Day 3.

After a morning run along the corniche and another decent breakfast at the hotel, I caught the 120 bus to 20-Ci Saha bus stop.


The plan for today was to catch the 195 bus to Qobustan to see the petroglyphs amd mud volcanoes.


Heading south for the ~60 kilometre trip. My bus driver asked if I was going to the 'muzey' and said he could organise a taxi for me. After help and advice from FT'er rivlinm, this seemed to be the best way to go to see the sights of Qobustan, I quickly accepted his offer.


After the bus driver dropped me off and I negotiated a price for the day with my taxi driver, we headed to the Qobustan Petroglyph Museum.


My driver, Murat, posing with one of the cave ladies.


Qobustan National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has more than 6,000 rock engravings dating back between 5,000 - 40,000 years.


We then headed for the short drive to the reserve to see the petroglyphs.


A couple of wild bulls. The petroglyphs were discovered in 1930 when a group of men went in to mine for gravel.


We then drove out to see the mud volcanoes. Murat revving up his little Lada to get up the hill.


And the mountain of mud at the top.


The bubbling mud reminded me of the geothermal active areas I had seen as a kid in Rotorua back in New Zealand. The bubbles being emitted here were mostly methane though, not steam.


Azerbaijan is home to about 400 mud volcanoes, or over half of them in the world.


One of the local kids marvelling at one of the bigger and more active cauldrons of bubbling mud.


After being satisfied with my fix of petroglyphs and mud volcanoes, I negotiated a ride with Murat in his Lada back into Baku.


We arrived back in Baku at about 2pm, where Murat dropped me off at the National Flag Square. Completed in 2010, and at 162 m tall, it was for a time the worlds tallest flag pole.


I then walked along Baku Boulevard back to the city centre.


Baku Eye on the sea front.


By the time I made it back to the city it was 3pm and I was very hungry, so stopped for a late lunch at Mado, a Turkish Café.


Some çay to start.


Followed by a simple but very tasty and enjoyable meal.


The city streets were filled with plenty of locals enjoying their weekend afternoon.


I then took a stroll along the corniche to enjoy the warm spring sun.


And retreated again to a local café to enjoy a super-sized maccaron and an Illy cappuccino.


After crashing back at my hotel for a while I then went out for one last evening stroll through Baku.


Köpək (dog).


German sausage (alman sosislәri).


Birlikdə (together).


Oğlan və qız (boy and girl).


Dinner for my last night in Baku was at Firuze, a top-rated restaurant in Baku. The restaurant seemed to be the place to be for expats, with quite a few American and Canadians oil workers also enjoying a drink and meal. I decided to start with the salmon salad and a glass of Azeri beer.


Followed by the very tasty and succulent Firuze Lamb medallions for the main.


And accompanied by some local Azeri red wine to wash it down. A very tasty meal and for a very reasonable price too with the recent fall of the manat.



Day 4.

My flight home today was at 9am, so after getting up at a not too unreasonable hour, caught a taxi at 7am back to Heydar Aliyev International Airport for the journey home.


And inside the stylish new Terminal 1 which opened in 2014.


Air-side with my boarding pass and a cup of hot coffee. Security had some fancy gadget I had never seen before in all my travels. You had to step on a raised platform until some green lights started flashing. Presumably this is to check for anything untoward in your shoes.


About to board the AZAL Boeing 767-300.


And enjoying a documentary on the Karabakh conflict on the in-flight IFE after a pleasant and relaxing weekend in Baku!