Blogs from Baku, Azerbaijan, Asia

We flew to Heyder Aliyev Airport, Baku from Izmir. The airport, very modern and grand, is located a short 30 minutes from the city centre. After we (finally) located our pick up service we got driven to our hotel where we oddly changed to another hotel. On the plus side it was just around the corner from Fountain Square, which is more like a series of squares and several boulevards coming off the main fountain square. The architecture really surprised (and impressed) us. Having been to several former soviet states we were expecting more soviet-style grey apartment blocks. Instead we were greeted with beautiful sandstone Parisian-style buildings with terraces. We wandered around fountain square and the old city , Icherisheher, taking photos. As we were coming back with Intrepid we didn’t go into some of the ... read more

Hi all We're back on the road again for three weeks - Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia. Baku, Azerbaijan, first, as seen in recent months on both Joanna Lumley's 'Silk Road' and the 'Race Across The World' series, where it was the second check-point, after Delphi. Just an aside - #1 On the 2nd part of our flight over, from Kiev to Baku, there were 3 ladies (not, by it looked, together) each sporting an identical over-the-bridge of the nose surgical sticking plaster arrangement. Is Kiev perchance the rhinoplasty capital of Eastern Europe? Just an aside - #2 Now that I've typed the word 'rhinoplasty ' into the draft of this blog on NotepadFree I'm getting Nose Job and Cosmetic surgery adverts when I go to sites from Google! Azerbaijan regained independence from Russia, the old USSR, ... read more

Life hasn't always been easy for Bakuvians, as poor infrastructure, poverty, unemployment and conflicts blighted their shakier past, so the success story of the present day is little short of a miracle, especially if we are judging by comparison. Behind all this is the mainstay of the Azerbaijani economy, namely natural gas and black gold (oil, to those in the know), although it is worth pointing out that this has also contributed in no small measure to Baku being the world's most toxic city, on ground level, not that air pollution levels actually match. On a city tour of boomtown Baku, the key starting point is most likely to be the enclave of the Old Town, as a few of the city's main landmarks, namely Maiden Tower, Juma Mosque and the Palace of the Shirvanshahs are ... read more

First, we must find our train to Baku. It's not that Tbilisi station has a huge number of trains, but the station is hidden inside a shopping centre. We find the platforms on level two, but the information sign, telling us which platform to use, is on level three. Train found, we are soon making ourselves at home in our two berth sleeping compartment, home for the next 15 hours. Our friendly lady conductor is busy keeping her carriage clean and in order, providing clean sheets and bedding as we pull out. The evening passes well, helped by a bottle of Georgian wine, glasses provided by our lovely conductor. After an hour we arrive at the border post to leave Georgia. Lots of uniformed men in big peaked caps but a pretty smooth process. Then a ... read more

Schöner Morgen, Temperatur ok, nichts zu klagen. Das Wichtigste: Sammys Geburtstag heute. Ich bin sicher, dass Wolfgang ihn mit Extra Streicheleinheiten verwöhnt. Weiterhin Felder, Haselnussplantagen, Pferdekarren, ländlich - sittlich. Die Leute auf der Straße winken mir begeistert zu, ich winke zurück. Dave hat mir einen Geheimtip gegeben und nach Ismailia, etwa halbe Strecke, bog ich nach N ab in den Kaukasus. Zuerst Teer, dann Schotter und Lehm. Gut, dass es in der Nacht nicht geregnet hat. Die Straße ist gesäumt von "Restaurants" und Teehäusern. Manche nur ein Samowar auf dem Holzfeuer, manche mit Tischen und Stühlen und sogar Tischtüchern. Aber es war noch kein Gast da, erst bei der Rückfahrt waren Ausflügler zu sehen. Und offenbar ist draußen picknicken die zweite Lieblingsbeschäftigung hier. 15 km bis Lahac. Ich parkte Paulchen, riß mir die Jacke herunter und ... read more