The Lonely Planet described Lankaran as a city with laid-back charm that is short on must-see attractions… which sounded perfect for us! Playing tourist can be exhausting after a while and we just wanted to go somewhere to chill and compose ourselves. Lankaran proved to be the ideal place!
How did we get to Lankaran?
We bought train tickets from the Baku Central Station 2 days in advance, having learnt from our Tblisi experience when platzkart (3rd class) was sold out the day before departure. This proved the wise choice as our carriage was full.
Tickets were 5.50 manat for the upper bunk and 6.50 for the lower bunk. We always try to go one of each as it means we have the use of the lower bunk as a seat and half the table… a tip we picked up during our train journeys last year through Russia and the 5 ‘stans. Try to avoid the beds that run along the corridor as they’re shorter and have everyone walking past.
Our train left Baku at 11:50pm and arrived dead on time at 7:05am. The providnitsa (conductoress) woke us at 6:15am to return the sheets, pillowcase and towel, all of which are supplied freshly laundered and starched in a plastic bag shortly after getting on the train. This is included in the ticket so there’s nothing extra to pay.
Where we stayed
We find Booking.com to be extremely useful whilst travelling. It removes the uncertainty of where to stay, and avoids the whole thing wandering-round-the-streets trying to find the best bargain. However, we weren’t too enamoured of the options for Lankaran so went old-school, and decided to check out the hotels shown on Maps.Me.
The first was a 4 star hotel, starting at 60 manat for a double. The second hotel was closed. Not a good start but it was a lovely cool morning with not many people around, and our 40lt backpacks are gloriously light in comparison with all the crap we were carrying last year, so we treated it as part of the adventure.
We walked through the Heydar Aliev Square, the heart and social hub of Lankaran. Behind the square is a road leading to the bazaar, where we found our hotel, Qizil Tac. We had to call the guy on duty as there wasn’t anyone in Reception but he was just around the back of the building anyway.
There were 3 options: double with shared bathroom for 20 manat, double with ensuite for 25 manat, and large double with ensuite and a table in the middle of the room. We decided to go look for the second option – so nice to have our own bathroom and not have to queue for the shower!
Visiting the bazaar – the friendliest market yet
Check-in wasn’t until 10am but we were able to store our bags in Reception and go wandering. First stop was the bazaar for breakfast. We started with qatab, only 30 kopik each. Then were the peroski – such a bargain at only 10 kopik each, and with such delicious light batter. They were like a doughnut but filled with potato, and you could add a tasty tomato/chilli/fresh herb sauce or sumac if you wished.
We went into the main bazaar building and found a man with 2 samovars – had Lankaran tea for only 20 kopik each. A lovely lady from a neighbouring stall stopped for a chat. Despite our limited mutual language, Russian, she was determined to have a good old chinwag – this is the kind of place where the locals are still fascinated with foreigners, and just want to get to know you!
We were welcomed by so many people, and had such lovely interactions with the locals – everyone just seemed to want to laugh and chat.
Exploring Lankaran
There were only a few sights to see in Lankaran, so we ticked them off pretty fast:
- Stalin’s Prison – the gate was locked, maybe because the roof had fallen in
- Heydar Aliyev Centre – was free but after we’d been in there for 10 minutes chatting to a guide, another guide appeared and told us it was 5 manat each – we weren’t too interested in photos of the former President so beat a hasty retreat
- 1918 Genocide Memorial – truly heartbreaking to see and hear the events of the 1918 genocide
- the Caspian Sea – sat for 2 hours and watched the fishermen and the waves gently rolling in
Time for Tea
We found the Uzbek Kafesi directly behind the 1918 Genocide Memorial, and sat drinking tea for an hour. It was lovely in the shade. Once again, this chaykana was male-dominated, with the only women the ones in the kitchen.
A pot of Lankaran black tea, accompanied by delicious brown sugar lumps, was 2 manat. There isn’t a toilet at the Kafesi – I had to head to the public toilet on the other side of the railway station.
Lavengi for dinner in Lankaran
The waiters were so friendly at the Uzbek Kafesi that we went back for dinner. Meals come as a set – I had chicken lavengi, roast chicken stuffed with a paste made from walnut, dried fruit and onion, with an enormous plate of plov, saffron flavoured rice. Lavengi is the Lankaran speciality along with lemons and tea, and is delicious!
Lee’s meat stew with buckwheat wasn’t anything special, but at 3 manat 50 kopik each, including bread, it was a cheap and filling place to eat. My favourite part was the lovely head cook dragging me into the kitchen to show me what was in the pots, as there isn’t a menu.
Other places in Azerbaijan – Visit Xinaliq, Azerbaijan’s highest village
Day 2 in Lankaran
Day 2 was a bit more mellow. We did some much needed work on our blog and life admin – had fruit wraps from Georgia and walnuts for breakfast in our room.
The big goal today was going to see the giant samovar! We’d seen a few photos of this on Trip Advisor and given our obsession with all things samovar we knew we had to see it!
Surprisingly enough, the giant samovar is in Goysaban, the next village north of Lankaran, approx 6 kms from the bazaar. We caught marshrutka #8 and set off on our pilgrimage.
After that excitement, we headed back to Lankaran to wander around the market again and to find a business lunch. We ended up at the trendiest place in town, Borani, for a tasty 5 manat meal.
Finally found 1 manat beer!
We’d heard that it was possible to find 1 manat beer, but this rare beast had eluded us in Baku. Lankaran being the wonderful place it is, provided us with delicious cheap beer on the main street. Turns out BEEZ was actually BEER so we were happy to go in and try the local brew. Afterwards we headed for a kebab and went home.
1 Manat = US$0.58
Lee lost his wallet!
We checked out and went to the bazaar to take the bus to the Auftovoksal. We found the bus to Baku, put our luggage underneath, then sat in our assigned seats. It was when Lee went to pay that he realised he’d left his wallet on the bus – with 50 manat but more importantly, with his ATM card!
I quickly told the conductor and we took everything off the bus… it’s amazing how much can be conveyed by saying : “Yest Problem!” He called the on duty policeman over and told him what had happened. Their biggest concern was to establish how much money was inside. They asked about the bus from the market, and luckily I’d taken photos of it for the blog post!
Armed with the licence plate number, the policeman made a few calls, then after 10 minutes put Lee in his police car and off they sped. I was left holding the bags, hoping everything would work out well.
Lee came back after 20 minutes, big smiles and incredibly appreciative. He was met by two high ranking officers, who gave him his wallet and told him they were glad to be of service. Also – he had 56 manat in the wallet, not 50, and it was all there.
He was totally blown away by the honesty of the people on the bus, and took great care to tell the police officers that it was due to his carelessness that the wallet had slipped out of his pocket – no suspicious acts in sight!
This reaffirmed our love of Lankaran – a wonderful place with lovely people!
Lankaran in brief
This is such a lovely, mellow city. There aren’t any major sights around, and the taxi drivers soon leave you alone after you tell 1 of them that you’re not interested in going to the nearby mountains. People were friendly and helpful. There wasn’t much English spoken, and only a few people spoke Russian – but people were still keen to have a chat.
This is a great city to visit if you want to see small-town Azeri life, and meet kind people. There are a couple of good places to eat and the Caspian is lovely and clean there – way nicer than Baku!
Moving on to Iran? See our Iran posts
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2 thoughts on “Lankaran, Azerbaijan”
Thanks Mandy for this quality post. Thumbs up!!
I’m so pleased you enjoyed it! We loved Lankaran and could so easily have spent longer there.
It’s always wonderful to hear back from readers – it makes it the sometimes hard slog of writing a post all worthwhile!