Today is pretty much a driving day, except for one stop we make in Lahic. In the morning while we have breakfast, we also prepare a pack lunch that we will eat while visiting Lahic. The drive up to Lahic is stunning. We turn off the main road and head up into the mountains. We are driving on narrow, winding roads that hug the cliff face that plunges down into the valley below.
At one point, we need to stop in order to let a huge herd of sheep followed by a car pass us by. There is a stretch of road which is seemingly impossibly carved into a sheer vertical cliff. It is barely wide enough for the truck to pass. Then we make it to the village, buried deep in the mountains.
The town was originally a copper mining hub, but that has died down and now people tend the fields and prepare some copper and brass work for the tourists. We were the only ones there that day. It is pretty friendly to tourists, but you can see how they are slowly starting to be negatively influenced by the all-mighty tourist dollar. One old lady is very pushy in trying to sell her wares and will only let you take a picture for money. Last time the truck was here, a kid stole one of our toilet spades. But the good news is that Rick was able to find out who did it and recover it.
Anyway, we wandered up the main street, looking into the various shops. A few interesting things, but we decide to have lunch first, so we reach the end of the road where there is a small cafe. We order a couple of cups of tea ad eat our sandwiches, which does not seem to bother them. A group of men are playing backgammon, and they are happy for some of our group to join them and even join in the game.
Then back down the street to go and see if we can find anything to buy. We find some copper pots and pick one out.
We have also decided that we want a samovar, the Russian style urn used for heating water for tea. Near the end of the road we find a shop that has some nice ones that have been well restored. It is big, but we decide to take it in the end.
We head back off down the mountain road the way we came in - it was fun to pass once again along the narrow road that clings to the cliff that plunges down to the river bed below. The truck looks like a small toy.
We came once again to the main road, where we carry on west. We are now driving through forest and land that is green and lush. What a change from the desert. Sheep and cows are everywhere, including all over the road. We have to make frequent stops to let the animals get out of the way. While the sheep will often scatter as we approach, many of the cows do not budge.
We arrive in Sheki just before 7 PM and stay the night at a pretty nifty hotel - an old caravanserai. It is a huge complex with a massive entrance way leading into a large courtyard with the rooms circling around it on two levels. We were placed in rooms on the second level. It could be a very nice hotel, except that the rooms need quite a bit of work. The furniture is 1960's and is well worn. The bathrooms serve their purpose, but are basic. The worst part - there is only cold water. And remember that we are now no longer in the desert, but in the mountains. This is ice cold mountain water. Our showers are brief.
Dinner is outside in a second courtyard at a large round table under an open-air pavilion. The usual spread of starters and fruit on the table, followed by the hot dishes. Another good meal. It is finished off with desert and tea served from a samovar. After hanging around for a while just shooting the breeze, we head off to bed. The bugs have started to emerge, so we leave the remnants of dinner to them.
We have a good nights sleep, except for one thing. The power is turned off in the middle of the night - a bit of a surprise when we need to go to the bathroom and almost kill ourselves before we can find our torches.