Q’obustan and Baku (Tuesday 29 April)

Another day where it's blowing a hooley. Although this time there's rain too. Frankly I'd expected it to be nice and warm in Baku; not like a Spring day in the UK! After a leisurely breakfast we set off for a morning of sightseeing at nearby Q’obustan. Our chariot to take us there was a somewhat disappointing Mercedes Minibus. I expected something a bit more roomy and comfortable. We were joined by Ruslan, who was to be our local guide in Azerbaijan. He was a very chirpy smiley man, who did a fine job. Unfortunately, he took up another seat in our already crowded vehicle. I won't bear a grudge though!

On this morning's agenda were "Mud Volcanoes" and "Petroglyphs". Not things to get my excitement levels up at all. As we drove south through the barren, almost desert-like landscape we saw lots of oil-fields and derricks. Personally, I'd much rather be visiting them. When looking at Google Maps to sort my route to the football 2 days earlier I'd noticed that the "World's first Industrially Drilled Oil Well" was only a couple of miles from the ground. Drilling commenced there in 1846, and I would have enjoyed going there far more than seeing a few scratches on rocks. Furthermore, I'd seen such scratches in Kyrgyzstan a couple of years before.

Anyway, by the time we got to Q'obustan the rain had stopped, and the scratches and bubbling mud were duly observed. Predictably they failed to impress much! The highlight of the visit was having some Qutab - a local "fast food". Basically, it is flat bread cooked on a griddle with cheese melted on it, and some green stuff added. It may have been coriander, but I'm not very knowledgeable about "green stuff" other than it's good for me and I should eat more of it! The flat bread is then folded and rolled so it has the appearance, but not taste, of one of those lovely Chicken Caesar wraps they sell at M & S. Nevertheless, it tasted decent, and was very welcome.

 

Qutab being made

We then headed back into Baku, for a walking tour of the Old City. This was far more interesting than the morning's fayre. It pretty much covered the route I had walked 24 hours earlier, but I was appraised fully on the history of the Old city, and its place on the Silk Road. I'd tell you all about it here, except I've forgotten most of it; and anyway you can look it up on Wikipedia! I have to say that Baku was far more interesting and characterful than I'd expected. Its architecture broadly falls into 3 categories - The Old City, Soviet (but not too gross) and flash modern oil-funded ostentatiousness. 

 

 

 

With the Old City done, we had the rest of the afternoon free. Top priority was getting the postcards dispatched (I have a very demanding and highly-expectant audience waiting for them back in the UK, you know!). This proved easier than I thought, as just 100m from where our tour ended was a small post office. Top result! So what to do after that? On my taxi journey in from the airport I'd seen a beautiful looking building, that had shades of Sydney Opera House about it. So that is where I wanted to go. It's called the Heydar Aliyev Centre, and is a "performing arts centre".

The rest of the group were wittering on about things they wanted to do, so I made my intentions clear. I'd be getting a Bolt/Taxi there, and if anyone wanted to share the cab, they were welcome to join me. Alyssa (Canada) and Mel (NZ/UK) took that option, and off we sped. The building was a 20 minute journey away, and the taxi cost about £1.30 - unbelievably cheap. You'll see from the photo's how magnificent the exterior of the building is. 

 

 

The interior is equally superb. In particular there are a couple of long, gently sweeping sets of stairs that are just so sleek. I must add that looking down them from the top it is very difficult to even distinguish each step - it just looked like a long, wide white slide (which I'd have loved to have slid down). Health & Safety in the UK would have a field day with it! In all seriousness, you really do have to concentrate hard with each step you take going down. Bloody wonderful though.

 

The art displays in the Centre were extremely varied, but for the most part, fascinating. I really liked the display of huge brightly coloured pieces of fruit and veg. Against the white walls and floors of the building, they were simply stunning. Judge for yourselves, although the photo's don't fully do them justice. 

 

 

 

I'm not always the greatest at slowly trudging around museums/galleries so I arranged a meeting time with Alyssa and Mel so we could walk down to take some touristy photos at the nearby "I love Baku" sign, before getting a taxi back to the hotel. Like me, they loved the place. A really good choice.....so much so that we subsequently bumped into 4 others from our group there.

 

I chose to be unsociable, and not go out to eat with the group in the evening. A healthy "carpet picnic" with goodies from the nearby Spar was had instead, whilst scrolling through a multitude of TV channels. Another fine day.