{"id":9962,"date":"2020-05-01T17:50:11","date_gmt":"2020-05-01T17:50:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mircorp.com\/?p=9962"},"modified":"2022-03-25T13:43:59","modified_gmt":"2022-03-25T13:43:59","slug":"travelers-tale-baku-azerbaijan-shores-of-caspian-sea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mircorp.com\/travelers-tale-baku-azerbaijan-shores-of-caspian-sea\/","title":{"rendered":"A Traveler\u2019s Tale: Baku, Azerbaijan and the Shores of the Caspian Sea"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\"Jake
Jake Smith at one of his favorite old watchtowers, Mardakan Fortress, on the Absheron Peninsula near Baku<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Having spent years living and working in Central Asia<\/a>, I\u2019ve flown over the Caspian Sea en route back to the USA countless times. On long hauls I\u2019m a window-seat flyer; so when the sea was not obscured by clouds or the opaqueness of nighttime, I would look out and marvel at its vastness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While technically a saline lake, the world\u2019s largest, the Caspian is simply enormous and really lives up to the scale of a sea. Even from 39,000 feet, when you are in the middle of the Caspian, you can\u2019t make out the shoreline in any direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
A birds-eye view of the Caspian Sea off Baku. Photo credit: Inga Belova<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Caspian has been an emotional landmark for me. Passing over it meant I was returning to Central Asia<\/a>, my second home, for another extended stay away from my friends and family back in my first home, the U.S., or that I was leaving that second home for some rest and recreation elsewhere. Going either direction was always bittersweet, and the Caspian always felt like the demarcation between the two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite having seen it from the air so many times, I had never actually been down on the ground anywhere near the body of water. So last year when MIR presented me with the opportunity to travel between Yerevan, Armenia<\/a>, and Baku, Azerbaijan<\/a>, I jumped on the offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
A view of the promenade. Photo credit: Martin Klimenta<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The highlight for me, though, was my final destination: Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan<\/a>, perched on the southern shore of a peninsula jutting out into the center of the Caspian.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Azerbaijan and its People<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Azerbaijan<\/a> is located where the Caucasus Mountains meet the Caspian Sea, with Central Asia<\/a> to the east, Russia<\/a> to the north, Iran to the south, and Georgia<\/a> and Armenia<\/a> to the west. The national language, Azeri, is closely related to and often mutually intelligible with the Turkish spoken in Turkey<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Baku\u2019s
Baku\u2019s Old Town with a backdrop of new modern construction. Photo credit: Martin Klimenta<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Most Azeris adhere to the same Shia Muslim faith as their neighbors to the south, in Iran. This is in contrast to the Sunni branch of Islam that predominates in nearby Turkey<\/a>, the Middle East, and Central Asia<\/a>; and the Orthodox Christianity practiced in Russia<\/a>, Georgia<\/a>, and Armenia<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
A friendly game of backgammon in Baku\u2019s market square. Photo credit: Ana Filonov<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The country was under Russian and Soviet rule for much of its recent history. Even today most Azeris speak at least some Russian, and a substantial Russian minority still lives there. But the Azeri people\u2019s deep historical roots lie to the east, on the steppes of Central Asia<\/a> and Mongolia<\/a>, the original homeland of the Turkic clans.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
The Flame Towers alight in Baku, Azerbaijan. Photo credit: Peter Guttman<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I arrived in Baku not totally knowing what to expect. Would it be like the Central Asia<\/a> I was so familiar with? Like Georgia<\/a> and Armenia<\/a>, Iran, or Turkey<\/a>? Would the Russian influence be as obvious as in other parts of the former Soviet Union? Would there be any readily apparent ties to Iran?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Designed
Designed by the late Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid, the Heydar Aliyev Center is worth seeing for the architecture alone. Photo credit: Martin Klimenta<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The answer to all of the above was yes. I felt a little silly spending so much time comparing what I was experiencing with other places I had been before, but honestly it was hard not to do so in Azerbaijan<\/a>. Threads of the familiar were everywhere.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Threads of the Familiar<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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I heard Russian and Azeri on every street corner, the latter sounding just like Turkish to my ears. I was in the country right after the mourning holiday of Ashura, and I noticed black banners and flags adorning many mosques. The foods I ate had names familiar to me from Persian and Central Asian languages, but tasted much like the cuisine I\u2019d had in Georgia<\/a> and Armenia<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
A festive summer night stroll through Baku\u2019s Old Town. Photo credit: Jake Smith<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The streets and urban planning, especially in the outskirts of the city, felt very Soviet. The presence of substantial sums of petro-dollars was also easy to pick up on. The city was booming, and felt very cosmopolitan.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The Highlight of My Trip: Beautiful Baku<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Baku wraps around a semicircular bay, broadly oriented towards the south, with the downtown and old town areas largely situated in the western half of the semicircle on a hill sloping steeply down towards the sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"A
A panoramic view of the Bay of Baku which leads to the Caspian Sea. Photo credit: Inga Belova<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Martyrs\u2019 Lane and Spectacular Views<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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My exploration started at Martyrs\u2019 Lane \u2013 a solemn stretch of walkways and gardens dedicated to those killed in the Nagorno-Karabakh War with Armenia,<\/a> and during the turmoil Azerbaijan experienced immediately prior to the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The views of the city and the Caspian are spectacular \u2013 this makes for a good first stop for orientation purposes.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Martyrs\u2019
Martyrs\u2019 Lane. Photo credit: Devin Connolly<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"Eternal
Eternal Flame memorial at Martyrs\u2019 Lane. Photo credit: Jake Smith<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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The Flame Towers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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I walked down past the Flame Towers \u2013 a triplet of flame-shaped modern skyscrapers designed to evoke the fires of Zoroastrianism, the pre-Islamic religion of the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"The
The Flame Towers put on a colorful show at night. Photo credit: Jake smith<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"The
The sleek lines of the modern Flame Towers. Photo credit: Jake Smith<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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