Learning lots

The Boulevard again

I slept well from 2030 last night to 0530.  I took it easy and didn’t head out till 0800 because sights here don’t open till around 1000.  I had planned on walking to the Flame Towers but did random walks down to the waterfront instead when I realised I had missed a pedestrian crossing on the busy street and it was too far to backtrack.

I ended up on the west end of the Boulevard which I hadn’t touched yesterday.  I saw the Carpet Museum from the outside (it was still far too early) then repeated the area I had visited yesterday.  With the sun out and shining, it made a huge difference to the photos and my perception of the city.

In the park area, an old man with gold teeth asked me for money!  Or perhaps he wanted to exchange money with me?

As with yesterday I notice heavy police presence in the city.  I turned around and made my way back near the city hall, which was next to the semi-permanent grandstand for the Grand Prix.  I took a more inland route from here.  There were a few backtracks as pedestrian crossings weren’t always available at every junction on these busy streets.

One thing I noticed here was that there were no Chinese businesses, unlike in virtually every country in the world!

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Free Walking Tour

At 1100 I met with guide Gani and four other visitors for a 2h30 walking tour of Baku.  We started in the old city and finished in the newer part of the city where we had started.  While it wasn’t a super-picturesque tour, I learnt a lot from him:

• Azerbaijanis are culturally closer to Persians but their language is considered a dialect of Turkish.  There is a strong Russian and European influence due to colonisation and the oil boom.
• Baku is pronounced kinda like Bachi in the Azeri language.
• At -28m below sea level, Baku is the lowest capital in the world!  Much lower than Amsterdam!
• The first modern oil well in the world was near Baku in 1846.
• I asked about the environmental disaster of abandoned oil fields after the Soviet breakup but he explained that’s largely been remedied.
• Historians can’t agree on the age of the Maiden’s Tower or the purpose.  The story about the King who wanted to marry the woman whom he didn’t know was his daughter, causing her to jump from the tower is probably urban legend.
• Swift nests were found in the crevasses of the Maiden Tower during it’s restoration.  Temporary homes were built for the swifts in a nearby building wall (and they were migrated using recordings of their sound).  Upon restoration of the tower, the swifts migrated back.
• The two mosques in the old city that we visited didn’t appear very significant.  One is closed and the other small and quiet.  While most people are Muslims (largely Shia), only about 1% of the population attend mosque weekly.  This is a very secular country, to the extent that some say toasts holding up a vodka shot in God’s name!
• If it hadn’t been for oil, Baku probably wouldn’t be what it is today.  It’s too hot and humid in summer but too cold in winter.  Both seasons are exaggerated by strong winds.
• Baku’s architecture outside of the old city is very European.  During the oil boom, many expats settled here outnumbering the locals.  Amongst them were Polish architects who were responsible for many of the city’s fine buildings.
• People often ask if Azerbaijan is more Asian or European.  It’s early adoption of democracy suggests its European but the long tenure of its presidents and succession by his son, suggests its Asian.

Azerbaijan’s relations with its neighbours is complex:

• She has fairly good relations with Russia but with aspirations of joining NATO, this may change.  Azerbaijan will let Ukraine and Georgia go first and let them take the bullet.
• Relations with Georgia is like a loveless marriage that needs to carry on; Georgia provides a vital land link to Azerbaijan’s best ally, Turkiye.
• While Turkiye is Azerbaijan’s best ally, it acts like a big brother at times.  Some say one nation two states.
• Azerbaijan has no relations with Armenia due to the dispute over its exclave,Nagorno-Kharabakh.
• Last but not least, Iran.  Depending on source, 20-40 million Azeris live in Iran compared to the 10 million in Azerbaijan.  Iran may consider Azerbaijan to be the part that they lost to the Russians decades ago.  On the other hand, Iran fears that Azerbaijan may incite their local Azeris to inspire for independence or union with Azerbaijan.

As for the various buildings we visited:

• At the Palace of the Shirvanshahs, we got a view of 600 years in just one place.  There was the 15^th Century palace in the foreground, then the Soviet era buildings, later 20^th Century and finally the 21^st Century Flame Towers.
• The museum of miniature books prompted me to ask:  Why?!  I have trouble reading newspapers with my ageing eyes so miniature books as an art form doesn’t do it for me.
• The wedding registry and reception area is located in a building called “Palace of Happiness”.  It was built by an oil baron for his wife as a surprise because she loved the Parisian architecture that they saw in France.  Imagine being taken out for a stroll by hubby who then presented their new home to her!

We finished the tour with recommendations for dining.  I immediately took up the suggestion of a working man’s eatery called Xezer, where I had a good meal, salad and drinks for AZN8 (about NZD8).

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Panorama

Late in the afternoon, I walked up to viewpoint, near the Martyr’s Lane war memorial for a panoramic view of the city and Baku Bay.  The area also gave a good vantage point for viewing the Flame Towers.

I continued my walk to the Flame Towers to find it cordoned off and except  for the Fairmont Hotel which takes up one tower.  While I had understood that there was a shopping mall, it wasn’t evident.

With no mall to wander around in, it was hard for me to stay up here till dark.  I had hoped to catch the Flame Towers lit up in its illuminated glory by night.  I managed to do just that but back down from the Boulevard.

I didn’t feel like a proper sit-down meal and grabbed a shawarma and a freshly-squeezed juice near the city wall.  It proved rather expensive due to the juice, coming to just AZN1 less than my lunch of a meal, salad and drink.

Back in my room around 1930, I stayed up for a couple of hours before retiring.  It had been a big day, registering 30000 steps on my watch (and more on my phone).