May God grant you a good morning, my loves
From Azerbaijan
Today I will go to the city the Arabs love the most in Azerbaijan
Called Gebele (also known as Gabala or Qabala)
It contains nature
Green scenery
But the question is
"Is it really worth it?"
The trending noise about it, or is it just nonsense word of mouth?
After visiting the capital, Baku and also visiting Sheki
It's time to visit
Gebele
This city in the outskirts
3 hours away by car from the capital, Baku
It's almost the most popular natural region in Azerbaijan especially in the eyes of Arabs
And I liked to see what we can do there
And give you my honest opinion around it
First of all, enjoy the road and the street foods
We went in the morning from Baku towards Gebele
Around 3 hours
On the road, as soon as you leave the city
You start passing by beautiful green regions
And then you start seeing people on the road selling fruits
Come on! Don't be shy! Come, come
Ya hala! (oh welcome)
Azerbaijani sweets and people sitting on the roads drinking tea all relaxed
So I will start my day with some corn from this guy, God bless him
2 days ago I have eaten the tastiest corn in Trabzon in the previous video
Let's see if this is a competition
Yumm
Still hot
It really is a competitor
The other one was tastier, it was tastier
But this one is a competition
Very tasty!
- Bon Appétit!
To you too, brother
On the road to Gebele, you'll pass by many people selling this thing
These are dried fruits
There are many flavors such as
Apricot
Pomegranate
Kiwi
Many flavors
They make it like a tray
I have seen it in Georgia also, and other countries
I love pomegranate honestly so I will take 1 pomegranate
This is how it looks like
A flat piece of dried fruits
Let's see how it tastes
It has a light pomegranate flavor
And tasty
It's completely natural because it contains no artificial flavors
Only fruits
Nice!
👍 Teşekkürler
The road to Gebele itself is entertaining
You pass by many street foods
You pass by natural regions
And forests
We stopped here by this place
They sell Azerbaijani tea which is made using this tool
It's called Samovar
Prepared on fire wood
Another thing is called Qutab
It's a pie that would contain meat, cheese, and vegetables of your liking
We ordered tea and the other thing, now we wait
[ satisfying sound of pouring tea ]
Food is served
And tea is served
And now I will try this tea and check how it tastes
Does it really differ because it's made differently?
Honestly it tastes like regular tea, Turkish tea
Then let's try the Qutab now
Yumm
It contains spinach and cheese
It's a light and nice snack
It's kind of healthy because it contains spinach
What's nice is the dough that is very, very, very light
And with butter spread on it
So it really gives a wonderful taste
Brother!
That was legendary!
Thank you
It started raining, a pie like this one cost 2 manat
Which is $1
And as usual, my luck is supreme, it started raining
It has never rained here, it's the 1st time now I have come
Call the government let them check up with this rainy situation
The waterfall we're going to is called
The Seven Beauties Waterfall
We're starting to go up the waterfall, the place is really nice but
We can't enjoy it because of the rain
There is a small waterfall here
Not to be counted, we're going to the big waterfall up there
We arrived to the Seven Beauties Waterfall
This is it
It's a small, nice, and cute waterfall to start your day with
Although the waterfall is not too big but the nature around it
Makes it a bit special
The bridge next to it
With the scenery of trees and all
At the entrance of the waterfall you can take some fruits and light snacks
They sell berries, strawberries, everything
There is jam, honey
I bought some berries
Teşekkürler
- Teşekkür 👋
çok sağol
- çok sağol
Nature is beautiful in Gebele
They have here Nohur Gol
Which is a lake
There are forests around us and restaurants in the region before me
Ibrahim is here also
- Hala (Hello)
Hala
What's the story of this place?
Many people come here?
- This is one of the most popular touristic places found in Gebele
- It's special with the lake inside of nature
- You come over to have breakfast and eat
Whoever wants to come here and take pictures with their spouses
You can take pictures here
After we've seen Azeri nature
We came to have lunch in a place
I asked Ibrahim and Uday to recommend a traditional Azeri restaurant
A place where only locals go to
So they took me to this place called
"Suyuk Bolagh" [ or something like that ]
As soon as you enter you feel the traditional vibe in the details
You don't find the touristic leisure at all
So we just ordered some foods and we will try them
♫ Music ♫
The food we have ordered today is divided to 3 plates
This one in front of me
Contains sheep meat
The 2nd one is just like Iraqi Dolma
But stuffed in tomato, bell pepper, and eggplant
In 3 shapes
They call them the 3 sisters, in Arabic
I don't really know the names in Azeri so if you come here show them a picture of this meal
The 3rd one is very simple
A sheep rib
Boiled
And served this way
Let's start with meat
I just want to check how it is
Yuum
Cooked in fats
And trying the meat in the tray
Look, look, look
Its taste and the taste of the fats are as if you have ordered
A fajita meal that is cooked in a tray
It's nice
But what I'm excited about is the Mahashi (The stuffed foods)
It's stuffed with meat
Only meat, I guess
Let me try the stuffed bell pepper
Yumm
But honestly the tastiest is the meat
Especially that they have mushroom in it
Fresh mushroom
This meal wins over the other 2
[ Chicken clucking ]
We arrived to the place I'll stay in for the 1st night in Gebele
I tried my best not to stay the night in a hotel
But in a house of the houses found in this area, in the village
So it's not nice to go to a hotel in the village, it's nicer to stay the night in a house
And this is the house
How was it?
- Wonderful
Is it nice from the inside?
- Beautiful
Wonderful, look at the floor
Oh! I have a kitchen
And this is the 1st bedroom
A living room
And a restroom
A night here is for $75-80
Depends on the house you take, it might cost a $100
Or even $150
But it's enough for a whole family of 6
So this is the house we're staying the night in
And this is the backyard where you can sit and drink some tea, even grill
A new morning in Gebele
Today, we came for breakfast
In this cute restaurant
A bit touristic but its mood is in the middle of nature
Each person can have his own room
And you order the food you like, it's also on the river
But the most important thing is to have at breakfast a meal called
Pomidor-Yumurta
This one
Every country in the world has the same meal but call it differently
Some call it Shakshuka, others call it eggs and tomatoes
Let's try it here
Yumm
Yuummm
Although each country prepares this meal the same way, however it tastes different in each one
The green nature in this region is outstanding
Visiting Tufandag mountain
We just arrived to a region called Tufandag
This is a mountain that has a cable car
That takes you to the top
Indeed, turns out that Azerbaijan has pretty nice things
You can come here with your family and relax
For a couple of days, a week
And then go back
Feeling happy
We came to the entrance of the cable car
Which is approximately from the middle of the mountain
It cost 16 manat
For a two-way trip
But if you start the trip from the bottom of the mountain it would cost 22 manat ($13)
♫ Music ♫
Of course, during winter this entire mountain turns to
A ski resort, people come here for skiing
When you go to the top of the mountain by cable car
You have the swinging chair that is on the edge of the mountain
I didn't go for it honestly, for 20 manat
A bit too much
There is a cafe here which is at the edge
A bit expensive also because it's a touristic region here
Considered as a ski resort
But, the view is amazing
The question is when you come to Gebele
"What is the best way to come here?"
"And in general, the touristic trips inside Azerbaijan"
You have 2 ways
The 1st one is that there are tourism offices who would take you on a 1-day trip
Whether the previous video about the Fire Temple
And all the other places we've been to, you can go on a 1-day trip
And to Gebele, they might take you for a day or 2
Or if you love to be more comfortable, you can come with a company that will reserve all the trip
They will schedule everything up for you and take you in a private car
Just like I have done in this trip, I went with Ibrahim and Uday, Uday is still down there
They prepare everything, a private car, the bookings
You stay comfortable
- We are honored that we were able to prepare this trip for you
May God make you happy
- And I hope you have liked the trip and the scheduling
Very much, very much
They have done more than enough honestly
So yeah, it depends on what you like
Of course when you go with a tourism company, what makes you comfortable is that
You don't have to research if you don't know the touristic places to go to
They know everything in the country
Let's go on!
Before leaving Tufandag, to tell you the honest opinion
The region under the cable car is nicer than the region above
You are surrounded by green nature here
It's a nice view above but you can't see everything
So if you want to save money, you don't need to pay 20 manat to go up there
While we were in the car on the road
We saw a cow herd passing by looking amazing
So I went down to greet the farmer and take some pictures
[ greetings ]
- We have things to slaughter for you
Tell them they're the kindest
[ speaking in local language ]
I took pictures of this mister
He tells me to hang his pictures in my house in Jordan
I'll do them just as I get there
In Sha' Allah (If God wills it)
Amazing guys, my friend, such a warm smile that makes your day and makes you happy
As we're stressed about editing and work and all, they're just sitting happily and relaxed
He lives his life
He lives it
On our way outside Gebele
We passed by this waterfall and lake
Called KhalKhal
You can come here for fishing
And grill it and eat it
What's important at the end of the day
After visiting Gebele I found that it is a region filled with beautiful nature and family-friendly atmosphere
And a beautiful addition to a trip to Azerbaijan
Yet, if you love places full of activities and adventures
You most probably will find better places than Gebele
I hope my opinion benefits your trip
May God increase your travels
See you in the next video
Peace!
Follow me on Instagram @Ibnhattuta
Subtitles by Omar Younes / transcriberomar@gmail.com