Azerbaijan

📅 Sep 2, 2019

Arrival In Baku at Heydar Aliyev International Airport · 12:44 AM

Arrived at the airport at midnight, exchange some money at the money exchange (not the best rate), couldn't get a SIM card at this hour. Need to exit the Airport in order get the BakuCard for the Airport Shuttle Bus to the city. Make sure you have small notes like AZN 5 - 10 to make BakuCard purchase via the machine. You can't get back into the airport once you exited, unless you go to the main entrance and pass through security screening. Some taxi driver will ask if you need a taxi, but they are not pushy.

Our Hostel In Baku at Freedom Hostel · 9:36 AM

Luckily the hostel is just 10 minutes walk from the May 28 bus stop. We got a room for 3 of us, the place is clean, friendly and quiet. The owner's father (retired from the army) treat us some local tea, and we met a large Iranian group which treat me their breakfast. The only complaint is the is only one bathroom (two showers, but only one door). Location wise is pretty strategic as it is near the main train station.

Baku Market at Yaşıl Bazar · 11:01 AM

Went to the local market to buy some fruits, nuts and local snacks. Tourists need do need to practice some negotiations skill though, most of them are friendly. Maybe we didn't get the best price, but still quality product and good prices if compared to our country. Later we found Churchkhela (long candy with nuts) in Azerbaijan actually taste better than the ones in Georgia. Or maybe it is not Churchkhela, but something similar.

First Meal In Baku at Anadolu Restaurant · 12:06 PM

The is nice restaurant which serve both Azerbaijan and Turkish cuisine. We didn't quite like Dovga (yogurt soup), probably our taste bud is not used to the taste. The thin bread with some mince meat in it is quite nice. Potata with meat is not to our liking, as it probably uses some intestines. My favourite is the Yaprak Xingal, like layers of pasta with meat, caramelised onion and yogurt.

Walk Along Baku Boulevard at Dənizkənarı Milli Park · 1:24 PM

This is a park next to the Caspian sea. Mini venice and carpet museum is here as well. The park is nice and spacious. It is good to pack some snack or fruits, and relax at a bench.
+5

Baku City View at Highland Park · 4:07 PM

We plan to take the Funicular (tram) from Baku Boulevard to Highland Park, but sadly the tram is closed so we just have to walk. This park offer a great view of the city, sea and Flame Towers.
+1

Walk Around Baku Old Town at Icherisheher · 5:27 PM

This is the historic and touristy place of Baku, the Walled Old City. It has an old charm with restaurants crowded with tourists.

Dinner at Dolma restaurant · 6:35 PM

This is an underground restaurant, quite popular among the tourists. Food are generally good, with good service. The Pomegranate Wine is a mistake. We tried the local specialty, Baliq Levengi, fish stuffed with walnuts (sadly, we didn't like it).

Beautiful Fountain at Fəvvarələr Meydanı · 9:11 PM

Probably due to old Soviet influence, they are plenty of nice fountains at park.

📅 Sep 5, 2019

Hiking From Sheki To Kis at Sheki · 9:55 AM

Discover this one day hiking route on OpenStreetMap (not much information about Azerbaijan hiking on the Internet). We packed bread, nuts and fruits from the day before for lunch. On the way up, we saw some locals with donkies and horses dragging some firewood downhill. The mountain is quite pretty, with plenty of flowers (one of them looks like Lotus), and we found a field full of flowers. There is an intersection near the peak. One route lead to Kis village, and another further up with a small rest stop probably operated by the shepards. We saw a van driving up some local tourists from Kis. We try to reach the peak rest stop, but gotten too tired halfway through, and decided to have a picnic style lunch by the road side. We manage to reach the rest stop after energised through our lunch. The place have a round campfire place and a shed, but no one is around. There is a small hill, but we are not interested to go higher as the weather did become cloudy. Soon we decend to Kis.
+122

End Hiking At Kis at Marxal Resort & Spa · 5:25 PM

After desending from the mountain we end up in a resort, which is quite a distance from Kis village. We could took a cab to visit the Albanian Church in Kis, but we are tired and it will get dark soon. We took a cab back to Sheki for 5 Manat instead.

Explore at Sheki · 5:50 PM

The driver drop us at the modern part of Sheki Town, which we didn't explore earlier. It seems Sheki is quite a popular town.

Dinner At Guest House at Shaki Host House · 6:23 PM

The host cook us some good Dolma for dinner, with minced lamb meat stuffed in pepper or eggplant.