Azerbaijan- Day 3

 Day-3 29/10/24

We decided to start early as our destination Qabala (pronounced as Gabala) was more than 200 KMs from Baku. On the way to Qabala we had planned to visit Durca Waterfall, Nohur lake andTufandag rope way.

We had our breakfast in one of the local restaurants. It was bread, omelette, shakshuka (meal of poached eggs in a simmering tomato sauce with spices) and Turkish black tea to go along with it. Tea was served in metal pot with long neck to pour in, pear shaped armudi glasses along with sugar cubes and toffee sweets to chew on, while seeping the tea. The pot of tea was more than sufficient, for six of us, having multiple rounds.

Durca waterfall is a small waterfall and the approach is by stone steps. Steps are steep and are not well maintained but one can reach the top. Most of us have seen bigger and more majestic waterfalls, in comparison this is very small. May be, the attraction of waterfall can be attributed to scarcity of water in general.

Azerbaijan inherited an extensive water supply system built during the Soviet era. However, the condition of the water system gradually deteriorated due to a lack of investment and deferred maintenance, resulting in a substantial decrease in the quality and reliability of the water supply service. Recently, with financing and knowledge support from the World Bank, Azerbaijan rehabilitated and reconstructed water and sanitation facilities across the country.

The next stop was at Nohur lake. Nohur Lake is one of the most popular and often visited natural attractions. Located about 5 KM East of the Gabala city, the lake is surrounded by the forests and high mountains called Yumru, Goydag and Gulluburun. The lake has boating facilities @30 ₼. Water is pristinely blue. It is a most picturesque site. One can easily spend an hour or so on the bank, soaking in beauty and the peace!

From Nohur lake we went to Tufandag hill resort. Tufandag offers skiing facilities with different difficulty levels & for others cable car is available to enjoy mysterious beauty of Great Caucasus Mountains. Tufandag invites you to this fascinating journey with 4 ropeways with a length of 5.8 km. At some points the climb is so steep that one does not feel that the cable car will reach the top, but it is a smooth run. On top we found fresh snow indicating possibly seasons first snow fall had happened recently. We took quite a few photos on the picturesque background. All of us had good time. Journey back to bottom was smooth.

The tickets are 19 ₼ per pax.

The villa we stayed in at Gabala.

The village is sleepy place; people are laid back. We found many of them chatting, smoking basking in the evening sun at road corners. All were wearing black jackets. By evening we reached the villa where we had our reservation. It was a nice place with three bedrooms and big hall with dining. The place was kept comfortably warm with heaters (outside temp was 8° C & the weather app on our mobiles announced that, it would dip down to 4° C by early morning. We visited local super market operated by friendly lady. The communication was monosyllabic & by using sign language. At the end we managed to get what we required for our dinner. We had Azerbaijani flat bread (Tandir - Tandoor, or Fasali- Feseli), yoghurt, butter, eggs, black paper. The cost was less than 15 ₼.

We had good sleep.