Karen, thanks so much for the info! I plan on doing a solo trip to the Caucasus this summer, and visas are one of the bigger issues to figure out. Were you able to just book a couple nights in Baku and go from there for the hotel booking/letter invite? I'm lucky in that I live in LA (just back from the Chinese embassy earlier today). Good to know the process over on Wilshire.

I am so jealous you were in Kurdistan! Amazing music there.