Ch 42: Day 4: Meeting with The Mentor


14.9 kms, Sept 7, 2012

There's a special reason he needs an extra day in Baku: today he's meeting up with Giles, the veteran traveler he met in Georgia while applying for his visa to Azerbaijan. With emails they prearranged to meet outside the Old City subway station, and he tells Giles to look out for a guy carrying a guitar on his back. I'll be easy to spot, right? Wrong. As he waits, a whole crowd of music students gather--ALL carrying guitars on their backs!

Now that doesn't happen every day.

Giles has the same trouble the Traveler had with the Soviet era subway signage--but they finally manage to meet up, and go ahead and do another tour of the city together--mainly the Traveler just wants to learn from this fellow and hear his stories.

Giles is not only a skilled traveler, he's also very knowledgeable in a wide array of subjects because, first of all he knows how to think outside of the box, and secondly, he's constantly learning from people he meets along the way. He tells of how after school he worked at a bank for a couple years, hated it, and has never worked a typical 9 to 5 job since. Instead he perfected his business skills, starting out as a door to door salesman, until he was able to work for just a portion of the year and travel for the rest of it. He also has all kinds of stories of people who have managed to make money while traveling. The Traveler wastes no time picking his brain for ideas that might work for him.

"In Mexico I met a couple who would buy concentrated perfumes in Mexico City, then travel south, mix the perfumes and sell them on the sidewalk--and finance their travels that way!"

Giles tells about his epic journey in his younger years, starting in Thailand (where he extended his stay by becoming a monk and joining a monastery) then he traveled across Asia through Afghanistan, then down into Africa where (this was back in colonial times) he arrived in Rhodesia and immediately was handed a machine gun and got a job guarding the workers--just because he was white!

Giles has keen insights into all kinds of cultures--Africa, Asia, the Middle East, as he's an excellent observer. He gives me insights into apartheid in South Africa, the war in Iraq, starvation in Ethiopia, the meaning of Buddhism and why Botswana is an African success story.

"Why don't you write about your experiences? So many people could benefit from your knowledge and experience."

"When I think of writing I think of it as something I'd do if I were an invalid or had a long term illness--it's just something I'm not interested in, it's too much work."

The Traveler knows he's privileged to be able to learn from this fellow. "For the first time that I can remember, I've met an older fellow that I can look at and say. 'I hope I can have as many memories, experiences and insights as him when I reach his age' " he muses...

Back at the Hostel

The Traveler heads back to the hostel that has been his home for the last couple of days. It hasn't always been the most pleasant experience. It's a large house where an extended family lives. And it doesn't seem that everyone in the family is on the same page about having a bunch of scruffy travelers wandering around their house.

When the Traveler tries to was a couple of shirts in the bathroom sink, one of the ladies of the house comes in yelling at him in her few words of broken English. Leave the light on, and you will get an earful as well. Not the most welcoming place... despite the fact that they are making a lot of money, being the only advertised hostel in Azerbaijan.

The Traveler takes some time to chat with some of the other travelers at the hostel. It seems for those heading east, Baku is the "end of the road"... To continue on east, one must either cross the Caspian Sea, having to wait days and days for a ferry, or try to go around it through some visa-unfriendly countries.

There's the young cyclist from Switzerland... a motorcycle rider from Belgium... each coming to get a taste of the easternmost edge of Europe.

It's time for the Traveler to move on to where there are no tourists or tourist accommodation and very few people speak English. It's time to experience the “real” Azerbaijan....

Location: Baku, Azerbaijan

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