After two weeks running around Armenia and Georgia, I bid a farewell to my travel mate as I move on to the last country of the Caucasus by myself. It has been some time since I did a solo trip! Azerbaijan is yet another relatively unknown country, not quite Europe nor Asia, and sits right by the oil rich Caspian Sea. The capital city, Baku, perhaps most well known for hosting Eurovision in 2012, has a UNESCO old city, which is a huge contrast against the modern new buildings sprouting all over the city with the country's petrol money. The most shocking sight for me as we arrived in the city was the sheer amount of offshore oil platforms in the shallow coastal waters of the Caspian, as well as the many oil derricks that covered the landscape as our train got closer to Baku!
Baku is not a cheap city, and being on a solo trip meant no sharing of cost. I decided to go the backpacker's way and stay in a dorm once again! Well, this is a really nice dormitory, close to the central train station and a 20 minutes walk to the city centre. I also managed to get some advice from the hostel staff and book a day tour out of Baku. Easy peasy!
After a quick shower, I set off to visit the city. First stop was the Old City, the historic centre of Baku, filled with caravanserais and the iconic Maiden's Tower, a stone tower dating back to the 12th century and palaces from the Middle Ages. One can also see the famous Flame Towers from the old town, the modern architecture contrasting against the medieval buildings of the Old City.
Wandering further east brings me to the Bulvar, the waterfront promenade of Baku facing the Caspian Sea. This was my first time being on the Caspian Sea despite having visited all the countries that sit on it!
Walking past the man made water canals where one could take a gondola ride, as well as the huge carpet museum, I arrived at the foot of the hill with the Flame Towers. One could then walk up or ride an easy funicular up to the ridge, although the best part of this visit is really the awesome views of Baku from the top, with the "Death Star" building by the waterfront!
I must say the rest of the city looks pretty much like any other European cities, although the outdoor chandeliers along the pedestrianized shopping street certainly lit the city up at night impressively.
The other famous architecture of Baku is the Heydar Aliyev Center, a Zaha Hadid building that is the epitome of 21st century architecture, with its flowing curvy lines that projects a different view from each angle. Even if one is not here to enjoy a concert or exhibition, visiting the exterior is certainly a must do in Baku! I followed the instructions on google map and caught the metro to a nearby stop and walked 10 minutes to this spot. After snapping a zillion photos, I decided to enjoy the cool late afternoon weather and walked back to the city centre, stopping by a local market enroute to pick up some delicious raspberries!
Speaking of food, it was back to kebabs in the country side, but thankfully, there were a variety of choices in the city. I just had this day in the city, so it was ticking off the main Azeri cuisine - dolma (baked vegetable stuffed with rice and minced lamb), as well as back to the basics of Central Asian cuisine - plov!
The next morning, I opted to take a day trip to the nearby village of Lahic. Enroute, we passed by some impressive looking offshore oil platforms!
Just a couple of hours away, the city life fades away and we are truly in rural Azerbaijan now, as a traffic jam involves some horse and sheeps instead..
The winding mountain routes bring us squarely back in the Caucasus Mountains, which is such a vast difference from the city!
We also stopped by Zernava Bridge, a wobbly suspension footbridge leading to another mountain village.
Lahic is a sleepy mountain village at the southern slopes of the Greater Caucasus mountains, famous for its traditional coppersmiths. At 1,200m, the cool weather also brought some relief from the heat of Baku. Although I have read that this place can be a tad touristy on the weekends, I must say there were very few tourists when we arrived, and the village certainly gave us a glimpse of life in Azerbaijan before the oil boom.
This coppersmith is the 7th generation of his family in the trade, and was friendly and welcoming when we went into the little workshop to watch him work. The tiny house also felt like a museum, complete with the handiworks of generations of coppersmiths.
Lahic is a small village, but some of the tourists in my group were happily shopping which gave me loads of time to take photos. After that, we went for a super late lunch in the gorge, surrounded by beautiful flowers of the valley.
Leaving the Ismayilli area, we once again bumped into the returning cows and sheeps, ready to retire for the night!
One of my other favourite part of the trip was driving through the winding mountainous routes back to Baku which is newly opened and impressive indeed.
I had initially thought of visiting the nearby mud volcanoes of Qobustan, but I am certainly glad that I had picked the trip to Lahic instead. It gave me another perspective to Azeri life as well as to enjoy the mountainous landscape of Azerbaijan, far away from the glitters of Baku, and I love every bit of it!
Although I just had 3 short days in Azerbaijan, I must say it was a good stopover and a beautiful end to my Caucasus trip. One should definitely include it in their itinerary if you are coming this way!
I was contemplating taking the marshrutka to the Georgia-Azerbaijan border, and visit some of the mountain villages close to the Greater Caucasus mountain range but based on some of the research I did, it sounded complicated! As I was short of time, I decided to take the easy way out and catch the overnight train to Baku from Tbilisi. It was super easy to stop by the Central train station and book a ticket, and the train proves to be rather empty in late September. I had booked the 2nd class ticket (4 beds per cabin) but they had only put 2 female solo travellers in there so we got 2 beds each!
Crossing the border from Georgia to Azerbaijan was easy, except that the Azeri custom officers would have many questions if there is an Armenia stamp in your passport. As mentioned in my earlier Armenia blog, the two countries are still in dispute over the de factor independent Armenian ethic majority, but internationally recognised as beloging to Azerbaijan's Nagorno-Karabakh region, which meant that Armenia and Azerbaijan citizens cannot visit each other, and if a tourist has a stamp from Nagorno-Karabakh, he will be denied entry into Azerbaijan! Well, I was asked to show what I bought from Armenia (a magnet) and almost had to chuck it (the guard told me to keep it and not show anyone while in Azerbaijan) but other than that, it was a pretty smooth crossing.
The ride was meant to be under 12 hours, but due to the long waiting at the border (the customs officers come on board to stamp your passport while each of us enter the "customs" cabin individually), we got into Baku 13-14 hours later. As we approached the capital city, one could see the oil wells and derricks all along the way - this is definitely the oil capital of the region!
Although I just had 3 short days in Azerbaijan, I must say it was a good stopover and a beautiful end to my Caucasus trip. One should definitely include it in their itinerary if you are coming this way!