Baku is astounding. An utterly astonishing oasis of western decadence in an otherwise barren and ugly country. The city is spectacular. We’ve only seen a small part, from the bike while concentrating on negotiating traffic, but it looks incredible. It’s like a mixture of paris, london, brussels, saint petersburg. Around the hotel looks like paris, leafy tree lined cobbled streets, cafes, trendy girls wandering about. The only thing that gives it away are the battered ladas parked amongst the mercedes. I’m already loving this city, now that we’re out of the rubbish part, so much so that i’m thinking about getting a job here after this trip. We’re now having some delicious food in a little place just around the corner from the red lion hotel, it could be a swish london cafe. Farid, our local helper is coming round in an hour to help us figure out the ferry. We had stopped at a posh hotel we saw, and they helped up find the red lion, after much calling around. Then Farid took a taxi to show us the way, and we had to chase it at break neck speed to get here. Turns out that Farid is a biker and is offering to help us find our way around. He seems like a very nice guy. Amazingly, there’s a picture of the tyne bridges on the wall of the hotel room. I love it here, and we’ve got two days to enjoy it.
Incredible Baku
13 Jun