Baku

Dear lilioftheworld.com reader, here is Dimo, your co-editor.

Baku is the capital of the Azerbaijan. The country became a sovereign one just less than three decades ago in 1991 Previously it was part of the Soviet Bloc or USSR. However, it has a long and rich history and culture. It is located at an important crossroad between Europe and Asia. Its economy is a fast developing one, strongly supported by abundant oil and gas supplies. Still outside the most popular touristic destinations, the country offers authentic experience with a scent of unique customs and practices.

Azerbaijan got on our travelling list as we have found a direct low cost flight (Wizzair from Budapest) perfect for a longer weekend (Wednesday evening until Monday morning).

We spent there four days in the end of October 2018 which gave us the chance to feel the spirit of the capital Baku (or also called Baki) and visit some of the nearby places of interest. The climate was mild and temperatures were still acceptable for spending long hours on the go. We liked the city and its surroundings a lot – it feels like a mixture of Europe, the Orient, maybe a little bit of Dubai and something from Russia. We hope that with the following photos and descriptions we will be able to share part of this feeling with you.

Lili’s 5 good-to-know tips when travelling to Baku

• The local currency is Manat and 1 Manat is approximately equal to 0.5€ (info as of October 18). You can pay by credit card in most restaurants and places of interest in Baku and around. Still, you need to always have some cash with you as some vendors don’t accept cards.
• As most of the locals do not speak English, it would be good if you have a basic knowledge (or at least couple of words) of Russian– almost everyone speaks Russian (ex-Soviet Bloc remember). The locals are though actively using smartphone apps for speech translation to limit the language barrier.
• Use cars (taxis, Uber) as main mean of transportation. Тhe gasoline prices are very low (0.45€ for a litre of A92) which makes transportation relatively cheap.
• Mainly based on lower fuel and transportation costs you will find the prices of general products and services in Azerbaijan low – especially compared to Western Europe.
• The food in Azerbaijan is delicious. Better leave your diet for when you come back from your trip 🙂

Some general info before travelling to Baku:

You can check whether you need visa in order to enter the country and also you can apply for visa online on the following website https://evisa.gov.az/ (the application is very straight forward, it takes just couple of days for your visa to be issued and received by mail – applied on Friday, got my visa on Monday). Do not forget to print your visa as they will require it upon arrival and also at your departing airport.

Although Baku is not very touristic destination, there are a lot of different accommodation options (we should not forget that it used to be an Olympic Games venue as well as a Formula 1 spot). Our recommendation is to choose a hotel close to the Old Town (Old City), so that you can reach most of the attractions on foot. As we always recommend the hotels which we are satisfied with, here is the one we stayed at: Karat Inn Hotel. The hotel is 20 mins walk from the Old Town and 10-min walk from Nazimi Street- where you will find many bars/ cafes/ restaurants. The hotel is very good value for money, the breakfast is simply amazing (you can taste all the main Azerbaijani dishes) and the staff is friendly and helpful. Book the King Suite and you will feel like in an Arab fairy tale.

Transportation

• Flights– Besides the low-cost option which Wizzair offers, Azerbaijan has its own low-cost airline- Buta Airways. It offers direct flights to several European cities. The flight from Budapest takes a little bit more than 3 hours,
• Getting from airport to Baku city center – If you are coming from Europe, you will arrive at the airport. A very good and cost efficient option to get to the city center is to take the Airport Express bus. It departs every half an hour during the day and every hour during the night. The tickets can be bought from a vending machine right next to the exit of the airport. You have to use cash only. Buy an electronic card for 2 Manat and then charge it with 1.3 Manat per person. This is the total cost of the ticket. Two persons can use the same card.
• Metro – Baku has a few subway lines connecting different parts of the city. For all means of transportation you can buy tickets from the vending machines at the stops/ stations by simply recharging the card. To be honest besides the airport shuttle we did not use any other public transport. The taxi/ Uber rides are so cheap that you can basically use them all the time. Still, metro can be a good option if you want to get from one point of the city to the other. The traffic can be really busy.
• Taxis – You will see UK-looking taxi cars all over the city. We haven’t used them as I’ve read that they are more expensive than Uber. But maybe for the attraction, it is worth trying.
• Uber – this was the most common way of transportation we used. In order to illustrate how cheap it is- the ride to the airport was estimated at 10 Manat (5 Euro). For half an hour drive a bit outside the city to one of the attractions we paid 6 Manat. ]We thought that there is some mistake with the Uber estimation, but this was our bill in the end.

Most of the attractions in the city center are reachable on foot. You will need transportation only when you want to go outside.

What to see in Baku?

We spent four full days in Baku and from our point of view this is enough to see the main highlights of the city. It was a good mixture of sightseeing and also relaxing, blending with the locals.

• Take a walk in the Baku Old City. I’m sure most of the travel guides start with this recommendation. And there is a reason to it. The Old Town is completely different from the rest of Baku. It is different in terms of architecture, spirit and overall experience. Unlike any other Old City, you will find it quiet, no tourist crowds. At least it was like this when we visited it end of October. There are many places of interest which we describe below in details.

• Maiden Tower

Besides the Flame Towers (which are the modern symbol of Baku), the Maiden Tower is the other main attraction (it’s a historical highlight). Maybe many people will consider this inappropriate, but our advice is that you admire the building from the outside. There is a possibility to enter (the ticket costs 12 Manat), but honestly it is not worth it. There might be some connection to the fact that the archaeologists and scientists have different opinions on the purpose of this building (and still no one knows for sure).

The architecture and stones of the tower are different from that of the Old Town walls, which means that it did not serve as other towers of the same kind (protecting against enemies and monitoring whether other armies are coming). It is also believed that the tower is used as an Observatory which to a bigger extent makes sense. You can climb to the very top of the building, but the view is nothing spectacular (there are other places which offer much better view). And on the inside there is nothing extraordinary (just a couple of exhibition items and that’s it). We would recommend spending the entrance money for a cup of tea at one of the restaurants nearby.

• The Double Gate

Near the Maiden Tower you can see one of the gates to the Old City (both gates were renovated end of the 1800, but their look today is pretty similar to what it was back then).

• Palace of the Shirvanshahs

As mentioned above this is another UNSCO Heritage Site. Located at the upper part of the Old City in Baku, it is a popular stop for the tourists. While wandering the streets of the Old City, we got to the Palace, but we decided not to enter the building. The palace is just one of the oldest symbols of Baku. It was built in the 15th century during the time when Baku became the capital of Shirvanshahs kingdom. The entrance fee is 4 Manat.

• Mosques

Azerbaijan being a Muslim country, you will find a lot of mosques, and also some in the Old City. An interesting fact is that although more than 90% of the population is Shia, a lot of people don’t follow strictly the religious customs.

• The Carpet Museum

Near the Old City you will find the first in the world Carpet Museum (the locals are really proud of it). It was founded in 1967 by Latif Karimov – renown carpet designer, who has a great contribution to preserving Azerbaijani Art and cultural heritage. The building has the shape of a rolled carpet and it cannot be mistaken even from a distance.

The entrance fee costs 7 Manat per person. For additional 8 Manat we hired a guide – a young lady who explained many things, but she was rushing through the topics and it was sometimes hard to follow. Nevertheless the visit of the 3-storey museum gave us important learning about Azerbaijani history and habits.

What I really found amazing is the similarity with our Bulgarian customs and I assume the same refers to all countries in the Eastern European region. Same tools used for carpet production, same words (even the way they are written was the same), just the symbols maybe have different meaning.

For example peacock means beauty on AZ. In many of the carpets we can see the local sign Buta- the flame which is the main symbol of Azerbaijan. It was actually a good decision to hire this guide as otherwise we would not be able to recognize all the symbols in the carpets (like the dragon- you need to have quite good imagination).

• Seaside National Park and Boulevard

This is a free of charge attraction- the main boulevard of the city offering direct access to Caspian sea.

The promenade is the longest we have ever seen (even longer than the one in Tel Aviv) and it is still under construction (a couple of buildings are still to shape the coastline of Baku).

You can either walk during the day and enjoy the sea or admire the amazing sunset views from one of the quays.

The skyline after sunset.

• Little Venice

Right next to the Carpet Museum and within the park there is small area with canals and a couple of restaurants where you can also hire a boat for a romantic ride at night. The places is used not only by tourists, but also by locals especially for first dates.

• Baku Eye

A kind of copycat of the London Eye, the giant ferry wheel stays at one of the ends of the Seaside Boulevard. We did not make a ride with it. However we have to admit it definitely changes the overall look of the Baku coastline (especially at night when the lights are on).

• Flame Towers

The Flame Towers are the modern symbol of Baku. You can take the funicular (which by the way is the only funicular in the country) and get to the towers. When we visited the Baku, the funicular was not in operation and we had to take the stairs (also not a bad option). The view is really amazing.

As far as we know, there is an option to visit the observation deck in one of the towers, but our experience is that when visiting such attractions, you should not get into the building itself, but rather to look for another high building which offers a good view to it. That’s why we have made a suggestion below in the article. Close to the Flame towers is the Martyrs’ Lane. During the USSR times this alley was known as Kirov Park, named after the Soviet Bolshevik leader. This park is nowadays an alley of martyrs and is a symbol of pride of Azerbaijan and its independence.

• TV Tower

If you want an amazing view to Baku, this is where you should go. We would advise you to take a taxi to there, although we walked and it was not that bad (the area is quite secluded and not many people around). There is a revolving restaurant and basically the fee that you pay (20 Manat) is afterwards deducted from the bill.

There are some comments for the restaurant part below, but here we would mention that the view is stunning. We wish they cleaned their windows more often, so that you have better possibility for nice photos, but it was not that bad. In 80 mins you make a full circle, so carefully consider when you go there in order to catch both the sunset and also the night Baku view. More about the Restaurant you will find in the respective section.

• Heydar Aliyev Centre

Built in memory of one the most important leaders of Azerbaijan, this is a state of the art building. Home of many cultural events, Heydar Aliyev center is worth visiting even just on the outside. It is located on a hill overlooking the city and is a suitable for a nice walk.

Short Trip to Ateshgah Temple and Yanar Dagh

These two must-see places of interest are located north and northeast of the city and are ideal for a combined visit.  You can get there by taxi / Uber- although the distance is quite big, we paid only 6 Manat. The entrance to the Tempe is 4 Manat.

• Ateshgah Temple (Zoroastrian Fire Temple)

The name comes from Persian and it means “temple of fire”. The temple was used mainly by Indian fire-worshippers, but it has important Zoroastrian religion features: the central Altar resembles the traditional fire altars of Zoroastrians with openings to the 4 cardinal directions.

It is widely believed that Judaism, Islam and Christianity were strongly influenced by the Zoroastrian religion. If you want to know more about this topic you could read the short excerpt dedicated to it at the end of the article.

• Yanar Dagh (Burning Mountain)

A permanently blazing fire, whose flames reach meters high. It is almost a surreal picture of the fire coming from the rocks. The secret is in the natural gas depot in the underground layers, which release just a small quantity of natural gas on the surface, sufficient to keep the fires burning.

As you won’t spend a long time there, you can combine the visit to the mountain with the visit to Ateshgah Temple. It is some half an hour drive (or more depending on the traffic) from Baku city center.

With the eternal flames of Yanar Dagh we finish our trip in Baku. We hope the read was useful and entertaining!

Read also our posts for Gobustan and Baku restaurant recommendations.

P.S.: You can read below a short excerpt about the relationship between Zoroastrian and modern days’ religions.

Zoroastrian religion and its influence over Islam, Judaism and Christianity

Its origins date back between 1500 BC and 1000 BC. A prophet, named Zoroaster (also known as Zarathustra) was spreading his creed in the Central Asia region. Passing the preaching of the prophet from generation to generation formed the first dualistic religion. Zoroastrians saw the world as a battle between the good god Ahura Mazda and an evil god Angra Mainyu. Humans were to help the good god in his battle. The religion reached major popularity and became official religion of the Persian Empire. Its influence spanned to vast regions of Eastern and Central Asia until its sunset began with its subdue to the Islam.

However, the rising tide of monotheism didn’t really obliterate the dualism. Judaism, Christianity and Islam absorbed various dualist beliefs and customs. In fact some of the basic ideas of those religions – like for example the evil force of Devil or Satan – have a dualistic origin and spirit. Another key concept is the distinction between body and soul, matter and spirit, in the form of battle between evil and good.

So it might turn out that many of us are actually partly Zoroastrians in our beliefs 🙂

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