Lankaran — southern Azerbaijan

Lankaran is a southern, almost subtropical Azerbaijan, very different from anything you'll see in Baku: tea plantations, citrus orchards, and a completely different, humid climate right by the Iranian border. In one day we'll pass through several eras and natural zones of this region.

We start at the Khan's Palace, known locally as the "Palace of Love": the khan built it for his wife to mark her beauty-contest win, and French craftsmen built it, blending European style with national ornamentation. Today it houses a regional history museum, and among the exhibits is one dedicated to the grandfather of the famous singer Muslim Magomayev, himself a composer.

Next is Hirkan National Park, home to the relict forests of Talysh. It's where the ironwood tree grows — a unique species whose leaves don't fall in winter but simply dry out and stay on the branch. The road through the park is itself like a green tunnel.

Lankaran has preserved two fortresses at once. One was a key stronghold of the 18th–19th century Talysh Khanate, with tall walls, battlements, and a moat that could be flooded during a siege. The other, near the Lankaranchay river, was used as a prison in tsarist and Soviet times — according to some sources, in 1903–1904 a young Joseph Stalin, then known by the alias Koba, served time here for robbing a mail train.

If you're interested in tea, I can arrange a visit to a tea factory with its own museum and plantation, where you can see the whole production process with your own eyes. On the way to Masalli there's also the Istisu thermal spring: mineral water at about 69°C rises from a depth of 90–250 metres and has long been used for treatment. Nearby is Lake Khanbulan (really more a system of rivers and springs), one of the most beautiful spots in the region.

We end the day at the house-museum of Azi Aslanov, a Lankaran native and twice Hero of the Soviet Union. The route takes about 9 hours in total, travelling in a comfortable car; the meeting and finishing point is arranged individually. Message me on WhatsApp to arrange the programme and a date.