Resting is good, so are restaurants. Going out to one is all I really did on day one of our tour. But if you make it to the bottom of this post you’ll get an idea of the expanse of time, and why I should rest again…
The first full day of our Caucasus Highlights tour started with a trip out of town to Qobustan to speculate about some petroglyphs, mud volcanos, and the related museums. Our local guide, Kerim, has a certain dramatic flair that lends some gravitas to his commentary.
Nonetheless, there is much speculation about how & when the petroglyphs were made, and what they mean!
Ages ago – neolithic, paleolithic, etc. (4000-12000) primitive humanoids carved these rocks. However, much more recently archaeologists carved some numbers (29, etc.) to memorialize their work in discovering and deciphering them…
More of the Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape…
Nearby is a museum that attempts to explain further the petroglyphs of Azerbaijan. More here…!
Not far from the petroglyphs are the Mud Volcanos of Azerbaijan. The most in the world, these are related to the nearby oil fields which explain much about flaming Azerbaijan.
Unlike Yellowstone and other similar spots, apparently they’re not hot…?!
And, there was an accompanying museum as well, this one with an impressive collection of animal skeletons and other natural history displays. I particularly enjoyed the formaldehyde jars and the insecta arrays all found within the austere (brutalist?) newish architecture…
On the way back to Baku for our guided walk in the Old City, we stopped at the beach. I’d already been to some of the sites Kerim took us to two days earlier, but it was great to have him explain some nooks & crannies I hadn’t known about, and learn the stories that go with the place. Unfortunately, my fellow tourists wilted in the sweltering heat, the learning lagged, and several went back to the hotel…
Kerim concluded, Neal (from London) & I found a nice spot for some cold refreshment, and then I soldiered on to two more museums! The first a one room collection of miniature books…!
Next, I went to the Palace of the Shirvanshahs. It was great, and I was able to take my time…
Note the musical instruments near the end of this batch.
More of the Palace of the Shirvanshahs…
(Allow me to add this lil’ something about the Architecture of Azerbaijan since I’ve taken more than a couple photos juxtaposing the old and the new.)
Yet more of the Palace of the Shirvanshahs…
After the Palace of the Shirvanshahs, I took a circuitous way back to the hotel discovering more routes through the labyrinth that is the Old City of Baku…
Like many old cities of the old world, there are an abundance of cats, most napping. Before I went to take my nap, I had to take some pix of this lil’ friend…
Let’s take the end from friend and bring this epochryphal post to a close. More tomorrow.
Və diqqətinizə görə təşəkkür edirəm!
Ev tapşırığınız Azərbaycan haqqında 10 səhifəlik essedir.
Uğurlar…