After taking a flight from Nakhchivan I arrived at Baku its was an hour long flight . The plan was simple I had to rest one day in Baku and take an onward car journey to the town of Lanka ran . I took an old driver with me by the name of Usain . He was the English speaking driver that I took fro my onward journey deep into the hear of this wonder land that is Azebejaan . It was a four hours journey from Baku to the sleepy town of Lanka ran . But the scenic beauty across the length and breath of this country is very unique . First we took the autobahn and crossed a very dry and aired peace of land . The scenery changes after an hour and it gets very green their is a lot of green farm land around and I got a chance to chat with a local sheep herder . I took some pictures and would often stop to capture the landscape on road to Lanka ran .
We crossed lush meadows and rugged farm land to finally arrive in the city of Lanka-ran . Lankaran is a city at the coast of the Caspian Sea near the Iran border . Lankaran has a population of 89,000 people and is the wettest region in the entire society union , it gets a hell of a lot of rain fall . It is a quite town with mosques and marketplaces . Their are banks and ATM machines so getting cash is easy it has some fine restaurants and breezy resort type hotels .On their return to earth soviet astronauts where rehabilitated in this region and stayed in the tae plantation for years . People speak in Turkish here and most people are Sunni Muslims here .
The city has mostly the Tallish people who came from Iran , they came from a province of Iran with there same name .Their are wild sandy beaches , marsh lands and water springs and ponds in the region , I walked on the coast line of the Caspian Sea admiring the view . It was peaceful and serene . The city had been explored by a famous French archaeologist by the name of Jaques Morgan had explored this city and its colourful past . He found burial grounds and grave that showed that Zoroastrian faith thrived in this region once .
Their is a Balasur castle in the west of the city and their are hot water springs the soil is also very mineral rich and fertile in this region .The region has oil wet winds blowing tag all times although summers can get humid and hot as well .
Usain and one of his friends took me to a restaurant to eat rice and chicken along with tea and chocolates . We enjoyed two hot cups of black tea also called Chai , this is the most famous beverage of Lankaran and every body loves Chai here . I managed to meet a lovely lady who sold me two bottles of jasmine and rose perfumes and I loved the smell I bought two bottles for 100 manat . Its as all very good fun and frolic . The guy watched my Bollywood videos and they also played me the famous song Awara hun Awara Hun from the hit Raj Kapoor film Awara . Usain is a great driver and we drove in a large bag Mercedes Benz all the way from Baku .
People grow cactus fruits vegetable and tea in this place in fact the region of Lankaran was where the first tea plant was set up in Azerbaijan .Their is also a rail service from Baku to Lankaran that one can take .
Lankaran fortress along with the Shia mosques are also a must see when you are visiting this aching to region . In fact this region has the largest Shia population outside of Iran . I am just settling into the city and itching to explore the Tallish mountains .Till then enjoy the videos and pictures of the journey so far into Azerbaijan .