Journey to the Land of Fire for your next off-the-beaten-path adventure

If you’re contemplating the road less travelled for your next overseas adventure, a small country dubbed the `Land of Fire’ is one worth heading to before the wider world learns about all the rich beauty it has to offer.

Surprisingly, Azerbaijan has remained off the main tourist map, despite being packed with magnificent sites, warm people and deep culture, as well as being a very easy place to travel.

In fact, the most common response when telling people I planned to head there earlier in 2023 was: “Where’s that?”

Sandwiched between Russia and Iran, Azerbaijan is home to 10 million people and sits on the edge of Europe and Asia, to the west of the vast inland Caspian Sea.

When country-hopping Europe several years ago, I made it as far east as the mountainous landscape of Georgia but lost the spirit to achieve my goal of crossing Azerbaijan to reach the Caspian after having my wisdom teeth yanked out in Tbilisi.

I always wanted to go back and finish the job by reaching that coast – and not because I’m a Formula One fan (the capital of Baku hosts an annual Grand Prix on a circuit that takes it past the 12th century walls of its Old City, or Icherisheher).

Azerbaijan proudly calls itself the Land of Fire, for good reason.

You can see historic fire temples, the mud volcanoes of Qobustan whose arrhythmic ‘gloops’ in their arid landscape become surprisingly meditative, as well as living flames that burn from rocky fissures in the ground at Yanar Dag.

A quick and easy dose of the country’s history, culture and association with flames can be found at the Ateshgah Fire Temple in Baku’s suburbs, a site that has its centuries-old roots in the Zoroastrianism religion and a constantly burning flame in its ancient complex.

But there is, of course, far more than these fiery attractions.

One of the greatest delights was simply walking around Baku’s UNESCO-listed Old City, with its twisting, labyrinth-like collection of narrow and cobbled streets that ramble past ancient stone buildings with windows adorned with flowers. There are also slim minarets, a 15th century palace, and ruined but still operational steam bathhouses, all within the city’s walls.

Sitting just outside the Old City is the distinctive 12th century Maiden Tower, built over structures from the 7th century BC and used as a popular emblem on the colourful tourist souvenirs that spill from small stores.

The architecture in the city centre in general is a mixture of elegant and unique: from the smoothed stone apartments to the National Carpet Museum designed to look like – you guessed it – a rolled-up carpet.

One of the best ways to view the Old City is sitting on a rooftop in the evening, watching the colours change on the city’s stones as the sun sets in the west while the ships and oil rigs monitor the Caspian Sea to the east and the modern 180-metre tall Flame Towers flash with their nightly lightwork display.

Outside the capital, my first stop was Xinaliq (pronounced ‘Khinalick’, with a real throaty emphasis on that ‘kh‘), an old village that juts into a wide green valley in the Caucasus Mountains at an elevation of about 2300 metres.

It was a jaw-dropping journey via a small taxi along the winding dirt roads through the mountains, where a local family warmly welcomed me into a homestay. By this time it was almost summer, but one of my hosts enjoyed demonstrating how deep the snow could get in winter.

There are also leg-achingly steep paths up to some of the mountains that loom above the village or take you to other small hamlets.

Also, no trip to Azerbaijan would be complete without heading west to Sheki, an ancient city that was once the centre of a khanate and an important trading centre on the Silk Road. It now also has a UNESCO-listed city centre.

Sitting at the base of green mountains, the city has an addictive calmness, peace and friendliness and left me staying there much longer than I expected.

Being able to sleep in the 18th century Karvansaray, a stunning ancient equivalent of a motel with small and cool rooms around a communal courtyard, certainly helped with the decision.

I haven’t even gone into the delicious array of local cuisine and wine, but the highlight of the visit was of course meeting the people of Azerbaijan whose warmth and kindness made it easy in learning and experiencing what their beautiful country had to offer.