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Published: September 12th 2013
Going to miss you Georgia
Leaving Tbilisi behind. For scenery my favourite country so far.The bike ride from Tbilisi in Georgia to Baku in Azerbaijan, even though not the most physically challenging, was the one that hurt me the most. Unbearable heat leading to dehydration, mad drivers, my bike not functioning 100 % and the final straw; finding the contents of my handlebar bag (mobile phone, i-pod and headphones) covered in gooey magnesium sulphate (paste for minor abrasions etc) made for the worst 5 days of my trip so far. I was glad to book into the hostel in Baku and grab a shower.
I was sorry to say good bye to Georgia. I had had such a good time in this country visiting beautiful places and meeting up with wonderful people in Batumi as well as Tbilisi.
I chose to ride to the northern border of Georgia/Azerbaijan hoping that the roads would be quieter. Unfortunately this was not the case and the single lane roads resembled the F1 racing circuit at Silverstone.
I had another dog surprise me on this trip. It came from out of the blue whilst I was cycling along such a road and totally startled me with its fierce growl. I instinctively shouted at it from the
5 days of camping
Watching the Sun set top of my voice and unfortunately knocked it over with my front wheel. It gave out a loud yelp in pain. I turned around to see it standing on its 4 feet but didn't bother to go back and check that it was OK. I normally love dogs but this one deserved what it got!
That evening, feeling thoroughly dehydrated despite drinking 6 litres of water I found a wild place to camp and literally fell exhausted into my tent where I slept for a good 11.5 hours.
The following day I crossed the border quite early on and was soon invited to drink Chai with a street vendor. My limited Turkish came in handy as Turkey and Azerbaijan are closely related culturally and linguistically.
My next challenge was to register with the Azerbaijan authorities. As of April 2013, a new Azeri law has come into force requiring foreigners to register within 3 days of arrival. I asked my hotel to do so (it is their obligation), but they knew nothing of this new law. I then went to the local Police station where I was passed from pillar to post, having to speak on mobile phones
Azerbaijan Border Good Luck
Not sure what they are implying here. Are the Border Police really bad? with people who could speak limited English. Eventually 2 Policemen drove me back to my hotel in their Lada and told me with an amount of surprise on their faces that my bike had not been stolen as it was standing in the lobby. Amazing how wishing to register yourself ends up being interpreted as your bike has been stolen! The situation became increasingly frustrating. Eventually the cops disappeared telling me that they could not help me as the Police do not register foreigners on either Saturdays or Sundays.
The following day I spoke to a senior Policeman in the town of Seki and he again gave me the cold shoulder telling me to register the following day in another town. So I eventually arrived in Ismailly, where I was again passed from one official to another and was eventually told to take a 30 mile taxi journey to an immigration office elsewhere. I declined and ended up going beyond the 3 day obligatory reporting period, to eventually have the procedure carried out by a beautiful and helpful Azeri Girl in Baku. Red tape is still very much evident in this former Soviet State and my experiences so far
Gas pipe lines everywhere
In the former Soviet Union, gas pipe lines are evident everywhere on the surface instead of underground point to a country that is not interested in promoting tourism.
Throughout this trip I have come across many animals and reptiles. Most evenings I have at least a Mosquito keep me company, but the other day I woke up in the dormitory in the hotel to have a bat flying up and down the room. I assisted it in escaping through the open window. I sometimes feel like Dr Dolittle.
During my cycle ride I have come across many interesting people. I met two ladies who offered me breakfast who could have opened up a jewellers with the number of gold teeth they each had.
Kids selling various kinds of nuts on the roadside are forever inquisitive and always shout a big "hello, what is your name?" when you cycle by. On one occasion I had a young lad join me on his horse. No saddle, but riding as good as any member of the household calvary, these countries really do produce amazing horsemen.
Body language flicking your index finger into your throat means "would you like to drink some vodka?" and rubbing your index fingers together side by side means "are you married?". Funnily
enough I have just read the Lonely Planet for Iran and giving a thumbs up sign is the equivalent of "Up yours!" so it is always good to be informed about local traditions.
My penultimate day before rocking up in Baku was again a challenging day with a restaurant owner pissing me off when he overcharged me for my Shashlik, spiders (i'm arachnophobic) crawling up my legs as I set up camp and the heat and terrain tiring me incessantly. I kept listening to Dappy's song "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger" hoping that it would give me strength to get up some of the steep hills, but eventually it was an old album by David Gray which calmed me down and made me think that I wouldn't wish to be anywhere else at that present time.
I have now been staying in Baku Old Town centre for the past week in The Caspian Sea Hostel where I am still awaiting my Uzbek visa. Here I have met several other Round The World cyclists and I am teaming up with Derek a terminal cancer patient who is suffering from brain, prostate and lung cancer and whose greatest
Early Morning Breakfast and Chai
These Ladies offered me bread, tea and something that looks like Marmite (I got really excited), however on tasting it I was very much disappointed. Not quite sure how to describe it but it tasted quite horrible. The women could also have opened up a jewellers with the number of gold teeth they had. wish is to cycle from the UK to the Pamir highway and Everest Base camp. He certainly has been dealt a bad pack of cards but is amazingly positive and we will be cycling through Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan together for mutual support during the more challenging parts of the ride.
Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan has changed enormously since I last visited the country 6 years ago. New buildings are going up everywhere and it is a shoppers' paradise. Every other car is a £100,000 Mercedes Benz or Porsche with the country benefitting from its oil and gas reserves. At night time the skyline is lit up with three towers in particular varying their illumination from an Azerbaijan flag, to a flag bearer, to a scene of red flames. Personally, I cannot think of anywhere worst to stay for this period with everybody appearing to come straight off the "Made in Chelsea" set, however the Caspian Hostel is the only one in this city and the cheapest accommodation around.
Other cyclists I have met whilst staying in the hostel include Ed who is cycling from Bristol to Brisbane together with his friend Giles who accompanied him for
some of the way. And I also met Dominik, a polish fellow, who was amazingly upbeat about everything and wants to cycle through the whole of Kazakhstan to give himself a challenge.
Last night, Ed and I visited an ex-pat bar in the town centre where they serve free food on a Wednesday night. The beer is slightly more expensive, but we certainly got our food's worth as we positioned ourselves around the food table like hawks watching their prey.
Sorting out our Kazakhstan and Tajikistan visas could not have gone any smoother with us collecting both after 4 working days, however we now wait with anticipation for our Uzbekistan visa to be issued which has taken 8 days so far.
Once we have all the visas safely stuck in our passport it is then time to sort out the cargo ship to Aktau in Kazakhstan, which anybody who has done this trip knows is an adventure in itself.
Azerbaijan has thrown up more challenges than usual. I find the people a lot less hospitable than the Turkish and bureaucracy appears to bring the most enthusiastic person to a standstill. That said it's all part of
the adventure and I'm sure we have more surprises on the way once we get on the other side of the Caspian Sea! The journey continues....
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Paul McDermott
non-member comment
Great adventures!
Hey Clive Really enjoying reading about your adventures, from the comfort of my armchair od course..... Good dits mate, keep safe!