Baku, Azerbaijan

Over the past couple of days I've seen much of Baku's central city and the Old City (UNESCO World Heritage site).

The Old City is just what it sounds like and dates back to the Middle Ages. It's just a maze of narrow cobblestone streets. The neat thing is it still operates and isn't really a tourist attraction. It's full of shops selling anything from cellphones to carpets to fruit. It's also full of private residences. A local Azeri told me that a small house in the Old City costs about $180,000. The hostel I'm staying at is in this part of Baku.

Inside the Old City is Maiden Tower. It's about 30 meters high and overlooks the entire Old City, the Caspian and the rest of Baku. It's called Maiden Tower because back in the day it was considered impenetrable. But the legend is that a prince or something fell in love with his daughter and wanted to marry her. She wasn't having any of it, so she went to the top and jumped off. It's a better story, but not true.

I also visited the Shirvanshah's Palace. It's a palace that was recently meticulously restored, almost to meticulously if you ask me. Some of the rooms in the royal residence had light fixtures and electrical outlets. The best part is the views from the main courtyard looking out over new Baku.

Another spot worth mentioning is the park along the Caspian. The locals call it Bulava or whatever Boulevard is in Azeri. This is where families and couples go out for a stroll. I've discerned this is a place where you take your girl and conservatively canoodle. From talking with a few locals, I think the people of Azerbaijan are pretty conservative, so you can't get away with too much (canoodle is a good description). The waterfront would be really nice, but it's on the Caspian where the water is oily, gross looking and smelly. Someone told me it's because the oil just seeps out of the seabed, but I think we should just blame the Soviets and their haphazard drilling.

For those who know their oil history, you can see Oily Rocks (one of the first major offshore production facilities) on the way to Baku from the airport and from a distance along the waterfront.

Baku is a much more cosmopolitan city than I imagined. Parts of the city have a very late 18th century European feel. People definitely have a lot of money here, it's just that I'm not sure they know how to spend it. The locals are nice, but you usually have to engage them first and hope they know a tiny bit of English.

That's probably the longest post I'll have because I'm honestly getting a little bored here and can't wait to move on to Kazakhstan.