Mama and Papa O Come to the 'Baijan: Part 5

Georgian Pilgrimage.

I remember the first year Lori took us to this, she sort of invited us along the lines of, “there's this Georgian holiday thing, I guess we hike to a church and have a picnic, I don't know, should be fun...” So we went and fell in love. Ive been to every one since, and I hope to continue the tradition.

This year we were actually up and out ON TIME (shocking!), with bags packed of dishes, silverware, potato salad, pasta salad, tons of bread, wine, and pork for kebabs. (The veggie kebab stuff didn't make it...oh well...). Four taxis got all the Americans to Kurmuk Kilse (Kurmuk Church) in Qax, a contested Georgian Church/Albanian Temple. (We're talking old stuff here in the mountains of the Caucasus, everyone has a slightly different idea of who all of it belonged to...). Either way, it's now a little church situated on the hillside. You hike up to the church, and this time I went barefoot. If you have an intention, an illness, or something to pray for, you hike barefoot and it will be granted. Mine has yet to be granted, but I'm being patient...

You hike up, circle the church three times, and then go in and light candles. Off to the side there is a big rock, which also has special significance, and you can get even to the top of that for the most beautiful view of the valley below. You see all sorts at this pilgrimage, Georgians from Qax, Georgians from Tbilisi, Azerbaijanis, Norwegians (there's a contingent in Sheki), and of course now, Americans!

After we hiked, we came back down and I made Dad go all boyscout and help set up the fire for the Kebabs. Him, Jake, Trey, and James were more than content to do the bro thing and stand around and watch it burn. I don't get that...Mom and I laid out the picnic stuff, and just people watched for a bit. Then we ate, and I turned my back for just one second, and my parents were guestnapped by a neighboring Georgian family.

Thankfully, Dad was in a bright red shirt, so I found him and Mom easily, now with wine in their hands, toasting with this family. Apparently, one of the kids was a student of Lori's, and they had called them all over and insisted they share some food and drink together. We hopped from family to family for about 15 minutes, and finally I introduced Mom and Dad to Nona and her parents, Julieta and Mische. They're a family that Lori is very close with, and when I go down they take me in, too.

Before I knew it, it was almost 2:30, and that meant it was time to go back to town to catch the taxi Ilias had arranged for us the day before. (When I told him I had arranged to go for 100 manat, he laughed at me and said, “for that much I'll drive down and take you to Baku.” So he called a few friends, and got us a taxi for 60!)

We went to Lori's house, gathered our things, and hopped in the cab for a drive to Baku. The weather was perfect, and we took the road through Sheki, Qebele, Ismayilli, Agsu, and Qebele. It's a lovely drive through green trees and mountains, and my Dad was so excited. Much better than the train. A quick coffee stop in Ismayilli (I, the youngest female in the group, paid the bill, much to the surprise of our young waiter), and we got into town in about 5.5 hours. Much better than a 9 hour bus ride.

The hotel we stayed at was right downtown, in Old City, the historic part of Baku. No problems checking in, even though I had called just days before to get a reservation (and an extra night because our plans for the train fell through). The concierge was cute, he said they screwed my name up on check-in, and said if they know an American is coming usually they just write the reservation in the name of “George.” Hehe. The room was modest, though cheap, and the accomodations were just enough. The staff welcomed us warmly, and so we took a little time to go and walk around before I bought my parents ice cream and sent them to bed, while I met up with a few volunteers for their last night in town for a quick drink.