Khanalygh (also spelled Khinaliq) is a village at 2,350 metres in the Shahdag massif, about 60km from Quba, reached by a rough road that climbs through alpine meadows. It is one of the most remote continuously inhabited settlements in the Caucasus and the home of the Khinalug people, who speak a language unrelated to any other on earth.
The village itself is a cluster of stone houses on a steep slope above the treeline, with views down several river valleys and across to glacier-capped peaks. The Zoroastrian fire temple at the village's edge marks a pre-Islamic layer of the community's history. Getting here requires your own transport or a hired car from Quba; a 4WD is advisable on the upper section of road. The drive alone — through apple orchards, then forest, then bare high pasture — is worth the effort.