Friday – October 17, 2014 50s F – Cool and dense fog in the morning
One of the joys of travel is waking up in a foreign airport between planes and not knowing the date, day, or time. I left home Wednesday afternoon and arrived in Baku, Azerbaijan on Thursday night – October 16th. It had been a long flight with a plane-change and several hours wait in Vienna. When I finally reached the Crown Hotel in the evening, I was exhausted but ready for adventure. I was joining a Road Scholars group to tour the three countries of the southern Caucasus: Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia for the next two weeks.
The Crown Hotel – Baku, Azerbaijan
Traffic in Baku
I met my fellow travelers Friday morning. There are twelve of us plus our tour guide, Inge, and a local Azeri guide, Latif, and the driver of our modern coach bus. After breakfast and introductions, we drove through the modern city of Baku. Our destination was the hilltop vista of Memorial Park which offered excellent views overlooking the capital city and the Caspian Sea. Unfortunately, the weather was very foggy and sight was limited.
Memorial Mosque in the former Kirov Park
Eternal Flame Memorial
Wall of the Old City
Most of the buildings in Baku are made of ochre limestone blocks and the entire city seemed restored and cleaned. It’s modern city with tall office buildings and many streets reminded me of Paris. The bus took us to the famous Old Town, called Icheri Sheher, which is enclosed within its medieval wall.
We walked along narrow winding streets and alleyways and visited the Shirvan Shah Palace and the tomb of a Shah from the 15th Century.
We emerged from the Old Town in lovely Fountain Square and proceeded to walk along lovely streets to our next destination.
We stopped in at several buildings which had been caravan-saris on the Ancient Silk Road hundreds of years ago. They had been converted into restaurants with private rooms off the central courtyards.
Ancient Fire Worshippers’ site:
The Maiden’s Tower:
We continued walking through the streets of Baku admiring the architecture of the city and looking at the many carpet shops.
We had a delicious lunch at a modern restaurant named the Park Cafe:
Afterwards, we boarded the bus and visited the State Museum of Azerbaijani Carpets and Applied Folk Art. We saw an incredible collection of beautiful carpets as well as weavers who demonstrated their artwork. The building was built in the shape of a rolled carpet:
Afterwards,we drove nine miles out of the city through the vast oilfields to the village of Surakhany to see the Ateshgyakh Fire Worshippers Temple which is a museum and open to the public.
The Zoroastrian Fire Temple was originally built over a natural burning gas vent as early as the sixth Century. The current temple was built in the late 1800s by Hindi-speaking Indians who lived in Baku.
Baku is the beginning of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline running from the Caspian Sea oilfields through Georgia and Turkey to the Mediterranean Sea. The Azeri capital oozes wealth with an abundance of luxury hotels and world-famous shops and beautiful modern buildings.
After we visited the temple, we returned to the hotel for a short rest then we drove out through the streets of Baku at night. Below is a photo I took of a Ferris wheel on the edge of the Caspian Sea.
We had a delicious dinner at a traditional Azeri restaurant named Fayton and returned to the hotel to rest up for our next adventure tomorrow.
