Welcome to the third of a series of eight weekly posts covering the eight countries I visited this fall. My journey was epic and I chose not to write posts while traveling, in an effort to be engaged and present on this amazing odyssey. This is my honest opinion from my personal experience. I hope you will enjoy reading my posts covering all that happened over the two months of travel – The Good, The Bad & The Beautiful. Today I share about Baku, Azerbaijan.
Wow. Baku was just Wow. A surprisingly modern city, full of culture and color – we really enjoyed our week-long visit to Baku, Azerbaijan. Let’s talk about it.
Where Am I?
We flew from Tbilisi, Georgia to Baku, Azerbaijan on Azerbaijan airlines. It was an easy one hour flight. We hired a car to take us to our Airbnb located just a few blocks from the old city. Although I didn’t love this Airbnb (smelled like cigarettes), I did love both the location and the view.
Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, sits on the Caspian Sea. This was my first glimpse of the immense and blue Caspian.
The Caspian is the world’s largest inland body of water, often described as the world’s largest lake and sometimes referred to as a full-fledged sea. It has a salinity of approximately 1.2% (12 g/L), about a third of the salinity of average seawater. It is bounded by Kazakhstan to the northeast, Russia to the northwest, Azerbaijan to the southwest, Iran to the south, and Turkmenistan to the southeast.
The sea stretches 1,200 km (750 mi) from north to south, with an average width of 320 km (200 mi). Its gross coverage is 386,400 km2 (149,200 sq mi) and the surface is about 27 m (89 ft) below sea level. Its main freshwater inflow, Europe’s longest river, the Volga, enters at the shallow north end. (Wikipedia)
Azerbaijan has no diplomatic relations with Armenia to its west, but has good relations with its other neighbors Russia, Georgia and Iran.
A Little History
Azerbaijan, located at the crossroads of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, has a rich and complex history that dates back to ancient times. The region was inhabited by various tribes, including the Medes and Persians, and later became part of the Achaemenid Empire. Throughout the centuries, Azerbaijan was influenced by various cultures and empires, including the Greeks, Romans, and Arabs. In the early Middle Ages, it became a center of Islamic culture and learning. The Seljuk Turks and later the Safavid dynasty played significant roles in shaping the region’s political and cultural landscape, with Tabriz emerging as a prominent cultural hub.
In the 19th century, Azerbaijan fell under Russian control following the Russo-Persian Wars, leading to significant societal changes and the emergence of a national identity. The early 20th century saw the brief establishment of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic in 1918, which was the first secular democratic republic in the Muslim world. However, this independence was short-lived, as Azerbaijan was incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1920. During the Soviet era, Azerbaijan underwent industrialization and urbanization, but it also faced repression. The country regained its independence in 1991 following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Since then, Azerbaijan has navigated challenges related to its territorial disputes, particularly with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh, while seeking to establish itself as a significant player in the region’s energy and political landscape.
The Bad
As an American who believes in democracy and human rights, the current authoritarian government of Azerbaijan is disturbing. I was careful not to criticize or comment on the ruling party while in the country.
As of 2023, Azerbaijan’s political climate is characterized by a centralized and authoritarian governance structure, with a strong emphasis on stability and control by the ruling party. President Ilham Aliyev, who has been in power since 2003 following the death of his father, Heydar Aliyev, leads a government that is often criticized for suppressing dissent, limiting political freedoms, and curtailing media independence. Political opposition is fragmented and faces significant challenges, including imprisonment of opposition leaders and activists, which has raised concerns among international human rights organizations.
The political landscape is further complicated by ongoing territorial disputes, particularly with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Following a brief war in 2020, Azerbaijan regained control over significant territories in the region, which has fostered a sense of nationalism and pride among many Azerbaijanis. However, the government also faces challenges related to economic diversification, corruption, and social inequality. While the country has substantial oil and gas resources that contribute to its economy, there is an increasing call for political reforms and greater transparency in governance, especially from civil society and younger generations seeking more democratic governance. Overall, Azerbaijan’s political climate remains tightly controlled, with the government prioritizing stability and territorial integrity over political pluralism and civil liberties.
The military forceful take over of Nagorno-Karabakh has caused tension with the United Nations and European Union. Calls for a renegotiation of the relationship with Azerbaijan are under review.
The Good
Despite the government structure, there is progressive religious freedom in Azerbaijan with a secular system that welcomes all religions, though the majority of the population is Muslim. Additionally, despite its oil wealth, Azerbaijan has a progressive alternative energy plan expanding its support and use of solar and wind energy.
Architecture is very unique and playful and the local government in Baku has invested heavily in interesting and fun designs that contrast in a lovely way with the historic and ancient parts of the city. We enjoyed all of that very much.
A visitor can travel to Azerbaijan very inexpensively. Enjoying a delicious meal and drinks throughout the city of Baku was only about $20 USD for two. Gas prices are about $2.60 USD per gallon. Entrance prices to museums is also inexpensive. Azerbaijanis earn about $750 USD per month, higher in the city.
The Beautiful
Despite the country’s wealth being controlled by one ruling family, investment in Baku is apparent with beautiful museums and architecture – much of it government funded. From our Airbnb we enjoyed the view of the Flaming Towers, a mixed use but nearly unoccupied set of three buildings beautiful both day and night.
Ancient Old City
We did a self-guided walk of the walled old city, which was conveniently about three blocks from our Airbnb.
The Inner City (Icheri Sheher) has preserved much of its 12th-century defensive walls. The 12th-century Maiden Tower (Giz Galasy) is built over earlier structures dating from the 7th to 6th centuries BC, and the 15th-century Shirvanshahs’ Palace is one of the pearls of Azerbaijan’s architecture. (Wikipedia)
We spent one full day exploring the ancient old city and this is also where we ate some of our favorite meals (see more on that below).
Museums
Baku has a surprising number of museums. We did not visit all of them but during our weeklong visit we did visit four including the tiny book museum and the National History Museum. My two favorites however where the Carpet Museum and the Heydar Aliyev Cultural Center (named after the former President).
There are a few museums and sights further out of the city, but while Arne continued his recovery from the car accident, we chose to stay close to Baku during our visit.
Entertainment
We really enjoyed visiting the Shirvanshah Museum restaurant (puzzlingly, not associated with or anywhere near the Shirvanshah Museum!) to watch evening dance performance with our dinner. This is a very popular and gigantic restaurant, locals love it for events and family gatherings. It’s also a bit touristy and we had better food elsewhere, but we still enjoyed it.
On our final night in Baku we enjoyed a lovely dinner then proceeded to the Baku Marionette Theater for a special show by talented local marionette performers. We were so happy we decided to do that.
Architecture
Because of the beautiful architecture throughout the city, we decided to do a guided night tour to enjoy this gorgeous city aglow. We booked the tour through Viator. Our guide was excellent with an expansive knowledge of the city. We enjoyed a gondola ride to the hill that gave us a birds-eye view of the sparkling and cosmopolitan metropolis. We also visited a beautiful mosque and the eternal flame and memorial to the victims who died in Black January. Also known as Black Saturday or the January Massacre, this was a violent crackdown on Azerbaijani nationalism and anti-Soviet sentiment in Baku on 19–20 January 1990, as part of a state of emergency during the dissolution of the Soviet Union
And Then the Food
Of course I can’t ever write a blog post without talking about food. Azerbaijan did not disappoint and we enjoyed amazing food and wine in Baku. And inexpensive.
The cuisine is not dissimilar to the other Caucasus countries but also had its own tastes. One of the best things we enjoyed was plov – a delicious pilaf wrapped inside pastry. Once cut table side by the waiter, a warm and fragrant lamb stew is poured on top.
Another favorite was piti. This lamb stew was mixed and served table side, and enjoyed with delicious flat bread used as your utensil to sop up all the tasty goodness. Really good.
Kefti becha I enjoyed twice because it was so good. A slow wine braised chicken that was melt in your mouth.
Yogurt soup, pickled vegetables, crispy eggplant and delicious soups and stews are abundant. Pomegranate and pumpkin also were used frequently. Many fresh breads, particularly flat bread were available for every meal as was cheese and fruit.
Tea is the drink of choice in Azerbaijan. It was common to see groups of men in the afternoon enjoying a pot of tea together with small sweet snacks and fruits.
We did an afternoon tea service too. I really wanted to enjoy an authentic tea with the ancient coal-fired samovar keeping our tea hot at the table. When enjoying this tea you are offered multiple small sweets and cookies and jam. The jam is very sweet and abundant with large pieces of fruit. Popular jams are apricot, cherry, and plum.
Here is my YouTube video talking about how much we loved the foods of Baku.
Final Thoughts
Admittedly I came to Azerbaijan not knowing a lot about this nation or the city of Baku. We had a positive visit and enjoyed the locals we met, the museums and the architecture. We enjoyed the food and the price was right. I encourage people to visit this city, and if you have the time, you should venture further out to see more of the country than we did. Despite some political issues we felt very safe, very welcome and really enjoyed everything about our visit. We definitely came away with a much greater understanding of the three countries of the Caucasus region; Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan.
Thank you for reading my post Baku, Azerbaijan. See last week’s post about Tbilisi Georgia. I hope you will come next Friday for the first of my posts about our Five Stans tour – we begin with the kinda crazy country of Turkmenistan.
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