June 10th: Baku to Qakh

We started the day off with a ceremony at the city center before departing westward. The weather was hot and the city drivers are aggressive. Once we made it to the countryside we saw a plume of black smoke on the road ahead. As we got closer we realized that it was car #1, the 1914 American LaFrance.

Thankfully Tomas and his co-driver were unharmed. We saw them at a safe distance away from the engulfed vehicle. We drove off to another sporting section and while we were waiting to begin, the engine temperature got up to 230F. It cooled down as we took the STC quite easy because of some deep gulleys and sharp cliff faces that lined it. After some highway driving toward Qakh we stopped at a market for snacks and water. A swarm of locals came out and asked us all sorts of questions.

As we were about to take off one of the picked a lug nut off our wheel and showed it to us. Thank god he did because we almost drove off with 3/4 of our wheels completely loose. The way into the city was lined with forests and smiling children who waved as we passed by. The sight of trees eased my homesickness and the shade and cool humid air of the evening was relieving. We haven’t seen any trees since Beijing! We ate lamb wrapped in flatbread for dinner and watched as it started to rain.