Baku/home

Last day in Baku today, flying home this evening.

We’ve had a very pleasant time here.

The old town is quaint and perfect for getting lost in, but my favourite part is the sea front which is full of parks with fountains and trees for shade. We walked all the way along the front to the centres used for the European Olympic Games held here in 2015. No, I’d never heard of them either.

We stopped to watch some men fishing. I can’t believe they would eat the fish they catch as the water is thick with oil that bubbles up from the sea bed.

Yesterday we joined a tour that took us around the main sights of Baku, including mud volcanoes. Calling these 2foot high mounds volcanoes seems a bit of an overstatement but they do bubble with (cold) mud and spill over their sides so I suppose technically they are volcanoes.

The road to them is very rough and taxi drivers in ancient old Ladas drive you there as the better taxis don’t want to risk damage. Our Lada couldn’t quite make it up the hill so we had to get out until it restarted and the driver could get some momentum. The government were going to tarmac the road but there was a huge outcry from the Lada drivers as they would lose their livelihoods so I guess this will continue until the very last Lada goes to the great scrapyard in the sky.

Volcanoes were followed by petroglyphs, followed by a very poor lunch followed by theZoroastrian temple (rebuilt, fake fire), followed by the burning mountain (or Yanar Dag).

The burning mountain is similar to the eternal fire at Cirali in Turkey but no where near as impressive. The best thing about Yanar Dag was the museum where we all amused ourselves for ages with the gadget that turned our bodies into fire. (Virtually of course).

We enjoyed meeting our fellow travellers as we were a very cosmopolitan lot, including a family from Iran where the young female teenagers were very much enjoying not wearing a hijab or being covered up from head to toe.

Our hotel has been a joy. What appeared to be an expensive stay when we booked, has turned out to be extremely cost effective. Breakfast is huge, we can have tea and cakes at 4pm and the free drinks with canapés between 5.30 and 7.30pm have been generous enough to fill us up completely and thus avoid paying for an evening meal. We noticed a group of men from Birmingham have been doing the same thing as us but eating (and drinking) three times our amount. I’m sure this week has not been a particularly profitable one for The Fairmont.

So all in all, a very enjoyable Silk Road trip. If I’m totally honest, nature is more interesting to me than man made attractions and I’m itching to get back to the countryside. Having said that, I’m so glad we’ve seen this part of the world and I’m looking forward to seeing what

kyrgyzstan has to offer as its supposed to be naturally very beautiful.