Bananas Don't Travel Well

Delivering winter fodderXinaliq, an ancient village deep in the Caucasus, is special for a couple of reasons: the inhabitants have their own language, unrelated to any others in the region, and stunning scenery. We found Nicolas from Kazbegi in a hostel in Baku and he agreed to come along. The trip up to Xinaliq was in two parts: four hours of marshrutka to a small town the countryside from where transport deeper into the mountains would be arranged.

Baku's old city charm"Before, I used to just put $10 in my passport and I would get my visa right away. Now, it's too corrupt, I have to pay at the bank." These were the words of the Turkish car smuggler as we sat enjoying a celebratory cup of tea in Tbilisi after obtaining our Azeri visas. He continued: "Be careful in Azerbaijan; the Azeris, they will try and cheat you... they like money too much." These statements combined with the recent strange re-evaluation of the local currency raised my apprehension toward our upcoming visit to Azerbaijan substantially.