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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
December 17th 2008

Merry Christmas from Baku! It's freezing!! Asia » Azerbaijan » Baku

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrruss!

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! Seasons greetings from chilly Baku. Sub-zero temperatures and a few flurries of snow certainly took us by surprise. Anyway, this blog is just to wrap up 2008 before we head back to the UK for our first British Christmas for a few years. Hope London is warmer when we get there!!! Friday evenings seem to have become a regular night out. Happy Hour in the Phoenix Bar brings good company and cheap beer, usually followed by a nice meal somewhere. So, if you're ever in Baku on a Friday night, you know where to come! Trish seems to have picked [View Full Entry]

By rrruss
December 8th 2008

Lerik and a trip into Iran (well, nearly!) Asia » Azerbaijan » Lankaran Rayon

Cold Mountain Stream

The Hotel Qala was such a comfortable place. We all slept well and ate a good Azeri breakfast consisting of bread (lots of it), jam, cheese and eggs washed down with more than enough tea. Then it was time for our excursion. We had arranged for a taxi for the day courtesy of the hotel manager. Our driver turned out to be his cousin and we were to travel in the relative luxury of his Mercedes. Very nice! First of all we headed out of foggy Lankaran and into the Talish mountains. We hadn't travelled too far from the coast when [View Full Entry]

By rrruss
December 7th 2008

Lankaran - A Magical Mystery Tour in a 40 Year Old Lada! Asia » Azerbaijan » Lankaran

40 Year Old Lada

After settling into our comfortable rooms in the Qala and having a hot shower without having to argue about the lack of hot water, we set out to explore the city with Michael and Jackie who had joined us in Lankaran. Just up the road from the hotel Russ spotted an open door with a delicious smell drifting out. Peeking inside we discovered a traditional bakery with women tending to the hot ovens which were brimming with baking bread. They were too shy for the camera but happy for us to look around and buy some fresh hot bread. It was [View Full Entry]

By rrruss
December 6th 2008

Lankaran by train! Asia » Azerbaijan » Lankaran

Company Bedding

Working in Azerbaijan can be tough. Long weekends only come about every month or so!! We decided to make the most of this one by taking the night train down to Lankaran in the South for a few days. Using his marvellous Azeri skills Russ had managed to purchase a 2 berth cabin (SV) for the correct day (unlike Jackie and Michael who joined us the following day!!). Although it's only 350km, the train journey takes 8-9 hours for some reason. After photographing the train from the platform, Russ avoided arrest and we were soon laying out our lovely printed sheets [View Full Entry]

By rrruss
November 30th 2008

Fire Fire Fire!! Asia » Azerbaijan » Baku

A Quick Snap

It's been a couple of weeks since the last blog. That doesn't mean we've been idle. When not working we are still getting out and about around the local area. About 10km north of Baku is the tiny settlement of Yanar Dağ but don't expect any taxi drivers to have any idea how to get there! As far as we can find out, there's no bus either. So what's there you may ask. Well, this is where you go to see a roaring fire coming out of the hillside. You can even sit on the benches for a cup of tea [View Full Entry]

By rrruss
November 19th 2008

Football - Azerbaijan v Albania! Asia » Azerbaijan » Baku

Azerbaijan v Albania

International football for a couple of quid. Well, Russ couldn't resist the lure of the game, even if Azerbaijan against Albania doesn't exactly sound like the best game you could ever see! I met up with an Azeri friend, Moruq, close to the Tofik Bakhramov stadium, home to the national team and several club sides. The stadium is named after a very famous man in English football history. If you've never heard of Tofik Bakhramov, take a trip over to Wikipedia for the full story. He was the "Russian linesman" who controversially awarded [View Full Entry]

By rrruss
November 16th 2008

The Social Side of Ex-pat Baku Asia » Azerbaijan » Baku

Happy Hour!

It's not all work you know!! We have been getting out and about on the social scene a little. Most Friday nights we try to meet up with a few fellow ex-pat English teachers in a bar or two in Baku. Happy Hour certainly helps, and it goes on for 2 or 3 hours in some places! A couple of weeks ago we went to join in the Diwali celebrations with Baku's Indian community. It was a colourful, noisy night with wonderful Indian food. After a chaotic beginning it turned into a great night. We even bumped into some people we [View Full Entry]

By rrruss
November 3rd 2008

Mud Volcanoes and Rock Carvings Asia » Azerbaijan » Baku

Qobustan

One of the main sights people head out of Baku to see are an hour or so's drive South of Baku near the town of Qobustan (often called Gobustan as that's how it's pronounced). For once we had a nice Sunday to make the trip worthwhile and we hired Kamaran, one of our school's drivers, for the day. It was good as he has enough basic English to explain things for us from time to time and it was good practice for him! A free English lesson!! As you leave Baku, one of the first things you see is the Bibi [View Full Entry]

By rrruss
October 19th 2008

The Fireworshippers of Suruxani Asia » Azerbaijan » Baku

Zoroastrian Fire Temple

One of the things that everyone does when they come to Baku is travel to the suburb of Suruxani to visit the Zoroastrian "Ateshga" fire temple. Last Sunday we set out to have a look for ourselves. Our first destination was the 28th May railway station. This proved a little frustrating as we were passed around from pillar to post before finally discovering that there were no electrica trains on a Sunday! Instead we jumped on the metro all the way out to Azizbayov station. From there we walked a few hundred yards in gale forced winds, protecting our eyes from [View Full Entry]

By rrruss
October 16th 2008

Baku Bay and more around town Asia » Azerbaijan » Baku

Baku Bay

On a glorious day it’s nice to look out over the Caspian Sea. It’s even nicer to take a boat trip out to get a different view of the city. That’s exactly what we did a short while ago. Halfway along the Bulvar promenade two boats constantly do half-hour trips around the bay. It’s ridiculously cheap and when the waters are calm (luckily for Trish we chose a good day!) it makes for a pleasant excursion. We weren’t even subjected to the loud crass music we had expected. As the boat pulls out from the shore you get a good look [View Full Entry]

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Azerbaijan Travel Blogs, page 3

Azerbaijan Travel Blogs

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