Lahij and Ivanovka

 Another organized school trip sees the bus load of expats headed up to Lahij, a mountain village reknowned for its metal work crafts. The first stop is at a shop where fabrics are dyed in the same tradition as from years past. Natural plant dyes are made in old, wooden barrels and blocks of wood are used to block prints on silk and other fabrics. Then we head up a muddy, slipperly winding mountain road. A stop for lunch is chilly as we are in what is more traditionally a summer resort area with outdoor gazebo-like structures and there is snow on the ground now! Continuing up the road we come to the village of Lahij, it's raining and cloudy now as we walk through the town marveling at the metal works and all the crafts that are made here by hand. It's pretty quiet during this cold, drizzly day, but I can imagine it in full summer crowded with tourists and local Azerbaijanis. One last stop on the way home is in the Russian village of Ivanovka. Here a few of us with necessary bathroom needs find a local home and are allowed to use the outhouse in the back. Afterwards the lovely older woman of the house invites us into her home and shares a homemade bread with us.