Kiş (pronounced Kish) is just a few kilometres from Şeki and easily reached on the antiquated number 15 bus! Once you get there it's about 20 minutes up cobbled streets to find the Albanian church which is, thankfully, signposted! The church is thought to be the oldest Christian church in the Caucasus region. It doesn't look like it because it has been completely restored. Now you can see into the crypts through glass screens and explore the church's tiny interior which is now used as a museum. There's lots of interesting information in English about the archaeological project if [View Full Entry]

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Another long weekend in Azerbaijan. This time it was for "Salvation Day" which is apparently the date that Heydar Aliyev was invited to return to Azerbaijan and lead the country out of it's post-Soviet dark days. Who were we to complain, so we took an overnight train to Seki (actually Şeki, pronounced Sheki) hoping to leave behind the now stuffy summer air of Baku. Instead the heat came with us and Şeki basked in a weekend heatwave. At least the fierce winds stayed on the Caspian coast! The train journey wasn't too bad but Şeki's train station is 17km from the [View Full Entry]

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