Azerbaijan: Snap Shot Impressions

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I’ve 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 ex-Soviet empire meets Islam… a somewhat colourful collision…


Impressions of Azerbaijan, or also known as “The Land of Fire”…



Wind, wind and even more wind.

Delicious rose tea served in large glass shot glasses, accompanied with sliced up Snickers bars.

Elderly women in darkly coloured headscarves.

Elderly men in flat beret style hats and smoking cigarettes.

On that note… chain smokers. Everywhere.




Grey skies and dodgy smelling water.

Not much in the way of bright colours.

Black soviet statues against grey skies.




Very old cars.

Lots of abandoned, half finished buildings.

Bullet holes in white tiles to ventilate the shower rooms

Baku city, recently voted the most polluted city on earth… yikes.





Men rocking their heads from side to side while they talk with small, knowing smiles.

Seemingly endless miles of nodding donkeys silently pumping up the crude oil, unattended and alone.

Hilltops ablaze with gas soaked rocks on fire… never ceasing to burn out despite the relentless winds… a fascinating though quite smelly experience!




Absolutely NO traffic regulations. (Well, if there were, they were definitely not adhered to while I was there.)

Enormous giant inflated pita breads served with a mint yoghurt. Delicious.

Good local beer.





Soft cooked meat with a texture like canned dog food but surprisingly tasty.

Vast oil pools on the coast of the Caspian.

Oil workers with gold teeth, big smiles and oil saturated jackets.




Pot holes and not a single give way sign.

Narrow alley-ways of the old city. A wonderful way to get lost.

Carpet clad walls of old hamans.




Carpets, carpets and even more carpets!

In each carpet store a unique local character to keep you entertained for hours (and sell you as much as they can.)

The call from Namaz prayer at dawn. I've come to love that sound.



… More wind and more carpets.

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Photos

The Land of Fire!
Hilltop rocks saturated with natural gas stay alite despite the country's notorious strong winds... a great feeling of heat in the cold climate but the smell was a bit off putting!

Our Soviet Jeep
Fun but bumpy way to get around. Oh, and the brakes didn't work...

Ships on the Caspian Sea
An unusal view to have from one's hotel bedroom, but I thought these mammoth working ships were strangely beautiful...

Waiting for Iranian Visas
Compulsory headwear kept us amused during our 7 hour wait for Iranian Visas at the embassy in Baku

One of many...
An obedient nodding donkey quietly pumps up the crude oil that put Baku on the map all those years ago...

Golden smiles beside an oil pool...
This jolly worker enjoyed describing his work at one of the older oil fields on the Caspian coast... picking out garbage from the oil pipes and adorning this saturated jacket. P.S. Yes he's got a full set of entirely GOLD teeth!

Comments

[hauteboy]

Yanar Dag!
Neat! I see you went to Fire Mountain.. did you take a taxi there? Ours had problems finding the place.

[Sarah B]

Fire Mountain
Hey there. Yes Fire Mountain was really quite special and a lot more fascintaing than I had initially thought. It's quite a way out of Baku so our Azeri fixer (I was out on location with the rest of my TV production crew) drove us there from the city. If you're doing it on your own I'd suggest finding out the Azeri for 'Fire Mountain' and getting a good taxi driver who definately knows where it is to take you, otherwise you might just be driving through endless fields of nodding donkeys for the afternoon! I think the Lonely Planet details where Fire Mountain is so you could always show a driver a map first? As for the fire- it's very smelly (!) and quite fierce at times but the sheer fact that it's all natural and never ceases to die out is quite specaular (Oh and great in the cold months for warming up!) Have fun!