It’s already late when we set off back from the beautiful, model village of Gach (Qax). We’re very far west. From here, there’s no way to cross the mountains into northeastern Azerbaijan. The mountains are too high.

Therefore, we must follow the road east again to find a passage through the mountains so that we don’t have to return all the way to Baku.

We have a long drive back ahead of us.

It’s a long drive, so we decide to spend the night in the town of Qabala (Qəbələ). We find a huge villa with a pool online for a ridiculously low price. It’s too cold for the pool, but the house is simply enormous. Each of us could have our own floor.

We also find a good restaurant in the city where we eat like royalty.

We’ve certainly slept worse.

It seems to be common in Azerbaijan to get your own cabin. Being “locked away” is rather strange.

I see on the map that there are cable cars going up Mount Tufandağ. This is a great opportunity to finally breathe in some mountain air and maybe even do some hiking or enjoy the panoramic views.

At first glance, the view isn’t very promising. We drive through Qabala and into the mountains, finding the valley station near a hotel. It’s overcast, but we’re enthusiastic nonetheless.

Our enthusiasm is immediately rewarded. We break through the cloud cover and rise above the cloud line. It’s not only sunny, but also very warm.

We dressed so warmly that we could even cope in a blizzard. But now we have to take the layers off to avoid heatstroke.

We’re the first ones on the mountain and have the whole playground and the fantastic view to ourselves. We’d love to hike from this peak to the next, but we’re told the path is closed.

The path down to the valley station doesn’t look exciting either. Just a few meters below us, a thick wall of fog begins.

This place is one of the most popular ski resorts in the country. We can see the snow cannons and the ski slope, which winds down in a slalom and is disappearing into the clouds today.

The resort is situated at an altitude of 1,920 meters. This still places us at the “foot of Azerbaijan’s highest mountain.” The summit of Tufandağ reaches 4,191 meters!

After taking some photos and walking across the plateau, the solitude of the idyllic scene came to an end. A large tour group from India swarmed over the mountain. Where did they all come from? What drives Indians to travel through Azerbaijan in droves?

For us, it’s the signal to leave. We now have to wait in a really long line for the last photo on a platform. Hiking isn’t an option either. We take the cable car down, back into the fog, and seek solitude once more on an adventurous trail through the mountains!