Meet Rustam, the guesthouse owner showcasing Lahic's unique beauty to global visitors
In this episode of Meet The Locals, we speak to Rustam Rustamov, a guesthouse owner in Lahic's Coppersmith Village, who introduces international visitors to its rich culture and breathtaking scenery.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00This is the bedroom with big balcony.
00:08I call this balcony as an anti-stress balcony.
00:14If you sit here for 15 minutes, you will throw out all your stress and worry because very
00:24nice view, very nice air, and you have to enjoy this view.
00:46You know, all my life I was active and I thought about retire, what can I do?
00:54And I decided to build a guest house, small guest house in Lahij.
01:02I work with guests, my guests, who come from anywhere from all around the world.
01:13You may see the flags, many, many flags, a lot of flags from which country I have guests.
01:24But I have more guests and I have to make here, hang up there additional flags.
01:36We see here our dining room for 18 people.
01:43This is shotguns, which made in Lahij on 19th century.
01:52Lahij is unique and here live just handymen, copper makers, lathe makers, wood makers,
02:02et cetera, et cetera.
02:09This is different as in other places, villages or townships in Azerbaijan because there is
02:16no agriculture here.
02:22I was born in Baku, but my roots from here, every year on holidays, my parents brought
02:30me here and I remember that this place as a, it was for me very nice because it was
02:39close to nature, to the mountains.
02:42It was out from the big city, saved, I saved this memory about nice places, nature.
02:51That's why maybe one of the reasons why I built here guest house, my guest house.
02:59We were with him on the mountains, we had hiking there.
03:05This is my guests, guest book, had many, many guests from abroad, from different countries.
03:14My French friend with his daughter, so then what else?
03:25This is diplomats from Baku.
03:29My first and the main aim, focus, it's my guests have to be happy at my guest house.
03:38One of the part of my business, it's preparing meals for guests, different kind of our traditional
03:45dishes.
03:46I prepare dolma, we prepare the cloth, rice.
03:50I happy with my guests because they ask me about life in Lahij.
03:57I try to introduce them local style of life and it's interesting for me as well.
04:05My level of English was very poor, but the last 15 years which I have with my guests,
04:13talking, communication with them, it helped me to improve my English.
04:20Now I can to talk with you, it's very good for me.
04:26I know that Lahij one of the places which visit tourists from abroad and if you like
04:36to be happy, come please to my guest house and stay and I will do everything for you
04:46to be happy stay, to for you your happy stay.