Where the Heck Is Quba?

We will not be posting next week because we will be taking a week's Annual Leave to visit Georgia (the one without Atlanta).

We completed our celebration of the Fourth of July in Quba. Frank asked, "Where the Heck Is Quba?" Quba is a city of just over 15,000 north of Baku and just a little west. We traveled along the Caspian and then turned west into the mountains. Quba is known for its apples, cooler temperatures, scenic beauty, and Jewish community of Qirmizi Qasaba. On Friday, July 3, we left on the first bus out of Shirvan for Baku. The bus begins loading at 6:00 a.m. and when it is full, it leaves. On that day it left at 6:45. We arrived at our bus station in Baku at 8:00 and caught a city bus for the New Bus Station in the northern part of Baku. We met our friends, Bill and Dorothy Colcord, at 9:15 and went straight for the 9:30 bus to Quba. It promptly left at 10:05, and we were on our way.

When we arrived in Quba, Dorothy's counterpart had arranged for a taxi driver to meet us and take us to our resort like hotel just 5 KM from Quba. We checked in, enjoyed lunch, then back to Quba where we met fellow PCV Chris Polen. Chris gave us a walking tour of Quba.

We returned to our hotel after a wonderful supper in Quba. In the street were a group of men who were staying at the hotel, and they were also muscians and had begun to play. Bill and Denney danced in the street with a cook (male) at the hotel, and made many new friends.

The next morning our taxi came and we left for Xinaluq (www.xinaluq.com). The scenery was beautiful and we took many phots while on our way. While stopping outside a village to take photos, the driver noticed steam coming from under the hood, and there was a water hose leak.

After 30 minutes, a little tape, and a vodka bottle full of clean water brought to us by a small lad who had a roadside business of selling local plants, we were on our way back to Quba. We never made it to Xinaluq. The driver went to repair his car, and we headed for the Qirimzi Qasaba (Red Village).

According to Chris, this is the largest Jewish "ghetto" in all of the former Soviet Union. Basically part of Quba City but separated by the Quidalchay River. Money from the diaspora had made this one of the most developed looking small towns in Azerbaijan.

The picture from above the Red Village shows the river which divides Quba and the village, to the top is Quba, to the bottom is the Red Village.

Here we saw our first synagogue in Azerbaijan, and the Star of David adorning several homes. One building which caught my attention was a Wedding Palace. It was the standard Wedding Palace with "Sadliq Saray" printed in large letters on one side. Then on another side was the name in Russian with the Star of David above.

We walked through the village and made our way to an archeological site across the river in Quba. The site was uncovered two years ago and is a mass grave from 1918. The Azerbaijan people said it was the Armenians who performed genocide and cruelly murdered men, women, and children. It ws humbling to see, but also is discouraging with the beliefs of the Azerbaijan people in regards to Armenians.

Our second day was spent sight seeing in the communities of Nabran, Xachmaz, and Qusar. Nabran is a resort area on the Caspian, just a few kilometers from Russia. The beach was a gray mixture of sand and rock. From the pictures you can see everyone (and everything) enjoys the beach. We put our feet into the Caspian and asked the rates of the posh resort there, $400 a night -- needless to say, they'll not see us there again. The driver said it was too cold for a lot of people to be on the beach - it was only about 90!

Xachmaz and Qusar were wonderfully clean communities with parks, statues, and friendly people. While driving we saw cultivated farmland and green areas very different from our arid part of Azerbaijan.

One of the better aspects of our trip was the taxi driver. His name is Balabey Qonaqov. Dorothy's counterpart had made all the arrangements for us and were were to pay him 25 AZN a day plus gasoline. The bus driver called Balabey as we approached Quba and he met us at the bus station. We were impressed and paid nothing for the first trip to the hotel because Dorothy's counterpart had already paid for it. The day the car broke down, we asked how much? He replied 30 AZN. We began to worry and think maybe we were being taken advantage of. The next morning we were not going to go with him until we discussed the price of everything. We agreed on a very fair price for an all day excursion. During the drive, in the afternoon, he stopped at his home and we had tea with his family. Balabey and his lovely wife have 2 sons, one teenage, and one 11. We spent an hour speaking in Azerbaijan with them and shared aout the Peace Corps. To make a long story short, we not only had a driver, we have a good friend. We took pictures and mailed them to his family because we will always remember the emotion he shared with us as we departed.

We have some unusual pictures for future blogs and will no doubt share more about Quba and the area.

Monday we returned to Shirvan and there is a saying here, "East is east and west is west, but home is always best." We enjoyed the cooler temperatures, great company, and good food.