Don Curry disrupts a church service

Don Curry woke up after a very quiet night in the middle of the lively town of Sheki. The thick walls of the old caravanserai offered protection from possible enemies, today from annoying traffic noise. Don Curry wandered through the impressive building once again, then followed in the footsteps of the Khans of Sheki. Of course, they not only had a summer palace, but also a winter palace, which was hidden in the middle of the city and could only be reached through narrow streets. Here, too, Don Curry paid 9 manat, but he was the only visitor for miles around and was therefore accompanied the entire time by the ticket seller and prevented from taking photographs. The palaces were strikingly similar in terms of their external shape and room layout, except that the Winter Palace had a fireplace in every room. In addition, only the main room on the upper floor, the divan, showed the same splendor of frescoes and shebeke windows as its summer counterpart.

Don Curry also visited this counterpart again in the hope of being able to photograph the facade early in the morning without groups of tourists. But the first busloads were already waiting. In the souvenir shop next to the ticket counter, Don Curry asked for a book about the palace or all of Şəki's art treasures. But there was only one illustrated book about the whole of Azerbaijan, which only contained a few pages about Sheki. There is a real gap in the market here, as the ban on photography would certainly encourage many interested tourists to buy a suitable booklet.

After leaving Sheki, Kia initially moved further west. This area once belonged to Georgia, so a few Georgian churches were still preserved here. One of them, the former monastery church of Kurmukhi, greeted us from afar on a high hill above the access road to the city of Qax. Google Maps clearly showed the route to the church, but Don Curry had learned that slopes can be treacherous. So he left Kia at the bottom of the hill and didn't regret that decision; After around 100 meters the runway became impassable for normal vehicles. Don Curry was able to climb the climb easily on foot. The church was open, but looked pretty unkempt. But its lofty location boasted a wonderful view.

Don Curry knew that there was at least one other Georgian church in Qax, which was the only one still used liturgically in Azerbaijan. When he arrived at St. George's Church, the priest had just begun his sermon, which he apparently delivered once in Azerbaijani and once in Georgian. Don Curry sat at the back in one of the few seats because he didn't understand either language. Towards the end of the sermon, the altar boys also returned to the church, two of them sitting right next to Don Curry. They looked at him curiously from the side and whispered to each other who it was. When Don Curry heard the word "Russkiy" he made a negative gesture with his head. The bravest boy asked. "English?" Don Curry said yes. Then it just gushed out of the mess dinner: "My name is Giorgi: Nice to meet you. What is your name? Don Curry also answered in a whisper because the Pope had just started to expand on the sermon. Then Giorgi discovered his smartphone and was there He couldn't contain his enthusiasm anymore. He marveled at the cameras of the device, the integrated pen and knew more about the technical details than Don Curry himself. The other altar boys were also fascinated and caused so much unrest that several of the churchgoers turned around indignantly and said stern things Distributed glances.

Giorgi typed the message into his smartphone: "Can we go outside and take a photo?" Don Curry immediately agreed so as not to involuntarily annoy the congregation and the priest even further. Almost all of the altar boys followed them, so that the priest had to forego their help for the rest of the service. Several of the boys tried to take a photo of the whole group with Don Curry, but unfortunately, as Don Curry later discovered, none of them succeeded. He was busy answering Giorgi's many questions: "Whether he would live in Qax? Would he also go to Georgia? Would he have a Mercedes? How much did his smartphone cost?" and many, many more questions. In the meantime, the service in the church was obviously ending, and the boys told all the visitors streaming out that this was a guest from Germany and that he only spoke English. Finally, Don Curry took a few pictures of the completely painted church and said goodbye to Giorgi and his friends. They cheerfully shouted "Good-bye" and waved after him for a long time...

From Qax, Don Curry drove a little north into the beginning of the mountain landscape of the Caucasus. The road ends at Ilisu. Here he admired an old bridge and the Sumuq Qala defense tower, the only remnant of a once extensive fortress. The resort SangarGala also looks like a medieval castle, and is really eye-catching with its playful architecture a la Disneyland and numerous decorative elements such as life-size animal sculptures or cannons. The restaurant is located in the highest room and offers wide views of the surrounding forests and mountains. The unusual menu included some game dishes such as wild boar kebab; But the waiter quickly made it clear that many items on the menu were currently out of stock. So Don Curry ordered the classic Azerbaijani dushbara, a Lüle kebab and a Choban salad, with homemade apricot compote and water to mix. Dushbara soup is a strong broth in which numerous Azerbaijani "ravioli" swim. The Lüle kebab was equally delicious: minced meat rolls wrapped in lavash with a mountain of very thinly sliced onions. The Choban salad made from small cubes of tomatoes, cucumbers and onions was refined with lemon juice in this restaurant. Sated and very satisfied, we began a very long journey to Ganja, the second largest city in Azerbaijan.

On the way, a police officer stopped him again because he hadn't stopped at a stop sign on the roundabout. He showed Don Curry the table of fines, but then gave up because of Don Curry's German driver's license and let him continue driving without being punished. Near Ganja, a mighty black mountain range rose to the south. This had to be Nagorno-Karabakh, the area that had been hotly contested between Armenians and Azerbaijanis for decades, and which had to be largely deserted at this point in time following the exodus of the Armenian residents. Why do people keep inflicting so much suffering on each other, Don Curry asked himself. He met friendly and approachable people in both countries. Azerbaijan's current "victory" would not solve any problems, but would only fuel further hatred and vindictiveness....

Since dusk was already setting in, Don Curry postponed most of his sightseeing in Ganja until tomorrow. He only visited the Imamzadeh Ibrahim grave mosque, an important shrine for the Shiites. The external splendor alone is impressive. The actual mausoleum from the 8th century stands under the mighty central dome. as an independent building. The colorful and lavishly decorated grave rests inside. After this deep immersion in Islamic architecture, Don Curry drove many more kilometers through the vast Ganja until he reached the central square. The Hotel Vego has its own parking lot there, so he was able to park his Kia safely and conveniently directly in front of the hotel. The view from his hotel room captured the domes of a medieval hammam and the delicate minarets of the Shah Abbas Mosque, both located in the middle of the sprawling main square.

A short walk through Ganja in the evening created enough of an appetite, which Don Curry simply wanted to satisfy in the hotel restaurant, which was completely un-Azerbaijani: a huge chicken schnitzel with fries, and a Turkish Efes Draft from the bottle. This exotic dinner cost Don Curry around €7.50. He still thought about Giorgi and his friends, who all dreamed of a bright future with a great smartphone. This future can only arise together, never against each other, Don Curry mused before he fell asleep undisturbed...