more than roaming around in a city, I’d prefer visiting the countryside of that country. It was same when I planned to go to Azerbaijan, visiting the countryside and hidden villages in this country. Azerbaijan is a very small, beautiful country in the Caucasus region. The Capital Baku itself will welcome you with stunning architectures, great vibes, food joint, big brand outlets. But the real veil of beauty opens when you take the road to the scenic countryside.
Lahij, the ancient, permanently populated places in the world. It says the sewerage systems of this village goes back to the 1000 years ago. Can you believe it? Yes, there are places like this on the beautiful earth. Lahij is remote village hidden inside the rocky mountains, 1629 m above sea level with some 2000 residents. We started our journey to Lahij around 6 am from Baku by car and it was already snowing in the early days of December. ( Btwn - Ice and snow cut off Lahij for weeks at a time in winter.). Our driver said we are lucky that we could visit Lahij before full snowing. ( None of the buses and cars prefers to go there it is zero visibility during snow).
The drive to Lahij is super stunning and at the same time, it is dangerous as you driving through zero visibility, vertical cliffs above you. We went on this path in 01 Degree. Even in Summer or Spring days, it says the rocks fall from above and in every weather, the route is ploughed to keep it free from soil, rock or even snow.
Arriving in Lahij is quite a surprise. The narrow cobbled streets, residents going about their daily business, with older men sitting chatting, their flat black caps indicative of their traditions.
The architecture of this village is very unique. Cobblestones streets from its entrance till the end. The houses are known as Flat roofs and some houses have balconies overlooking the street. It has a retro look altogether. Most of the villagers use their houses as their workshops. The village is known for its copper crafting and carpet weaving & that is the main occupation of the locals here. In the 18th century, the city gained a reputation for producing cold steel weapons and copper. Many of them, such as copper pots and lamps and weapons, still adorn famous European museums, especially the Louvre and the Hermitage. Today, the village and its entire heritage are protected, but open to tourists. This history and story of this village are associated with many legends. They do have a museum if you want to know more about their culture.
The language they speak is with Persian Dialect, known as Lahiji and different from Azerbaijani. They do have schools in this village where they teach Azerbaijani, Russian & English. These people are welcoming and we met two foremen who live there and in the evening they go back to the village. Thye explained a lot about their place and I could see that they are very proud of their unique village.
Food is very authentic–There is the number of restaurants is available in here --the famous among is Karim’s restaurant. If you are a traveller and want to stay further, Lahij will never disappoint you as they have good hotels and homestay where you will experience the hospitality and culture of the locals. Unfortunately, I couldn’t do that. If I get a chance again, I will visit them in Summer.
