Blogs from Baku, Azerbaijan, Asia
April 20th 2012
To be honest, I didn’t really know what to expect from Baku, but after my jaunts around Central Asia, the previous year, I was hoping the capital of Azerbaijan would be a heady mixture of Islamic Asia and Western Europe, sprinkled with a dash of Sovietness. I wasn’t disappointed. My hotel was located smack in the centre of the city and I was soon out in search of lunch. Only minutes away was Fountain Square, the pulsing heart of Baku. At one end loomed a McDonalds packed with teenagers but I ignored it and opted for an outdoor café that had a few spare tables. While waiting for my kebabs to arrive, I gazed out at the square and the people passing by. Like I’d expected, the vast majority of Baku’s citizens seemed Turkish or perhaps ... read more
August 25th 2011
Time for a trip slightly more off the beaten track, mainly because I had airmiles to use :) Transport The amusing start to my visit to Azerbaijan starts on the airport tarmac. Usually the pilot is told a gate number then follows the numbering system of the airport lanes and turnings. In this airport, those signs do not exist so a small Lada turns up with large yellow lighting on its roof, flashing FOLLOW ME. It then drives around the airport twice as we follow in the plane. Interesting. Turns out that the majority of people drive Ladas. On the surface you'd think that Baku has a structured traffic system. The roads are paved, multi lane motorways in places, street lighting lines the roads, lanes are clearly marked and there are numerous road signs. This does ... read more
October 12th 2010
Um die Umgebung von Baku etwas zu erkunden, unternahmen wir einen Tagesausflug zu den Schlammvulkanen bei Qobustan, den Ölpumpen von Bibi Haybet (dort wurde „The World is not Enough“ gedreht), zur Burg Ramana und dem Zoroastrier Feuertempel Suraxani. Früher entzündete sich das aus dem Boden strömende Gas und wurde vom verbreiteten Feuerkult (Zarathustra) als heilige Stätten verehrt. Per Nachtzug verliessen wir Baku Richtung Tbilisi, jedem Aseri versichernd, dass wir von Georgien via Istanbul nach Hause fliegen werden. Armenien als Feriendestination ist hier unmöglich….... read more
October 11th 2010
Unser Aufenthalt in Baku beginnen wir mit einem Spatziergang der Strandpromenade entlang (mit Gepäck, direkt von der Fähre kommend). Wir sind überrascht wie modern und westlich sich die Stadt hier präsentiert. Nach den vielen Städten, die einen klaren sowjetischen Schriftzug tragen, fühlen wir uns in Baku wie „zurück in Europa“, irgendwo in einer Stadt am Mittelmeer. Die vielen modernen, glas- und stahlbetonten Gebäude machen Baku westlich, modern und eben europäisch. Aus einigen Gesprächen der folgenden Tage lernen wir, dass dies noch nicht lange der Fall ist und wir Zeugen dieser Transformation sind. Ebenfalls unser Hotel knapp ausserhalb der Stadtmauern am Fontänenplatz ist wieder „wie zuhause“. Zuvorkommender Service, lächelnde Mitarbeiter an der Rezeption die Englisch können. Im Zimmer funktioniert alles (auch die Sanitäranlagen) und ist modern. Statt Kopftuc... read more
September 29th 2010
A simple title, isn’t it? A captive title is a prerequisite of interesting story, perhaps. Now let’s have a look at the Caspian Sea shore, at the city called Baku - the capital of Azerbaijan; the city of beautiful girls (but my eye will spot a beautiful girl anywhere), sand-coloured buildings, old fortress walls, crazy drivers, “crazy” prices and yet a warm and friendly atmosphere. Day one September 13 I am now sitting in my 80 Euro room in the Noah’s Arch Hotel in the very Heart of Baku’s Icheri Sheher. I feel very weary. This is the beginning of my 6-day stay in Azerbaijan’s capital and, judging by the first day, I’m going to enjoy myself during the whole stay. Before this, I spent a whole day in Nizhny Novgorod and also had a short ... read more
May 30th 2010
After another day with the family in the dacha, and we flew to Moscow for a change in planes for Baku, Azerbaijan.... a new chapter in our saga. Four days of exploration in an amazing part of the Caucuses, hosts and friends who dined us out of sight, wined us profoundly, showed us amazing cultural and physical places and welcomed us to their families, homes and laboratories. Baku is an oil rich beautiful city....we stayed in a small modern hotel in the middle of the walled Old City 12th century with its mosques, castles, shrines, museums and sense of history....reminded us of the Old City Jerusalem. Our last day there was Independence Date (from USSR in 1991)...we left Baku for Moscow and then home, with a display of fireworks to wish us well....quite a finish for ... read more
May 2nd 2010
For the whole of our 48 hours in Azerbaijan the country is hidden under one enormous rain cloud. As we ride up to the Georgia-Azerbaijan border its raining and we are made to queue at the barrier just sitting on our bikes in the pouring rain being slowly called forward two at a time to be stamped out of Georgia. At least getting into Azerbaijan we are allowed to sit in the warm customs office with the 4 officials; one to fill out a short form for each foreign vehicle, take 5 Euro of its owner then sit around, one to take a few grubby note off the occasional local driver and then sit around, one to play computer games and one with an enormous pile of passports and V5s in front of him very, very, ... read more
August 2nd 2009
And so the time has come for us to say goodbye to Baku. It's been fun but it's time to move on. We've spent the last week saying goodbye to friends, colleagues and students, and we've also made new friends which is so sad as we were about to leave! It's been hectic, social and very enjoyable. We thought we should try to get into the old city one more time as it's an area of Baku we haven't really spent any time exploring. It's a nice area to wander around and we just hope that it's beautification and modernisation doesn't go too far. We even managed to get in to see Samir, a carpet seller friend of a friend, who treated us to some refreshing tea and was perfectly hospitable. He didn't even try to ... read more
The Mud Volcanoes of Qobustan plus Ballet and Memorials
Published: June 28th 2009Asia » Azerbaijan » Baku
June 28th 2009
Today we decided to go back to the mud volcanoes of Qobustan. Unfortunately the weather wasn't great so most of the photos seem pretty grey. That shouldn't be too much of a surprise though as the landscape really is very grey there! This time we took a local marshrutka to Qobustan for 80 qapik (60p) each, not bad for an hour's ride. Taxis are plentiful when you get there and negotiating a price (15 Manat - £12) was easily done. The local taxi drivers actually know where they are going, unlike Baku-based drivers! The route is not easy to find and it's a bumpy trip in the back of a Lada but nobody is going to take a better car there so don't expect a Mercedes!! The driver took us to the volcanoes and explained a ... read more
June 9th 2009
Two International football matches in four days. It was too much to resist! First up was the World Cup Qualifier where neither Azerbaijan nor Wales could qualify, so it was more of a friendly really! We had met some of the Welsh fans in Finnegans bar the night before the match. It turned into quite a late one and the half price Guinness was really good! We made some good friends, especially Lucy from the FAW who couldn't believe Russ was wearing his Bridgend Ravens shirt and wanted photos for her boyfriend to prove it!! Getting to the game proved a bit of a nightmare for us. We jumped on the No 5 bus which takes us to the Icharisahar metro station, only to find that it has changed its route and no longer goes there! ... read more
