Gallivanting Grandma

Sunday, October 19, 2014   Cloudy and cool – 66 degrees F
Today was our day to see the sights in the town of Sheki, Azerbaijan which is one of the oldest settlements in the country. Our first adventure of the day was the outdoor market. The coach dropped us off and we explored on our own. The people were friendly and invited us to try some of their produce. I love the outdoor markets around the world! They’re so vibrant and full of life and reveal so much about a culture.

A man asked me to take a photograph of an older man sitting behind some fruits and vegetables. The second man smiled and held up a pomegranate. I took his picture and showed it to him, then he smiled broadly and gave me his pomegranate. I was touched by his kind gesture.

After a fun time at the market we drove up a hill on the other side of the city to the Khan’s Palace from the 18th century which had an excellent view of Sheki in the valley among the hills. The fall leaves were beautiful despite the overcast sky.

Our coach drove us up the hill to the walled fortress that surrounded the summer palace of the khan. The medieval wall gave an ancient feeling to the site. Within the compound, there are several museums, craft buildings, and a church as well as the Khan’s mosaic covered palace.

We visited the craft shop of a woodworker who made the lattice windows of the palace using old techniques of fitting carefully cut wooden pieces together around the stained glass like a jigsaw puzzle. We were informed that the Venetian glass was imported from Murano and placed within the intricate wooden pieces.

We had a little time to visit the shops along a street filled with interesting buildings constructed of large stones.

That’s our driver playing the drum in a music shop. He was having a good time waiting for the group to finish shopping. Then we had lunch in a charming local restaurant which had a lovely outdoor garden in the back for summer dining.

We ate a delicious soup and stuffed vegetables. Dessert was sweet walnut baklava and chai in a glass – Turkish style. Then we were taken to a silk factory and shop. Sheki is famous for its production of silk carpets and fabrics.

We had the afternoon free to rest or explore Sheki on our own, so one of my tour mates and I walked around the neighborhood of the hotel. It’s a lovely city with friendly people and interesting architecture. There seemed to be many hotels, restaurants, shopping, and sites to visit.

We saw several “wedding cars” decorated for the festivities. Marriages seem to be a major event in this part of the world.

In the evening, we had dinner at an authentic old caravanserai which was renovated some years ago and is currently a hotel and restaurant.

During dinner, we heard a trio play Azeri folk music called mugham on traditional instruments. It was so much fun!  Sheki was a great place to visit.

Saturday, October 18, 2014  It was cool and windy in Baku, Azerbaijan this morning.

I woke up early to have breakfast at the hotel before our departure at eight o’clock. Unfortunately, our time in Baku was limited. We were scheduled to spend two nights and just one day touring the city. It looked like a beautiful, vibrant metropolis with many things to do and see. Our small group checked out of the hotel and we boarded the huge bus to drive south toward the city of Qobustan. On the way, we stopped at the Bibi-Heybat Mosque which was originally constructed in the 13th century. It had been destroyed in 1934 by Stalin’s army but was completely reconstructed in 1998.

The mosque is located on the main road near one of Azerbaijan’s first oil fields developed in the late 19th century. The house of worship was built on the side of a steep hill which rose above the Caspian Sea. Across the road, behind Bibi-Heybat, there was a large cemetery which extended further up the mountain.

Walking to the edge of the overlook from the mosque, I took a photo of a large shipyard on the Caspian Sea:

The coach continued driving south toward the ancient city of Qobustan. The earth was dry and desert-like. We passed commercial oilfields, refineries, and other commercial establishments on the outskirts of Baku.

We were on our way to see the ancient petroglyphs which were discovered in 1939. There was an excellent new museum which gave visitors an historic overview of the site and some clues to the symbolism of the rock drawings.

After we toured the museum, we climbed up among huge boulders to see the 15,000 year-old petroglyphs.

Below is a photo of Latif explaining current theories of what the drawings might have meant to the ancient people who lived among the caves.

The weather cleared, the sun shone brilliantly and there was a fantastic view out toward the Caspian Sea from the hill we had climbed:

Today was our day to drive to the Azeri city of Sheki, about 300 km northwest of Baku. Below are several photos I took along the route which, I think, gives an idea of the countryside of Azerbaijan:

Another historic mosque along the way:

We stopped for lunch at a roadside restaurant somewhere in Azerbaijan. We drove into the Caucasus Mountains.

We stopped at a natural sulphur spring. There was also a ‘general store’ and a man selling preserves and other flavored waters.  Latif  bought a bottle of ‘wild rose water’ which he said was for his health. He said he takes one teaspoon of the flavored water every day.

We arrived in Sheki about 5:30 PM and checked into the Sheki Saray Hotel. My room was lovely and comfortable, with a large window and a balcony. It was spacious, clean, and had a strong WiFi signal. I had time to rest before dinner and called Jeff on FaceTime. Two views of the hotel and the lobby:

Dinner was at a lovely restaurant near the hotel where we had a delicious meal of traditional Azeri food:

It was a long day on the road, but it was varied and interesting. Tomorrow I will see the city of Sheki, Azerbaijan.

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.