Azerbaijan | mini meanderings

***So sorry for the lack of posts. Internet access kept evading me from Azerbaijan to Uzbekistan. I hope these next few posts will make up for it!

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Ok, there were no wizards, no yellow brick roads and no red shoes to bring me back to Kansas.

But in Azerbaijan, there was TEA! Ah, tea, how I have missed you since Turkey. If you dont already know, Chinese people love tea and always drink tea, so it was a delight to enter Azerbaijan and sit down at a proper chay evi (tea house).

From Tbilisi I cycled my way along the Caucasus mountains to Baku, Azerbaijan where I would finish the first phase of my journey, West of the Caspian Sea.

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Tbilisi -> Signagi

On a bright sunny Wednesday morning, I bade goodbye to my wonderful Persian friends in Tbilisi (the capital of Georgia) and began cycling towards the Caucasus mountains. I was headed for Lagodekhi and the northern border post with Azerbaijan. The road was good and surrounded by many vineyards and quaint churches along the way. In the evening I set up camp in the forest near Signagi — it was quite a nice campspot–away from any villages and a bit jungle-like. I fell asleep in my tent on the mossy ground and listening to all sorts of chirping insects.

not a bike tourist, but a Georgian with a lot of bottles!

vineyards and countryside

fruit stands and “Georgian snickers’

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Signagi -> Katex, Azerbaijan

The next morning I rode past some Georgian villages and a game reserve. It was interesting that some people greeted me with ‘Salam’, the standard greeting in Azerbaijan, but I was still in Georgia at that point. The Caucausus Mountains got closer and closer, until they loomed over me as the road followed the base of the mountains. Since it was my last day in Georgia, I bought some fresh khachapuri for lunch. Khachapuri is a Georgian specialty, a savory pastry filled with cheese or meat or both. Very yummy! Although, I bet this would be even tastier if you cycled here in the winter time when you really crave something hot, cheesy, and salty. With the blazing sun for the past few days, I was more in the mood for ice cream. Luckily, there are many local brands of ice cream in Georgia, so ice cream is cheap and you can find it in every village, even the remote ones. And so, I started the wonderful habit of having ice cream once a day. Surely, my favorite time of day!

one last cross before the border

khachapuri

fruit rollups, anyone?

I was a little worried about the border crossing into Azerbaijan, since I had visited Armenia. To my surprise, no questions were asked and before long I entered the Land of Azerbaijan.

Without giving a long history lesson, Azerbaijan was once part of the Ottoman Empire before it was absorbed by the USSR. Their main language, Azerbaijani, is very similar to Turkish (the languages are discernible) and most of the population also speaks Russian. So, I found myself speaking Turksian (Turkish – Russian).

typical town sign with Azeri flag

Caucasus mountains!

interesting architecture

In the evening I rode through Balaken and entered the town called Katex. It was nice to speak Turkish again–I was able to communicate more than in Georgia or Armenia. As I was riding along, a car stopped for me and the guy Gugush invited me for chai then dinner at a nearby restaurant where he had many friends. I have been secretly missing Turkish hospitality so I was really excited to be invited for chai again. The rest of the evening was spent eating and drinking with his friends. Gugush kept ordering food until I really couldnt eat anymore. Ye! Ye! (Eat! Eat!) He kept saying. Eventually Gugush arranged for me to camp at the restaurant, and he left with his friends around midnight. That night there were some crazy lightning storms in the distance.

Gugush invites me to dinner and drinks. camping at the restaurant with nice view and crazy lightning storms!

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Katex -> Seki

many pretty statues

typical Azerbaijani traffic in Zaqatala: cluster****

some nice ladies in Qax invite me for tea. Tea here is served with Iranian and Russian candy

met crazy Russian cycle tourist who looked like he just woke out of bed and went for a bike ride

Azerbaijan–land of manicured roundabouts

also land of quaint towns

and quaint villages

P1010196 Seki town, another night of crazy lightning storms (in the distance)

Seki -> Bunut

P1010204 hazelnut snickers!

P1010208 World War II memorial Azeri decor

P1010214 some very cute kids waling on a pipeline

Parvis and his wife hosts me after I asked them if I can camp on their farm

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Bunut -> Muganli

local cheese from the local butcher

rewarded with nice views after some kick-butt climbs

Muganli -> 80 km before Baku

P1010230 more fruitrollups for me from this friendly vendor

P1010234 village well

cool streetside carvings of famous anicent scholars

P1010239 heydar aliyev, apparently man of current-day Azerbaijan

village women beating and washing wool in river

solar in Azerbaijan!

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80 km before Baku -> Baku

Once leaving the mountains towards the sea, the landscape changes dramatically from lush green to pretty dry and boring landscape

This car of 1 man with 6 women invited me for tea on the roadside. And even gave me water to wash my feet! They were taking a break from farmwork.The 6 women were really hearty and we shared many laughs together for a good hour in Azeri-Turkish. They didnt want their picture taken though.

This is what you call a CROSSWIND!

Entering Baku, the big city!

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Baku

I arrived a few days earlier in Baku than I expected. I guess I should be more confident about my biking abilities in the future. When I arrived in town, I met my couchsurfing host Gulmira, and she arranged for me to sleep at her friend Alex’s apartment. Alex lived in a nice place in the center of town, so it would be convenient for me to run errands. Also I would get a room with a full size bed all to myself, and even get to use a bathtub–practially like a 5-star hotel. I felt so incredibly lucky.

I had 7 days to get my Turkmenistan visa and find out about the ferry to Turkmenistan. Although 5 days seemed like a lot of time at first, but it turns out that people here dont get things done here like they do in the US or Europe or China. There is a saying in Azerbaijan, ‘Bugun git, sabah gel’ which means ‘Go today, come tomorrow’, which also means that things dont really get done.

First, the ferry from Baku to Turkmenbashi, Turkmenistan does not have a timetable. It leaves whenever it fills up with cargo and there are often delays, which is to say, it leaves whenever it feels like it. When I asked the ticket lady how often the ferry leaves, she replied ’50/50′. AFter a few gestures, I interpreted that she meant the ferry leaves every other day. But really, who knows. The ticket office was also in a non-descript building off a dirt road with no sign or anything.

Second was the case with my Turkmenistan visa. Even though I had applied for the visa already in Ankara, and I just had to pick up the visa in Baku, it was not as easy a task as it would seem. I went to the embassy on the Wednesday morning. The officer at the embassy said the embassy was only open on Fridays and Mondays from 9.30am-12pm. ‘Come back Friday’, he says. When Gulmira tried to explain to him (in Azeri) that I was in a hurry to catch the ferry, the officer said ‘Is she a tourist? Why dont you go show her around?’ *sigh* Not believing the officer, I went back again on Thursday morning, and a different officer said the same thing. Finally on Friday I went again, but by 10am, there were already a lot of people in front of me in line. When it was my turn 2 hours later, the consul said ‘Come back Monday. I give you visa.’ I tried to complain, but was shortly hurried away. I was worried because my Turkmen visa dates were set for Wednesday, which means I would have to catch the ferry on Monday, and I would rather not have to deal with the embassy again on Monday. Such is life I guess, and these lessons teach you really how to manage things that are out of your control. Better to enjoy the moment instead of worrying about the things you cannot control!

So I spent the weekend entertaining my hosts and exploring Baku. Baku is a main hub for oil companies and therefore has a lot of expats working for companies like BP. Because of the oil industry, Baku has many fancy buildings (tyring to be like another Dubai), but because of the way things get done in Azerbaijan, Baku doesnt feel quite like other ‘modern’ cities. There is an uncertainty in the identity in Baku–a mix of old and new.

My hosts: Alex is from the UK and works as a contractor for an oil company in Baku. HIs career has brought him throughout North Africa, and he reminisced greatly about his life in Libya. I shared my own wonderful experiences when I biked through Sudan in 2009. I had several meals with his coworkers and got a taste of expat life in Baku, mainly expats working for BP. Gulmira is a local Azerbaijani, an English teacher trying to figure out life as the new generation in Azerbaijan. She actually lived in the US for 5 months several years ago on an internship.

Gulmira and Alex took me to a beautiful traditional Azeri carpet store in the old town and we saw the worlds tallest flagpole.

azeri carpets