Quba, Nügədi

“The best corners of the globe”

“I don't get it, purely geometrically - how can a globe have corners…»

That's just a joke to set things up. What I actually want to tell you about is one of those very corners. Yesterday I decided to go and relax with the family at the lake in the village of Nügədi (Quba).

No sooner said than done. Headed out at 8 in the morning. So I'm driving past fields in bloom, and here and there local beauties are selling freshly picked strawberries and already cherries too (I wouldn't recommend the cherries yet – no taste at all). Why not, I think, swing by the little village of Rəhimli (Dəvəçi) first – see how the rudd are doing there. It's already about 11, getting hot. The lake there isn't blooming yet, and there are no anglers, but I cast anyway. Fished with bread. The fish ignored me, and after a few tries I decided to relocate.

Just short of Quba I wanted to take a shortcut down a dirt road, but I'd have been better off sticking to the highway as usual. Following the locals' directions, I did eventually make it to Nügədi 2 (turns out there are no fewer than five of them). Lucky for me the weather decided to spoil us – it was cloudy, pleasantly cool, but no rain. The road to the lake ran through the forest – indescribably beautiful. You won't find two identical plants side by side, everything is in bloom, and whatever isn't blooming is already bearing fruit. And here's the lake – in a hollow between picturesque mountains, the banks buried in greenery. (And while I was getting there through deep puddles and gullies – I felt like an off-roader myself).The frog choir was wearing itself out trying to make an impression. The anglers told me the local crucian carp and carp prefer worms to bread. And where do I get them? “Head back, there's a house there, a boy keeps animals and his manure is full of those worms.” Gullies again. The owner of the house offered me a shovel and suggested I play the boy myself. And while I was glumly digging clay by the river, he disappeared somewhere, and then graciously presented me with a bag of long yellow-tailed worms.

And so I'm fishing. Loads of anglers all around – both locals and people from Baku. They say a carp this bi-ig, five kilos, gets caught here. On bread – nothing, on worms they started biting. Caught about ten palm-sized crucians in a couple of hours. With a grand gesture I gave the catch to a local kid («for home breeding»).

All in all, a huge pleasure from the picturesque views. And if you get a samovar going too… Had dinner at a little café on the slope of a blooming mountain and in the evening cool – headed back. In short, a cool little lake. For a family getaway, and not only that – just the thing.