Baku, Azerbaijan

The road to Baku has been a long, and somewhat arduous, one. But I am finally here. After a 3-hour flight from Dubai to the capital city of Azerbaijan, my travelling mates and I arrived at the Heydar Aliyev Airport prepared to deal with the immigration who are notoriously difficult. We were prepped beforehand by our Azeri counterparts and applied for our visas-on-arrival by getting ready 2 passport-sized pictures and USD40 for the visa fees. It helped that we had a letter of invitation as Azerbaijan is not terribly welcoming of tourists.

Baku bound on Azerbaijan Airlines.

Finally, the Heydar Aliyev Airport.

Enroute to the city I noticed that almost, if not all, the trees in Baku are "painted" white at the bottom.

Welcome to Baku Have A Nice Day!

We were booked to stay at the Park Inn Azerbaijan, a newly opened business hotel. The Park Inn is right in front of the Caspian Sea Boulevard and some rooms, like mine, offer a great view of the lake. The hotel lives up to its business-hotel reputation, nicely designed (reminiscent of hotels in Europe, stylish Ikea stylo-mylo), usual business facilities, with helpful and friendly staff. At USD190++ for a club room with free broadband internet access, the Park Inn, whilst considered expensive in my part of the world, is definitely good value for money in Baku.

Stylo-mylo room at the Park Inn Azerbaijan.

The view of the Caspian Sea and the Town Center.

The weather in Baku at this time is hot and muggy at 35 degrees. With the notable exception of the Park Inn and a few other hotels and buildings, like the SAS Radisson, most of the architecture in Baku is archaic russian style. I felt like reading Anna Karenina again. Whilst the population of Azerbaijan is predominantly muslim but from what I have seen, most are not conservative.

Azeris too, call books kitabs.

The streets of Baku.

Driving in Baku must be pretty hairy as most drivers do not bother stopping for traffic lights. Pedestrians fear for their lives too. I did.

There are street vendors selling antiques, paintings, souvenirs and knick-knacks just off the Fountain Square.

On the left, the Fountain Square with its dry fountain, and on the right, Pizza Inn, which serves the best pizza in town.

The main entrance to the Caspian Sea Boulevard.

Baku is an booming oil town and smells like one, especially so near to the Caspian Sea.

Baku at night is twinkly, sparkly.

And coming soon: Azeri Street Fashion - Trendy? Or Not?

Comments

[EmmaGoodEgg]

Hello 3 stripes, yeah Baku was definitely interesting :) Thanks for the visit xx

[3 stripes]

Wow.. Interesting country :)

[EmmaGoodEgg]

Heyho Babs, am so loving my macgoodegg :) Baku is interesting to say the least, am lucky to be able to visit. Have meetings all day and just have a bit of time to walkabout nearby hotel and take pictures! See you back home soon xx

[babs]

Woohoo.....baku.

The computer seems to be doing quite nicely and completely mastered by you already. Have fun over there and see you when you get back.

Babs