November 6th -
We made it to the center of Baku around ten, and proceeded to walk for the next six hours. We walked through the center, which is dedicated with statues of the former, first and late president of Azerbaijan, Heyder Aliyev. Baku has a main walking area similar to Istanbul, but not as old or historic. It has a McDonald’s. We continued to walk through the old city, a walled fortress that was the foundation of the port. Walking up the hill, we found a memorial for the war with Armenia, which took place after the fall of the Soviet Union. There is a massive eternal flame that overlooks the entire city, and the grave is co-sponsored by the Turkish government. Walking down the aisles of graves is a bit eerie, since everyone in the cemetery died in 1992.
November 7th -
Today is the Pomegranate festival in Gorchay. Why there even is a pomegranate festival passes understanding, but the juice is good and they’re giving it out for free, so God bless the pomegranate. A bunch of Europeans and other volunteers showed up around ten, and we proceeded down to the party on the streets.
The festival was ridiculous. A bunch of government officials came through and gave speeches that were difficult to listen to, more so for the people who speak Azeri. We spent most of our time being followed by schoolboys and I ended up giving autographs to them. I signed about 15 hands before we had to move on to the next booth.
November 8th -
We woke up in the morning freezing, although our hosts made us big breakfast sandwiches, which made us feel better. We went to see the sights of Sheki, a town snuggled in the hills and surprisingly flush with culture. We toured an old castle, bedecked with beautiful stained glass windows, that was used by the Azeri king in the 17th century as a vacation spot and harem. We then walked around the grounds and some of the shops, getting lunch at a local cafe. Noah got the cheapest thing on the menu, which also happened to be the best. How he continues to do this is beyond me.
November 9th -
The meal we enjoyed tonight thanks to our friend Kate was the best thing that has happened to us in Azerbaijan. We were seated in a small room with only one table and a space heater. The meal started with appetizers and a jug of homemade Azeri wine that the owner had made himself. There was a bean pate, pickled cabbage, yoghurt spread, pickles, cheese and fresh bread.
The second part of the meal was three consecutive meat dishes: a kebab, steaks and leg of lamb. All were well spiced and came with fresh vegetables and herbs. During the course of the meal we drank three of the jugs of wine, which helped us to forget about all the bread and butter that were our staples over the past two weeks of the trip. It was truly one of the best meals I’ve had on this side of the planet.
November 10th -
We made our way to Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. We were expecting to pay Uzbekistan prices to cross the border into Tbilisi, since we could only take an Azeri marshrutka to the border crossing, but the whole ordeal worked out much smoother than our previous experience. We paid about 10 bucks for the whole thing, and crossing into Georgia proved to be the easiest crossing to date.
November 11th -
We decided that today would, in fact, be a good day to take a side trip to Armenia. We found a taxi in the morning to take us all the way to the capital, Yerevan, for a reasonable price of about 20 bucks each. Our driver had a gimp hand, which made some of the corners interesting, especially when he decided to light a cigarette or use his phone.
November 12th -
Our second and last day in Yerevan, we decided to hit all of the sites. We started at 8:30 in the morning with a walking tour that we grabbed out of a guidebook in Azerbaijan. We saw some of the oldest churches still in existence and made it to a park that overlooks the entire city.
Yerevan is famous for its proximity to Mt. Ararat, the mountain that claims to be the landing spot of Noah’s Ark. Whether this is true or not, Mt. Ararat frames the city spectacularly, even though it is located within modern Turkish borders. After completing the walking tour and managing a quick bite for lunch, we headed for the museum of the Armenian genocideThe museum itself is well done, and contains sources from Germany, America, England, Armenia and many memoranda from the Turkish government that was involved in carrying out the slaughter. It stood in stark contrast to the story given by our Turkish tour guide one year ago, and it will be interesting to read more on the subject. The pictures alone seem to make the case.
November 13th -
We went through the entirety of Old Tbilisi today. It is the most beautiful city in the region, with ancient castles, houses, churches and a river that cut out one bank so that half of the city sits one story above the other half. The churches are the real prize, and we got to witness an orthodox service today, which was interesting not only for the liturgy, but also for the movement of people in and out of the church during the service.
Tbilisi is named after the hot springs, and the name comes from the Georgian word for warm. We went to one of the public baths, and were immediately impressed with the warm hot tub and sauna. It was so good and relaxing that each one of us decided to go in for the massage, which was really more of a thorough rub down than actual massaging. Either way, it was fantastic and sorely needed, as we all smelled really bad. After getting a foreigner discount and putting on the same smelly clothes, save for the socks that I mercifully threw away, we left fresh to meet the cool evening. We got some beers and drank them while we walked the river back towards our hotel, to get some much deserved rest.
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