“Let’s go on a trip together!”, our friend Anu had suggested on one of our get-togethers at their villa. “As the kids will be in Canada for most of the summer, we can do a long weekend getaway then”.
Leaning forward to grab a veggie stick, I responded excitedly. “That would be great! But where? Ideally, it would be less than a four-hour flight for environmental, time, and cost reasons, and not somewhere either one of us has been to recently”.
Picking a close enough vacation spot where four people, who have travelled extensively, had not visited in the past couple of years, was no easy task. As expats in the global hub of Dubai, it was our mission to make the most of our long weekends and vacations to explore the Middle East, Asia, and Africa while we were in this part of the world since Canada is so far from everywhere outside of North America.
Luckily, Air Arabia, one of the UAE’s low cost carriers efficiently picked out a destination for us with their wonderful packages to the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States), the former Soviet nations, many of which have names that end in “stan”.
We had heard a lot about Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan, and decided to make that our long August weekend getaway.
What’s in a name?
High pressure in many of the country’s gas reserves caused gas to leak up into the surface creating spontaneous fires, including the fire at Yanar Dag (“Burning Mountainside”) which has been burning for 4,000 years without stopping despite rain and snowfall, something intrepid traveler Marco Polo remarked upon in the 13th century.
Because of this, and other such flames, Marco Polo and other Silk Road merchants called Azerbaijan the “Land of Fire”. Fire also played a key part in the ancient Zoroastrian religion, whose followers worshipped fire.
Being the first in the world to mechanically drill oil wells in 1847, Baku produced more than half of the world’s oil by 1901, earning it the moniker the “City of Black Gold”.
Old Vienna Meets Futuristic Dubai
Less than three hours after boarding, we landed in Baku. As we were escorted to our car, I was immediately struck by how incredibly modern the airport was. A clear, green glass building with igloo-like entrances, it was sleek, clean, and much like a structure that belonged in Dubai.
Our drive to the hotel took us past a wonderful mix of buildings with old world charm, like many Western European cities, most notably Vienna, and super futuristic architecture. Our aptly named lodging, the Old Street Boutique Hotel was in the heart of the Old City, making it the perfect location for sightseeing and dining.
After having a late lunch of grilled meats, we took a casual stroll around the quaint cobblestoned streets of our neighbourhood. Seeing a little pastry shop, we stopped to have tea and try delectable Azerbaijani pastries, much to Mike’s utter delight. My husband has the ever-sweet tooth and relishes in any dessert excursions. The light, flaky, melt-in-your mouth deliciousness of the baklava necessitated several visits and our buying a box to take back with us.
Our wonderful hotel concierge, Elma (a young man, not to be confused with the female English name) offered us use of the rooftop breakfast restaurant for our sunset drinks of nice local wine while we gazed out to neighbouring rooftops and the Caspian Sea.
After our aperitifs, we walked to the nearby Fountain Square, just outside the Old City, for dinner.So named for the fountains in the main square, it is a lovely tree-lined area filled with restaurants, stores, and hotels — a hub of activity bustling with after-work crowds and tourists. Meals here are inexpensive at about USD 10 including a beer.
Escaping the crowds, we headed to the waterfront park again where we saw the Flame Towers, lit up in red, blue, and the Azerbaijani flag colours (red, blue, and green). The Flame Towers are iconic of futuristic Baku, consisting of the Fairmont Hotel and residential and office towers. Due to its location in the upper part of the city, the three flame-shaped skyscrapers are visible from just about anywhere in Baku.
We ended our night steps away from our hotel at Blue Moon Café for some smooth jazz and late night snacks.
Strolling the Waterfront Promenades
After breakfast the next day, we walked to the nearby Maiden Tower, an iconic part of Azerbaijani culture Maiden Tower, which is featured on its currency and stamps. This 12th century UNESCO World Heritage tower is shrouded by various mysterious legends, the most popular of which is of a young girl who ordered the tower built and then locked herself up in it (or also leaped off it into the Caspian Sea below, depending on which myth one believed).
Despite the Palace of Shirvanshahs being next door, we opted to skip it. Having had the privilege of seeing so many spectacular palaces and buildings, we chose to only visit places that were truly amazing or that we were particularly interested instead of hitting every spot on the tourist trail.
We headed to Mini Venice next, a seafront venue with restaurants, modelled after its Italian namesake with little waterways and even gondolas! We enjoyed the green waterfront park with olive and pine cone trees offering us some shade in the hot, sunny 29 degree weather.
We were especially amused to see the very uniquely structured Carpet Museum next door. It is shaped like a partially rolled up carpet with gold edges as carpet weaving is one of the country’s oldest applied arts.
Since we were on a very chilled out trip, we opted not to go into any of the buildings or museums (particularly one about rugs), preferring instead to meander the pretty streets and enjoy the city’s vibe.
I simply loved walking along the tree-lined grassy waterfront promenade, which was well designed and uplifting for the spirits, combining both water and greenery, my senses’ favourite combination.
The soon-to-be-opened Deniz Mall on the waterfront is a spectacular flower-shaped building. Oh wait, it is not a flower at all, but is “a flame-shaped tower which is the centrepiece of eight star-shaped wings inspired by Azerbaijan’s national emblem” according to the architects. Right, now that I know the inspiration for the design, I do see what they mean.
There is another promenade-front mall called Park Bulvar (“Park Boulevard”) along the waterfront which hosts many international retail brands and fast food franchises that we went to another day.
Walking back to our hotel, we stopped at the Philharmonic Park, one of oldest parks in Baku, which made me think of Vienna. Perched along a little hill, it features marble arches, a French-style Baroque fountain, and hosts the elegant, yellow-coloured Azerbaijan State Philharmonic Hall built in Italian Renaissance and German Rococo style. With clear, sunny blue skies, a canopy of trees, and paved walkways, it provided a relaxingly calm oasis in the middle of the city.
“You know, this city is so livable”, I said as I strolled, hand-in-hand with Mike.
“Yes, exactly what I was thinking!”
“I know! It’s so modern and well, livable” came the chorus from the others.
Somehow, there was a sense of comfort, safety, beauty, and ease to this city that we all felt that we could possibly live there. It was the waterfront promenade, green spaces, and the beauty of both old and new architecture that charmed me. There was also the appeal of the lower cost of living.
Curvy White Lines and Splashes of Colour
Because we fell in love with the City of Black Gold, we were actually not all that fussed when our overnight trip to Gabala, a forested area where we had planned to do a hike to the waterfalls and to indulge in winetasting, did not come to fruition.
It turned out our hotel booking was not processed correctly through a comedy of errors where there was a lot of confusion, mixed messages, the resort not answering their phones, etc. Despite the assistance of our very helpful concierge Elma, this issue was not resolved and we had to cancel our driver, who was also very understanding.
We decided to have a relaxing day visiting the curvy, futuristic Heydar Aliyev Centre, designed by the famed British-Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid and celebrated as “one of the most courageous engineering projects…and architectural masterpieces of world” on the Discovery and Science Channel. This ultramodern complex houses an auditorium, gallery, exhibition halls, and offices although we only had a photo shoot outside with the colourful animal statues and architecture, and didn’t venture in the museum.
The centre is named after Aliyev, who is considered the founder of modern Azerbaijan, leading the country from 1969 to 1987, when it was part of the Soviet Union, and from 1993 to 2003 as an independent nation.
After Anthony flagged down a taxi for us, I noticed that there wasn’t a seat belt in the back seats. Having been in several car accidents (the most severe of which 25 years ago likely caused my neck problems), I insisted on the driver bringing them back from the trunk for our use especially given the somewhat aggressive driving on the streets.
There was a flurry of debate while he tried to persuade us against it saying it is not required by law. However, after my insistence, he grudgingly attached them and also accidentally (?) left a black grease stain of my white cardigan.
A few minutes into the drive, Mike sitting in the front seat, turns around and grimaces.
“Um, guys, I don’t have a seat belt”.
This led to guffaws of laughter from the three of us as I unwittingly laughed while shaking my head in wonderment and concern for Mike’s safety. Our amusement was interrupted as our driver started shouting on the phone in Azerbaijani, including making some punctured gestures in the air, while we sat in silence looking at each other with furrowed brows.
After several minutes of heated argument, he then stopped the car and told us he “didn’t know how” to get us to where we wanted to go. We nodded understandingly, silently thankful he let us off as we had been trying to figure out how to tell him we wanted out!
After our hairy adventure, we were thrilled to return to our tranquil side of town with much friendlier locals.
Sumqayit, the Coastal Industrial City
As we had a free day due to our resort booking fiasco, the guys picked a nearby city to check out and Sumqayit, just over an hour away and the second largest city after Baku, looked interesting.
Formerly one of the largest industrial city during the USSR period, Sumqayit, which was named after the river of the same name, once had almost 90 industrial plants, although only a handful remain currently. To minimize the pollution impact on its residents, the coastline of the city was planned to have lots of green space.
Not realizing its industrial background until now, I found it to be a nice little seaside town where we enjoyed dining al fresco at the pier surrounded by water before being picked up by our far friendlier taxi driver.
Dagustu Park with a View
As the funicular (cable car) was not open the day prior, we made a dash for it on the morning of our departure. Because we were too early, it was still not open when we arrived and so, we braved the 200-step climb to Dagustu Park (“Highland” or “Upland Park”).
With several stops along the way to snap progressively better photos and to catch our breath, we were treated to spectacular panoramic views. The gusts of wind whipped through our hair as we soaked in the incredibly unique Baku skyline, calling out the buildings we recognized. The cotton candy clouds adorned the clear blue skies matched by the gleaming blue of the Caspian Sea, creating a picturesque tableau.
When the busloads of tourists arrived disrupting our tranquil enjoyment of the beautiful views, we headed to the connecting Martyrs’ Lane, the cemetery and memorial of soldiers from the Russian Civil War which took place at the end of World War I, collapsing the Russian Empire.
The memorials were surrounded by beautiful gardens and fountains. We also got to finally see the Flame Towers up close after seeing them from different areas of the city.
It was a phenomenal and symbolically fitting end to an amazing trip to the Land of Fire.