72 hours in Sheki

t wasn’t all that long ago that a visitor’s first glimpse of Sheki would be from the back of a camel. Today, it tends to be from the window of a , the nostalgic, Soviet-era minivans that trundle almost as laboriously up and down the time-worn trade route between Baku and Tbilisi. Those who prefer a smoother ride can board the direct train from Baku, reaching this ancient city in around seven hours. Sheki’s location roughly halfway between the Azerbaijani and Georgian capitals is your first clue to the city’s historical significance. For as long as a tributary of the Silk Road ran through the South Caucasus, this was a place for merchants to bunk down (roadside inns) to sip tea, barter cargo and swap stories. It. was. this meeting of minds that helped shape Sheki into the diverse, cosmopolitan city it is today.