We have organized a few trips out of the city of Baku. Azerbaijan has a varied geography with Caspian sea coast, dessert plains, and the Caucasus mountain range. We visited Gobustan when Michelle was here with Nurlan our Azerbaijani friend and Sohini our Fulbright ETA freind who we travelled with in Sheki. Gobustan is about an hour’s drive from Baku.

Azerbaijan has a really long history with so many different influences. The site at Gobustan has artifacts and petroglyphs that are 20,000 years old. The evidence suggests that Azerbaijan was among the earliest places humans lived. The museum was modern and our guide was great (pictured on the left). It was a nice day-trip.

We travelled to Ganja, Azerbaijan’s second largest city and were hosted by Andrew , a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant. Andrew’s parents were born in Azerbaijan and left as refugees after the breakup of the Soviet Union and the following unrest. Andrew speaks Russian and planned a really great two day visit. I include a lot of maps, because it helps me appreciate Azerbaijan more when I see its proximity to Russia, Iran, Armenia, and Georgia.

We were joined on this trip by Nick (on the right) who is also a Fultbright ETA working in Baku. Nick also speaks fluent Russian as his parents came to the US from Russian and Ukraine. We started our trip in the mountains around Ganja. We hired a car and driver and visited a couple lakes. The highest mountains of Caucasus were a great backdrop. Below is former presidential residence that is now a hotel on the Blue Lake.

Right in the center of the city was this really beautiful 15th century mosque facility with surrounding baths. I would have like to look more, but wasn’t sure what was appropriate at that time. The government building below left was in an impressive square. On the right is an interesting building built out of glass bottles as a memorial for a brother who was killed in a war.

Here is a Russian Orthodox Church and below a blurry picture from a Russian themed restaurant.

Michelle and I have never been birding before and it would not have been possible without a great guide service. A highlight was seeing Flamingos, more than 10 other types of birds, and a couple snakes. Just walking out to the tip of the peninsula in the middle of the Caspian sea was cool.

Finally, a quick little trip to a little suburb of Baku and just a walk through the streets with a nice guide, Eva, and Nick.