A Break in the Action: Beautiful Baku

Last weekend was Eid and the univeristy was closed for 4 days so that students could travel home to celebrate with their families. I decided to take advantage of the break and take an impromtu trip to Baku, Azerbajian with my friend. It was an easy 3 hour direct flight from Tashkent to Baku and I was able to get an evisa online in just a few hours.

We arrived in the morning and decided to start with breakfast at a little cafe in the old city called Çay Bağı 145 (Tea Garden) which has a great view of the city from their rooftop terrace. Unfortunately the terrace was full when we arrived and without a reservation we could only get a table on the outdoor patio, which was still lovely. The food was a set breakfast and was far too much for us but we ate so much that we didn’t need any lunch.

After lunch we took a walk along the boardwalk with the Caspian Sea. Even though it was a hot day, the water was still far too cold to swim, not to mention the fact that the water was nasty looking and had a smelly geen slime on the top of it along the shore line.

We spent the rest of the day exploring the old city and seeing the sites. It was so much different than I expected. The old city has a beautiful old workd Eurpoean charm with classic brick buildings with wrought iron balconies and window boxes. We wandered aournd the old city taking photos of streets, balconies, and interesting doors. We found our way to the wall of the old city and wound our way up to visit the UNESCO world heritage site of Shirvanshah’s Palace.

On our second day we rode the funicular up to the Flame towers and explored a nearby park with a scenic view of the city. The park had a very post-Soviet feel to it that I haven’t noticed much in Tashkent.

Finally, since we had an afternoon flight back to Tahskent, we spent the morning of our third day exploring a local bazaar. We even treated ourselves to some saffron to bring home. We bought 5 grams in this cute tin for about $15.