Things to Do in Azerbaijan in January

January's cold keeps tour groups away. You get Icherisheher's 12th-century walls almost to yourself. The limestone alleyways smell of wood smoke from the teahouses that open onto them. The cobbles are slick enough that you hear every footstep echo off the Palace of the Shirvanshahs. Mid-morning is the sweet spot. Warm in the sun, empty in the shade.

The half-day excursion works best now. Cooler air means the 45-minute marshrutka ride isn't stifling, and the mud cones bubble more vigorously against the winter sky. You'll smell the methane before you see the grey mud slurp upwards. The 6,000-year-old rock carvings are easier to photograph without harsh summer shadows.

Sheki sits 700 m (2,300 ft) above sea level, so January brings crisp air and snow-dusted roofs above the stained-glass shebeke windows. Inside the 18th-century caravanserai, local cooks run 3-hour sessions on piti (lamb-chickpea stew) and halva made with local walnuts. The aroma of clarified butter and saffron hangs in the cold stone corridors.

The water is steel-grey in January, but that's when the sturgeon farms harvest. The caviar on board was packed that morning. Two-hour afternoon cruises out of Baku port keep the cabin windows steamed while you taste three grades, from buttery sevruga to the firmer osetra, washed down with hot black tea poured from a samovar.

Qabala's ski runs are modest. 1,200 m (3,940 ft) vertical. January snow is reliable and the cafés at 2,000 m (6,560 ft) serve hot pomegranate tea with mountain views that stretch to Russia. The cable car climbs above the cloud line, so you rise from brown grass to white powder in twelve minutes.