Cultural tourism: Azerbaijani cuisine

Meeting at the airport named after Haydar Aliyev. After the checking at the passport control and customs, you will be met by local guide and transferred to your hotel. Check-in. Dinner at local restaurant with main dish – Lyulya kabab – a mixture of minced lamb, herbs and spices squeezed around a skewer and barbecued, often served with lavas win sheets of unleavened bread. Hotel. Rest. - - D Hotel

09:00 Breakfast 10:00 Meeting with your guide and driver at the lobby of the hotel and start Baku sightseeing tour. Visit to Memory Alley – Shehidler Khiyabany, where you can enjoy panoramic view of Baku. Continue walking tour and acquaintance with the history and architecture of city (period XIX- XX c): Nizami street /shopping/,Fountain Square, Nizami Ganjavi monument, further Rasul-Zade street. 13.00 Lunch at local restaurant with main dish Dolma – the traditional recipe calls for minced lamb mixed with rice and flavored with mint, fennel and cinnamon, and wrapped in vine leaves (yapraq dolmasi) or cabbage leaves (kalam dolmasi). 14:00 Visit to National Museum of Azerbaijan History. In the afternoon start sightseeing an Old City – medieval sight of Baku. Visit to Shirvashakhs palace (XV c. under UNESCO protection), ancient quarter mosques (Mohammad’s mosque- XI c.), bath, samples of residential buildings, Market Square and Caravan Saray Bukhara (XVI c.) and Multani (XIV c.), Giz Galasi (Maiden Tower – Entrance) – the oldest construction of Baku (under UNESCO protection) National State Carpets museum. 19:00 Dinner at local restaurant with main dish – Dushbara is meat dumplings in the Azerbaijan style. Make the broth from mutton bones and prepare the farce – meat from the flesh adding onions and spices. Hotel. Rest. B L D Hotel

09:00 Breakfast 10:00 Today you will visit the area of the Greater Baku and Absheron peninsula. Visit Gobustan National Park. Pay a visit to the Petroglyphs Museum and explore petroglyphs dating back to 10,000 BC. Continue to mud volcanoes in Gobustan Reserve that is home to almost half of world’s mud volcanoes. 13:00 Lunch at local restaurant with main dish Baliq – fish, which usually means sturgeon, normally skewered and grilled as a kebab, and served with a tart sour-plum sauce. 14:00 Later drive to Ateshgah – temple of fire worshippers located in Surakhany village. Zoroastrians from India travelled thousands of kilometers to Ateshgah to worship fire coming out of the earth. Continue to Yanardag Mountain with natural gas burning for several thousands of years. Return to Baku. 19:00 Dinner at local restaurant with main dish - Tika kabab – chunks of lamb marinated in a mixture of onion, vinegar and pomegranate juice, impaled on a large skewer and grilled on the barbecue. More commonly called shashlyk, from the Russian word shashka (sword). Hotel. Rest. B L D Hotel

08:00 Breakfast. 09:00 In the morning depart Baku for Samakha. On the way, visit to Diri Baba mausoleum in Maraza village. In Shamakha, visit historical mosque Juma (Friday), mausoleum of Yeddi Gumbez (Seven Domes) – graveyard of Shirvan Shahs’. 12:00 Lunch at local restaurant with main dish – Badimjan Dolmasi (Stuffed Eggplant) Eggplant dolma is probably the most favorite, especially in summer, when it is widely available. You’ll find dolmas served at nearly every special occasion, often in a colorful trio combination: red tomatoes, green bell peppers and purple eggplant. 13:00 Continue driving through Muganly pass. Photo stops at the most beautiful places on the mountains. Visit Ven Dam village in Gabala province, ruins of the capital of ancient Caucasian Albania, and Basqal village where you can try local mineral water Bado. Arrival to Sheki. Dinner at local restaurant with main dish – Piti. It is a soup with mutton, peas, vegetables, a cherry plum and spices. Each portion is prepared in separate ware — pitishnicha (a clay pot). Hotel. Rest. B L D Hotel

09:00 Breakfast 10:00 Sheki sightseeing tour. Visit to the local medieval fortress, Sheki Khans’ palace (currently is under the restoration, observation from the outside). 13:00 Lunch at local restaurant with main dish – Mutton Shashlyk. It is meat from the loin or hind leg, cut into 35-40 g pieces, sprinkled with pepper and salt, put on a spit and roast over a charcoal fire. Shashlyk is usually served as soon as it is cooked. It is seasoned with onions cut in rings or spring onions. Sumakh or narsharab, as well as salt and pepper are served separately. It can be seasoned with tomatoes roasted on a spit or fresh tomatoes. 14:00 After lunch drive to local museum of history, local handicrafts workshop, panoramic view of the town, mosque-madrassah, local bazaar. Drive out of the city to Kish, the first church in Caucasus (I cent.). 19:00 Dinner at local restaurant with main dish – Toyuq plov (with chicken) Azerbaijani plov consists of three distinct components, served simultaneously but on separate platters: rice (warm, never hot), gara – fried meat, dried fruits, eggs, or fish prepared as an accompaniment to rice, and aromatic herbs. Rice is not mixed with the other components even when eating plov. Hotel. Rest. - - D Hotel

08:00 Breakfast 10:00 Departure to Baku. 13:00 Lunch at local restaurant with main dish Dovga – a yoghurt (matsoni) based soup with sorrel, spinach, rice, dried peas, and small meatballs made from ground mutton; served hot or cold depending on season. Dinner at local restaurant with main dish – Lavangi – a casserole of chicken stuffed with walnuts and herbs. A peculiarity of the Talysh region in southern Azerbaijan, that is why it is very difficult to find this dish in restaurants. Hotel. Rest. B L D Hotel

Transfer to the airport. End of the tour. B - - - - -