Baku - Caucasian summer 2024 - 2
Tbilisi
from Tbilisi via Mzcheta and Gergeti to Gudauri
from Gudauri via Gori to Kutaissi
from Kutaissi to Batumi
from Batumi via Borjomi to Achalziche
excursion to Vardzia
from Achalziche in Georgia to Yerevan in Armenia
excursion to Etschmiadsin
excursion to Garni and Geghard
from Yerevan to Goris including visits to Chor Virap and Noravank
excursions to Chndsoresk and Tatev
from Goris to Sewan
from Sewan via Dilijan to Haghpat
from Haghpat in Armenia to Tbilisi in Georgia
Tbilisi and back home
17.07.2024 - Baku
First destination on today's agenda is the Zoroastrian Fire Temple Atashgah [↗]. As it opens at 10am we meet at 9:30 only, what is a pity as we only have time to see Baku today. But skipping the excursion is not an option either, as we will go to places that are hard to reach without a car.
The temple is so-so. It's more a museum than a religious place, even it served both Hindus and the Zoroastrians alike. They did their best to make it interesting, for example by placing some figures in the rooms to show what life was like in the 1800s. But the planned 45 minutes is more than enough time for a visit.
We are leaving Baku towards the north-east. Here are lots of oil fields pretty close to the city. The oil is at 10-to-30-meter depth only, so the pumps are pretty basic and not fancy at all. Nevertheless, it is strictly forbidden to photograph them - not that I wanted to.
Baku is a city mainly in brown and gray, even there are some green spots here and there. So, it's always looking dirty, but in fact it's very clean. So far, I haven't seen any garbage on the streets.
The reason we are heading in this direction is the "burning mountain" or officially Yanardagh [↗]. Our travel guide had already warned us that the most impressive thing might be the children's playground. And indeed, it is very unspectacular. It reminds me of a large gas grill in front of a hill that is perhaps 10 meters high. One of those "ok, I was there" places. Good that we didn't waste the afternoon trying to be here at sunset.
On the way back to the old town of Baku, we stop at the Heydan Aliev Cultural Center [↗]. We don't have the best light at 2pm, but I'm planning to come back later in the afternoon anyway.
I leave the rest of the group when they want to climb the Maiden Tower to get a view over the city. Instead, I make my way to the palace of the Shirvanshahs [↗]. This turns out to be more difficult than it looks on the map. Here are a lot of dead-end streets, so I have to turn around more than once.
The old town is less impressive than I thought. Maybe it's looking better in the evening, but somehow, I doubt it.
The palace is a museum with many small rooms and courtyards. Not richly decorated and if you're not interested in the exhibits, it's ok at best. As I leave the palace, most of the tour group is just arriving.
Near the exit of the palace is a square with a nice-looking restaurant and so I go for a late lunch [good chicken kebab at low prices (9 Euros incl. a beer)].
I now walk north through the outskirts of the old town. There are no longer small dead-end streets here, but wider boulevards in the style of Tsarist Russia. I walk to the Nizami metro station to get back to the Heydan Aliev Cultural Center [↗].
This is one of the nicely decorated stations. But first I have to buy a metro card. I have enough small money for the chip card but not for the fare. The machine only accepts cash and doesn't give change. A young woman who speaks perfect English (not exactly common here) helps me out and as she doesn't have enough small bills to change mine, she simply offers to pay. Okay, it was only 50 cents, but still ...
The distance between the stations is quite long, so it makes sense to take the metro even for 2 or, in my case, 3 stations. Arriving at the Nariman Narimanov station it's some 700 meters to the Heydan Aliev Cultural Center, where I had already been with the group at lunchtime today. But now I have enough time to find places from which I want to take photos. Unfortunately, the last clouds have vanished, and the light is quite harsh as the sun is at the "wrong" angle. So maybe I'll edit them as black and white photos.
