Baku by day

A real cup of coffee started our day. We wandered the city taking in the sights. Beautiful parks and elegant buildings. We did lunch at a local hotspot.

The waterfront was a long promenade of parks and monuments. We decided the Flame Tower was worth a closer look...then we climbed the 425 steps to the top...whoof!

Back to the hotel for a toilet break and time to do laundry and we were off again for the old city sights. But first we needed to scout out the local Irish pub! Oh, then there was the pool game at the English pub. I won...NOT! Ah-em...then we somehow stumbled (literally) into O'Malley's Pub. And thus ended the pub evaluation tour of Baku. We were now ready to report our findings to the rest of the group..."ALL of them will work out fine for our gathering this evening!"

Baku at night

We arrived around 6 pm and had to hire a taxi to escort our truck to the hotel. We are staying within the walls of the old city. After washing off the layers of mud we went out for dinner and then wandered around. This is a city of lights and quite beautiful. The gardens and parks are perfectly manicured and everything is immaculate. Enjoy some of these night photos. Google "flame towers Baku". This is a triple ultramodern skyscraper that had won international acclaim. It was designed by an American and the LED light show is awesome. Sorry, can't seem to be able to load video on this blog. Bummer.

Mud Volcanoes, sorta...

We left the petroglyphs and drove further into the park. Along the way we stopped for bread at a local market. Of course there was a perfectly fine and paved road to the next site-but the lads chose the dirt and mud one instead; the guide at the park said it was a shortcut. Then came the mud and the washed out road. Oh, and it started to rain. Ah, "overlanding!" Gotta love it!

"Stuck" preceded an hour of mud grates, digging out (success), and then backing up most of the 10 km we had just covered. We could see were we had intended to go...so close and yet so far!

A quick stop for lunch and a check of the weather nixed our tour of the mud volcanoes for today. It was off to Baku and the hotel to scrap off the mud and take a bath. We decided to look into a day trip from Baku to see the volcanoes during the next two free days.

And now on to the park...

A grand breakfast of omelets and potato pancakes started our day. We left the pasture as we found it, cow pies and all.

Ah-h-h, smooth roads and a four lane highway...finally! Two hours of driving got us to the national park. Still overcast, it was a bit warmer and we were ready to see some really cool stuff.

Gobustan is famous for the massive amount of discovered prehistoric petroglyphs. Many date back to 70,000 BC. We toured the site with a private guide for an hour, entering caves, and marveling at the unique and exquisite carvings.

To Gobustan National Park

Up early and on the road before breakfast, we had a rough ten hours of driving over REALLY bumpy and frost-heaved roads. We stopped to shop for the next two days and then made a quick breakfast alongside the "road."

We continued to descend in altitude as we headed for the coast of the Caspian Sea. The terrain changed dramatically from high boreal forest to rolling grassland punctuated with farms; the Caucasus mountains all the while to the north.

Cloudy with scattered showers started our day and continued well into the afternoon. We stopped for lunch in a small village, taking a chance with a local cafe. The soup was delicious, as was the BBQ lamb. We purchased meat for dinner from the local butcher. He had two more lambs in the trailer waiting their turn.

Back on the road we continued east following the ridge line of the mountains. We got lost twice, stopped to ask for directions, and still couldn't find the right road. The ride today was a killer-possibly the worst yet with endless potholes and uneven payment. All of us were exhausted from being tossed around. Taking off our seatbelts actually helped...if that makes any sense. Being strapped in and thrown around hurt as the belt cut into our waists and shoulders.

After ten hours we had traveled about 150 miles with another 60+ to go. It was late so we opted to pull over and wild camp instead of pressing on to our original destination. It was cute watching the lads try to ask if we could camp in a farmer's field using sign language and a brochure showing tents. No luck. We moved on and checked out a vacant restaurant along side the highway-not far enough from the road to be safe. Next up was a pasture some distance from the highway. There was no one home in the farmhouse so the lads headed out across the pasture were some shepards were tending their flocks.

They said we were fine and later the "land baron" showed up with his approval. We shared some vodka with him and his two daughters each got one of the moose lapel pins. We had a nice evening and a great meal. The camp for tonight was in a pasture surrounded by sleeping cows, sheep, goats, and buffalo. Perfect after a long day on the road. The land owner joined us for another vodka and gave us some cheese. It was great fun.