Don Curry has breakfast with kids

Don Curry was able to survive another pretty cold night. He already knew this from Old Omalo and Ushguli, where he had stayed overnight at a similar altitude. Here in Xinaliq there were more than enough thick blankets. Only Don Curry's nose got pretty cold that night. Rahman had shown him a video yesterday that showed the first snow of this winter two days ago; But nothing was left behind. When Don Curry had to make his way to the hole shortly after 7:00 a.m., it was already daylight. While Mount Xinaliq (3713 m) was still largely covered by clouds yesterday, today it was in all its glory. All that was missing was the sun...

When the Xinaliq was completely lit up around 8:00 a.m., Don Curry set off for a long walk through the village. People and animals have been busy in a variety of ways. Geese were chattering at him, chickens were running away and two clumsy puppies couldn't decide whether they should sniff Don Curry or run for safety. Don Curry even reached the Ethnographic Museum on the top square of Xinaliq through winding streets; He had already explored a second museum yesterday. When he arrived back at the guesthouse shortly before 9:00 a.m., the agreed breakfast time, Rahman's wife spoke to him: "Hey, tourist. Omelette?" Even without extensive language skills, the essentials of life can be clarified. Don Curry just nodded vigorously.

A short time later he was sitting at the long table; Rahman poured him tea and left. Nubar wanted to demonstrate to him how fast she can already run. When the omelette came, with Ms. Rahman's significant comment "organic!", Nubar sat down next to him again. Her mother brought bread, butter, sheep cheese and jam and of course more tea. Then she also disappeared. Presumably both parents enjoyed their free time away from the child, which Don Curry now had to look after. It wasn't entirely clear to him who was looking after whom, because Nubar was constantly finding things that she wanted to show him. She could speak English better than her mother and constantly asked Don Curry to "Look!" while he ate the massive omelet. Of course, Don Curry also had to admire her earrings. "Nice!" Nubar dictated how Don Curry should evaluate them. This turned out to be quite a long breakfast, during which Nubar clearly enjoyed having the stranger all to himself. But at some point Don Curry had to pack up his things and leave this extremely hospitable guesthouse. He paid Nubar's mother the equivalent of €20 for a surprise and half-board, although the human encounter remained unaffordable. Nubar and her mother waved goodbye. Rahman was away on some business.

First, Don Curry drove to the only Xinaliq store right at the entrance to town. Rahman had told him that there would also be petrol here. Using a hose and a cut plastic bottle, the shop owner slowly filled the contents of a 20 liter canister into Kia's tank and charged the equivalent of €15 for it. Continuation of the journey was assured. Beforehand, Don Curry panted and climbed a steep viewing hill, which provided a wonderful panoramic view of the village and mountain Xinaliq. He sat here motionless in the warming sun for almost 30 minutes, taking in this incomparable mountain world with all his senses.

The return journey was also spectacular. Where clouds and shadows had obscured visibility yesterday, today everything shone in full daylight. Not far from Xinaliq, 2 huge eagles and 2 even bigger vultures seemed to have been waiting for Don Curry to give him a private flying show. One of the vultures even stayed put until Don Curry was finally able to take a decent photo of it.

Kia ended up needing almost 2 hours for the 45 km back from Xinaliq to civilization. Since it was now lunchtime, Don Curry decided to visit one of the Qutab restaurants in the sparse forest. The choice of food was not difficult: there was qutab with herbs or qutab with (minced) meat; Don Curry ordered a copy of each, along with tea. Qutab are a typical Azerbaijani specialty: a kind of filled pancake in a very thin egg and wholemeal flour batter. When Don Curry chose a simple wooden bench and table, the young waiter, presumably the Qutab baker's son, escorted him to a particularly kitschy pavilion with flashing blue fairy lights. Don Curry found it more unpleasant that he was apparently supposed to eat the oil-dripping qutab without cutlery. Napkins only came to the table when a large pot of tea was brought to him. He was enjoying his frugal meal when he once again caught the attention of a small cat. But this time the animal wasn't after his food, but rather Don Curry himself. It really wanted to make itself comfortable on his lap. In principle, Don Curry has nothing against cuddling cats, but please not while eating. So he kept lifting the kitten away until at some point it respected his wishes and just cuddled gently against him. Don Curry paid around €5.50 for this very authentic lunch.

The day had started so wonderfully positively that Don Curry almost suspected that it couldn't continue like this. When he finally had the chance to overtake a troublesome truck, he did so with a solid center line and right in front of a patrol officer. Don Curry saw from the corner of his eye how he quickly got into his car and drove behind Kia with his lights flashing. But Don Curry voluntarily pulled over to the side of the road and waited for what was to come. With a stern look, the police officer first explained to Don Curry that he had driven across a solid center line and that it was forbidden. Don Curry agreed with the police officer on all points. He asked for driver's license and vehicle documents, took photos of everything and then handed Don Curry his cell phone. An English-speaking police officer explained to him that he would have to pay an 80 manat (= €45) fine for his offense - via bank transfer. Don Curry asked if it was possible in cash. No, actually not, bank transfer is the prescribed way. But he could ask the patrol officer whether he would accept cash. He was unruly, but handed the cell phone back to Don Curry. The voice explained that the colleague actually didn't want to take it in cash unless Don Curry insisted. Don Curry insisted! He knew how complicated and expensive transfers to non-euro areas still are. The policeman finally took the 80 manat, thanked him and let Don Curry go.

On the long journey, Don Curry came into contact with the police several times. Once he was said to have driven too fast, twice he was probably flagged down by chance for a routine check. He knew something similar from Turkey. When he showed his German driving license, the police always gave up and Kia was able to continue driving until he reached the Diri Baba mausoleum in Qobustan. All of Azerbaijan's sights cost 9 manat entry for foreigners, while locals pay 1 to 2 manat or get in for free. Don Curry didn't mind. At the mausoleum, the entrance fees seemed to have been invested in modern infrastructure. The funerary monument with the classic dome was built on the site where the Sufi saint Diri Baba had lived and prayed for a long time in a cave; However, he is not buried here. Included in the ticket price is a personal guide who joined Don Curry as he climbed the many steps to the mausoleum. Panting heavily, the young, somewhat corpulent man apologized for his temporary shortness of breath, but after some recovery he was able to pass on a lot of knowledge to Don Curry in good English. He then invited Don Curry to explore the neighboring rock caves on his own. Helmets were ready, but he should watch out for snakes and scorpions. Instead of exciting animals, he only discovered unspectacular caves without any decoration. The old Muslim cemetery opposite the mausoleum, on the other hand, was much more atmospheric, with its numerous grave steles standing out wonderfully against the beginning of the sunset sky.

Don Curry's other short stops on the way, the Jummah Mosque of Sarmaxi and the observatory in the mountains, were both already closed. So Don Curry drove towards his hotel in Lahic as darkness fell. This place is not as far from the rest of civilization as Xinaliq, but is certainly not on a thoroughfare either. Don Curry experienced the worst road he had ever driven on in Azerbaijan. Around 16 km from Lahic, he saw the beam of light from a car coming towards him in the distance. Suddenly the beams of light made strange circular movements until they froze. What happened there? Two minutes later, Don Curry arrived at the scene and saw three men getting out of a completely wrecked vehicle that lay motionless on its roof. The driver must have missed the curve, so the car left the road, rolled over several times and came to rest shortly before a deep abyss. Don Curry immediately got out and asked the men if he could help. But they didn't understand him and were understandably in a state of absolute shock a few minutes after an almost fatal accident. Don Curry was relieved to note that they were not injured, but they were currently unresponsive. He decided to help in another way, drove on to Lahic and told the hotel manager about the accident that had just happened and asked him to call the police. He did that immediately. A policewoman who spoke English well had Don Curry tell her the exact street and distance, but also wanted to know things such as the make of the vehicle involved in the accident. Don Curry really hadn't paid attention to that. At least she promised to send a company car to the scene of the accident immediately.

Meanwhile, Don Curry checked into his room in the small hotel and asked for dinner. He could get kebab and salata, the manager said to Don Curry's satisfaction. When he arrived at the restaurant at the agreed time, there was even a Mercimek, a red lentil soup, waiting for him. When he asked about beer, the manager initially said no, but then said he could offer non-alcoholic beer. This is how Don Curry enjoyed a Delster beer from Iran (!). The kebab consisted of meaty chicken pieces throughout, but was grilled a little too hard and dry. Regardless, Don Curry enjoyed the pick-me-up after the long drive and recent scare. Nubar would probably be slumbering blissfully by now and would be having breakfast with the three Dutch women tomorrow: "Look!" - "Nice!"