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After nearly seven years, it was time for me to return to the capital of Azerbaijan for a few days to see some old friends. Some pleasant surprises were in store.
The visa! No more having to go either to an embassy/consulate or even through a travel agent, i.e. be anywhere in person. I applied and paid online, and within a couple of days they emailed it to me, all for US$27 for a month. This sure beats going to Tbilisi (9 hours from our home) and the embassy there telling me, ‘sorry, we simply don’t have any more visas for a few days!’ True story.
Trouble-free train travel: on a budget, it’s the only way to… not fly, at least outside summer. 51 GEL got me a lower berth bed in a 4-bed coupé cabin. I always try for the lower one because its luggage storage place is under the fold-up bed, so no one has access to my stuff. Bedding included.
Don’t go by rail in summer, though. The air conditioning only comes on when the train is in motion. So, either on the Tbilisi or Baku platforms, it sits there in 40- or 50-degree sunshine for hours. Even if you get on at the last minute, in your clothes you’ll simply run with sweat at literally sauna temperatures until the thing starts moving. At the border: two hours of rinse (salt water, your body’s own) and repeat. In summer, try either bus to the border and taxi on the other side, or a simple flight, if you can afford it.
I was asked a) if I’d ever been to Armenia, which I truthfully answered that I had, in 2001; and b) if I had any alcohol, again, yes, just a bottle of wine. No further questions; a cursory look through my luggage was painless.
Baku continues to boom with its oil money: at least in the city center, where architects clearly are being given some room to play. Most impressive. And the Old City remains relatively old-looking, even with new construction, which seems to be required to fit in. Get that, Tbilisi? Apparently not.
I revisited the place where I had a flat in the six months of 1999 that I lived there. Dream location: just onside the Old City walls, at the top corner of Fountain Square. Small, but quite adequate for a bachelor, and $100/month! Impossible price nowadays. I was always safe too, even wandering around at midnight; Tbilisi only offered me a twilight mugging in that period, which cost me dearly. At least THAT has changed in Georgia since then.
You can order a taxi by calling 189, in English, get the price and map sent to your smartphone, and they’ll be there in 5 minutes to whisk you off.
Of course, see the landscape rolling by as your transport approaches or leaves the city, and you’ll realize that outside the center, there’s a long way to go. Ditto if you’re a car driver. Poverty and corruption can still be huge issues here, as can a residence permit or other long-term living solution for a foreigner. But for a holiday, things have got a lot easier and more comfortable.
Peace with Armenia over the 20% of Azerbaijan which it has ‘occupied’ since the early 1990s, though? Real peace, reconciliation? That looks like a far-off dream. I’m not the one to try to tease the truth out of wildly conflicting accounts of history, ancient and modern, when it comes to Nagorno Karabakh. Flare-ups are unlikely as I write, but being sure you can connect with your embassy is a good idea. And then… go, and appreciate this place, with all its complexities.
Tony Hanmer has lived in Georgia since 1999, in Svaneti since 2007, and been a weekly writer for GT since early 2011. He runs the “Svaneti Renaissance” Facebook group, now with over 1800 members, at www.facebook.com/groups/SvanetiRenaissance/
He and his wife also run their own guest house in Etseri: www.facebook.com/hanmer.house.svaneti