Baku. Cityscapes (Sept.2024)

Welcome to my next adventure. I was supposed to visit Azerbaijan some years ago when I tripped through Georgia and Armenia, but this leg was cancelled, customs and immigration issues the reason given. Pissed off, ever so chomping on the bit in my quest to visit each of the 15 former republics of the USSR.
........Eventually

So this is it 8 days round Az. wait for it..............

....it was and is the most soul destroying trip I have ever made, the worst country, it promised so much, but it lacks in places authenticity, in other places everything has been re built or it is an extravagance of wealth of the corrupt family that have a grip on the country. The food was bland tasteless and boring. The people were dour, unsmiling, never making eye contact, often not replying with anything other than a grunt in reply to a cheery "Salam". The strangers I was travelling with were not the best either.
"If I want a beer at 11:00am rather than a coffee, I will have one, so stop tutting"

I am pretty glad this was in the days of my deafness so I was able to generally ignore them without even trying.

So anyways a few snaps around the capital Baku which sits on the shore of the Capian Sea and is at 92 ft below sea level, which makes it the largest city in the world below sea level.

Baku Flame Towers

A group of three skyscrapers, started in 2007 with completion in 2012. at an estimated US$350 million, were built by Dia Holdings, owned by two brothers who are linked to Azerbaijan's ruling Aliyev family's network of offshore companies. Wink wink, nudge nudge, say no more.

The three flame-shaped towers are intended to mimic the elements of fire, and reference to Azerbaijan's nickname "The Land of Fire". the country has a number of natural gas flares which Zoroastrian followers consider to be a symbol of the divine.

Flame Tower 1 stands at 597 ft: Flame Tower 2 541 ft: and Flame Tower 3 at 528 ft.

The Mosque of Martyrs dwarfed

An optical illusion? created by the refelections and the dust in the air, pretty impressed I got the lines and angles spot on, which helps.

Fountain Square

The square was previously called and is still referred to as Parapet. It derives its name from the presence of quite a few fountains first constructed during the existence of the USSR

None of which were working

It was a pleasant enough place to wander around

Just semed like I was stuck in second gear

Now that is what I call fusion cuisine

Formula 1

Baku is on the calender for racing up until the end of 2026, a street race, in my opinion one of the most boring races of the season.

Charles Leclerc holds the record of 1min 43sec lap record for the 3.7 mile circuit.

Setting up the F1 track

Not F1 cars but chucking a few of these onto the track would make the AJ (one of the most boring races on the calendar) far more interesting.

Time for food

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