http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Azerbaijan/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , Azerbaijan en-us Sat, 30 Aug 2008 13:54:07 BST Sat, 30 Aug 2008 13:54:07 BST I chose to buy two large sunglasses today so that I can really look like a celebrity The reason is that we have been quite a lot in AZTV. Firstly we appeared at a pressconference where all of us had to tell why we had chosen Azerbaijan and how we liked it so far Later on a tv crew came to our language course to film us while having class and afterwards I was chosen for an interview. Some of http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Azerbaijan/Baku/blog-300887.html Today was the first day we got truely out of Baku and got to see something different from the buildingboom of the metropol.Our destination was Ganja a town approx 320 km east of Baku. I had previous to my travel heard that the pictures of the old and new presidents are hanging everywhere. I had not seen much of this in Baku and quite thought that people has exatuated the number of pictures hangi http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Azerbaijan/blog-299993.html So here is my first update from Azerbaijan.I am at the moment participating in an AEGEEsummer university in Baku learning the Azeri language which is related to Turkish.We are approx 13 participants and just as many organizers from the universities in Baku.So let's beginBaku where east meets west. Where Islam coexist with capitalism. And where Ladas and Mercedes fill the streetA chok of cultu http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Azerbaijan/Baku/blog-298724.html It all changes in Azerbaijan the weather improves and is bright and hot and the people all wave and smileI bushcamp the first night with some fellow travellers. That evening a local couple pull up in a car and start talking to us in Russian and broken English. It turns out that they're archaeologists who have been living and working on a bornzeage site not far away for over 20 years. They http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Azerbaijan/Baku/blog-296938.html switched to WORDPRESSgthttpwww.inter1mezzo.wordpress.com http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Azerbaijan/Baku/blog-283726.html Irsquove recently returned from a quick and quirky trip to Azerbaijan in far Western Asia. A few snap shot impressions I managed to soak up during my brief visit are below. Overall despite finding it somewhat aesthetically challenged I felt it was a historically rich and interesting place where the exSoviet empire meets Islamhellip a somewhat colourful collisionhellipImpressions of Azerb http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Azerbaijan/Baku/blog-274184.html I discovered today that the cookies that I have been dominating for the past couple of weeks which are always in the kitchen are special fiber digestive cookies.... while this sounds like light hearted humor it is the key to the many mysterious digestive adventures I have had since I've been here. Case closed...thank God. Finally got a desk today and its actualy super nice. Carolina's parents h http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Azerbaijan/Nagorno-Karabakh/blog-240524.html So what is Azerbaijan all about Well it is the Caucasus but in a Muslim way... This means they still are crazy and hospitable and you will be invited for vodka like elsewhere in these parts only the amounts are slightly less and they do it less conspicuous. You won't see much in the way of women covering their hair or anything else obviously Islamic the Soviets made sure of that during their ti http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Azerbaijan/Baku/blog-191591.html This morning everyone left on the ferry to Aktau Kazakhstan. My ferry ia due to leave in 5 hours in Azerbaijan this reads 4 24 hours so hopefully i can leave soonWe had a few beers last night on the blustry dock and said our goodbyes this morning. I might see James again in Tadjikistan and Altan in Atrau but its goodbye to the rest and goodluck on your travels http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Azerbaijan/Baku/blog-176614.html I've been laying low ovr the last couple of days because I haven't been feeling very well but now that I'm better i can finally do some stuff Wednesday to the suburbs Today me and james went out to the ancient 1000year old fire worshiping temple in the suburbs of Baku. Indians used to travel here on foot to worship at the constantly burning natural gas flame which has now since burned o http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Azerbaijan/blog-174973.html Day 8 After being eaten alive by mozies last night I decided to take a trip out of Baku to the surrounding peninsula. It's an industial waste land from the oil production. But i managed to find my own little slice of paradise after a couple of hours marshrukte hoping with only the vague idea that i wanted to try and find a beach on the north and cleaner side of the peninsula Baku is on. A c http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Azerbaijan/Baku/blog-173306.html Dagen foer dagen. I morgen tidlig dekkes frokostbordet paa Radisson SAS i Baku. Det roede hvite og blaa flagget heises paa terrassen med utsikt over Det Kaspiske Hav stemmebaandene renses og tonene proeves. Bordene vil bugne av roykelaks og andre norske herligheter folk vil sikkert ha itrukket seg bunaden tross sommervarmen og alle slags norske dialekter vil summe oppstemt. Akkurat da vil C http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Azerbaijan/Baku/blog-159016.html LEAVING TURKEY... was a bit odd. Since Diyarbakir it seemed I was struck by bad luck. First I tried to continue to Lake Van being stubborn and cycled all day in the pouring rain ending up being soaking wet catching a cold. Decided to skip Lake Van and go straight to Erzurum by bus. Unfortunately the guy sitting next to me was even more sick than me and probably transmitted some of his germs to m http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Azerbaijan/blog-158003.html Wednesday April 4I woke up to the sound of heavy rain but it had stopped by the time I emerged into the street. I said goodbye to the family and off I went on good flat roads and I was soon making 2530 kmshr. I stopped frequently for tea and was even asked inside one of the police stations at the side of the road for a cup of tea. I arrived in Ganca pronounced Ganja at 1pm and checked into a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Azerbaijan/blog-157571.html It was raining and windy when we arrived at our second bush camp near the mud volcanoes we camped near the massive boulders common around the area of Gobustan. It was our group to cook so we set up fairly quickly but the wind was blowing so hard it was very difficult to cook. We made a pasta with fresh mushroom sauce and fried chicken I was just relieved when it was over. Earlier on the day we http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Azerbaijan/blog-149231.html Took us at least a couple of hours to cross into Azerbaijan I noticed the border guards in the Georgian side are very busy eating sunflowers seeds seems to preoccupy them so much we zipped through their side without a hitch In the Azeri side a little more stricter and I thnik one of us has to have a physical check up at the border i believe our co driver Toni volunteered but i haven't asked h http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Azerbaijan/blog-149145.html Tuesday April 4. I said a fond farewell to Irena and rode the 2 kms into the centre to the telephone building. In the process I had two cars literally drive at me and when I remonstrated they just looked blank. But I am driving a clapped out rust bucket and I am higher up the food chain than you so why are you complaining These drivers have not taken any driving test and frequently hit each othe http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Azerbaijan/blog-147092.html Tevfik's weddingnbspAsia raquonbspAzerbaijan By Kate FikoApril 4th 2007Kate Fiko IsseverTevfik's wedding was great last night. They have a tradition where grooms friend will meet somewhere and then we all drive like crazy to pick his wifes from her parents house. From there we pick her up to get the where the ceremony and reception is happening. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Azerbaijan/blog-145118.html Engagement PartynbspAsia raquonbspAzerbaijan By Kate FikoMarch 25th 2007Kate Fiko Issever Tevfik and Emilya had thier engagement party lastnight. It was a great evening but for me I was happy and unhappy because I didnt have my wife with me and my father. First we went to Emilyas parents house which we were suppose to be there at 6pm but usual we got thier little bit after 6 and then we http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Azerbaijan/blog-141650.html Big day for TevfiknbspAsia raquonbspAzerbaijan By Kate FikoMarch 23rd 2007Kate Fiko Issever Gulhan Tevfik Mevlut and his wife and myself went to emilyas parents house yesterday after 4pm which we were suppose to be there 4pm but we got there late because of the traffic. When we got there they had a really old elevators which was left from Russians. The elevator got not much buttons le http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Azerbaijan/blog-141130.html AzerbajannbspAsia raquonbspAzerbaijan By Kate FikoMarch 20th 2007Kate Fiko IsseverI have arrived this country early in the morning after travelling more then 24 hours. I have never seen that many luxury cars in my whole life they have H3 Lincoln BMWs Mercedes any luxury car you can image in are here. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Azerbaijan/blog-140149.html ... http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Azerbaijan/Nagorno-Karabakh/blog-136866.html Vi har faatt beskjed om at Inga er trygt hjemme i Norge og det er godt aa hoere. Jeg trodde vi alle var enige Inga om at Heydar er en kjempemann og aa se hans navn eller hans bilde fra bilsetet er en glede hver gang. I alle fall turen har naa faatt en ny karakter. Vi er troette slitne og late. I dag har vi vaert paa stranda og bada og saa spiste vi en heller daarlig tyrkisk middag.Foer Inga http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Azerbaijan/blog-78747.html Hello all. Sorry it has been such a long time since my last blog. Life here in the Tbizzle has been hectic but in a good way.First off yoursquoll be happy to know that the AmChamUS Embassy Independence Day party I coordinated went very well. The whole event took place at what is known here as ldquoTurtle Lakerdquo and about 1500 of Tbilisirsquos finest attended. I ended up being i http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Azerbaijan/blog-78715.html Laying on my cot late at night unable to sleep listening to the eerie whaling of a far away dog I realized it was death I felt around me emptiness and death. There are thirty thousand ghosts in NagornoKarabakh. Everyone has lost sons. In a graveyard I saw a tombstone etched with a picture of a boy holding a machine gun and the dates 1969 1993. There were hundreds more like it. From '89 to '9 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Azerbaijan/Nagorno-Karabakh/blog-78660.html Naa er vi tilbake i Baku eller tilbaku for aa si det litt enklere. Togturen var lang og varm men vi fikk oss mange nye venner. Foerst maa vi nevne vaar nye amerikanske venn Jay med det artige etternavnet Wacker som vi traff i visumkoe paa den aserbajdsjanske ambassaden. Han dukket ogsaa opp i togkupeen vaar. Jay er professor i fysikk ved Stanford University i San Francisco. Ikke smaatteri med http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Azerbaijan/blog-78276.html I gaar kveld kom Marte saa naa er vi alle sammen klare for store eventyr i Aserbajdsjan og Georgia. I dag har vi utforsket den lille byen Qobustan uttales Gobustan. Der finnes det to severdigheter. Foerst var vi ved en rekke gjoermevulkaner. Det er definivt turens saereste innslag saa langt. Godt ute i oerkenen laa disse gjoermepyttene som med jevne mellomrom feis gasser saa det sprutet gjoerm http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Azerbaijan/blog-75164.html