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Driving in Azerbaijan

My driving map of Azerbaijan. (I didn't drive much (approx. 600 km since it's a small country).


As I mentioned in my previous blog, while in Georgia, on my way to Azerbaijan, I met another motorcycle driver named Daniel and we decided to travel together. At the border, I asked Daniel to go first since he was a white man and might get some leverage. I followed behind him (we crossed at Red Bridge passing). They stopped him and took him aside, and I entered. I waited for him outside the post on the Azerbaijan side, worried. Finally, he came and told me the problem was that he had a printed map showing some part of Azerbaijan in Armenia, which upset the authorities. I'm sure if he were not an Englishman, he might have had to spend some time in lockup. 
About the insurance part, the good thing was that they do not insist on bike insurance for the country; they simply sell it for $10 for one month, which is tourist-friendly.

Azerbaijan does not have as many hotels as you can find in Peru, Bolivia, or Thailand. When we searched for a hotel in a town of considerable size, I can say a big village, we didn't find anything. It was quite a surprise to us; either people are not interested in accommodating foreigners, or something like that. Finally, Daniel caught sight what might be a hotel on Highway when we left the town and we were lucky to find accommodation.
The next day we reached Baku. Daniel had some booking in a hostel. I got a bed in the same hotel. We spent two days in Baku and I distinctly remember one slogan Daniel showed me in a bar: "God invented whisky to stop Irishman conquer the world."

We met many Oil industry people who were working in Baku. They told "Baku is new Dubai" with which I could relate more as I am also working in the same field.

Well, Daniel had a plan to go to Turkmenistan and I didn't have a visa for that side of world. I tried for these countries in Georgia but I  found that it's very difficult to get visas for these countries.

 I already had a visa for Iran and I was going there. Danial told me that the visa was costly for him. It was approx. $1000. I got happy; at least somewhere, I got a privilege over a white man 😆, because my visa was quite cheap.

I had no option but go to Iran. I already had a visa and Danial waited for vessel to take him to Turkmenistan. He told that Caspian Sea is very unpredictable and vessels come depends on weather.

My drive for Iran was not so interesting. Only at a few places, I met people and they were quite friendly there. I remember one time when Daniel and I were driving up to Theku and asking for a hotel in the town. When we introduced ourselves, mentioning that he is from England and I am from India, people shook hands with Daniel but hugged me directly with tight embrace  because I am from India, the land of Bollywood — Shahrukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Mithun da, and Amitabh Bachchan. People were very friendly in Azerbaijan towards me, maybe because I belong to the country of Bollywood. Bollywood rules this region. People not only want to have pictures with you but also make sure you also take those pictures with you. I met 2-3 guys like this below (I felt like a celebrity 😆).

Anyway, since my experience was not so good, I spent only 4 days in Azerbaijan before entering Iran. I will tell about my trip to Iran in the next blog. Overall, Azerbaijan is a dry country, despite its recent oil discovery.

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