Salam Ailesi ve Dostlari!
(Azerbaijani for Hello Family & Friends)
This is the first of several dispatches (that we hope to get out soon) covering our adventures this May. They began with our first time together in London (I had been there 50 years before with our now deceased friend Marilyn; Maggie, 10 years later, also with Marilyn). We then hooked up in Baku, Azerbaijan with a group out of the United Kingdom, Travel the Unknown (TTU). TTU was brought to our attention by an acquaintance in Seattle, Dick, who has traveled the world far more than we have, so much so that he belongs to the Traveler’s Century Club for people who have visited 100 or more of the world’s countries and territories. Maggie and I reviewed the list and have checked off only 62, far short of membership!
We prefer to travel on our own and at our own pace. In support of Dick’s interest in selecting the Caucasus tour and the limited number in a group, 12, we decided we would do it. Plus, we felt we would learn so much more by using a guide & driver in a complex region bounded by Russia to the north, Iran to the south, the Black Sea to the west and Caspian Sea to the east. The Caucasus countries are comprised of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia, all 3 formerly under Soviet rule for nearly 7 decades and are considered to be Eurasian in context.
Arriving at Gatwick airport on the morning of May 6th, we took a 30 minute train ride to London’s Victoria Station, enjoying the pastoral countryside with Shetland ponies, sheep, lush grasslands and the quintessential row houses with their small backyards and smoke stacks. We loaded up a couple of Oyster cards on arrival and were off to the buses and the Tube for getting around. Contemplating our touristic options, we decided to visit a relatively new attraction: the Museum of London Docklands, which has 3 stories of the history of the water/commerce trade system, including tools used in weighing goods for taxation purposes, old lading registers, the description of quays and traffic backups, as well as the treatment of dockworkers. Best part, it was free!
Whilst in London, we checked out Old Spitalfields Market in London’s East End, home to artists and quirkiness, where we met an artisan making unique Origami & Kirigami “pop-up” cards, purchasing a couple. Having secured online tickets in Seattle 3 months earlier, we attended performances of Hamilton (Victoria Palace Theater) and Wicked (London Apollo Victoria Theater), which were both remarkable. Strolling through Green Park on the way to the theaters, we passed by Buckingham Palace, abuzz with the birth of Archie the day before.
On to our flight from Gatwick to Kiev, with our Lyft driver, Abdi, a Somalian, with whom we were able to converse about American travelers and USA politics, as he had lived in North Carolina previously. Interesting perspectives. After a 3 hour layover in Kiev, we arrived in Baku, Azerbaijan, a 5,500 year old Eurasian city set on the Caspian Sea, with 95% of the population now being Muslim (85%, Shia, 15%, Sunni); whereas, before 800 A.D., it was Christian. Entering the hotel at 3:30 a.m., we found 2 small single beds in a very small room. Not the best start for being with a tour group! After a forgettable buffet breakfast in the morning and changes in our accommodations, we left to wander through the walled Icheri Sherer (Old Town) where we were housed. Using a cartoon map, we targeted the Gasin Bey Bath, a 17th century structure next to the 100 foot tall 12th century Maiden Tower. Neither were open so we consoled ourselves with ice cream cones near one of the vehicle entrances to the walled city, moseying out to walk along the avenue hosting high end shops, (Gucci, Bebe, etc.) across from the shores of the Caspian Sea. We decided to take the funicular, whose 10 minute rise of 1500 feet dropped us off where we had a commanding view of the city and waterfront from a large marble platform, battling wind gusts (Baku literally means “City of Winds”). Even at this elevation, we were not able to see the source of Baku wealth, the oil fields 5 miles out in the Caspian.
We were taken aback when we came across Martyr’s Lane with the Eternal Flame and a memorial wall with photos and birth dates of the 147 civilians killed by the Soviets in a January 20, 1990 massacre in an attempt to thwart the Azerbaijani independence movement. This hill has over 15,000 buried who died in the overall efforts for independence which finally happened August 30, 1991. On our walk back to Old Town, we meandered down through the streets, continuing to pass by signs of oil wealth, e.g., auto showrooms for Ferraris, Bentleys, and Lamborghinis, to name a few. We went through the maze surrounding the complex of the Flame Towers, spired structures shaped as flames (tallest one 600 feet), all glass facades mirroring the surrounding edifices and environment, and, at night, functioning as large display screens powered by 10,000 high power LED luminaries. From our hotel rooftop, we were able to view the aforementioned in action, with an individual marching (left to right), carrying a flag, across the facades of the towers!
Entering Old Town through the Kichik Gala Street entrance, we stumbled upon a small stone underground café where we sampled homemade pomegranate vodka, “home” wine and some Qutab (a cheese flatbread that was being made outside in their courtyard by a matronly white capped woman). Back at our hotel, we made the acquaintance of our front desk person, Intigam (translates to “Revenge” in English)…such a fun name in English that we would greet him with a resounding “REVENGE!” which seemed to delight him immensely. When Dick arrived from Seattle, we took a taxi to the Heydar Aliyev Cultural Center, a wonderful modern feat via the vision of female architect, Zaha Hadid, where we were regaled with sculptures and a collection of 230 dolls. The patience, love, intimate details and suggested background of each doll is represented by one of the photos above. Getting a taxi back to our facility turned out to be interesting, dickering over 2 manats ($1USD) between drivers, over the entry fee to be paid upon re-entering Old Town. Bartering is one of the joys of our international travels. We sometimes forget that it really doesn’t work back home.
Finally, the whole team was together: Guide Arif, Driver Farkhard, the 3 of us from Seattle, 2 other U.S. citizens, 5 residents of the UK and 1 Singaporean, making for 13 of us on the small bus. Our travels here would cover part of the Silk Road trading route. On the way to Qobustan National Park, with its 6,000 rock engravings, we passed by inland oil rigs and “mud’ volcanos (350 here of 800 in the world), this mud being used for skin therapy and followed by a dip in the Caspian to cleanse. After an hour, we arrived at our destination, a place of sandstone rocks, ravines, porous rocks, petroglyphs (etched, no paints) of dancing figures (deer with antlers, bulls, horses, wolves, goats butting heads, boats and wild boars, which still roam this area), learning that what we were seeing had been under water in the long past, several times, as the Caspian has come and gone, the shores residing a great distance, for now!
We were shown entrances to former caves, whose roofs were now open due to seismic activity, a vertically balanced rock with a hole, famed for leading to marriage if a woman could crawl through it, and horizontal stones with sunken holes to protect cooking fires from the gusty winds. Tidbits shared on our return to Baku: the big sport in Azerbaijan is wrestling (vs. futbol) and the Azerbaijani flag’s colors of (top to bottom) blue, red & green, standing respectively, for its Turkic heritage, Progress & Islam. Azerbaijan and Turkey are close friends, whereas, not so much with Armenia (which borders Turkey).
Our last full day in Baku began with a drive to the Ateshgah Fire Temple in the Surakhani district, built on a pocket of natural gas producing a “holy” fire used by Zoroastrian, Hindu and Sikh religious worshippers. This pentagonal castle-like monastery complex with an altar in the middle (and its “eternal” flame which died out in 1969, now lit by piped-in gas) was abandoned in the late 19th century due to the dwindling Indian population. An “apartment” here was pointed out for some fame, as Alexander Dumas wrote about the Caucasus from there in his book, “Voyage to the Caucasus”. One of the rooms we entered had a sunken area, serving as a bathing tub, with a direct line of sight through a foot square hole cut into the stone, to the eternal fire. One thing pointed out was the importance of cleanliness by the Zoroastrians…no litter, wearing white masks when talking to prevent de-purifying of the sacred fire, etc. Moving on from this place, we were to see the vestiges of the cleanliness factor, manifested by crews of workers sweeping the streets each morning, the lack of billboards, and stone “fences” everywhere separating the highway from homes and businesses. One series was a sequence of fake 2 story house facades…just another sign of Baku wealth.
Our morning continued on toward the town of Sheki (which would be our overnight stay) 110 kilometers northwest of Baku. The planting of trees alongside the highway and extending 50 yards into the surrounding landscape wonderfully offset the desert-like and woefully barren view. We were also entertained by cows in the road and sheep herded by men on horseback further back from the highway, as we climbed to an elevation of 1,800 feet, encountering natural greenery. Mid-morning we drove by an 8th century cemetery with the weather-worn and crumbling stone remembrances, finally stopping to climb up a cliff to visit the Diri Baba Mausoleum, an early 15th century structure dedicated to a Sheikh of the same name. The access included jagged stone stairs with high risers, entering the mausoleum with a prayer room immediately available, which is still in use and decorated with pillows, etc. Those in our party who were able and/or willing climbed up a very narrow passageway with steep steps to arrive at a topside entry next to the dome, used by villagers, living in the area. It provided a commanding view and a greeting by a small lizard on one of the rocks. We finished our “business” here with a visit to the fly-infested squat toilet outhouse. As it turned out, one of many to come on this trip.
After a 1:30 lunch, replete with a musician playing a Balalaika-like instrument, strolling through the outdoor area we were seated in, we were off to the Juma Mosque in Shamakhi, a Shia place of worship, originally constructed in the mid-8th century and rebuilt in the 12th (many reconstructions, we learned, were required after the toll of battles and earthquakes). Arif took us through this cavernous structure, with its intricately designed carpeting, pointing out 2 foot stones Shia followers use to press their foreheads on. Unfortunately, one of our group was not able to see this splendor due to having had a beer at lunch! True to traveling with a formal group, we forged onward to the Shirvan Domes (AKA the Seven Domes), a complex of tombs from the 18th century with 5 foot long granite slabs atilt on the grounds, sporting 3 depressions on the tops to hold food for the “journey”). Only 3 of the 7 domes remain due to earthquakes. Continuing on toward Sheki, we topped off elevation-wise at 2,300 feet, the drive filled with green…grasses, rolling hills, groves of trees. This area is covered with snow in winter, getting down to minus 15 degrees Centigrade (5 degrees Fahrenheit).
As we had now turned westward, we were treated with spectacular views on our right of the Greater Caucasus mountain range, blessed with “mountains” of snow, on Russia’s southern border. The sun was setting now, casting shadows upon the grasslands and trees. We came across another road blockage, as several dozen sheep took their time crossing. Arif took this time to point out the roadside food peddlers who had come north to escape the slaughters in the south mentioned earlier and have never returned. An alfresco dinner in Sheki included a surprise for Maggie (this being May 13, her 68th birthday): festive balloons and a cake with a sizzling candle.
On our final morning in Azerbaijan, we took in a couple more POI’s: the 18th century Palace of Shaki Khans, a mere summer residence of great splendor and magnificent grounds which sported a 34 meter tall, 500 year old Plane tree. The tour inside revealed wealth that was overdone but thrilling. As this tour group is following parts of the Silk Road traders’ routes, we visited one of the 2 remaining Caravanserai where the traders and their caravans would stay, sporting 3 ‘floors’ and providing elaborate baths (wash off that Silk Road dirt and grime), the ground floor used for sheltering animals, their fodder, storing goods and shops for resupplying the caravans, while the upper two floors boarded travelers…kind of a precursor to today’s usage for tourists…an early Motel 6 arrangement.
The last offering from Arif, was a visit to a renowned artisan, Husein Haji-Mustafazade, Master of Shebeke, who cuts colored glass to make vitrage windows; an average 1 meter square presentation can be made from 9,000 small parts, and up to 14,000 for a larger and more complex production. Husein demonstrated taking apart a 3 inch square vitrage with only 12 triangle-shaped pieces of cut glass and putting it back together. He then challenged anyone of us to put it together after he took it apart again. The prize, a $20 USD vitrage of the same size. Our gregarious Liverpool traveler took the challenge but did not meet the time frame within which he had to accomplish this. None of us could have done it either! We did purchase one however, as a souvenir.
Around 10-ish, we were off to the border crossing into the country of Georgia, 2 hours hence. As usual, we had to yield the right of way to another herd of sheep, crossing right in front of oncoming traffic, with their heads down (seemingly on a suicide mission, thwarted now by good citizens). It was 1:00 PM, quite hot, and required walking 500 meters up a 5% grade before reaching Georgia (unless you wanted to pay for a taxi). It was very much like our walk from Ceuta, Spain into Morocco in 2017.
We tipped Arif and Farkhard, with a little extra to Arif for setting up the surprise for Maggie’s birthday, and were turned over to our new crew, guide Mariam and driver, Guram. The next dispatch will be the 1st of 2 to cover an entire week in Georgia.
Cheers, Stan & Maggie