Baku, Azerbaijan
40° 23' N 49° 52' E
Jun 12, 2006 10:18
Distance 1763km

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The Expatriates

Text written in: English

Thanks so much, Colleen and Michael, for the great hospitality!  It was so comfy staying in Baku that we didn't want to leave!

Our first impression of Baku:  nice European feel city with HORRIBLE traffic.  It took a while to get into downtown from the airport, not because of distance.  Some of the craziest drivers live here.  I've never seen cars passing on the opposite side of the road forcing the oncoming traffic to form a single lane.  When you cross the road on a one way street, make sure still to look the opposite way; in Baku, you just never know!  Pedestrians have absolutely no rights here.  As soon as the traffic light turns green, it's time to get out of the way!

After a nice homemade breakfast of fresh fruits, pancakes and Kenyan pork sausages (we miss pork!), Colleen took us to visit the carpet museum.  Azerbaijan is famous for its carpets and we learned about the different patterns, and density of knots.  In the afternoon, we headed out on a journey to visit the mud volcanoes and the petroglyphs in Gobustan.  We didn't manage to find the spewing mud volcanoes but the off-road driving was very fun!

The food is great here in Baku.  We managed to cater to all our cravings in this city:  Chinese dinner with fried noodles that are crunchy,  Italian lunch with the most delicious desserts and Japanese dinner with fresh sashimi and sushi rolls.  And of course I should mention the wonderful Mexican dinner that Colleen & Michael put together.  The salsa and burritos were awesome!  We also tried Beluga caviar from the Caspian Sea.  We bought it from poachers at the local bazaar so it was quite inexpensive.  The two of us finished a 3 1/2 oz jar for breakfast! 

You cannot buy authentic versions of DVDs here.  At the media stores, you will see posters of The Da Vinci Code and Mission Impossible III on DVD already!  And the quality is great!  You have to admit that the Russians are the King of Piracy!

From Baku, we headed back to Istanbul.

 

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Photos / videos of "The Expatriates":

Breakfast at Michael and Colleen's with Michael's homemade pancakes. Their cotton candy is good! And only 20 cents. Baku's waterfront carnival is funny. It goes all day. The operators don't even care because they charge such a pittance. Watch out Disneyland :) Maiden Tower. The most famous landmark in the entire city. Maiden Tower again. This is part of the old city as it blends in against the background of the new city. People would put their camels here in the old days. Azeri carpets. Michael and Colleen are big fans. Yee-haw. This is the president of Azerbaijan on a woven carpet. (not a photo or painting) Too bad they don't fly. I wonder why they leave them lying out on the sidewalk where they get ruined by the sun and people walking around. Must not be their good models. Michael and Colleen bought a lot of carpets from this guy, Sayed. Supposedly one of the most honest salesmen in the city. This was a cool store. Looks like an old cave. Another part of the old city. They would put their camels below and come up to the level where we are. Nowadays there's a restaurant on the bottom level where the camels used to be. "Picturesque" Baku harbor with the great views of .. oil derricks. This pool of water is probably more oil than water. Near one of the abandoned oil derricks in the countryside. Almost to the top of the mud volcano. Yay. I'm so talented. A great restaurant in the old city called Karavansarai. These things are called Lulas. Lamb sausage in a blanket. Yummy! The four of us at lunch at Karavansarai. One of their specialties here is apricot and raisin rice. Black Market Caspian Beluga Caviar. These tins are 113g (just under 4 oz) and cost only $22 USD. Michael's famous homemade burritos. Actually it might be Colleen's. You have to ask them. Dinner in the living room. We lost at Hold Em!! Evil Colleen. She might just have been pretending not to know the rules. Downtown Baku. Many people were washing themselves and drinking from this fountain but we weren't about to drink the water. The Walled City leading to the Maiden's Tower. This mosque is at the top of the funicular hill. Baku city.
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