Azerbaijan Access

Azerbaijan Access

From Brussels, via Frankfurt, we fly to Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. A taxi takes us to the Radisson Hotel. It’s located on top of a business flat. We get a nice chamber with a great window in seven pieces, allowing us an almost 180 degrees view of the city.

Because there’s a lot of natural gas in Azerbaijan which leads to some uninterrupted fires in several places, the country is also called ‘Odlar Yurdu’ – land of fire.

We visit the Old City. Starting by looking around the 12^th-century monument The Maiden Tower. The view from the roof takes in the alleys and minarets of the Old City. The tower is covered by clouds of mysteries including love stories (A Princess jumps from the tower because her father doesn’t allow her to marry her lover, and many other stories). Its location used to be in the Caspian Sea but as the shore line moved in centuries it’s now within the city.

The Palace of the Shiryanshahs then. Big, impressive. Build for the Shahs who ruled Baku in former days. In the center of the middle yard is the mausoleum of Seyid Yahya Bakuvi, a famous Azerbaijani scientist and philosopher who died around 1460. The Palace was probably established during the rule of Shah Shirvan Khalil the First who ruled from 1417-1462.

Lunch in the Terrace Garden. Sturgeon carpaccio for us of course, a local delicacy. Third floor, nice views. Winds are blowing outside. You hear it, you see it.

A visit to the museum of miniature books. The only such museum in the world, they claim. It’s very interesting looking around here. When we leave we pass a small place where someone is skinning a dead sheep… Lots of pubs and restaurants on Fuzuli Square. We have a drink on an outside terrace. Dinner in French/Azerbaijan restaurant called Rendez-vous.

At the train station it is rather difficult to find the destinations of the trains. The big billboards are all in Cyrillic script. Finally someone understands and points to the platform where we can take the train to Suraxani. We’re going to visit the famous Fire Temple there.

We didn’t succeed in buying a train ticket at the station. That means we’ll have to buy them on the train. When the conductor approaches I hope he speaks at least some foreign language. Then a magnificent thing happens. An Azerbaijani guy in the compartment before us talks to the conductor, looks and points in our direction and spontaneous pays the fee for us! What a very friendly gesture. At exactly the same moment the train arrives at our stop. On the platform I try to locate the man who paid for us to thank him, but he already disappeared.

We visit the Fire Temple of Baku. It’s like a monastery complex, originally it was a Zoroastrian temple. The temple was built on a pocket of natural gas. Especially for us the eternal flame is lighted for a moment.

Back in Baku we have a drink at a boulevard terrace. We stroll along the Caspian Sea. The water is brown colored. We don’t spot any fish at all. Perhaps because of all the oil drilling close by. The Caspian Sea is a dead sea. The Baku Funicular connects you to the Old City. Because it’s broken, we walk. On our way we visit a nice Russian market. A cup of tea on a terrace completes the afternoon.

When we walk to the hotel the wind is very chilly. Baku sure lives up to its nickname ‘city of winds’. Dinner in the Baku Caravanserai. This place, built centuries ago, served as a restaurant/hotel/meeting place for travelers passing Baku. You taste the history… The food is really local. Caviar followed by a Sturgeon steak. Wow.

We seek and find a taxi driver willing to take us to Yanar Dag – a must see. The taxi driver is called Elsor, a man of little words. I sit next to him on his right side (just like in mainland Europe they drive on the right side of the street). Elsor operates the gear stick with his left hand. It’s a little strange. First I don’t pay much attention to it, but after a while it strikes me that his total right arm is missing! He is experienced however, and his driving is safe.

Yanar Dag is a natural gas fire which blazes continuously on a hillside on the Absheron Peninsula. Yanar Dag is Azeri for ‘burning mountain’. They sure make up an interesting sight. A lot of schoolchildren are visiting the place today. Part of your education growing up in Azerbaijan, the land of fire!

On our way back to Baku we visit the Bibi-Heybat Mosque. A beautiful, historical mosque. It is locally known as ‘the mosque of Fatima’, which is what Alexandre Dumas called it when he described the mosque during his visit in the 1850s. We are asked to have a look inside, of course we oblige. Nice guys here who explain everything in detail. Elsor joins us, as he has never visited this place before. The mosque is surrounded by oil drilling equipment. A surrealistic view.

Close to the hotel there’s a cellar pub. Live music! My wife and I try to talk to some people, but English – and every other foreign language we know – is difficult for everyone. The music is exciting. People start to dance. We join them. This language is universal!

This trip was made in 2007.

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