Does Baku Give You A Taste Of The World ?

Recently, I visited Azerbaijan and Georgia the trip was slightly exhausting and lacked good sleep but that is not to say that it wasn’t fun and refreshing! I will be writing three blog post on my trip starting with this one…

A new hot-ticket tourist destination,  Baku

On a Friday afternoon, my friends and I flew for two hours to Baku a city that isn’t well known but is on the rise of becoming one of the most touristic places on earth. Just like most countries in the Gulf, Oil and natural gas have brought new wealth to Azerbaijan and made its capital, Baku, a modern and glittering metropolis.

There are many touristic landmarks that define the modern architecture, nonetheless, many of the areas in Baku has been maintained to resemble ancient ruins and historical architecture, making it a city where modern meets history.

Baku is home to many attractive landmarks that need to be seen if you ever go there such as:

Highland Park that offers a 360˚ panoramic view of the Baku city, which resembles a massive amphitheatre that gently slopes down to the adjoining Caspian Sea! After that, we departed to start Baku Old City Tour.

An excursion tour to the Old Town – ‘Icheri Sheher’. The old city is the heart of Baku. We visited several dozens of historically architectural monuments located in the territory of Old Town, including Palace of Shirvanshahs, the Maiden Tower, several caravan-palaces, mosques, baths, etc. Visit the Maiden Tower – ‘Baku’s symbol’. Known locally as Giz Galasi, was built in the 12th century as part of the walled city. ‘Baku’s medieval cultural spot – ‘Caravanserai, to name a few. Shirvanshahs` Palace, the biggest monument of the Shirvan- Absheron branch of the Azerbaijan architecture.

Baku Boulevard, one of the favourite retreat centres for tourists and inhabitants.

Carpets Museum – whose very building resembles a folded carpet.

House of the Government, Governor’s Garden and Magomayev Philharmonic Theatre which is a part of Baku city’s splendid architectural landmark.

Cultural Center Complex – Heydar Aliyev Center that is comprised of an exhibition hall, museum and auditorium. Its architecture is remarkable as no angles can be seen in its interior as well as exterior.

Flame towers – A trio of skyscrapers in Baku, Azerbaijan, the tallest in the country, with a height of 182 m. These towers were built as a representation of the oil and gas reservoirs that Azerbaijan has.

The fountain square – An area full of restaurants and shops.

Just like the architecture, food is a mix of modern and authentic flavours. Baku has some interesting must try unique dishes such as Kutab (A pancake-like dough filled with your preference of filling), The three sisters ( A dish made up of stuffed onion, tomato and pepper) & Khashlama ( A meat dish mixed with baked fruits and chestnuts).

The appeal of Baku reveals itself. It’s Rome, it’s Paris, it’s London, it’s Dubai. After Azerbaijan witnessed its first oil boom, architects from all over the world came to design buildings for the expanding city. The result is a charming mix of architectural styles, genuinely beautiful buildings that line the city’s traffic-choked streets.Towering above them all is perhaps Baku’s most impressive sight, the Flame Towers. Which by night, huge LED are displayed to give the appearance of flames licking the sides of the buildings. Azerbaijan, you quickly realise, has wealth. 

The natural resource boom may not have affected all parts of society, but it’s certainly has touched the big end of town, so much so that Azerbaijan seems determined to sell itself as a sort of “new Dubai”. To do that you need impressive buildings, which Baku is on its way to achieving. They even started hosting sports events. Baku staged the inaugural European Games, a sort of Olympics that features sports such as three-on-three basketball and beach football, along with the more familiar wrestling and boxing. The city also hosted a Formula 1 Grand Prix before two years. 

 

Visiting Baku genuinely gives you a taste of the world 

 

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Here are some photos I took on this trip and make sure you read the caption to know more about what was the story behind each photo

Met This stranger at the airport who photobombed a good picture! He did give us his Instagram and we are following each other so if he ends up reading this… You photobombed the only decent picture I took with the iconic bear… Thank you!!!

 

Obviously, had to eat at the airport – if you are flying from or to Hamad airport anytime soon I would recommend Del Monto cafe – customised sandwiches & stay away from Yum cha sushi unless you like soggy taste lacking sushi! 

cof

cof

 

Baku Heydar Aliyev International Airport

 

 

After a clearly beautiful night of sleep! When my parents were saying their goodbyes other than the 2 hours long lecture on how not to lose my passport like I did in Singapore, they told me to stay away from nightclubs and I was planning on complying with that but funnily enough, I didn’t have to go to nightclubs they came to me. As our hotel was in the middle of the clubs street and they weren’t any clubs they were stripping clubs to be exact…. and I know you might be thinking don’t you check where you booked your hotel. I did but apparently the one online is the old location of west shine hotel, not the new one. My advice is to call the hotel before booking to make sure of the location as you never know if they relocated without updating it online. ps. the reason I didn’t get much sleep, is because I had to listen to people fighting and women screaming all night long don’t let your head take you places. 

 

I don’t know what is funnier me posing in the middle of the street or how happy I am to potentially get hit by a car!

No seriously I can’t read maps and I think I own the street clearly!

 

During our mini walk, we found a deserted building and took some pics cause why not!

 

There was a girl taking an endless amount of picture and people passing so I applaud my friend for taking this shot! – This is at the old city

 

The old city

The old city is full of underground art galleries for you art lovers! 

Even the walls are Artsy 

…And the trees, BTW I’m totally not having a full convo with this tree 

Juice Break!

The streets are lovely for a stroll in the old city!

Where modern meets historic 

The security was scolding me for sitting on the pavement to take a photo I still did! 

The only bit of sun/ heat we had that day!

watch your step

I may be a Dj in the making!

 

Bee!!!

I hope there is no Bee in this one…

Meet Jessy my car 

Souvenirs shopping 

Don’t buy those strawberries they are 10 Manat a box- Usually, you get them for 2 Manat they are so good but get them from a local market. 

BAKLAVA 

KUTAB 

The maiden tower – Where you will have to go up 8 stories of narrow and dark stairs nonetheless the view is worth it just look at the next photo! 

you get a 360 view of the city and the Caspian sea definitely worth it. 

I was potentially going to lose my balance and end up in the water … the problem though wouldn’t be the water it will be the freezing cold weather after I get wet. 

Artsy photo ft weirdly placed bag and jacket… am I creating a trend here 

The taxis in Azerbaijan are similar to the taxis in London they do have normal taxi cars if you want to pay less but common how cute are those taxis …

Seriously?

A walk in Highland Park 

Beautiful designs 

 

360 views 

 

Heat me up!!!!

More beautiful views 

if you look at a distance, the building that is rolled up horizontally is  the carpet museum 

The trio Towers I.E. the flame towers 

More scenery ft me 

 

 

Are we hiking all the way up there…

Yes we are and My hair thought it would be a good idea to throw a party 

Fadwa pose quickly there are snakes in this area!

Burrrrr at the mountain of fire 

How to keep warm 

 

Self – explanatory 

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And last but not least all the food I had those two days. 

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Not My birthday!

Cost of transportation, food and entrance to landmarks – Baku is very cheap so you don’t have to worry about spending much, the price ranges between 40 – 60$ every day. 

Hotel info – If you are interested –  west shine 

Some extra Tips:

• If you will go shopping for souvenirs don’t buy them from the Old city go to local streets such as Ağa Neymətulla street, as they are cheaper in other areas.  
• You will face language barriers, they don’t speak English nor Arabic, so my advice is to learn your signs. 
• Taxis will rob you! So ask a local about the prices before taking a taxi or Ubur. We used Ubur throughout this trip and it was very cheap. The one time we decided to try the cool purple taxis we paid triple what we pay in Ubur. 
• We mostly ate in the old city because you find the authentic local dishes there. If you are not into trying new flavours and want to stick to the usual food you have, I recommend you go to the fountain square. There you can find all the franchise and international restaurants.  
  

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I will be adding part 2 of my trip soon, it is all about what cities you must visit in Azerbijain other than Baku.

Until next time, Crave the dish…