LOVE-A-LOTTA-LADA - Baku, Zagatala and Sheki, Azerbaijan

 …........last post, we enjoyed a stay in Australia, mostly in autumny Melbourne........

Bloke on the street, Baku, Azerbaijan

After swanning about Australia for the past month, it was now time to get our butts into action, and get back on the road. First stop was Dubai, with a much needed break in between drawn out flights. This is very much our habit now on long haul flights. We have all the time in the world, and we always feel more relaxed and less stressed having a stopover when it is convenient. Which it was this time.

Feeling refreshed(ish), we then flew to Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan to begin a new adventure.

Azerbaijan within the Caucasus region

Our route through Azerbaijan

Having purchased online visas, entry was straightforward, and we found the airport bus into the city to be directly outside the arrivals door. The fare of 1.30 manat/£0.60 was also excellent value for the 30 minute trip. Exactly how it should be arriving at every airport.

We'd booked a random hotel for a night in the old town, and our tired heads saw us getting lost and wandering aimlessly for sometime in the labyrinth before coming upon the place. It was nothing to write home about, but did the job of a place to put our heads down for a few nights, and get our thoughts together.

Our first impressions of the city was how clean and tidy it was- no graffiti, no rubbish and many street cleaners. Second thing we noticed was how incredibly well put together the women were. Most ladies wore impeccable make-up and hair, dressed super smartly, and left a waft of perfume behind. Sal is a very “casual” dresser at the best of times, but here she was an utter dag in comparison! They also love the big eyebrow look, often enhancing their already thick and dark brows to outrageous proportions.

Clean streets of Baku Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan has long been on our list of places to visit. We left it out of our mammoth trip around Iran/Armenia/Georgia some years ago. At that time we felt we hadn't sufficient energy left to dedicate to exploring the country properly. It shares some similarities with its Caucasus neighbours, but we were interested to find out the country's individual quirks and characteristics. One big difference from Armenia and Georgia was religion, with Azerbaijan being 97% Muslim.

Baku mosque, Ottoman style

Samovars lined up, Baku Azerbaijan

Giant head art, Baku Azerbaijan

Today, Baku is the biggest city in the Caucasus region with its population being over two million. Back when Baku was under control of the Shirvanshahs (a powerful dynasty that ruled on and off for hundreds of years between the 8^th and 14^th centuries), much of the huge infrastructure of thick stone walls, towers and castles were built to protect the city. We found the remains a bit too neatly renovated, but it was pleasing to see some ancient memories still present. The Iranian Safavid dynasty eventually took over in the 1500s, then came the Ottomans, then the Iranians again.......this region really has the most complicated history! The Russian Empire took control in the 1800s, and Russian law and local customs co-existed for some time. They were also responsible for establishing the oil industry in Azerbaijan, the main source of prosperity and trade for Baku, at least. Amazingly, in the early 1900s, half of the oil on the international market originated from Baku. The end of World War 1 saw Azerbaijan coming under the control of the Soviets, and during World War 2, Baku, in particular, was of great strategic importance due to its oil wealth. We noticed, throughout our travels around parts of Azerbaijan, that there are not as many remnants from the Soviet era as other post Soviet countries we have visited. In 1991, when Azerbaijan became independent, they used capital from their oil riches to rejuvenate the city, purging it of many old Soviet buildings and infrastructure. The Western-style city they created is of complete contrast to other areas of the country.

Azerbaijani cat and flag, Baku

Ancient doorway, Baku Azerbaijan

Prosperous Baku, as seen from high

During our stay in Baku, we got around the city on the efficient Metro system. There weren't many lines, only three or four, but as the stations were very far apart, it seemed to cover most of Baku. As a train was pulling in at a station, a little bit of “arrival music” was played and then an announcement of the name of the station. After a very short time, there was another quick announcement and the door shut automatically with such force, we made a mental note to be quick getting inside! There were crowds on the metro trains, but everyone behaved in a very civilised way, and we were totally comfortable. A couple of friendly people spoke with us on the trains (including one man who could not take his eyes of Richard's Blundstones), but generally people had phones out and eyes down- as is the case almost everywhere now. One girl told us how she had heard us speaking English and was fascinated by our accents. She herself spoke four languages; Azeri, Russian, English and Turkish- quite normal for them, she said. Our experience was, outside of Baku, very few people spoke English at all.

We visited a few different areas, admiring the old town, with it's winding streets, many cats and heritage buildings. The older buildings had all been renovated, and everything had a new and shiny feel. But there was still some remnants of the old world, a few touches such as big old trees in the streets and thick grape vines growing over stone walls. Many huge apartment blocks had been built in an extraordinarily intricate style to look old, and it was frankly difficult to tell the difference.

Old town souvenirs, Baku Azerbaijan

Old town ruins, Baku Azerbaijan

Ancient mosque, Baku Azerbaijan

Early morning in Baku old town

Odd shaped tower, Baku Azerbaijan

Ruin-come-shopping place, Baku Azerbaijan

The Soviet-era flat blocks in a different part of town seemed to go on forever. We searched out a couple of remaining Soviet mosaics, but there was not much left over from that era. Mulberry, fig, pomegranate, plane and oleander trees lined the streets.

Heydar Aliyev, omnipresent ex-president of Azerbaijan

Soviet-era restaurant, Baku, Azerbaijan

Soviet-era bakery mosaic, Baku, Azerbaijan

Pomegranate street trees, Baku, Azerbaijan

Soviet-era apartments, Baku, Azerbaijan

Cool old Olympic mosaic, Baku, Azerbaijan

The new, modern part of Baku with the iconic skyscrapers, reminded us a lot of downtown Riyadh. The Flame Towers were the most recognisable feature, and were visible from practically every part of Baku.

Flame towers close up, Baku, Azerbaijan

The old and the new, city of contrasts, Baku

Street art, Baku Azerbaijan

A special appearance from Tesla, Baku Azerbaijan

One big thing struck us in Baku, and that was the amount of people! Everywhere we went there were crowds- on the metro, in the streets, in cafes and restaurants, and most people looked affluent, well dressed and busy. We tried to get out early in the day to avoid the crowds. An overall feeling of prosperity and opulence prevailed, presumably from their oil industry. As we travelled outside of the city, we quickly realised not much of this wealth trickled down to the ordinary people.

Fountains galore in Baku, Azerbaijan

Butterfly and flower in Baku park

Shoe shop, Baku, Azerbaijan

Model in Baku shop

In general, we enjoyed Baku. The contrast between the rich oil side of the city, the old town and the ex-Soviet areas was interesting, and a few days there satisfied our curiosity. The metro was wonderfully efficient, the architecture wild and the city flourished in general. We had fabulous warm weather during our stay, not too hot, even in July. But overall, we would have to say it was our least favourite Caucasus capital. The people were not overly friendly (although this could be said of most capital cities), and it was expensive for accommodation and decent restaurants- the food at the cheaper end of the scale was pretty bad quality and not varied. A lot of doner kebab. Enough said.

Dushbara, tiny dumpling soup, Azeri specialty

Street art, Baku Azerbaijan

Heated discussion, old boys, Baku Azerbaijan

Old with new in background, Baku Azerbaijan

Eternal flame, war memorial, Baku Azerbaijan

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Azerbaijan has a railway network left over from Soviet times, but for whatever reason, it is not extensive. There are three or four lines around the country, and trains are not frequent- mostly only once a day in either direction. The website is excellent for the trains, but was not available to view outside of the Azerbaijan. Not being able to prepare beforehand, we made a last minute plan upon arrival into Baku, after a visit to the helpful central train station. We saw the town Zagatala on the map, far away from the capital and exotic sounding. It looked just about as far as we could go without entering Georgia, and we decided that would be the place to visit first.

The train to Zagatala left late at night, and we were pleasantly surprised upon boarding. There were four beds to a section, with two on the side, and we had a top and a bottom bunk. A clean sheet set was laid out on each bunk, as well as pillow, mattress and blanket. We made up our own beds (after watching out neighbours to see how it was done!), climbed up and immediately went off into a sound sleep. It's probably one of the most comfortable and clean trains we have ever experienced. Even the toilets were spic and span with toilet paper and soap. We noticed when the passengers woke up in the morning, they all folded up their bedding for the conductor before alighting. Side note- the conductor said he thought Sal looked like a movie star. This helped her with her image a bit after being the dag in glamorous Baku!

Train Baku to Zagatala, Azerbaijan

Clean and functional toilet on the train, Baku Zagatala

Arriving at Zagatala, we realised the station was 12 kilometres away from town- another downside to Azerbaijan trains. Most stations are no-where near the towns they service. Luckily a friendly lady helped us negotiate a taxi and we ended up at the Hotel Zagatala, right in the centre of town. The place had seen better days, but the price was cheap at 30 manat/£13, the room was clean and comfortable. Breakfast was included in the bargain price and the guys running the front desk made us laugh. Unfortunately, they had not a word of English, but it made Sal up her game to re-learn some Russian phrases and learn a couple of new Azerbaijani words.

Simple room, Zagatala, Azerbaijan

Breakfast was like a comedy skit, with one reception worker coming into the breakfast room to serve us, looking and smiling at Richard to check his reaction every time he brought something to the table. When the teapot came with a ridiculously long spout, we couldn't stop laughing hysterically at the situation. A friendly guy from Baku with excellent English eagerly spoke with us the first morning. He was buying a property in the area, and had a lot of tips about beautiful spots to visit. He also told us Zagatala is famous for the amount of different ethnic groups that have settled here for hundreds of years. We definitely noticed folks of many different looks during our stay in town, including, surprisingly, blondes and red heads.

Breakfast fun, Zagatala, Azerbaijan

Zagatala region is home to a huge hazelnut industry- there is even a factory in town. On the train entering the area we had noticed many many hazelnut groves, as well as persimmon orchards. We have an irrational dislike of persimmons after a bad experience working on a dodgy persimmon farm where conditions were not good. They don't even taste nice, and we don't understand people's love of them. But they are very popular in Azerbaijan.

Hazelnut grove, Zagatala

Russian truck in a garden, Zagatala, Azerbaijan

Our days in and around Zagatala were spent getting back into the habit of walking every day. The quiet surrounding villages were accessible by local marshrutkas (minibuses) and were pleasant for walking along the gushing rivers. Many lane ways were lined with hazelnut groves- their branches curving together to create pleasing tunnels through the farms. The small lanes were lined with stone houses with thick rock walls or homemade wooden fences. This made it somewhat difficult for us to sticky beak into! But we saw many had large orchards with loquats, pomegranates and walnuts featuring heavily. Big old chestnut and ash trees as well as gnarled beeches lined the lanes, many covered with moss. We munched on mulberries, plump and ready to eat off the trees on the way. Locals had an interesting idea for a hedge- prickly citrus plants, to keep out livestock, as many cows were grazing willy nilly. One village had two ancient looking towers, but those days were really just for wandering and not for seeing sights as such.

We loved these Soviet-era signs at the beginning of towns

Little house in the countryside around Zagatala

Lovely country lanes, around Zagatala

Gnarly tree, Zagatala cemetery

Old graves in Zagatala cemetery

Stream near Zagatala, Azerbaijan

Twisted tree roots, around Zagatala

Simple fences, village near Zagatala

On the marshrutka going home one day, a smiley woman invited us to get off with her as she wanted to take us to taste some local food. Of course we accepted, and followed her down a tiny country lane to a surprising little restaurant and mini organic farm. We got a tour from the welcoming staff members (one spoke English- it always seemed someone would show up just when we needed them!). We were shown the lovely garden and animals alongside tables beautifully set up for eating under trees. Ducks, chickens, quails, guinea fowl, geese, two hilarious turkeys and a white peacock wandered around happily!

White peacock, Zagatala organic cafe, Azerbaijan

They proceeded to bring us chay and makhara, a kind of crepe filled with meat, cheese and persimmon syrup- all made from the farm goods. Although we had not long had breaky, we were not about to turn down the chance to eat something local and interact with people with an English speaker present!

Makhara dish, Zagatala, Azerbaijan

Our host was most interesting- a blonde woman who was an Avar. They are an ethnic group originating in Dagestan, Russia, and there is a population of around 150,000 of them in Azerbaijan. She explained to us she felt more European than Asian, and she certainly looked it. She spoke only a few words of English, and Sal's Russian needed a serious brush up to say the least, but we managed a lovely time with internet translations, laughs and smiles.

New friend, Avar lady, Zagatala, Azerbaijan

When the staff learnt we were from Australia, they started playing Aussie “hits” on their loud speakers. We found ourselves in a surreal position of listening to “A Land Down Under”, eating pancakes with a blonde stranger with two mad turkeys trying to steal our food in an organic cafe in the middle of nowhere in Azerbaijan!

Mad turkeys trying to eat Rich's food

Our last day was drizzly, and we headed to the town centre- an orderly mix of parks, government buildings, chay xanas (tea houses), and a few leftover Soviet-era mosaics. The wet weather fortuitously coincided with us coming upon a rare modern cafe in which to shelter. The young guys working there were extremely nice and chatty, and made great cafe lattes to boot. We spent a while there and asked them every questions we could think of, taking advantage of their excellent communication skills. Later in the day, another rainstorm saw us being invited into a library by a lovely young lady with a few words of English. She was excited to talk with us, and weirdly the one thing she seemed to know about from Australia was dingoes.

Russian Monopoly, Zagatala shop

Little get-about, Zagatala, Azerbaijan

Young guys working at Zagatala cafe

Neglected church, Zagatala, Azerbaijan

Just as a side note: We were slightly dismayed at the shortage of Russian/Soviet objects and structures left around the parts of Azerbaijan that we visited. Compared to other post-Soviet countries we have travelled in (which, it has to be said, does not include the famously anti-Russian Baltics), there is a dearth of physical reminders of those times. We eagerly swooped on and photographed the odd mosaic on an apartment block, retro town sign or World War 2 monument we did happen to come across.

Old mosaic we happened apon, Zagatala, Azerbaijan

Lovely retro style ferris wheel, Zagatala, Azerbaijan

The Zagatala market was sprawling and full of our favourite summer fruits. Plums, peaches, cherries and strawberries were all present in big piles, and we were delighted to get back into our habit of scoffing loads topped with smetana (a creamy mixture between sour cream and Greek yoghurt) every day. The price of 3 manat a kilo/£1.30 was just ridiculous. Elderly men sold yellow melons out of the back of Ladas and little old ladies sat with a small array of dried herbs in front of them.

Melon season, Zagatala, Azerbaijan

Fantastic idea- stolen from Rich!

Side note- Sal became obsessed with the amount of charming old Ladas everywhere, once we left Baku. We began a game of Lada-bagging, where we tried to get a picture of every different coloured version. This was quite a feat, as the array of hues is enormous.

Lovely Ladas!

We got on much better in Zagatala with food than we had in big city Baku. We found a fantastic grill place with enough varieties of delicious lamb and chicken kebabs and salads to keep us more than satisfied. And we were happy to discover that, as we hoped, outside of Baku, food prices were much lower.

Tava kebab yumminess, Zagatala restaurant, Azerbaijan

There was a noticeable amount of inquisitive staring around Zagatala- it seems not many weirdo foreign tourists make it out this far.

Good place for a mobile phone

Weird hand basin, Zagatala, Azerbaijan

Chatting with boy and grandma, Zagatala walk

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On the map, the road to Sheki looked like a straightforward highway route from Zagatala. However, for some reason the marshrutka we were on took a bumpy back route that was jarring on the spine. As we left Zagatala, groves of hazelnut trees lined the road, giving way eventually to more open farmland, with rolling green hills in the background. Many farms were growing tobacco- a popular product in Azerbaijan that is sold in cigarette form in shops for bargain prices.

Countryside around Sheki, Azerbaijan

Horses are a popular form of transport in Azerbaijan

Upon arrival, we walked up the hill towards the old town, and checked into our accommodation. The host was a character, in love with everything “Western”. EU, American and British flags adorned his foyer, and he regaled many stories about impolite and wayward Pakistani, Chinese and Russian guests. He was a wide and manic man, off to Serbia the following day to find work. His sister, a Russian speaking older lady, looked after us splendidly during his absence.

To be honest, we weren't particularly enthralled by Sheki. It has a lot of interesting history, apparently being founded in the 8^th century BC, but the way the buildings in the old town had been renovated seemed to have sucked the soul out of the place.

Central Sheki town

A side street off the main drag, Sheki, Azerbaijan

Pickles for sale, Sheki, Azerbaijan

Little handcrafted goods for sale, Sheki

Over the years, Sheki was ruled by the Arabs, Armenians and the Georgians in ancient times. During the middle ages, the Shirvanshahs, a ruling class with Persian background took Sheki into it's territory, and by the 1700s a Sheki khanate was established by Muslim-Armenian rulers. Much fighting and switching of rulers took places during this time, hence the many fortress remainders in the area. The 1800s saw an agreement with the khanate to be taken into Russia control, and this was the beginning of the modern era of Sheki. During these times, a silk industry was established, which apparently still thrives today. We didn't see much evidence of this, only one or two tourist shops selling overpriced textiles.

The Caravanserai (place for Silk Road travellers to stay in ancient times) was an architecturally marvellous building that should have been enthralling, but again, just kind of sat there without any life or memories. 

Sheki Caravanserai, Azerbaijan

Caravanserai at Sheki, Azerbaijan

We preferred walking up past all the touristy shops and sights to the old residential area above, with grand views from random cemeteries and memorials. Most houses had tall stone walls and large gates. They really love a wall in Azerbaijan- a sign of a past (and maybe present?) closed society.

Some derelict structure behind a wall, Sheki, Azerbaijan

Rich and a truck! Around Sheki

Random building in the forest, Sheki, Azerbaijan

VERY rare doggie shot from Rich! Abandoned puppies, Sheki

Dramatic war memorial, Sheki, Azerbaijan

A view back to Sheki town from a nearby hill

An intriguing house in the undergrowth, near Sheki

Exploring a small graveyard, Sheki, Azerbaijan

Pretty little mountain flowers, Sheki

More serenity at a Sheki graveyard

Sneaking a nap in the heat of the day, around Sheki, Azerbaijan

The various mosques in the town were distinctive with their tall stone minarets, and obviously possessed more spirit to them, being working houses of worship. We noticed a few churches, not just in Sheki, but other places, that had been left to ruin, uncared for by the authorities.

Mosque minaret in a lovely setting, Sheki, Azerbaijan

Two old boys enjoying the morning sunshine, Kish, near Sheki

Unusual mosque, Sheki, Azerbaijan

Men sat in appealing tea houses under large trees around the town- lively places, but not to be frequented by women. This was the toughest part of travelling Azerbaijan for us. One of our main pleasures during the day whist wandering around a town, is to sit in a cafe, outside a shop, in a tea house, simple restaurant, wherever, and relax and enjoy a beverage of some kind. It's usually a good chance to interact with locals, as well as having a break. In Azerbaijan it is greatly frowned upon for women to sit in the men's chay xanas (tea houses). As tourists, we sometimes get away with cultural faux pas, here we felt uncomfortable- perhaps we were being over-sensitive. We were OK frequenting modern cafes, where many women and families sipped away on tea and coffee, but the best, most simple and atmospheric places were the chay xana, usually in a town square, or under a lovely tree in the shade. Oh well. Rich reminded Sal that it wasn't that long ago that the presence of women wasn't acceptable in the bar area of Aussie pubs.

Although English was not at all widely spoken in Azerbaijan, often when someone did speak it, they made an effort to talk with us and be friendly, which we really appreciated. One man ran out of shop in Sheki, and asked where we were from. When we said Australia, he said with a thick accent “Falls Creek!” excitedly. When we finally understood what he was saying, we got that he had seen a program about the meteorite crater near Halls Creek, Western Australia and must have been fascinated by it. It was almost as random as the dingo lady in Zagatala!

Another few hours were pleasantly whiled away chatting to two Pakistan travellers- a very smart young couple, with good insight and sensitivity to the Azerbaijan and Muslim culture here. We swapped ideas and stories, and it was lovely to chat with travellers, and in proper English for a bit. It was the only time in a month we met fellow foreign travellers- most tourists we met were from Baku or other parts of Azerbaijan.

Whilst in Sheki, we were sure to try two of the famous foods from the town. The first was piti, a stew with lamb and chickpeas cooked in a clay pot. This tasted a lot better than it looked- the thick layer of gelatinous fat on the top was slightly off-putting for Sal. But the fat gave it a delicious richness and eating the stew in the traditional way over broken up pieces of bread, it was heavy and filling. The other was a type of baklava called Sheki halva. Super sweet, we managed a little bite, but it proved too much for our teeth.

Sheki halva, sold everywhere in Sheki

Sheki region specialty dish- piti. Lamb and chick peas cooked in a clay pot

A final note about Sheki...we frequented several supermarkets, and were amused by the “security boxes”. In most European countries these lockers are supplied to leave any bags in whilst looking around the supermarket, mostly in an effort to stop shoplifting. Here, though, people left their goods inside the boxes without locking them, obviously not worrying about theft, and we thought that a sign of a fantastically safe and trusting society.

...........up next, we continue with more exploits in random parts of Azerbaijan........