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Introducing Balakәn
If you arrive from Georgia via Lagodekhi, then sleepy Balakən will be the first Azeri town you’ll see. The town’s commercial centre is around the bazaar. However, the town’s only sight, a fine 19th-century mosque, is 1km further west, two blocks south of the prominent Heydar Bağı gardens.
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The imam generally allows visitors to climb the mosque’s unique brick minaret for a fine view over the town.
If you inexplicably want to spend the night in Balakən, there’s a big new hotel under construction, 300m north of the bazaar. Meanwhile, the neat little AzPetrol Motel (52401; Zaqatala rd; dm/tw/d AZN7/20/24; ), 2km east of the bazaar area, is way better than run-down Soviet-era Balakən Hotel (53589; dm/tw from AZN8/16) opposite the mosque. The latter’s lobby might be attractively renovated but the stomach-churning en suite bathrooms belong in a horror film.
Last updated: Feb 17, 2009
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