Baku, Azerbaijan
Greetings from Baku!
My mother and I find ourselves here in the Azerbaijani capital as part of our first-ever trip together. I feel so grateful to be able to do this with her. We’re heading to Azerbaijan, Belarus, and Kazakhstan!
We flew from Boston to Frankfurt to Baku, all on Lufthansa. We decided to stay at the Hyatt Regency, the city’s first Western hotel after the collapse of the Soviet Union. It’s a nice hotel, especially since we get free breakfast and a suite upgrade with my status for under $90 a night. However, I don’t recommend it for tourists in Baku because of the location– it’s a solid 1.5km north of anything exciting. It’s not difficult to take a Bolt (Uber equivalent) to all of the action, but there are plenty of decent hotels closer to the main sites. Also, the hotel doesn’t really have a concierge. Instead, the luggage porter, Ibrahim, can help with some bookings. He was super friendly and tried his best, but obviously, he didn’t have the knowledge and contacts of a full-blown concierge.
Ibrahim arranged for a driver to take us around Baku on our first day. First, we stopped at the Heydar Aliyev center, named after the first President of Azerbaijan. This building, designed by the late Iraqi architect Zara Hadid is a work of art in and of itself. Inside are some interesting exhibits about Azerbaijani history, instruments, and carpets, as well as work by Azerbaijani artists.
Next up, we headed to the old city. You can tour the palace, attached mosque, and hammam (communal bath). I highly recommend paying extra for a tour guide who can explain the stories behind what you’re seeing. It was about $20, if I remember correctly.
Because we had difficulties booking tickets to Nakhichevan, Azerbaijan’s main exclave, our driver was kind enough to bring us to the ticket office. Availability is scant because of the summer holidays and the fact that Azerbaijan’s land borders are still closed due to the pandemic. However, we found a ticket leaving July 24th in the evening and returning to Baku on the morning of the 26th, meaning I’d spend my 21st birthday in this place I didn’t know existed until last month.
We ended our tour with a stroll in Baku’s Highland Park. Highland Park has a section dedicated to remembering the nation’s martyrs and an eternal flame honoring them.
Before returning to the hotel, we headed to the Deniz (Sea) Mall, which is aptly named considering it’s located right on the Caspian Sea.
On our second day, we decided to get a guide to take us to a few places outside Baku. We booked via Trip Advisor, and I highly recommend this tour with guide Farhad.
We started the day by visiting the Gobuston Rock art. This is a mountain with many Paleolithic drawings left by ancient people. A Soviet scientist discovered it in the early 20th century and is now preserved for visitors. I’ve never seen this kind of art before, so I was blown away. Another interesting thing you can see here are holes dug into the ground to collect rainwater. I can only imagine how difficult it was to make these holes with primitive tools!
Next, we went to the mud volcanos. I had no idea before going, but Azerbaijan is home to about half of the world’s mud volcanos. What are mud volcanos, you ask? Well, as the name implies, they are volcanos that shoot mud instead of flesh-burning lava. Pretty cool!
We then returned to Baku for a quick lunch before going to Baku Atashgah— a Zoroastrian, Hindu, and Sikh temple. This was a touching place to visit, and it is honestly one of the reasons I’ve long wanted to come to Azerbaijan.
Afterwards, we headed to the airport for our flight to Nakhichevan.
When we returned to Baku from our 2 nights in Nakhichevan, we walked the streets of Baku and enjoyed some lovely cafes. The boardwalk by the Caspian Sea is lovely, and the Sahil restaurant was top-tier. The sturgeon was especially delicious.
Now off to Belarus on a 4:55am flight!
Azerbaijan is UN country 64/193 and TCC Region 80/330 for me.