Azerbaijan

Baku

The adventures of overlanding never end. I (Nico) had an interesting two weeks in Istanbul, waiting for the group to travel with Brooke through amazing Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. I was to meet them in Baku. I expected to get there after them, because my flight to Baku was booked for well after twenty four hours after they were scheduled to arrive in Turkmenbashi. I could not contact them, because they were at sea, so when I landed in Baku I went to the hotel we use there. The confused lady behind the reception desk did not know anything about a big group checking in that day, so I set off to find a local sim card to make some calls.

I phoned the local agent and got a hold of Kirsten in the Odyssey office and together we figured out the boat was still on the other side of the sea! Well, the rest is history. I enjoyed an extra day in Baku and the guys arrived two days later. After breakfast and a shower we went exploring the city.

The city spent a lot of money restoring the old city. It is beautifully done with small shops and restaurants in old buildings surrounded by a big fort wall. There is street art and big sculptures everywhere in the city.

My one must-see tip for Baku would be to walk along the newly built promenade on the sea shore to the old city for some local beer and dinner in an old low-arched ceiling building.

Baku Old Town

Old town, new cars

The Maiden's Tower

Old town, with the modern city skyline beyond

Art in the old town

Sheki

We had a busy day today. We had to drive to Sheki and stop off at some of Azerbaijan’s historical sites.

Our first stop was the Diri Baba Mausoleum that was built in the early fifteenth century. This is a strange building that seems to be hanging onto the cliff. There are many myths and legends about this place, and nobody is quite sure about the exact history of it. Adding to the strangeness is an ancient cemetery across the valley.

Our next stop was the Juma Mosque of Shamakhi. Juma means it is the main mosque of a city or town. This mosque is also known as the Friday Mosque. It was built in the mid eighth century. Since then it has seen earthquake, war and fire. The Azerbaijan government restored it only a year ago. The building seems massive in a town that does not seem that big. It is well worth a stop when you are passing through on your way to or from Baku.

As it goes, we got our first flat tyre of the trip after that! As you can see in the photo, all the guys got down and dirty to help change it…

Soon we were off again to our last stop in Sheki, Khan’s summer palace. It is a historic house built in 1797. It is not a big palace at all, but what makes it special is the detailed artwork on the inside. It took ten years to build the house, three years for the structure, and seven years for the interior. Unfortunately they don’t allow you to take pictures on the inside. You’ll have to come see it for yourself.

Tonight we are staying in a real karvansarai, a traditional Silk Road hotel. It is a strange old building with arches and walls a meter think. Exciting!

And tomorrow we head off to a new country yet again: Georgia.

Diri Baba

Nico

Inside a prayer room

Morgan

Paolo and John helping to fix the tyre

On the road again

Juma Mosque

Khan's Palace

Sheki

Karavansarai

Boardroom

Caspian Sea

The Caspian crossing certainly did not fail to deliver on uncertainty and adventure. After arriving at the waiting room outside the customs area we were wondering why they needed a waiting room. Well, we waited in there about six hours before the customs officers decided to let us through and get all the paperwork done. Luckily they had a waiting room. It was cold outside!

Customs clearing was easy enough. When everybody was done we got on a shuttle that took us to the boat that would eventually take us across the biggest lake in the world. We boarded the boat and got some very nice cabins and a friendly welcome. All set and good to go. Happy days!

Then the wait started…

We were aware there might be some delays, but why would that happen to us? We were already on the boat.

Soon after boarding the boat set sail and off we went! But not out of port! We stopped 25km from land and sat there for two nights. The captain let everybody know there was a hurricane somewhere and we were sitting tight until it passed. We didn’t see a hurricane or stormy weather, but what do we know about the sea and boats? Later on Nico told us that there was indeed very stormy weather on the Azerbaijan side when he flew into Baku.

On the third day the boat started moving again. We were all relieved, because we only packed so much food and water (and vodka) to last the voyage. And the vodka was already gone before the boat started moving.

It took the boat until about eleven pm that night to reach Baku port. Then it stopped again 10km short of port. The captain could not say how long we would sit, because he was waiting to be cleared by customs. Everybody went off to bed for the third night on the Caspian Sea.

The next morning around six o’clock everybody was woken up. The boat has docked and the port customs officers were coming onboard. We got our passports back and shuffled off the boat. We made it to Baku at last! It only took from nine o’clock on Saturday morning to six thirty on Tuesday morning to do about 200km. Great success!

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Port

Still port...

Still

STILL!

Deck

Not port!

Catching some rays

On the bridge

Turkmenistan

Darvaza Crater

Turkmenistan is a crazy place… Crazy cool!

We crossed the border and were picked up by Slava, our local guide, and five 4x4s to take us to the Darvaza gas cater and Ashgabat, the super city. These 4x4 guys were like their kind everywhere in the world. Who’s got the best 4x4? I have a long-range diesel tank. I have a raised body. My wheels are bigger. My roof rack is stronger. My mileage is better. (Who cares about mileage? Petrol costs nothing in Turkmenistan!)

Anyway, these amazing vehicles took us all the way to the gas crater, where we camped for the night. We were so close that it was hard to say when the sun rose this morning. The glow of the fire lit our tents up right through the night.

This doorway to hell in the middle of the desert and camels is a big crater in the ground, leaking flammable gas that was lit up some 40 forty years ago by engineers drilling for oil. There are some other craters that we visited as well. Nothing compared to the flaming furnace, but strange and spectacular none the less.

Our 4x4s

Crater camp

Gas crater from the hill

Perfect view

Heathcliff!

Camp from the hill

Sitting on the hill

As it gets darker, the crater gets brighter

Paolo, the lone ranger

Paolo

Breakfast

The pot can call this kettle black and get away with it

Mud crater

Water crater

Ashgabat

The 4x4s drove us through the desert to Ashgabat. This is Turkemistan’s capital city. It is a strange and fascinating place.  We were constantly told we’re not allowed to walk here or take pictures there.

We went on a half day tour of the city, mostly looking at great buildings and statues and monuments built by the government to show off how amazing Turkmenistan is.

It is strange to see a city so different from what we know, with rules that we don’t understand. It makes me wonder if they will experience our cities in a similar way.

Driving through the desert

Sand barriers

Ashgabat

Train to Turkmenbashi

We took an overnight train to Turkembashi, a sea port town on the Caspian Sea. From here freight ships sail between Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Russia. The only way for us to cross to Baku in Azerbaijan is to catch a lift on one of these freight ships. You do not have much choice of ship; you just jump on the first one to set sail. We are hoping for an easy process, but we’ll see! Why is there a sign outside customs that says waiting room?

The train

Paolo

Turkmenbashi

Not our boat... or is it?