Baku. January 14, 2020
Greetings from Baku Azerbaijan –
And just like that the Christmas decorations (all Santa Claus, no religious symbols) all around town and in the hotel as well, disappeared and it was Spring and flowers. And just like that, our days in Baku and in Central Asia are coming to an end. Tomorrow.
Today was a beautiful sunny day in Baku; we walked for hours in the old city (a UNESCO heritage site) with buildings dating to the 12th Century (and some saying as early as the 9th Century). In 1806, when Baku was occupied by the Russian Empire there were as many as 500 households living in what is now known as the walled “Old City”… In the early part of the 19th Century, the walls were repaired and those who lived within the walls of the old city were considered to be natives of Baku. They lived close to the bazaar and to the mosques. When the Russians came, many European style buildings were constructed and Baroque and Gothic buildings were created. Today, the Old City is home to about 1000 residents and the location of many delightful restaurants, shops, and cobblestone walking streets.
We had breakfast at a local place called Qanisi (I should mention that Azerbaijanis would easily win at Scrabble since they have so many words that start with the letter “q” and don’t require the letter “u”… The old city is a cacophony of winding narrow and curving stone and cobblestone streets, alleys, and stairs that lead to houses, squares, and important spaces. The original footprint of the city is several centuries old, but the Russo-European architecture of the 19th Century definitely impacted the sense of the old center.
We strolled and strolled (my foot seems to be a little better, but I’m still a bit hesitant on the uneven pavement and steps) and wound up at the Museum of Miniature Books – which houses a collection of more than 3,000 tiny, tiny books – some of which are as small as 1” x 1”. They have little books from all over the world including the Communist Manifesto and the Bible. They have a whole section of dozens of books about 1.5” x 1.5” of Lenin’s work in many different languages. Most are bound as books while a few are single sheet folded accordions – obviously to my liking!
We eventually stopped for tea (getting to be a tradition) which came with what was called “jam” but is really chunks of fruit that have been candied or gelled. We had watermelon. A bit too sweet for us, but we ate enough not to be embarrassed or to insult the owner of the tea shop.
We then wandered to find Abad… a shop we had heard about that is government-run and sells crafts that are made throughout the country. The young guy who is cashier was most excited to learn we were Americans as he hopes to attend Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), but worries about a visa. Again, we heard that America was great, and he, too, wanted to go into aerospace engineering and work for NASA. We bought a few things and then stopped at the hotel to drop off the bag… and headed to the waterfront which is across a big boulevard from the Four Seasons. You get there through a very modern underground tunnel with escalators and marble floors. Again, no trash, no graffiti, not even a cigarette butt. And with people constantly sweeping whatever little remnants might have dropped. It’s a grand walking boulevard that edges the Caspian Sea. No cars, pedestrian only. With an area for skating and skateboarders. We strolled for about a mile and reversed our path.
We then headed to Mugam Club for dinner.. a delightful place located within a 16th Century building that we believe was a caravansary – now a restaurant with lots of little rooms that come off a main space that is really a courtyard but which has been glazed over. For the foodies… we started with something called eggplant Langham (stuffed small eggplants – stuffed with the meat of the eggplant ground with nuts and pomegranate) and some kind of dolmas made with pistachio leaves instead of grape leaves. Both were very tasty and served with wonderful local bread. We then had two main courses.. a rice pilaf with chicken and apricots… and a lamb shish-kebab. Everything was wonderful except the lamb. We tried desperately to explain that we didn’t want the meat over cooked and wanted it to be “red” (rare), but maybe they thought we meant to be sure to cook it so that it was not rare. Anyway, the lamb was leathery. We should have learned by now that it is very difficult to order meat unless it is within a dish that has other items and is sort of stewed. Otherwise it always comes over-cooked. We had a nice local wine and then some mint tea.
Baku is truly a symbol of successful development for Baku’s wealthy elite. Our brief foray into a neighborhood outside the center showed that those living away from the core are no where near as comfortable as those within the core. And I imagine that those residing in rural areas are living well below the level of those in Baku. From what we’ve read, there is a lot of corruption and the current president (son of the former president), Aliyev and his family are billionaires, owning many companies in Azerbaijan as well as in Dubai. Thus, it appears that power is held in the hands of a few and those connected to that small group. I’m not an expert on Central Asia so this is really all I can say. I’m sure that given the location of the country bordered by Georgia, Armenia (with which it has a fairly adversarial relationship), and Iran – make it a complicated political struggle.
That’s it for today; one more posting tomorrow and that’s a wrap.
Fern
Fern's Travel Notes 