We left Sheki in the not-too-early morning. A drive of about 300km and a good four hours transport time was ahead of us, making our way to Baku, Azerbaijan’s capital and our final stop on this trip.

After a good 80 minutes the bus was already pulling into a parking lot – and we got off for a break at Nohur Lake. All the essentials were available – from a clean toilet to coffee, tea, pomegranate juice and ice cream – as well as nice (albeit somewhat empty) surroundings.

Another good one and a half hours later we arrived in Shamakhi (Şamaxı), where we went right to the Jummah (Friday) Mosque. The mosque dates back to the 8th century, however was constantly reconstructed over the centuries, as wars, earthquakes or fires destroyed it, with the latest reconstruction happening in a fairly modern interpretation from 2009 until 2013.

We continued to a nearby cemetery, to see the Yeddi Gumbaz Mausoleum (Yeddigünbəz türbələr kompleksi), a group of mausoleums dating back to the early 19th century and originally built for the family of the last khan of Shamakhi.

We had a further stop en-route for lunch (warm beers anyone?), to then continue our trip (another good hour) for Baku.