Ch 42, Day 2: The Grandeur of Baku

29 kms, Aug 31, 2012

The next morning, the Traveler heads out to take in this new place. He is in walled Old City of Baku, but everything is crisp, clean and quiet. This does not feel like the bustling, rough and tumble Old Medinas of Morocco. Then, out the gates and to the shores of the Caspian Sea. All around him everything is immaculate. The shoreline is one giant park, lined with regal looking buildings and full of gardens and sculptures. To get there, you take a pedestrian underpass with marble walls and escalators to get down. This place feels more like Monaco than the Caucasus.

The city feels like a strong central government decided to give the entire city a complete makeover--building the new and making the old looks like it's new. Even the Old City looks as if it were built yesterday.

And it's very clear where the money comes from to build all this: oil.

The city is still quiet as he wanders through the pedestrian street into the heart of the city, down the stately corridors. There's a variety of architecture here but it does seem to have a clear theme, of a neo-Ottoman style with buildings of carefully cut beige stone blocks and, within the Old City, wooden balconies. What Baku does seem to be lacking in is an abundance of cheap eateries as Turkey. he finally does find a doner shop, but it's not very good.

Back in the old city, he checks out Baku's trademark Maiden Tower, which is circular, with a section of wall jutting out a short ways. Legend has it that the king's sister was imprisoned here, and chose to jump to her death rather than stay in this prison.

Nearby is a a small area of ruins that is open to the public, as well as some cozy little gardens. Quite fascinating to explore--even though it does feel kind of artificial and plastic. it's doubtful that this is what the "real" Azerbaijan looks like where average people live ... but you can still take your time enjoying it.

One way in which it definitely does not feel like Turkey or the Middle East is the lack of mosques and religious expression you see--and hear everywhere there. The days go by and he doesn’t hear the call to prayer anywhere in the city! I Turkey you can here 5 or 6 mosque calling to prayer simultaneously. It's extremely rare to see a woman—even older women--wearing a Muslim headscarf (hijab). he does spot one guy discreetly praying in his shop, but it's clear, if people practice their Muslim faith here, it's a very personal thing.

There's something very intriguing about this Azeri style of Islam....

He reaches the top of the hill where Baku's brand new signature modern structures are: three steel and glass skyscrapers high on a hillside, with a beautiful curvy shape. At first he thinks they look like three petals of a flower opening up, but then he realizes that they are supposed to be flames--symbolizing the source of Baku's wealth and power: oil, and a reminder of the Fire Temple where the oil-fueled natural fire once burned endlessly.

Across from the fire towers is a more solemn and painful symbol of modern Azerbaijan: a military cemetery. he walks through and notice all of these guys died in the same year. Odd.

Oh... that's right... the Azerbaijan-Armenia War. The still unresolved territorial conflict which the rest of the world has pretty much forgotten about. But for people here it's very real. In fact, in just about every town he visits here in Azerbaijan he'll be reminded of this conflict in one way or another.

It is sobering to see the tombs of all these young men lined up--and to realize this didn't happen 100 years ago... just a 20 years or so. "these guys were about the same age as me when they died" he ponders.

Nearby there's a typical Turkish mosque and a monument to Turkey in gratitude for its assistance during this conflict. At the end of the cemetery there are 4 pillars with a sphere at the top, a monument to those fallen the the war, with a panoramic view over the Caspian Sea.

Heading back inland, he come across another cemetery which puts him in an entirely different mood. This seems to be a cemetery for the "who's who" of Azerbaijan, and each tomb has a statue of the person buried there. But instead of just doing a generic statue of the person standing stoically, each statue it seems tries to bring out something unique and special about that person... one has the fellow standing with arms outstretched with an expression of exhilaration... another has the guy playing a piano... another has him with hand on chin, deep in thought.

Not often you visit a cemetery that leaves you feeling happy and inspired. "Tell you what, I think I'd like to be buried in this place... how about a statue of me playing guitar on a park bench?" he thinks to himself...

Another thing that many Muslims would consider "un-Islamic" about Azerbaijan. Others would say that Muslims shouldn't have statues of themselves, that tombs should be simple... to which the response should be, who is the true authority to say who is a "true Muslim" and who isn't?

He continues on to away from the neo-Ottoman styled down town, to an area of high rise building--still fairly well maintained though. Here a middle aged fellow approaches him and talks to him in English, which is quite a pleasant surprise. The man is a university professor, and invites the Traveler to stop at his university and meet a couple of his students.

The Traveler comments at how beautiful Baku is.

"The problem is that wages are extremely low here, and the cost of living is high. I'm a university professor--and have to have a second job just to survive."

At the university they talk to a couple students and have some tea. The Traveler asks if they could take a picture together and they agree. After they take the picture and the professor looks at it, he says. "Take it again--I don't like this picture of myself"

"why not?"

"I was smiling"

Now it's not true what it says on the internet that Azeris never smile in public, but, yes, they do clearly give more importance to "looking serious" than looking happy.

It's a very enjoyable encounter, but then takes a rather disturbing turn. One of the staff asks the Traveler if he knows about Ramil Safarov. he says no.

"He killed an Armenian student in Budapest who insulted the Azeri flag. Ramil was put in prison--but now he's been set free... he's our hero!" she says proudly.

He does a little research on this later, to try to get the full story. In the sources he finds, it doesn't say anything about the Armenian insulting the Azeri flag, just that Ramil brutally butchered him with an ax while he was sleeping. The Hungarians put Ramil in prison but turned him over to the Azerbaijan government (some say there was an oil deal involved in this). Instead of keeping him in prison, he was received as a national hero.

"Wow. Did I get that right? Something's really, really messed up about that. So is this going to start a new trend?" he ponders. “What about the Armenian and Azeri neighbors in, say, Los Angeles... Should they just start killing each other so they too can come back to their countries and be received as heroes? What if all the people who immigrate abroad started doing that, carrying their ethnic grudges with them and killing people of the ethnic group they don't like?” Let's hope not--or the world is going to become a very scary place.

During this trip the Traveler is going to learn to understand the word "hate" in a whole new way. Often, shortly after starting a conversation with a total stranger, quickly the topic of the horrible things the Armenians have done to the Azeris will come up.

Just like he would hear in Armenia—just the other way around.

However, the Traveler also does meet at least one person who has a bit broader understanding of what's going on. “There are other players behind the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The United States is selling weapons. Russia actual supports both sides. We are being manipulated by powers who do not have our best interests at stake”

The Traveler bids his new friends goodbye and continue on his way, down a wide boulevard as the grandeur of central Baku starts to fade and it starts too feel more like a developing country. he reaches a large, lively indoor market that looks a lot like, say, Mexico, then down to another beautiful boulevard with a park running down the center with all sorts of creative sculptures... He decides to go ahead and pause, pull out his guitar which he's been carrying around this whole time, and play some music. heading back to the grand city center, all lit up like a giant palace.

In the evening takes a stroll along the seaside boardwalk, towards a giant flagpole. On the horizon, the iconic flame skyscrapers ares are turned into giant light screens--sometimes lit up like flames... sometimes with the image of a silhouette waving the Azerbaijani flag... quite impressive. you just wonder... how long will that image last? When bulbs start burning out, will they be quickly replaced, or will this crisp, shiny city start to lose its shine?

Another beautiful spot is a restaurant surrounded by a series of canals that you can ride around in boats on. It feels surreal though, to come here after a day of experiencing the "real" Azerbaijan which are still lacking in many of the basics.