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Azerbaijan Travel Blogs

Azerbaijan - a nation with a Turkic and majority-Muslim population - regained its independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Despite a 1994 cease-fire, Azerbaijan has yet to resolve its conflict with Armenia over the Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh enclave (largely Armenian populated). Azerbaijan has lost 16% of its territory and must support some 571,000 internally displaced persons as a result of the conflict. Corruption is ubiquitous and the promise of widespread wealth from Azerbaijan's undeveloped petroleum resources remains largely unfulfilled. To be updated

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By rrruss
August 2nd 2009

Bye bye Baku! Asia » Azerbaijan » Baku

Even Heyder looks sad as he waves goodbye!

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 [View Full Entry]

By rrruss
July 26th 2009

Sumqayit - Oh we do like to be beside the seaside! Asia » Azerbaijan » Sumqayit

"The Dove" - sculpture for peace

Sumqayit, apparently the World's most polluted city in 2006 and 2007 (according to Wikipedia), lies just half an hour's bus ride North of Baku. Knowing about the pollution and further disturbed by articles on the BBC and in the Azerbaijan International magazine, you might wonder why on earth we would want to visit. Well, we just did! A colleague, Mairie, had a stud [View Full Entry]

By rrruss
July 13th 2009

Samaxi's SU-15 and other monuments Asia » Azerbaijan » Samaxi

Şamaxı Monument

Şamaxı is a place we have been through on the bus several times and we had always noticed a few monuments we wanted to take a closer look at. Our taxi driver from Pirguli didn't believe us when we said we wanted to stop by the roundabout. He took us about 400m beyond before we shouted at him enough to make him stop! Then we walked back to the first monument we wanted to see. It's a strange one and so far nobody has been able to explain it! There are 3 faces, possibly female, with hair waving in the wind [View Full Entry]

By rrruss
July 11th 2009

Pirguli and the clear night sky Asia » Azerbaijan » Samaxi » Pirguli

The Observatory
Closed for restoration!

Our last weekend away in Azerbaijan. A bit sad really! Still, the idea of facing the road to Şamaxı yet again wasn't a pleasant one. This time most of the hassle was at Baku's bus station. The marshrutka had just 2 empty seats and everyone was ready to go. The driver got in and we thought we were away. Sadly not, he just wanted to move into the shade. We then waited another hour for him to fill the two empty seats! It was very frustrating. Two people got off during that time leaving 4 empty seats. Oh no! We considered [View Full Entry]

By rrruss
June 28th 2009

The Mud Volcanoes of Qobustan plus Ballet and Memorials Asia » Azerbaijan » Baku

Us in "Clangarland"

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 [View Full Entry]

By rrruss
June 21st 2009

Lovely Lahic Asia » Azerbaijan » Ismayilli » Lahic

Looking back on Lahic

Thanks to Couch Surfing we stayed with Matt and Rachel, two US Peace Corps volunteers, in the lovely village of Ismayilli. We had a great weekend with them and enjoyed a wonderful barbecue, despite the presence of an escaped bull in the garden. It just added to the experience!!! Getting there was a frustrating experience as our bus driver had to stop to check his tyres and to refuel (two separate stops!) within 30 minutes of leaving Baku. Why couldn't he have done that before picking up passengers?! The road is in quite a state too and no matter how often [View Full Entry]

By rrruss
June 15th 2009

Kiş and its ancient Albanian church Asia » Azerbaijan » Seki » Kish

Albanian Church

Kiş (pronounced Kish) is just a few kilometres from Şeki and easily reached on the antiquated number 15 bus! Once you get there it's about 20 minutes up cobbled streets to find the Albanian church which is, thankfully, signposted! The church is thought to be the oldest Christian church in the Caucasus region. It doesn't look like it because it has been completely restored. Now you can see into the crypts through glass screens and explore the church's tiny interior which is now used as a museum. There's lots of interesting information in English about the archaeological project if [View Full Entry]

By rrruss
June 14th 2009

Fresh air in Seki Asia » Azerbaijan » Seki

Seki

Another long weekend in Azerbaijan. This time it was for "Salvation Day" which is apparently the date that Heydar Aliyev was invited to return to Azerbaijan and lead the country out of it's post-Soviet dark days. Who were we to complain, so we took an overnight train to Seki (actually Şeki, pronounced Sheki) hoping to leave behind the now stuffy summer air of Baku. Instead the heat came with us and Şeki basked in a weekend heatwave. At least the fierce winds stayed on the Caspian coast! The train journey wasn't too bad but Şeki's train station is 17km from the [View Full Entry]

By rrruss
June 9th 2009

A feast of International Football in Baku Asia » Azerbaijan » Baku

Tofik Bakhramov Stadium

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 [View Full Entry]

By rrruss
June 1st 2009

The Mountains of Qabala Asia » Azerbaijan » Qabala

Unchanging scenery
The first hour or so out of Baku is hardly inspiring

From the new bus station in Baku you can find public transport to almost anywhere in Azerbaijan. You have the choice of bus, taxi or the marshrutka minibus. We took the latter for the four and a half hour trip to Qabala stopping halfway for a comfort break in Shamakhi. It wasn't as uncomfortable as we had feared and we had a good view out of the window. It's just a shame the scenery for the first couple of hours was so boring! When we got to Shamakhi we noticed an old Russian plane in a field, presumably a memorial of [View Full Entry]

Travel Blog » Asia » Azerbaijan