Azerbai-where? An introduction to Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan was never on my list of countries to visit.

In fact, the only context in which I’d heard of the place was in catchy retorts – you know: “Oh it is ON like the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan.”

So when I accepted a gig that would see me spend a month in the country, all I knew about the place was that it had a fun-to-pronounce name, and was a former Soviet republic.

I couldn’t even find it on a map.

Thanks, Google.

Turns out, Azerbaijan is really charming.

I liked it from the minute I stepped off the airplane and saw the beautiful airport at dusk, and it pained me to say goodbye at the end of the month. I didn’t want to hop on that plane back to Paris; living in Azerbaijan felt like stepping back into a simpler time.

 

THE BASICS

Located in the Caucasus region between Europe and Asia, Azerbaijan is surrounded by Armenia, Georgia, Iran, and Russia, with the Caspian Sea on the east border. The people speak Azerbaijani, which sounds closer to Turkish than Russian — though many people also speak Russian, as up until 1991 Azerbaijan was still a part of the Soviet Union. The currency is the Azerbaijani manat, which as of October 2012 was basically at parity with the euro. While the citizens are almost all Muslim, I have never seen a more relaxed Islamic country than Azerbaijan.

HISTORY

It’s hard to escape Azerbaijan’s past when visiting the city. There’s the appropriately named Old City, which dates back to at least the 1100s and is just a fabulous place to spend an afternoon walking around or relax over tea and jam. The long stretch of tombs called Martyrs’ Lane, which leads to an Eternal Fire memorial against a beautiful view of the Caspian Sea, is a very present reminder of the massacres of Black January in 1990. There are also large portraits everywhere of Heydar Aliyev, the country’s former president who still commands a cult of personality even after death (his son is now the current president).

 

CROSSROADS

My first impression of Azerbaijan was that it was truly where old meets new and east meets west.

I kind of joke that Azerbaijan is charming in that, old-motherland-country-meets-new-oil-money kind of way. I don’t mean that in a negative sense. I mean you can still enjoy being surrounded by (authentic) old world charm while not also not being hard-pressed to find modern western conveniences.

Take the people themselves: walking down the street you would run into any number of people who looked Caucasian, Asian, Eastern European, and Arabic. Crossroads. And their appearances even more so — women would be in all manners of dress: from 80s chic to modern styles; from conservatively covered head-to-toe to wearing heels so high and dresses so short they looked like Barbie Gone Wild.

Baku, as the capital, was (not surprisingly) the most modern. I wandered through malls selling upscale designer clothes while Gangnam Style pumped through the speakers. Subway stations looked like works of art. The nearly-finished Flame Towers loom above the city as the latest icons of Baku, not far from the Crystal Palace on the edge of the Caspian Sea, where the Eurovision song contest was hosted earlier this year. There’s even an already half-completed Trump Tower in Baku.

Remnants of the old city still exist and surrounds (or is integrated into) the modernization. Soviet-era Ladas and clunky buses speed down brand new highways while London-style purple cabs jostle over cobblestoned streets. 12th-century castle turrets are dwarfed by the new Four Seasons hotel; Dior and Tiffany’s share space in tiny alleys with local hammams; and hilariously, designer shops for children are housed in buildings that imitate Azeri architecture along the promenade.

There is oil and gas here, and it shows.

Buildings are illuminated with thousands of lights come dusk, enhancing Baku’s metropolitan feel at night. Gasoline is only 0.65 manat — roughly 75 cents — per liter (for Americans, that amounts to a $2.84 gallon of gas). Many of the expats are Americans and Brits taking advantage of the boom in business (who dine nightly at the rooftop restaurant of the Hilton and are happy to buy bottles of champagne for people they’ve just met…so cheers to that).

THE COUNTRYSIDE

Out of eleven known climate zones in the world, Azerbaijan has nine of them. This leads to a variety of landscapes, which I noticed on long bus rides through parts of country: Baku was humid and sub-tropical, the northern towns were mountainous and lush, and in between were stretches of plains, deserts, grasslands, and undoubtedly more landscapes that I completely slept through.

THE MOUNTAINS

During a weekend in the northern towns of Gabala and Sheki, I learned more about the country’s history, experienced one of the simplest yet memorable meals along a misty mountainside, encountered awe-inspiring sunsets and found overwhelming peace in unexpected places.

It was here that I felt truly charmed by Azerbaijan.

FOOD

I already described the sometimes sweet, often salty, and always mutton-y goodness of Azerbaijani food in this post {here}. But who doesn’t want to see a photo of that amazing piti soup again?

THE PEOPLE

The Azeri people are undoubtedly what made my time in Azerbaijan the most memorable: unwaveringly friendly, polite, and hospitable, even when I myself was frustrated and on edge. I was there for a big FIFA event so to those who think people were only nice because they wanted to leave a good impression — No. You can tell when that hotel manager is faking the smile for appearances’ sake, and when someone is genuinely kind with a good heart.

These were good-hearted people. The locals I met were welcoming and always wanted to make sure these visitors to their country were well-fed, taken care of, and having a good time — whether that meant sharing a large meal or bottles of booze, or complete strangers inviting us into their dance circles at a dinner party. In Baku I saw older men gathered in parks and open spaces to play boardgames and drink tea, providing a sense of calm and slowing the pace of life in a chaotic city.

Even when I was approached for photos, because for some reason women really wanted their photo taken with me, it was done in a respectful, adorably shy manner — not the aggressive and presumptuous requests I’ve seen by people in other countries.

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

I was in Azerbaijan for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, of which most of the games were hosted in Baku. Therefore I also encountered some unique moments during my trip: watching J.Lo and Shakira perform at the Opening and Closing ceremonies(respectively), being on live television (I may have danced a bit), touring national press and television offices, meeting quite a few government and sports officials, living in a hotel for a month that found me waking up every morning to see the sun rise over the Caspian Sea, watching more football games than I’ve ever seen before in my life (including the World Cup in 2010), and go-karting at a dinosaur-mascoted theme park in the mountains of northern Azerbaijan.

I had such a hard time choosing just handful of photos to act as both an introduction and an overview to my time in Azerbaijan. I have so many more photos and stories — I can’t wait to share them all.

Update: Some readers seem to think I stayed in the Four Seasons and did not get a true sense of Azerbaijan. While I admit being there for work exposed me to a different side of the country, for the record I was NOT in the Four Seasons. I just took some photos of it — which doesn’t necessarily mean I stayed there.

Also, yes I am American; and no, I was not paid a single cent to write about Azerbaijan.

Any questions about Azerbaijan? Let me know and I’ll try to answer them in upcoming posts!