Grinz Village is one of the most fascinating and unique villages in Quba. Perched at 2300 meters on a rocky plateau of rocks and gorges, it is a wild and rugged terrain, vast and very viscous, almost untamed. This was a dance of nature against the backdrop of the light blue sky; one can see snow peaks and white mountains, the snow almost resembling cream pouring out of a glass of Lassi.
It is a village with rocky terrain and is a perfect place for hikers to embark on a five-kilometer-plus hike up the zigzagging roads cutting through mountain rocks and canyons. The village is located in the Ag Dagh mountain ranges and experiences the highest snowfall in the country. Its mountain peaks are laden with thick, white, creamy snow that shines like a hue of diamonds as the sunlight falls on its peaks. The snow shimmers and shines; it almost glows like a neon bulb. There are small hotels and guesthouses in Graz, and one can find food and lodging there. There are also tea shops selling sweet breads and cakes along with piping hot tea, which is black tea with no milk, only herbs. It is advisable to carry lots of water bottles and some snacks for the way. Grinz Village is a three-hour drive from Baku and is located in the high regions.
The village is situated next to the Gudyalchay River. There are numerous springs and waterfalls cutting through rock and flowing wildly in this region. It is here that it starts to get cold and windy as we begin to move up the mountain tops, from green hills to grey and brown rock gorges and rough mountains.
The residents of Grinz are one of the twenty-six Albanian tribes that live in the region of the South Caucasus. They speak their own unique language called Ketch. They mainly rely on agriculture, raising cows, chickens, hens, and keeping herds of sheep. The village also grows a lot of fresh apples. I even saw extensive use of cow dung, especially in making the walls around their homes or barns and huts. The people are simple, and the village has a population of about two thousand people. It’s a small community that accepted Sunni Islam when the Arabs invaded Albania. They live off the land and rely on their produce in a very old and ancient way. But the villagers are very friendly. The people are warm and welcoming, and I happily took snaps of the entire village and the people who lived in it.
Before reaching Grinz, I stopped at a fascinating place called the Eagle Point. It had a large statue of an eagle on the mountain top next to the road. One could get a panoramic view of the canyons and waterfalls cutting through the rocky mountains. Even the snow peaks are visible. There are caves that one can see inside the mountains, and Eagles fly in clusters of two and three around steep rocky gorges. They live in the mountain caves. I was lucky to capture the entire scene with my camera.
Some of the scenery is breathtaking, especially the snow peaks scattered across the sky, shining in the blue hue of the evening sky.
I was loving the experience, and my frequent chats with Usual were keeping me engaged in the travels across these very high mountain regions of the country. There was a crazy couple who hiked all the way up the mountain trail to get close to the rock caves; there were four I could click and snap. There were hikers around, walking up the mountain path. That way, I was comfortably tucked into Uslan’s Mercedes Benz, munching on a Baklava and having a coke. I would often stop to take pictures and stroll around the area, and I did that often on this trip. There was so much beauty for me to absorb and capture; I was glued to the scenic beauty of Grinz.