take my picture!

I woke up in a small room with another piece of classic hotel art on the wall:

Someone gave me hot water for my tea, then I left. I was going to reach the historical town of Sheki today, finally. I had been looking forward to it for quite some time.

But first there was a little uphill battle that was overshadowed by massive smoke coming out of a factory in the distance:

Temperatures had dropped considerably by now, and the insects outside were a lot slower than just a few days earlier. This butterfly didn’t even care at all:

When I reached the highest point of the uphill slope, I noticed a smell of rubber in the air. There was a gravel pit, and next to it, an asphalt factory:

And next to the factory, a sign that welcomed visitors to Sheki:

So I did what I had to do:

This gentleman watched me bounce around and busy myself with the camera, until at some point he demanded to have his picture taken as well:

Unfortunately, he didn’t want to jump up and down.

Then I left the place of rubber smell and smoke, and I got back on the quiet road to the west:

I picked this leaf and put it in my little notebook:

I passed a country house every once in a while:

And one time there was something that looked like a memorial wreath for someone who had died in traffic:

But there was nobody around to ask what it meant.

I walked until it got dark, and then I went into a little roadside restaurant:

I ordered some food, and then these fine people appeared, asked me a few questions, took a selfie with me, and treated me to dinner:

It was good, this dinner:

Some other gentlemen were playing backgammon under the trees:

And I didn’t want to leave. Sheki was another 15k away, and it was dark.

Then Fazil, who was operating the restaurant, sat down with me:

“Sheki is another 15k away, and it is dark,” he said.

I said yes.

“Why don’t you spend the night here?” he asked.

And then he gave me this little room for me to spread out my sleeping pad and get some rest:

And it was perfect.

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