Due to recent circumstances, the management of my girlfriend’s organization (Anya) had to curtsy in front of us. We were offered a two-day trip to anywhere in Azerbaijan. I was busy with other things and did not participate in the selection of the place. Anya wanted to go to the mountains, and offered to send us to one of two places Gabala (Azerbaijan) or Shahdag (Shahdag) Soon we received confirmation of the reservation. It was the Qafqaz Resort Hotel Gabala. I opened the website and almost fell off the bed, the display on my phone almost cracked, the pictures I saw were more like a dorm photo than a five-star hotel. In the pictures I saw some kind of pyramid standing in front of some hill, a village, and some muddy green wet nature. It didn’t look a bit like the mountains. Knowing the pictures from the Peak Hotel website, and that we could have easily gone there if there wasn’t an “OR” in the letter I began to be slowly, but very quickly and persistently crushed by a toad. Toad was naturally accompanied by sarcastic comments toward Anya. I even offered not to go anywhere, but just to walk around Baku. In the end, we still decided to go, which I did not regret one bit as a result.
Day One.
We left Baku around 1 pm, according to the navigator from door to door we had to drive 209 kilometers and our way was to take 2 and a half hours. After 50 kilometers from the city, the hilly terrain begins, where very beautiful landscapes open up. At first I didn’t want to shoot as I absolutely hate to shoot when the sun is in the Peak. Still, I couldn’t stand it and made a couple of stops for photos.
Just so you understand, the wind was so strong that it was very difficult for me to open the doors of my Pouzhik. In order to get out of the car, I had to put my whole body on the door and push it out. But worse was when I had to climb back in, I thought the door handle would just rip the meat out of the door. In the end, our trip took about 3.5 hours, thanks to my photo stops. When we got to the hotel, I was pleasantly surprised, it turned out to be a huge resort complex overlooking the snow-capped mountains. The hotel was not a small pyramid in front of the hill, it was a large good-quality hotel, something reminiscent of those built in Switzerland. If one were to add snow to this picture, the result would be worth a million dollars. But alas, on December 27 in Gabala the snow was only at the top.The hotel room was quite spacious, though it was a standard, soft bed linen and comfortable pillows. The furniture is massive and heavy, which for me personally creates more comfort. Unfortunately we were accommodated in a wing of the hotel which doesn’t have a view of the snowcapped Peak, so that on our balcony we could only witness a beautiful sunset in front of the hotel garden which is not the worst view I’ve ever experienced 🙂
In the evening we met with Colleague, who also came to Gabala with his family. Vladik suggested we meet at Xanlar Gabala, which is not really a restaurant, but rather an open-air restaurant with many indoor arbors. The food in the restaurant was really good, but the portion size and the final amount paid for four adults was a bit surprising. 8 pieces of kebab (flat 0.5 x 4 cm), 4 portions of kebab, 2 portions of fried potatoes, 1 liter of water, 1 liter of wine, 3 tortillas, Bread, 4 tomatoes, 4 cucumbers, three plates of pickles, buffalo oil, cheese, Tea, portion of baklava, portion of jam, portion of chestnuts, and fried rice cost us 130 manat, which is 138 Euros. The next day we had dinner at our hotel, and the bill for two was 30 manat including 10 percent tip (which is not included in the bill), it feels the same, the only difference is that instead of a wooden pergola, you sit in a nice warm environment, with soft music playing and a waiter at the side. My preference on my next trip to Gabala will be the restaurant in the hotel.
Day 2.
The second day came. We went down for breakfast around 10 a.m. Breakfast is buffet style. When we finally looted our food and sat down at the table, the staff started putting together the breakfast installation, which surprised us at first, since breakfast is announced until 11 o’clock. Later we realized in the hotel we were alone, and the entire buffet was set out just for us. For breakfast, there were all kinds of cheeses, (like the president), all kinds of homemade cheeses like bryndza, a pastry counter, all kinds of dishes like omelets, boiled eggs, stewed vegetables, a bar with desserts, all kinds of nuts, dried fruit and yogurt. What spoiled the whole picture was the cooked sausage, which was such a burnt pink color, the edges of which were weathered and curled up, it would have been better if it had not been there at all. It’s certainly no breakfast at Hayat in Baku, but, given that it was all put up for us alone, very much mitigates the circumstances. Of course, this is the second time in my life that I have eaten Bryndza with jam. And all thanks to a skillful translator who, for reasons I do not understand, calls bryndza cottage cheese. Since I love a sweet tooth for breakfast, there was nothing stopping me from making a mix of cheese and cherry jam. It turned out to be a very specific dish, and I could not eat it. Luckily, I found cottage cheese on the dessert counter, labeled sweet cottage cheese, which I hadn’t noticed before. He’s the one who fixed it 🙂
After a hearty breakfast, we decided to go for a walk. First, we decided to wander around the hotel, in the resort area you can rent not only a hotel room but also rent a house, not just a house, but a good-quality private house. These houses look like such a prosperous American neighborhood. The hotel area is divided by the road, and on the other side of the road is probably a huge gym, area with swimming pools, amphitheater, tennis courts, etc. The complex is really huge. Next we decided to go up into the mountains, but found a crossing across the river to the elevator station that would take us to the top. But due to the fact that there was no snow at all, and the temperature was about 16 degrees, it did not upset us much. We slowly made our way to the amusement park Gabaland, in the park we were also, like in the hotel, all alone. At this point, I felt quite sorry for all the chapters of delegations who prefer to close everything under themselves :), It would seem that you are alone in the whole park, it is only yours, but I realized that this is not really interesting. On the other hand, you can show off in front of your friends and say: “Hey guys, I shot the whole mountain for myself for the weekend, and of course I put out my little finger and index finger. 🙂 The system of payment for attractions card, at the entrance is given a card that can be filled with any amount of money. And all entertainment is paid for with this card. The only disadvantage is that all the money put on the card must be used, return unused funds can not. We walked around a large park, went for a ride on the Karting (I made Anya for three laps), the track is interesting enough, winding, even in some places in the corners made slippery areas for fans of drifting. We rode the Ferris wheel and headed back to our hotel.
Day 3.
The next day at about 12 o’clock we drove back to Baku, on the way once stopped to zapechetilize the landscape.
Overall, I liked the trip very much, I can imagine how many visitors to such a wonderful hotel lost because of the photos and how it is presented on the website people who deal with sales. But maybe that’s the idea. In any case, I enjoyed the visit very much, I will definitely repeat it when I know that there is snow in Gabala. I can only recommend to all my friends, if you are in Azerbaijan, Gabala must be seen 🙂
