http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Azerbaijan/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , Azerbaijan en-us Fri, 04 Dec 09 11:27:44 +0000 Fri, 04 Dec 09 11:27:44 +0000 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 s http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Azerbaijan/Baku/blog-425284.html 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 student Ali who wanted to be our gu http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Azerbaijan/Sumqayit/blog-422246.html daf http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Azerbaijan/Ganja/blog-418922.html 350amax305 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 strang http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Azerbaijan/Samaxi/blog-418360.html Our last weekend away in Azerbaijan. A bit sad really Still the idea of facing the road to 350amax305 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Azerbaijan/Samaxi/Pirguli/blog-418026.html 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 thereThis 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Azerbaijan/Baku/blog-413070.html 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Azerbaijan/Ismayilli/Lahic/blog-411348.html Ki351 pronounced Kish is just a few kilometres from 350eki 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 signpostedThe 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Azerbaijan/Seki-/Kish/blog-410037.html 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 postSoviet dark days.Who were we to complain so we took an overnight train to Seki actually 350eki pronounced Sheki hoping to leave behind the now stuffy summer air of Baku. Instead the heat came with u http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Azerbaijan/Seki-/blog-409663.html Two International football matches in four days. It was too much to resistFirst 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 fr http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Azerbaijan/Baku/blog-409321.html 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 c http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Azerbaijan/Qabala/blog-404862.html Lots of photos this time. Please look at page 2 as wellOn Friday night we finally made it to Baku's Philharmonia where we listened to an evening of music in a tribute to Leonard Bernstein. It was really nice to finally get inside the building which apparently was modelled on the casino at Monte Carlo. Before the music began the US Ambassador gave a speech firstly in Azeri excellently delivered http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Azerbaijan/Baku/blog-401932.html Georgia may not have been participating in the Eurovision Song Contest this year thanks to the possibly political title of their song We don't want a Put In Putin but their music and dance ensemble Erisioni came to Baku instead to give us a taste of Georgian talent. The problem was that the tickets started at 30AZN US40 which we thought was a bit expensive. Having given up on the idea of http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Azerbaijan/Baku/blog-400466.html In most of the former Soviet Union Victory Day is commemorated with a huge military parade which must be amazing to see. What did we get A long weekend and some good weatherWe set out for a day in Mardakan on the Absheron peninsula. It's easy Get the metro out to Neftchilar Station then look for a 341 bus heading all the way. Cheap and simple And it really was. There are no hiccups or hassle http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Azerbaijan/Baku/blog-400238.html Arriving from the east Baku seems like the gateway to Europe a quaint European style old town with cobble stone alleys and narrow side streets big squares and fountains cafes and restaurants in all a lovely place to spend a few days. The slight distraction are all the oil fields. Oil and gas are the country's main assets and perhaps what it is most known for and step out of the old town an http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Azerbaijan/Baku/blog-398652.html If it takes a beer to tie you over the wait trying to get into Turkmenistan bring a keg when you're trying to get out. Granted I did not fly out from Ashgabat airport like most tourists would. Instead I took an overnight train clearly Chinese manufactured strangely familiar to Turkmenbashi the coastal city in the far west to get a boat across the Caspian Sea to Baku.I knew that this would http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Azerbaijan/blog-397125.html Unfortunately the photos for this entry have been lost due to a technical glitch at Travelblog. I will get around to reloading them soonOne day it's lovely and sunny the next it's cold and grey. Everyone says in another month the weather will be stable and the temperatures will keep on climbing until everyone complains it's just too hot. We can't waitFor now we make every effort to get out and http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Azerbaijan/Baku/blog-390744.html The consortium of ILFS group company ITNL ENSO Rail Systems Ltd IERS and lta hrefhttpwww.zameenzaidad.comgt real estate major DLF ltagt has once again emerged as the sole bidder for the 3.2km Rs 1000crore Gurgaon Metro rail project being implemented through a publicprivate partnership by the Haryana Urban Development Authority Huda. Bids for the project which closed ye http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Azerbaijan/Ganja/blog-388400.html Baku http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Azerbaijan/Baku/blog-385035.html Last night we went to the Baku Opera and Ballet Theatre to watch a production of Aida. Aided by stars from Georgia and Belarus the Azeri National Opera must be feeling quite pleased with themselves for putting on such a good show. The best part of three and a half hours simply flew by and we never once felt inclined to leave early. We left the theatre with the music ringing in our ears. It was wo http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Azerbaijan/Baku/blog-381868.html