ve been beat just getting to the destination.

Because Kish is so high up, it was also much more covered in snow from the snow storm that swept across the country during the night. It was snowing all day, but I loved it and it made my pictures look more magical. Kish looked so beautiful covered in a blanket of white.

Kish is one of the oldest villages in Azerbaijan, and the Church of Kish is believed to be its oldest standing building.

The church, which has functioned at different times as a Caucasian Albanian Apostolic church, a Chalcedonian church and as an Armenian Apostolic Church, was first believed to date to the 1st century AD, making it the oldest church in the Caucasus, but excavations have shown that the existing building “only” dates back to the 12th century, although radiocarbon analysis of finds found beneath the altar proved that the site itself dates back to about 3000 BC, where it was used as a pagan cultic site.

To get into the church I had to pay 2 manat, which also gave me a lovely guide who, despite not being able to speak much English, was able to tell me interesting facts about the excavations and skeletons found underneath the church, some of which can be seen through glass windows on the ground.

After exploring the church, I had this plan of walking up to Gelersen Görersen, the ruins of a Medieval fortress. The ruins are located several hundred metres above Kish on the summit of Garatepe Mountain at 1,230 meters above sea level, and requires a few kilometers of uphill walking to get to. I was determined to get there though, so I didn’t mind the uphill climb. Unfortunately, I met two local men, who (I think) tried to tell me not to go there as there are wolves in the area.

I wasn’t about to take a chance on that one, so I headed back down to the center of Kish.

Halfway there, I spotted a man starting up his taxi, and I asked him if he would mind driving me up there. At first, he looked a bit confused, but when he saw how excited I was, he just said “Okay, 4 manat”.

During the drive, I was getting more and more confused. He was driving the exact opposite way of what I had been walking just before, so I felt sure that he had misunderstood me and was taking me back to Sheki. But as soon as we got to the turn for Sheki, he instead turned north and continued along a narrow uphill road, where the snow was getting more and more deep. At one point, the wheels of the car starting spinning around and we knew that it was time to get out and start walking. The car could help us no more.

I knew that the walk back to any civilization would take ages, so I offered him 20 manat instead of the 4 to go to the ruins with me and then take me to Sheki. Despite him wearing insensible shoes (and who does that remind you of), he seemed more than willing to do it!

We found the right path to the ruins and then starting walking up, up and up. The climb was incredibly steep, and I was feeling more and more guilty for bringing someone along with me on such a crazy adventure. At one point, we had to turn away from the path and walk left into the forest to get to the ruins. It was even steeper there, so we had to hold onto each other in order to not fall. I thought about just giving up, as it could’ve got dangerous, but we were so close, we had to make it!

And then finally, we saw it – the ruins! The taxi driver let out a sigh of relief and held his arms up high in victory. Although we couldn’t communicate in our languages, we were both feeling the same excitement and tiredness.

We had a look around the ruins for a few moments, and then hurried back down as we were getting cold. Once again, we had to hold onto each other in order to not fall, but it went fine and we were back to the car sooner than we thought! I was really happy that we had managed to do it, and I think (and hope!) that he was too. I kept thinking how ironic it was that his day had somehow ended up like this, as it must’ve been the last thing he expected to do when he woke up in the morning.

I wonder if it would’ve even been possible to get to the ruins from the other side of Kish. I feel lucky that it went how it went. I got to see the ruins, and I had a fun adventure with a kind local who I couldn’t understand!

He drove me back to Sheki and stopped for a few photo breaks along the way. The area surrounding Kish sure is beautiful. I would love to come back in the summer and do more hiking in the area. From the ruins, Russias border is only 5 kilometers away, so I wonder if it would actually be possible to walk over the border, since I doubt there’s any border control there. Not that I would do it, I would probably be too scared to, but it would be cool to just look over to the Russian side!

When I got back to Sheki, I was feeling really cold, so I headed back to the hostel to relax for a few hours, before venturing out into the streets of Sheki, excited to see what the city had to offer.

I headed to the east part of the city, where the city’s most famous sight, the Palace of Sheki Khans, is located. I had a REALLY hard time finding it though, as there are so many small and winding streets in Sheki. I got lost constantly, but I actually ended up finding some pretty cool places while being lost.

I came past two caravanserais, a mosque and a cozy shopping street with many small boutiques all selling handmade stuff. I wanted to buy everything, but had to restrain myself as I only brought hand luggage!

Eventually, I saw a sign that I thought would lead to the palace, BUT it was to the House of Sheki Khans (not the palace, my mistake…), also known as the Winter Palace, but that was also worth a visit. It had a richly decorated exterior, but I’d read that the interior should be even more beautiful, so I was bummed that it had closed for the day.

It was getting dark, so I had to ask a local which way to go to the palace, as I didn’t want to miss out on seeing Sheki’s most famous spot. He pointed me in the right direction and after walking a few hundred meters uphill, I actually found it!

The Palace of Shaki Khans, which was built in 1797, is located almost as high up as you can get in Sheki, so the view from there is amazing. I had just enough daylight minutes to explore the palace grounds and see the colourfully decorated palace.

Luckily, I got there just in time for the last guided tour of the palace, costing just 2 manat. Unfortunately, the interior of the palace was the only thing in the city where photography is not allowed, and it was the most beautiful part as well… I can picture it in my memory though, the perfect interior with walls completely decorated in different paintings, vibrant colours and shebeke, multi-coloured stained glass windows produced locally, quite similar to Persian interior architecture. I know now what the inside of my future house is going to look like (that is, if I ever settle down!).

The next day, I had decided to leave Sheki early in the morning to go back to Baku. I was planning on getting a bus back to Baku, but as it was full, I had to take a marshrutka instead. Thankfully, these were nowhere near as awful to ride in as the ones in Belarus, and the mountain roads weren’t as treacherous as I’d been led to believe. In fact, it was a way more beautiful journey taking us through barren mountain landscape for the entire trip, which only took 4,5 hours (compared to 6 hours on the bus!).

Sheki was a lovely getaway from the busy Baku city life, and I loved it even more than I thought I would, especially because of all the snow! It was a true winter wonderland, and definitely a place that should be included in any Azerbaijan travel itinerary (including a visit to Kish)!

How to visit Sheki and Kish

• To get from Baku to Sheki, you can catch a bus or marshrutka from the Baki Beynalxalq Avtovagzal Kompleksi bus station. It’s also possible to get a shared taxi from here, but it will be more expensive and probably less comfortable too, as they wait until they are full, so you will be squashed, if you sit in the back.
• Marshrutkas and shared taxis are a faster way of getting to Sheki, as they go over the mountain passes. The busses are too big to drive along the narrow mountain roads, so they stick to the main roads.
• The bus ride takes 5-6 hours with one stop along the way to go to the bathroom or get food. The ticket price is 7 manat. Marshrutkas cost the same and take 4-5 hours.
• To get from Sheki to Kish, catch bus 15 from the city center. Ask around if you can’t find the bus stop (it isn’t easy to spot!), and also tell the bus driver that you want to get off at the church. The ticket is 0,20 manat.
• In Sheki, I stayed at the Canal Hostel. It’s a decent budget hostel with friendly owners, who can help with tips and info about the area. I got a room for myself, so I’m guessing it’s generally not very packed in the winter time, but it might be in the summer time. The bed is a bit hard, but it was nothing to worry about and the quilt was so comfortable! There is a shared bathroom with a hot shower. I paid 12 manat per night.