Our last excursion, we headed North and saw a different part of the country. For a small country , Azerbaijan offers a lot of variety. We stopped briefly at the Candy Cane mountain.

Nurlan joined us, which is always nice. He helps me and Evie appreciate the Azerbaijani culture and history. Unfortunately, we did not have any Fulbright friends to meet in this part of the country.

Our first destination was Shahdagh mountain. From Wikipedia, Mount Shahdagh (Azerbaijani: Şahdağ; Lezgian: Кас сув) is a mountain peak of the Greater Caucasus range, located in the Qusar District of Azerbaijan, close to the border with Russia. The elevation of the peak is 4,243 metres (13,921 ft) above sea level.^[1] Pretty picturesque with cooperative livestock. I took 20 pictures of the exact same image.

We rode up a ski lift and also rode a mountain roller coaster up and down the slopes. The weather was perfect and it was nice and green, with few tourists to compete with. Unfortunately, clouds covered the high peaks pictured above before we got to the ski area.

Next we headed to Quba, which has a population of Mountain Jews, who have lived peacefully in Azerbaijan and the surrounding countries. Below is a 16th century mosque. Followed by the large synagogue below. Azerbaijan has such a long history and mix of people. It is a secular state and most people tell me an accepting culture. Wikipedia on Mountain Jews in Azerbaijan – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Azerbaijan#:~:text=Mountain%20Jews%20currently%20dominate%20the,often%20being%20Azeri%20or%20Russian.

The meals on our excursions are traditional Azerbaijani salads and grilled meats. Below, some interesting buildings. I am amazed by the interesting buildings all over Azerbaijan.

Heading in to the Jewish history museum below. I did not plan on wearing that shirt to a series of religious buildings.

This is the smaller synagogue. So glad we were able to visit another part of Azerbaijan.