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it is said that adults do not make choices. among all the travel destinations, the three countries of transcaucasia are my hexagonal warriors. magnificent scenery, long history, rich cultural landscape, the fusion of multi-ethnic cultures, plus affordable prices and convenient visas - the buffs are stacked. many years have passed, and when i think back to the corners of the world i have visited, from bustling new york and tokyo to patagonia and antarctica at the end of the world, the trip of four "single dogs" through azerbaijan, armenia, and georgia in early autumn 2018 is still the trip i am most willing to talk about and talk about.

french writer chateaubriand once wrote: everyone carries a world with him, a world made up of everything he has seen and loved. even if he seems to be traveling and living in another different world, he still keeps returning to the world he carries with him. the three transcaucasian countries take me back spiritually from time to time, blurring my mind as to where i am.

location of transcaucasia (google map screenshot)

our first stop was baku, azerbaijan. usually, we would take a one-day tour, a half-day tour of the ancient city, including the maiden tower and the shirvanshah palace, then visit the literary museum and the national history museum, check in at the aliyev cultural center, and have a drink at the bar after dark. the ancient city and its surroundings are very suitable for city walks, please slow down and fully enjoy the pause of time. if you have one more day, you can leave the bustling and modern city center and charter a car to the fire temple in the east of the city, or the prehistoric rock paintings in gobustan on the outskirts of the west.

china southern airlines is the best choice for flights from shanghai to baku, the capital of azerbaijan, with a stopover in urumqi. you have to stay overnight in urumqi on the way there. leave the terminal and wait until the next night to fly. but it is also a blessing to be able to eat berkat meat naan in consulate alley and visit the mosque and the grand bazaar at leisure. there is a direct flight between beijing and baku operated by azerbaijan airlines once a week.

departing from urumqi, the flight took 4 and a half hours. it was already 9pm when we arrived at aliyev airport (east fourth district). t1 has all kinds of modern facilities, and visas on arrival can be processed at self-service machines and counters.from july 20, 2024 to july 20, 2025, azerbaijan will unilaterally grant visa-free entry to chinese citizens holding valid ordinary passports. within this year, the cumulative number of entries shall not exceed 3 times, and the single stay shall not exceed 30 days.

scene outside the airport

after successfully passing through customs, we were faced with taxi drivers soliciting customers and asking for exorbitant prices. in the end, we negotiated a golden "british classic car" similar to the ones that shanghai tycoons used to drive us to the hotel for 25 manats (about 104 yuan).uber is available in baku. when leaving, the hotel to the airport cost 43 rmb. the airport highway is in excellent condition and unobstructed. it takes half an hour to reach the ancient city area.

the view from the hotel's top floor restaurant window

at that time, our budget travel package included two nights' accommodation, and the price of 500 rmb per night was equivalent to 700 to 800 rmb in china. the experience exceeded our expectations - the old city of baku was within walking distance, the breakfast was no less than that of a domestic five-star hotel, and the rooftop restaurant had a view of the caspian sea and the city.in baku during the off-peak season, you can stay in a quality hotel for 500-600 rmb, and most international chain brands for just over 1,000 rmb. if you are not short of money, you can stay at four seasons. however, it is very difficult to find a room during the f1 season.baku is another place besides monaco that uses city roads to host f1, this year it is from september 13 to 15. when we walked on the roadside in baku, we often felt surrounded by racing cars.

honey for breakfast

after finishing my routine, i went out without feeling sleepy. the area near the old city is the busiest and most prosperous area in baku, and it is safe and secure. at 10 pm, the coastal neftchilar ave and fountains square were still crowded with people.there are several groups of children playing volleyball in the street park in front of the hotel. when oil capital poured in from 2010 to 2014, the argentine women's volleyball super league was once a top league on par with italy and turkey, and former national player wei qiuyue also played for a short time.

volleyball street scene

the busy oil workers street

walk to hilton and go to the revolving restaurant bar 360. the hotel facilities are old-fashioned, as is the bar. it was past 11pm and there were not many people. the night view of the seaside and the changing neon lights of the flame tower in the distance were worth the price.

azerbaijan is located in the southern foothills of the transcaucasus mountains, with an area of ​​87,000 square kilometers, which is smaller than zhejiang's 106,000 square kilometers. its population is 10 million, which is larger than the combined population of georgia (3.7 million) and armenia (2.8 million). the capital, baku, has a population of more than 2 million and is the only metropolitan area in the country.

revolving restaurant night view

azerbaijan means the land of fire, which originated from zoroastrianism, or more commonly known as zoroastrianism. the present-day azerbaijan region has been influenced, ruled, or a vassal state of various dynasties of persian civilization since ancient times.in the 7th century, the sassanid empire was conquered by the arabs and the azerbaijan region began to islamize. from 861 to 1538, the shirvanshahs, as a vassal of the surrounding empires, ruled the present-day azerbaijan region and part of the russian republic of dagestan bordering the north.

statue of nizami

the ancient city of baku was built during the shirvanshah dynasty. in the 11th century, with the rise of the seljuk empire, the shirvanshahs began to turkify.in the late 16th century, the safavid dynasty of persia changed the region from sunni to shia. after the shirvanshah dynasty, azerbaijan was basically ruled by persia until 1813, when persia was defeated by tsarist russia and ceded its territory. in 1918, the tsarist rule was overthrown, and azerbaijan briefly gained independence for 23 months, but the soviet union coveted its oil resources. after resistance failed, azerbaijan became part of the soviet union until the soviet union collapsed in 1991.

ancient city wall

in the mid-19th century, oil was discovered around baku, and the city began to develop rapidly. by the beginning of the 20th century, half of the oil sold on the international market came from baku. saudi arabia did not discover large amounts of oil until 1938. oil is also my earliest impression of azerbaijan - pierce brosnan and sophie marceau's "the world is not enough" has scenes of oil fields and oil pipeline construction on the shores of the caspian sea.today, baku is known as "little dubai", and its luxury is reflected in its municipal infrastructure.——the underground passages are all paved with marble, with elevators going up and down, as well as elevators specifically for the disabled.

azerbaijani woman making breakfast

the next day after breakfast, we walked from the hotel to the ancient city of baku (icherisheher). the ancient city covers an area of ​​0.5 square kilometers and was listed as a unesco world cultural heritage in 2000. in different locations in the ancient city, you will find a wonderful experience of ancient and modern times in the same frame.

in less than 10 minutes, we arrived at the fountain square and the nizami literary museum - statues of azerbaijani poets lined up with their names marked below. after the collapse of the soviet union, azerbaijani writing adopted the latin alphabet to replace the cyrillic alphabet. the national poet who named this museum, nizami ganjavi, wrote in persian. he was born in ganja during the seljuk empire in the 12th century ad, now the second largest city in azerbaijan. the first poet who wrote extensively in azerbaijani turkic was muhammad bin suleiman in the 16th century, pen name fuzuli, the first statue on the left.

nizami literature museum

walking along the city wall, you will see the maiden tower in the southeast corner of the ancient city.there are many different opinions about the function and name of the maiden tower, and even the construction date is still unknown. it is generally believed that the maiden tower was built in the 6th to 7th century bc, and the existing tower was repaired and rebuilt in the 12th century and is made of limestone.although the tower's shape and initial integration with the city wall resemble fortifications, the more mainstream view is that the maiden tower is a zoroastrian fire temple for religious ceremonies, and is related to mitra, the symbol of truth and loyalty, and anahita, the goddess of water, the symbol of fertility, healing and wisdom. legend has it that the red-haired girl who rescued baku during the siege named the symbol of the ancient city and has become the source of many artistic creations.

maiden tower

you need to buy a ticket to enter the tower, which costs 12 manats (about 50 rmb) per person. the interior is now a museum introducing the history of baku. after passing through the 7-story tower, we climbed to the 28-meter-high tower top platform, where we could see the entire ancient city and the baku bay with thousands of sailboats. what is more eye-catching is the flame tower on the top of the mountain in the distance, which interweaves with the ancient city nearby, forming a strong contrast.

ancient city and flame towers

next to the maiden tower is a former public bath, and not far away is the juma mosque, which was also a zoroastrian temple.the corners of the old city were filled with souvenir stalls and antique shops. however, there were few buyers and the shopkeepers were dozing on their chairs. the local residents who were smoking and playing chess were happy and relaxed. we integrated into their rhythm. although we were special forces in baku, we also walked the steps of the big soldiers and immersed ourselves in the atmosphere of doing nothing is the real work.

maiden tower and public baths

juma mosque

ancient city stalls

residents of the ancient city playing and watching chess

the palace of the shirvanshahs, now a museum, is also worth a visit, displaying various artifacts from the ancient court.azerbaijanis are not good at judging the age of east asians. the "gay friend" claimed to be under 18 and did not bring his student id, so the ticket seller gave him a free ticket.

palace of shirvanshahs

shirvanshah palace and flame towers

compared with the thousands of small towns in europe, there are not many ancient cities with persian and islamic culture as their background.free from the scars of war, and able to breathe freely under the full force of modernization, the ancient city of baku has balancedly integrated the ancient and the modern, the west and the east into one frame, allowing scenic spots and residential areas to coexist harmoniously.the neat streets and the renovated but timeless buildings really made me, a hurried tourist, feel comfortable and relaxed. the ubiquitous flame towers that dominate the baku skyline seem to tell every visitor: "i have money." however, the old city is a little artificial, with less fireworks, perhaps because it is well hidden.

ancient city crossbow

the flame towers

lion mural on the roadside

ancient city alleys

we had lunch at sehirli tendir, a small wooden house near the ancient city wall. we ate "azerbaijan naan" with tomato and cheese, and dolma, which is widely eaten in the middle east: leaves wrapped with meat or vegetables.

“azerbaijani naan”

after lunch, we bought bakicart bus cards and took a bus to the heydar aliyev center. this is the work of the famous iraqi-british architect zaha hadid, which was completed in 2013. unfortunately, it was closed on monday. but even though i don't know much about architecture, i was amazed by this huge building for more than an hour. the flow of lines is full of functions.in the aliyev center, you can experience the modernity of baku more intuitively: dense road networks and numerous buildings.many young people were sitting sparsely on the lawn surrounding the cultural center, chatting, reading and enjoying their meals comfortably under the shade of the trees.

aliyev center

afterwards, we took an uber from the aliyev cultural center and headed for the flame towers. the three flame-shaped buildings are the fairmont hotel, office buildings, and residences, all completed in 2013. we got off at the entrance of the cable car at the foot of the mountain, and the fare was only 10 rmb. unfortunately, it was closed on monday again, so we had to experience the hill walk, passing through the wealthy residential area halfway up the mountain, and enjoying the more modern baku bay for free from the upper floors of the fairmont hotel.

baku bay

for dinner, we returned to the fountain square and chose dolma, an underground restaurant popular with tourists. after dinner, we took a walk along the oil workers avenue. baku means the windy city in persian, and you can feel the strong wind while walking along the shore of the caspian sea.

dinner

four seasons hotel

overall, baku is a great "visit" experience: exotic, convenient, modern. however, if you stray a little from the tourist areas or encounter a problem, you will see another side.there are many soviet-era buildings in and around the baku railway station, with a strong sense of the times. the blocks to the north of the railway station are very run-down. in fact, there is also an old and run-down block between our hotel and the ancient city.

maiden's tower at night

aliyev statue

we also had a brief experience of the baku metro, which has a common feature of the soviet era - deep underground. the people on the subway are not as wealthy and leisurely as those seen in tourist areas, and are generally indifferent and tired.one baku subway card can be used by multiple people. we didn’t know that at the time, so we each bought one and charged a lot of money to one of them. in the afternoon, we wanted to refund the card, but the ticket seller at the train station had limited change, so he refunded us a small part and asked us to go to another station to refund the rest. when we arrived at the other station, the lady at the subway card recharge counter was completely uncommunicative. we asked the subway security guy for help. he had a typical slavic face and said in a nonchalant manner: "prize me". in the end, we offered the prize and exchanged the card for cash.