Azerbaijan

Tradition meets modernity

 “The land of fire”

The capital Baku and also the country is not very well known, but since the country won the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 it has become more famous. The country is of course not a typical travel destination but we can highly recommend traveling there.

Baku… beautiful city

This great city is getting more and more famous, especially because Formula 1 has been held there for the last few years.

A lot of other sporting events take place in the city too, for example, the Islamic Games! All these attractions are making the modern city more interesting and Baku is growing and growing every year. The city of Baku is really beautiful, but outside of the city, it is totally different. There are mostly small, isolated, mountain villages which are

situated in the Caucasus area, that is very interesting but also very poor.

The first problems at the airport

At the airport in Baku our first problem began. We had a stamp from Armenia in our passport which is usually not a big issue, but the controllers at the border were not so amused. Armenia and Azerbaijan have a troubled history. They asked a couple of questions and after we could enter the country without any problems. Fortunately, we didn´t have a stamp from Mt. Karabakh, because we have never been there

Yalchin, our guide, picked us up on time from the airport and brought us to our hotel, the Hyatt Business Hotel. Which is located just outside the city.

Baku looked amazing at night. The skyscrapers different colors lit up the night sky, especially the Flame Towers and the Heyday Mosque.

Flame Towers by night

Heydar Moschee

The next morning we were excited and expected a lot from the city. Baku has over 2 million inhabitants. Luxury cars everywhere. The country is also called, “The land of Mercedes Benz”. Everybody we asked wanted to drive a Mercedes Benz.

Baku is located directly by the Caspian Sea and has a lot of architecturally daring status symbols, such as the Flame Towers, the Heydər Əliyev Merkezi Cultural Centre and the Baku Crystal Hall where the Eurovision Song Contest is took place. There are many more awesome buildings which are really great and eye-catching.

The beautiful cultural centre Heydar Aliyevim in the background

Carpet museum                                                                                                             pic by: Hörmətlə, Aynur Məmmədova

Azerbaijan was one of the first countries which discovered oil and gas. Of course it makes sense why the people call the country, “The Land of Fire”, the country has a lot of natural resources. And who founded the oil companies? Alfred Nobel!!! But when you walk along the Caspian Sea it really is a shame to see how the country is treating the environment. You can really smell the oil and on the water you can see huge oil slicks and a lot of plastic bottles.

But on the other hand, the historical centre is very nice and is a World Heritage Site. It’s like a labyrinth with lots of narrow alleys and hanging balconies. A lot of retailers are running these business for generations. For example, small boutiques restaurants and antique shops. We bought a couple of small souvenirs there and the haggling is really fun.

Here you can the Flame Towers are coming out from the historical centrle

One owner of a small boutique was really hospitable, he invited us for a cup of tea and we spent at least 1.5 hours in his shop.

A short visit in a small boutique

A little photostory …

#Formel 1 Baku

the promenade with a big flag in the background

The country also has a completely different side to it, and to explore the other side you don’t have to drive far away from Baku. The roads outside of Baku change from modern highways to gravel roads. The houses are much more simple and the people here live very simply when compared to Baku.

Gobustan and the mud volcanos

Not far from Baku there a lot of great mud volcanos which we visited. The grey mud was bubbling all the time and was spitting out liquid mud. The mud is not hot, so you can´t burn yourself, in case you will touch the mud. All the mud volcanos are very beautiful and are an especially good photo spot. Our advice to you would be[2]  that you should visit the volcanos as early as possible before all the other tourist buses come.

Lada – A traditional car

Team Baku

Yanar Dağ

Only a couple of kilometers further is the Yanar Dag Mountain. A natural petroleum gas spring which is quite a rare thing globally. Only a few of the springs exist in the world and they have been burning for hundreds of years without any interruptions. The springs are located directly behind a small hill. A lot of locals come to this place everyday to have a cup of tea.

Goygöl- also called Helensdorf – a german villa in the middle of the country

For Germans this is it course a very interesting place. The village was founded 1819 by German settlers and the village really looks like a village in Bavaria. The characteristic Bavarian wood houses, the village church and even how the garden looks. Everything is quite similar o the style in Germany. We were also invited to see the inside of the house and we were more than surprised that the furniture looked similar to that in our home in Germany. Today there no Germans left, the last German died a couple of years ago. The village is called Goygöl and now only locals live there.

Lahiji- A place where time has stopped

Approximately 3,5 hours drive from Baku is the mountain village Lahiji, situated1,400 meters above sea level. Here they live the same as hundreds of years ago or like in the middle ages. The village is especially famous for the traditional tailor shops and the coppersmiths. The locals were hammering and tailoring everything by themselves and were inviting us to show more about this great handcraft.

This picture is our favorite! Absolutely! A dog is to lazy to walk …

Handmade bread is absolutely delicious.. yummie !!!

Humans…  an inhabitant enjoy his time at the little alley

Conclusion

We had a great time in Azerbaijan. The history of how the city was founded and how the city of Baku is today is really quite interesting. The country has a lot of different climate zones from hot to cold. Which makes it very interesting. But we also have to say the country has still a lot of work to do to make it more convenient for travelers, especially outside of Baku. But they are actually on the right track. But they urgently need to do more for the environment. The oil slick at the promenade makes it very unattractive for tourists.

The villagers are very nice and the little man was allowed to fly the drone.

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Infobox

Visa:

Germans need a visa to enter the country, you can apply for the visa online since 2017.

The price for the visa is 20 euro. It is important that you don’t have a stamp from Mt. Karabakh in your passport if you do you can have problems.

E-Visa Azerbaijan

Currency:

Azerbaijan Manat AZN

The current course you can look up at Oanda

Language:

Azerbaijan

English

Local Time:

You can read the local times here 

High Season:

The best time for Azerbaijan here 

Safety

You can find all entry requirements at the listed embassies

Embassies:

For US Embassy: link
For UK Embassy: link 

Information about the local guide Azerbaijan

Name:

Yalchin 

Languages:

azerbaijan

english

russia

turkey

Contact:

phone: +994 502550877

website: Private Tours Azerbaijan 

e-mail: fuseliber@gmail.com

About Yalchin and his team

Yalchin and his team are very professional.
The communication was positive between each other and the first impression was also very good. You can decide, to travel in a big group or make a private tour in luxury or basic style.

Thank you Yalchin for the great tour with you.