Monday, July 28, 2014

Baku, Azerbaijan

The wind blew all night and a few of us had difficulty taking our tents down.  At least there weren't any barking dogs during the night!

This is quite a load of hay!  While I had my camera out the window to take this picture, we passed some police.  They put their siren on because you're not supposed to take pictures of them, but I think maybe they realized what I was taking a picture of, so they just waved-


We tried to visit some petroglyphs but they weren't open yet, so rather than wait and possibly miss the ferry, we continued on to Baku.  

Along the way, we had our first flat tire.  Changing it was a real team effort so we were on the road in no time!



Azerbaijan is a very oil rich country.  This platform is just off the shore of Baku-


These pump jacks are in the city as well-


We arrived in Baku at 11 and parked at the port.  The truck immediately cleared customs and we were told we could buy our tickets at 2.  This seemed too good to be true!  2 o'clock came and went.  We waited.  Then, we had to register with our passports, then wait some more for the ticket office to open.  Around 5, the ticket man showed up and told us we were at the wrong port and maybe there would be a ferry tomorrow.  Will took a taxi to another port to check it out and returned with the news that we were definitely at the right place.  And the waiting continued.....
Soon the same ticket man showed up at the truck with a tape measure.  This was a good sign because they charge by the length of the vehicle and per person.  His story had changed and now he knew that a ferry was coming around 10 pm.  We were now able to buy our tickets and wait.....  some more.......



We had supper - (Dave and I made our famous pesto pasta) and sat around drinking beer and waiting.........  Fifty yards from the truck was a small shop, constructed from half a shipping container.  We made many trips back and forth for beer!

Around midnight we were able to board the boat.  We found our cabins and went to bed, preparing for a 20 hour trip across the Caspian.  

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